Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-09-17
THE He RAID .
THE LIFE OF MAN.
Something About Turning-Points-rhys
and Intellectual strength-The Decades Of MAR

About those matters youll enihN0
little and cares less; in manhood we
shirk them !; in old age we stand face
to face with them, dwell on them, 1t
NAV he. oyermuch. That which we
saw with unintelligent calm we now
scrutinize with intelligent fear, and
recognize, too late, those points IN
physical life when we have taken a
wrong turn, from ignorance, negl-
gence. or recklessness. 1t is popular
" supposed that we change our con-
stitution every seven years but prac-
tically every decade makes turning
point in life. 1t is not too much to
say that, barring accidents, a man
can, at certain dates, decide what
manner of death and of what class OF
disease he shall die. The formation
of the constitution in early llfe-say
from the age of FIVE to ffteen-de,
wolves on the nurse, the mother, and
the training in the nursery AID school
room. In the nursery, at any rate,
overlooking is a cardinal vice; but
the overfed children, who eat flesh
rnaat three times day, become so
gross and unwieldly as to be bur-
den to all concerned; while tight
stays, tight boots, ana high heels de-
velop every evil under the sun, FROM
bunions downward. At this point
two years of gymnastics, or couple
of years spent on board of one OF our
training ships does wonder for our
boys, who get the use of their arms
and legs to an amazing degree. The
athletic work performed by school
boys and university men is, perhaps,
at its best in those days, though most
happy is the man who is never over
trained, because he is perpetually in
condition. From fifteen to twenty
five a man has to prepare for that le-
climate enjoyment of life which
should by rights be his. He has in
all probability chosen his profession,
memory is at its best, ambition at its
highest, and his temptation to burn the
candle at both ends-to be brilliant
boon companion, a man whose good
tales are remembered, and whose wit
ty sayings are everywhere quoted-is
almost irresistible. Facility does not
come with age, and the best of stories
grow stale. Of the number of pre-
maturely exhausted intellects and
shortened lives broken down in this
way there is no need to tell. Every
mans memory will furnish him with a
list of names more or less well known.
FROM TWENTY FIVE To THIRTY FIVE.
is the true time for all the enjoyment
of mans best powers, when physic
al vigor is at its highest, and human
passion is at its full strength. During
the last half of this decade a man
should be assiduous to construct a
system of philosophy by which to rule
his life and to contract a chain of hab-
its intelligently, so that they should
not sit too lightly upon him, and yet
cautiously, SO that he should neither
be their slave nor too easily cast them
aside. The exact proportion of phys
ical and intellectual strength should
be gagged, and the constitutional
weakness, or, in other words, the dis
ease towards which tendency exists
should be ascertained. Preserve if
possible, the absolute necessity for
exercise, and have your place of bu-
siness two or three miles away, over
which let nothing tempt you to an
omnibus or carriage, save rain. The
day on which medical man gives up
riding to see his country patients. or
the use of his own legs TO see his pa
tients in town, and takes to a close
brougham, fixes the date when Sc
dentry diseases are set up-indiges'
ton, liver, kidney diseases, and so on;
while if, to utilize his leisure, he reads
as he drives, his eyesight becomes Sc
riously affected. From thirty-ive to
forty-fve a man should arrange with
his food and square hypochondria.
He cannot, it is true, change his dia-
thesis, but he can manage it, The
habitual character of food, no less
than its quantity and quality, begins
to tell whether it charges the system
with fat, muscle, sinew, fiber, or wa
terry PARTICLES. As to the evening
glass of spirits, it is not the quantity
or the quality, but the daily recur-
renee of the dose which deteriorates.
Witness the Scotch fishers, whose
drink is tea, save on the Sabbath
even, when they are all drunk. 1t is
not overstepping the truth to assert
that weekly excess of whiskey does
less harm than the moderate even
ing glass. Good, generous red wine,
toasted bread, and brown meat com
prise the best nourishment man can
take at this period. From forty~five
to tifty-fve the recuperative powers
should be encouraged and developed.
There is nothing like work to keep
an old horse sound. Sporting dogs
should be thia, but obesity will set in.
About this time man has his first
serious illness, or he gets a heavy fall,
loses his nerve, and becomes miser-
able. Anxiety ought to be STAYED off,
hope encouraged, sordid cares avoid
ed.
IF A GRIEF EXIST
it should not be brooded over, but talk
ed out with friend, gagged, estima-
ted at It's worst, and dismissed to alb
sorb itself. Ii man at this time is
much engaged in outdoor sports
hunting, shooting, &c.-and lives
wholesomely and temperately, he is
pretty sure to be clear of sedentary
disease. But he may probably have
to his account broken rib or collar
bone, or gets heavy fall from his
horse The last is often owing to the
greater caution in riding produced by
age and increase in weight; for riding
boldly at fence, as young blood
does and light weights can, frequent
ly saves horse and man from disaster.
For this reason middle aged men
should not ride old horses. Rheuma-
tIsm, coughs, and inflamatory diseas-
es arising from exposure to wet or
cold man of forty-fve will have to
contend with, but his blood will be in
a good condition for the struggle.
Moderate exposuYe to hardshins of