Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1841-11-18

POPULAR ERRORS IN MEDICINE.
BY AN EDINBURG PHYSICIAN.

Many people put great faith in the whole
somencss of eating only one dish at dinner
They suppose that the mixture of substances
prevents easy digestion. They would not eat
fish and flesh, fowl and beef, animal food and
vegetables. This seems plausible notion.
dut daily practice shows its absurdIty. What
dinner sits easier on the stomach than Il slice
oi roasted or boiled mutton, and carrots or tur-
nips, and the indispensable potato? What
man ever felt the worse for cut of cod or
turbot, followed by u bceisteak, or slice of
roast beef and pudding. In short variety of
wholesome food does not seem incompatible
at meals, If one do not eat too much-heye
the error lies.
1t is common practice with ba;hers, after
having walked on n hot day to the sea side.
to sit down on the cold damp rocks till they
cool, before going i'll the water This is quite
erroneous Never go into the water over-(a-
tigued, and after prolnse and long continued
perspiration, but always prefer plunging in
while The first drops of perspiration are on
your brow. There is no fear ofsudden tram
sitlons from heat to cold being fatal Many
nations run from the hot bath and plunge ma
ked into the snow. What is to be feared is
sudden cold after the exhaustion of the BODY.
and while the animal powers are not suiii-
cient TO produce reaction or recovery ofthe
animal heat
There is a favorite fancy of rendering in
iants and further advanced children, hardy
and strong, by plunging them into cold water.
L his Will certainly not prevent strong infants
from growing stronger, but ii will, and often
does, kill three out OF every FIVE. Infants al
ways thrive best with moderate warmth, and
milk-warm bath. The same rule applies to
the clothing of infants and children. No
child should have so lightclothing as to make
1t feel the effects of cold warm materials.
loose and wide made clothing, and exercise,
are indispensable for the health of the little
ones But above all things, theirheads should
be kept cool and generally uncovered.
Many people so laud early rising as would
lead one to suppose that sleep was one of
those lazy, sluggish, and bad practices, that the
sooner the custom was abolished the better
Sleep Is as necessary to a man as food, and
as some do with one third of the food that
others absolutely require, so five hours sleep
is sufficient for one, while another requires
seven or eight hours. Some men cannot by
any possibility sleep more than four or five
hours IN "a and, therefore, true to the nhe-
rent seliishness of human nature, they abuse
all who sleep longer. No one should be
iauited Ior sleeping eight hours II he can.
Many people do not eat salt with their food
and the fair sex have notion that this sub
stance darkens the complexion. Salt seems
essential to the health OF human being, more
especially in moist climates. Without salt.
the body becomes infested with intestinal
worms. The case of a lady is mentioned in
medical journal, who had natural antipa-
thy to salt, and never used il in her food; the
consequence was, she became dreadfully in
Tested with these animals. A punishment
once existed in Holland, by which criminals
were denied the use of salt; the same conse-
quence followed with these wretched beings.
We rather think a prejudice exists with some
OF giving little or no salt to children. No
practice can be more crude or absurd