Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1880-01-22
HOME DOCTOR.

can deny. Americans do not attend to
their digestive organs sufficiently. COT
fee and tea are MI h more injurious
than are generally supposed. Strong
coffee viii at least promote, if not in
deed cause, gout, and its continued en-
ployment seriously impairs the blood,
irritates the kidneys, and deranges the
nervous system. Tea, with its abun-
dant adulteration, is still more harm
full. Chocolate, habitually used, is
probably more damaging than either.
Instead of the vinegar bottle, lemons
should be employed, and the whole ar
ray of pickles is little more than series
of insults to the stomach, which it is
very slow to digest. Though apples
are excellent as food, they should not
be eaten at unreasonable times. At
meal times is the only proper season.
There is no objection to baking, steam
| ing, stewing or roasting the apple, al
though the best results may be expect
ed from the fruit uncooked.
A SIMPLE REMEDY.-Here is rather q
curious remedy, but in many cases q
certain one, for the cure of indigestion.
1t is simply the cultivation of habit
of chewing, while out Of doors, differ
ent kinds of green leaves, and swallow
ing the juice. One can always Gull
leaf from hedge or bush as one passes.
Almost all are good that are not nau-
seous, such as the ivy, or poisonous
laurel-leaf. One of the latter, however,
is capital thing where there Is a slight
irritation of the stomach The chew
ing Of leaves cures dyspepsia, princi-
pally, believe, by increasing the flow
of salivary juice, and partly by the
tonic and stimulating action of the leaf
| chewed. The leaves that occur to me
at present as most likely to be benef-
cial are those of the pine trees, spruce
or Scotch fir, blackthorn, currant and
rose bushes, mint, the petals of many
| flowers, the stalks of mountain-d daisies,
the white portion of rushes, the bark of
many young trees, and the tender parts
of the stalks of green wheat, oats, or
almost any of the larger grasses; but
your own taste must in great measure
guide you, if you elect to make trial of
any remedy. I should say, however,
that the chewing is better to take place
before or between meals than imme-
diateiy after.
IF your eyes show signs Of fatigue,
and you find that objects become
blurred when you look at them steadily,
cease to use the eyes for awhile, and
then, after sufficient rest, if work is re-
sumed, discontinue it at the first indi-
cation of fatigue. See that the light is
sufficient and that it falls properly
upon your work. Never sit facing it.
Tt is best that the light shall fall upon
the work from above and behind. Fail
ing this, it may fail from the side.
Never use the eyes at twilight. Any
artificial light for the evening is good if
it is brilliant and steady. When arti-
read or write during the day. Do not
read in horse or steam cars, or after you
have retired for the night. Many
tedious case of weak sight has been
traced to the pernicious habit of read
ing in bed. Do not read much during
convalescence from Illness. Before the
muscular system generally has quite re-
covered its healthy tone, we ought not
to expect the muscles of accommoda-
ton to bear the continuous use to which
they are subjected in reading or writ
ing. We cannot be sure that the deli
cate muscles of the eye are in condi-
ton to be used until the muscles of the
leg and the arm have regained their
strength and firmness. Above all, take
I plenty of sleep, and, by retiring early,
avoid the evening lights. Exercise and
air are also indispensable.
WALK FOR HEALTH What is better
than walk in winter as stimulation to
the nerves? How grateful the crisp
air is to the lungsl How clear and
sweet it is to the nostrilsl How it in
spires and sustains one in a swinging
gait of four or five miles an hourl How
the cheeks glow, and the eyes shine,
and the muscles tingle with delightful
vigor, after such walk through the
winter sunshine! A cbaise-ride is not
half SO good, for it robs the trip of the
necessary exercise. Try it, you who
seek health and strength. Winter
walking, as a "nervine," is a million
times better than medicine, an for i'm
proving the complexion is worth a
whole harbor full Of lotions and washes.
1t will put an edge on appetite that you
can't buy at the doctors, and in pro-
noting digestion is better than corner
drug-shop's entire stock of bitters and
pills. If you have never tried it, take
walk. Keep your mouth closed, your
shoulders well thrown back, your head
up, and remember that your legs-and
especially your hips-were given you
to walk with. Some people walk with
their knees, bodies and shoulders and
no wonder they don't like it. We don't
like to see them. There is an art in
walking as in other things. If you
don't believe it, observe the motion Of
some sharely woman who knows how to
move, or study the gait Of q man who
has some spring and htheness in him.
1t is never too late to learn how to walk
by walking. And. once learned, it is
delightful accomplishment.
JOHN WATTS, an old-time Missis-
sippi gambler, died at Philadelphia a
few days ago, aged IA years. Every
one who travelled on the Mississippi
twenty or thirty years ago will remem-
ber him as the leading poker-player on
the boats. In ante-bcllum days, when
cabins were givel up to card-parties,