Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-07-14
miscellaneous.


8
The very day on which the article on
The Value of Exercise" appeared in the
Spectator. lecture on the same subject
was delivered at Zurich. by DR.. Jaeger.
Of Stuttgart. gentleman whose theories
touching the influence Of exercise and
clothing on health have lately made con-
siderable stir in Germany and Switzerland.
As the lecture was not only highly inter-
esting, but 10 certain sense, an answer
TO the article. brief statement OF the
Doctors views may prove not uninterest-
ing to your readers. DR.. Jaeger's atten-
ton was first directed to the value Of ex-
ercise, by his own i'll health, the result,
- he afterwards discovered, Of q too sed-
entary life. He noticed that wild ami
mails, though they had no thought
for their health. are nearly al
WAYS whole; and he asked himself:
Wherein lies the difference between sound
ness and delicacy Of constitution. and
whence arises predisposition to disease ?
To resolve these questions, he began Sc
ries OF observations on the effect OF gym
nastic exercises 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 absence from illDess)
among the former were 40 per cent less
than among the latter. In another Sym
nasium, the difference was Is per cent.
In girls school. in which gymnastic ex-
erciscs were regularly given. the alb
senees were ALMOST nil. d.. Jaegar next
turned his attention to the army. He
found that soldiers in the third year OF
their service had much higher specific
weight than newly enlisted recruits. The
mortality among third-year soldiers is.
moreover, 36 per cent less than among
secondsyear soldiers and the latter it Is "a
per cent less than among recruits in the
first year Of their service. Still more sig
pificapt is the fact, that the deaths of the
older soldiers from typhoid and kindred
diseases are relatively fewer tian among
new corners and second-year men. The
proportion of those attacked is less. The
proportion Of those who recover is greater.
DIR. .Jaegar ascribes these results 10
drill and gymnastics. Exercise" he
SAYS, .'by draining the body of its SUI
perfiuous moisture hardens the flesh. and
hard flesh is sounder than soft flesh.
Sweating baths produce like effect.
They draw moisture from the blood, and
quicken the renewal of the body" From
these facts, the Doctor draws the conclu-
sion that hardness Of flesh is the dis
tinctive mark of robust health, so,,ness of
flesh a never-failing sign Of delicacy of
constitution The soft-feshed are more
liable TO disease. by reason of their d.
luted blood The difference between
these and the hard-fleshed is the difference
between milk fresh from the COW, which
sOurs on exposure to the air, and con-
densed milk. which is almost impervious
to atmospheric influences. Exercise and
perspiration, moreover, are powerful
remedial agents, in that they often
enable the body to get rid of the
germs of injecting disorders before
they produce positive Illness But. in DR..
.Jaeger's opinion, exercise and perspira-
ton will not induce sufficient hardness of
flesh for perfect health. unless the right
sort of clothing be worn. The right thing
in clothing is wooden next the skin.
Hence flannel shirts should be worn all
the year round. A piece of moist flannel,
he says. laid on the breast of a fever pa
tient will reduce the pulse in a few min
utes from 30 to 40 per cent. lie has fur
Their ascertaincd. by actual admeasure-
ment. that the body wastes less. and there.
fore renews itself more slowly. when clad
in cotton or linen. than when clad in wool
en- 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 a 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 win 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 mat
ter Of fact. they are not washed. But
with strange inconsistency people albeit
they have their cotton shirts frequently
washed. never think of having the cotton
Innings of their wooden clothes similarly
purified. Innings do pore harm than
good, and If flannel shirts be worn. waist
coats are superiluous. The color of
clothing is another matter Of great i'm
portance. Undyed stuffs are the best. ard
among colors. indigo-blue and blue black
materials are most conducive to the pres
ervation of health-LeRGon Spectator.