Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-01-15
FOHLER'S LECTURE on LIFE AND
HEALTH"

FOWLER'S LECTURE on LIFE AND
HEALTH"
Last evening, Professor o. s.. Fowler,
perhaps the most distinguished as well as
the Oldest p~hrenOlOgist in the country,
delivered a lecture last night at the
| GrsenlaW Opera House, which we un-
| dsrstand to be Introductory to q course Of
chronological lectures. Without under
taking to give q full idea Of the lecture,
we have o only for a few points of it.
He commenced by saying, that if a man
was suddenly introduced into the world
with full capacities like Minerva from
the brain OF Jupiter, and if he could
-see, at a glance, the planet a million
times larger than The earth, and at the
same the least of intnitesimal atoms, he
would be astOnisRed to find the whole
universe of one organism, every part
Obeying its own particular law. OF the
laws OF our own organism ne came more
particularly to speak, since nothing could
be more useful. The laws of mans or
ganizatiOn, and which ne must Observe,tO
be healthy in body and mind, and COns6-
quenCiy5 happy, were the laws Of God
worthy OF reverence and obedience, as
/ much as those Numbered from Sinia. If
these laws are d~isObeyed there can be
no health, and without health, nothing
good. II u should squat over a stove
| instead Of moving in the open air, be
would wilt and gradually die. If Deacon
| Bumstead should begin his Sunday by an
enormous breakfast, he might sleep, but
he would likely WOr6hip little for want of
| a free stomach. ThB Apostle Paul said,
present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable, - ETC., because he
meant as q religious duty hat the whole
| physical, as well as mental organism,
4 should be Obedient TO both mental ard
moral laws. The religious prescription
of fasting had its origin in obedience 20
this command, and was a condemnation
of an opposite extreme of gluttOnT.
Every function of man he said is ca
ried on by organs. You must have powUr
in the organ, and the right condition of
all the organs in order TO the full, natural
exercise of their power. They must te
improved to have the benefit intended,
The eye must bs allowed the light, the
| ear must be accustomed to sound, and the
brain to exercise and thought. All parts
of tbs brain are interviewer with the or
ganism. If the finger nail is dead 4
burning iron will not be felt-if in health
the brain will be instantly conscious Of
its presence. A man shaken with dele
rum trsmens will be conscious of what
is false and ignorant of what is rue. No
power of the system can be eX6rted in
null force without health, and the food
AlAl14NAN Ap VIZ heaI ~ rAhaAAN ~ w AA.
mind. Your child cries aud is cross, and
you call it vicious, and perhaps Chastis8
it as bad, when its fault is disease-per-
haps a sOur stomach. A lady is surly
and crOss-grained when perhaps she is
only nervous for want Of eXerCise.snd air.
What are the physical conditions, then,
calculated to influence good results is an
important subject Of inquiry, The hrst
OF these is bresthing-ThsJ every one
should breathe freely and fully. Some are
only half alive because they only half
breathe. Upon the rapiditv and sufi-
cheney of a~eratiOn of the blood. and the
oxygen 10 the lungs, depends the char
3cter Of the blood and the condition of
health, You must make deep iuspira-
tiOD, breathe low down I'm order, to full
action of the whole system. Many now
sit before me who may have studied But
ler's Analogy, me "gr3duated' it may
be, in moral philosophy and physiology
too, and vet they are doubled up, half
breathing, rs iii they had never learned
first rudiments, the A, B., @, Of the true
laws of health, The speaker, though or
igiually a man of weak lungs, by syste-
matte and prudent use of his lungs had
grown strong enough, so far as breathing
is concerned, to defy consumption at
least. Diseases almOs or quite univeT-
sally supervene on a cold, consumption
not only, but fevers and even tOOth-aohes /
usually resulted from colds. Full breath
ing fires up the system and casts out dis
eases from every pore, saving doctors
bills, which may not be luc~Ousiderable. /
Good air is q better eXhileraut than
strong drinks. People who have blue
veins and the blues, suffer these attacks
most often because they are too lazy to
breathe One end Of the brain is at the
skull, the other at the skin. Water clean
illness and care of the skin end is very
HraaArrf nnA nnnnAwFnnH 70 Hha aHr~FH - ]
Cold feet are dangerous and must be kept
warm, not by the fire, but by being used
as they were made to be. II this is i'm
practicable, rapid transition from very hot
to very cold water, repeated, wiIlopen the
blood vessels aud promote the circula-
He said sleep charges the blood with
oxygen, and he advised to sleep as much
as possible-gst a plenty Of it. The best
for sleep was when one could sleep
best, and usually the latter part of the
and in the morning. COnfning
children too much in schools was highly
Injurious. Three hours was enough and
SIX hours abOminsble. Children learned
more at play, observing nature, than thew
would do in the sehoOl-hOuse. where. if
were kept to fatigue, they could not
learn at all. Ordinary children would
learn all they could IN three hours
daily, and more than they would
If confined TO six. They must play
much and sleep much. Eating heart
Ly Of mince pie, and washing it
down with abundance of tea, which
would keep one awake as q nurse, was
not calculated to promote healthy sleep. !
Those with sole leather brains might {
stand it, but no other sort. If the mincs
pie and tea don't urt You, be careful not 1
% boast Of il, or some may learn what j
you do not know, what kind of a leather
head you are. {
Every exercise of the body or mind ex- '
the system, and the waste must
supplied by appropriate food. ADpe- I
lite is ferOciOUs and O-verpOwering, so I
hat men have been known to eat their J
flesh and lap their own blood. The
majority of mon know well how to eat s
enough, but few how to eat slow enough. I
Every man has a natural appetite for Z
What suits his constitution best, but the I
should be disciplined as severely
- the memory, the reasoning faculties or G
he Judgment. Complete mastication Ia S
Necessary, with good teeth. Diseases of i
he teeth are drawn into and affect the {
ungs in breathing. Do not grab and i
like a greedy animal, but
slowly and so a. TO relish every
nOrsel. The system especially requires n
liquids and fruits. o
Life and all natures operations are car 4
on by electricity as the greatest Of /
instruments. The lecturer denied the I
ruth of NewtOp'a theory OF the motions L
+ the heavenly bodies--oft the centripetal p
nd centrifugal forces. II might seem
%eretical to his audience. But he would
TO demonstrate on a suitable
ccasion that the true power was d
lectrieity. The sun being positive.
nearer the sun the more the
odies are charged, and the less the more n
Negatives approach-positives n
3pelled-1y of. Plants rise to maturity 81
ward the sun, and die and fall away.