Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-21
Regimen and Health.

DT JaeSeF, VI OtuttSart, gentleman whose
heories touching the influence OF exercise and
clothing on health have lately made consider
able stir in Germany and Switzerland, recently
delivered a lecture on that subject at Zurich,
which has attracted wide attention on the con-
tnent and in England. Or. Jaeger's attention
was first directed to the value Of exercise, by his
own il-health, the result. as he afterwards dis
covered, of too sedentary life. He noticed
that wild animals, though they take no thought
Tor their health, are nearly always whole; and he
asked himself, Wherein lies the difference be
tween soundness and decacy of constitution,
and whence arises predispOsitiOn to disease?
To resolve these questions he began series OF
observations on the effect of gymnastic exer-
cises on the human body. He compared the
health Of school children, who went through
regular course of gymnastics, with those
who did not, and he found that the
absences CfrOm illness) among the former were
1orty per cent less than among the latter. In
another gymnasium, the difference was eighteen
per cent. In girls school, in which gymnastic
exercises were regularly given, the absences
were almost NIL DR.. Jaeger next turned his
attention to the army. He found that soldiers
IN 1n ecn third S,oS year of their ssrce had
newly-enlisted recruits. The mortality among
third-year soldiers is moreover, sc per cent less
than among secOnd-year soldiers; and among
the latter it is 81 per cent less than among 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 relatively fewer than among new
corners and second year men. The proportion
OF those attacked is less, the proportion Of those
t VINO recover recover is greater Dr. Jaeger ascribes
else, he says, "by draining the body Of it's
superf1uous moisture hardens the flesh. and
hard flesh is sOunder than soft flesh. Sweating
baths produce like effect. They draw mos-
ture from the blood, and quicken the renewal
OF the body" From these facts the doctor
draws the conclusion that hardness Of flesh is
the distinctive mark Of robust health, softness
of flesh never-failing sign Of delcacy of
constitution The soft-heshed are more
the hard-feshed is the difference between milk
fresh from the COW, which sours on exposure to
the air, and condensed milk, which is almost
lmperviOus to atmospheric influences. Exer-
remedial agents, in that they often enable the
body to get rid of the germs of infectious dis
orders before they produce positive illness. But
in DR.. Jaeger's opinion, exercise and perspira-
tion will not induce sufficient hardness Of flesh
for perfect health unless the right sort of cloth
ing be worn. The right thing in clothing is
wooden next the skin. Hence flannel shirts
should be worn all the year round. piece of
moist flannel, he says, laid on the breast of a
fever patient will reduce the pulse in few min
utes from thirty to forty per cent. He has fur
ther ascertained, 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 a
sort OF dsinfectant II you put piece of linen
and piece of flannel on your breast for few
days, he says, the linen will have an unpleasant
odOr, while the flannel will smell aS sweetly as
at first. For this reason wooden garments do
not require to be washed. and, as a matter of
fact, they are not washed. But with strange
inconsistency people, albeit they have their cot
ton shirts frequently washed. never think of
having the cotton Innings of their wooden clothes
similarly purified. Innings do more harm than
good, and II flannel shirts be worn waistcoats
are superfuous. The color of clothing is an
other matter of great Importance. Undyed
| stuffs are the best, and among colors indigo
blue and blue-black materials are most condu-
Give to the preservation of health.
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