The Baltimore County union., 1882-12-30

From che LeHdoa Speefrfsv.
The very day on which the article OF
"The Value cf Exercise" appeared il
The .Spcffazpr q lecture on the same sub
ject was delivered at Zurich, by DR.,
Jaeger, Of Stuttgart, gentleman WHOSE
theories touching the influence Of exer
else and clothing on health have lately
made considerable stir in Germany and
Switzerland. As the lecture was moi
only highly Interesting, but, in a Ger.
tain sense, an answer to the article, a
brief statement Of the Doctors views
may prove not uninteresting to your
readers. DR.. Jaeger's attention was first
directed to the value Of exercise, by his
own i'll health, The result, as he after
ward discovered, Of too sedentary life.
He noticed that wild animals. though
they had no thought for their health,
are nearly always whole and he asked
himself: Wherein lies the difference
between soundness and delicacy Of con-
ssitution, and whence ariscs sprrdispoSi.
tion to disease1 To resolve these
questions he began series of observa-
tions on the effect Of gymnastic exer-
cises on the human body. He compar-
cd the health of school children, who
went through regular course of gym
nastics, with those who did not and he
found that the absences from illness)
among the former were 10 per cent. less
than among the latter. In another
gymnasium the difference was IS per
cent. In girls school, in which gym
nastic exercises were regularly given the
absence was almost nil. DIR. Jaeger
next turned his attention to the army
He found that soldiers in the third year
of their service had much higher spc.
cific weight than newly enlisted recruits.
The mortality among third-year soldiers
Is, moreover, 80 per cent. less than
among second-year soldiers and among
the latter ii is 81 per cent. less than re-
cruits in the first year of their service
Still more significant is the fact, that
the deaths OF the older soldiers from
typhoid and kindred diseases are rela-
lively fewer than among newcomers
and second year men. The proportion
of those attacked is less, the proportion
of those who recover is greater. Dr.
Jaeger ascribcs these results to drill and
gymnastics. Exercise" lie says, "by
draining the body of its superfluous
moisture hardens the flesh, and hard
flesh is sounder than soft flesh. Sweat
ing baths produce like effect. They
draw moisture from the blood and
quicken the renewal Of the body" -
From these facts the Doctor draws the
conclusions that hardness OF flesh is the
distinctive mark OF robust health, soft
ness of flesh a never failing sign of deli
cacy of constitution. The soft-heshed
are more liable to disease, by reason of
their diluted blood. The difference be-
tween these and the hard-feshed is the
difference between milk fresh from the
COW, which sours on exposure TO the air,
and condensed milk, which is alm2st
impervious TO atmospheric infuensfs.
.Fxercisf and nerspiration:, moreoyr,
are powerful remedial agents, in that
they often enable the body to get rid Of
the germs of infectious disorder before
they produce positive illness. But in
DIR. Jaeger's opinion, exercise and per
spiration will not induce sufficient hard
ness OF flesh for perfect health, unless
the right sort of clothing be worn.-
The righ, thing in clothing is WOODEN
next the skin. Hence flannel shirts
should be worn all the year round. 4
piece of moist flannel. he says, laid on
the breast Of fever patient will reduce
the pulse in few minutes from 80 TO
20 per cent. He has further ascertain
ed, by actual admeasurement, that the
body wastes less, and therefore renews
itself more slowly. when clad in cotton
or linen, than when clad in wooden
clothing. The reason of this is that
whereas wooden tends to draw the blood
TO the surface of the skin, cotton and
linen do the reverse.
The Doctor has theory that wooden
acts as sort of disinfeciant. II YOU
put piece of linen and 4 piece OF fan
mel on your breast for 4 few DAYS, he
says, the linen will have an unpleasant;
odor while the flannel will smell is
sweetly rs at first. For this reason.
woolcn garments do not require to be
washed. But with strange inconsistcn-
cy people, albeit they have their cotton
shirts frequently washed, never think OF
having the cotton Innings of their wool
en- clothes similarly purified. Innings
do more harm than good, and il flannel
shirts be worn, wais,coais are superfu-
Gus. The color of clothing is another
matter of great importance. Undycd
siuifs are the best, and among colors in
digo blue and blue-black materials are
most conducive to the preservation Of