The weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1883, 1883-04-04
Why few People Live to Grow
Old.

Old.
The eighth lecture Of the course incon-
nection with the new Century Evening
Classes for Women was given on satur-
day evening at the franklin Institute,
by DR.. Henry Hartshorne. TO live q
healthy and vigorous old age was, ne
said, the right Of every man and woman.
That 90 few attain it is due in part to
unhygienic ways of living. and in part
to the inherited effect Of the bad living
Of our progenitors. One hundred years
is the terminus to be expected from the
organization of man, yet only one in
1000 reaches it. OF these there are more
women than men, more foreigners than
natives, more colored than white. The
average Of life in this country is less than
40, which, after allowing for epidemics,
casualties, etc, is still unreasonably low.
Many are handicapped at the start by
bad inheritance; many child is born
with short-liyed constitution, is 40 at
birth, and dies Of old age in infancy. The
children Of drinkers are apt to be ~
healthy, even when the habit hassMots
obviously affected the parent. ThemsFS
rage Of consumptires is always danger
GUS; weak lungs in both parents are al
most certainl e. ~ firing, and most
Of all the mas9 l1ge 81 persons under age
islikely to fill the world with weaklings.
The waste of life among children, espec-
tally in cities in hot weather, is due in
large proportion to dirty streets, unclean
and unventilated houses, and close pack
ing together. This is 80 obvious that .
physician could go through the city and
predict in what streets and alleys, and
almost in what houses, Presidential d.
seases would be generated which should
spread to punish a city. The speaker
{ was especially earnest on the subject of
vaccination. Consider no child safe,"
said he, because once vaccinated; but
when abolittwelve years old re-vaccinate,
and don't be satisfied until it has taken.
Hot weather is more dangerous to chill
dren than adults. The Children's Coun-
try Week and the Sanitarium give to
thousands every summer the boon of
something to breathe. 1t would be well
ifthc mothers in any given court or
small street would take turns through
the hot days in spending each day in q
public square with the children of sew
eral families together.
Cold is also very trying to your chill
dren, and the positive cruelty Of mothers
in allowing, for fashions sake, the legs
of children to be lightly clothed in win
ter, was earnestly condemned. When q
child is in bed, it is not enough to de-
pend on bed clothing for warmth; no
amount Of cold clothing will make heat;
it will simply conine the amount of
animal heat already in the body. fla
child is put to bed cold it may stay cold,
although under piles of clothing. The
right way is to have artificial heat in the
room, not only for its own warmth, but
to make it easy to lower the windows
and let into the lungs Of the sleeper the
oxygen, bearing fresh air, which shall
turn to heat in the body ITSELF Take a
cliild in ordinary health, out Of doors
every day, even in midwinter; even an
infant in the first month Of its life. wrap
up carefully and don't keep out too long.
The best sort of warmth is that which
comes through exercise. not kept up too
long. The reason why skating, one of
the very best modes of exercise, lost
favor, is that people skated too long at a
time, and sat down on the ice when
warm. Hardening" is good thing if
wisely done, but it is not accomplished
by wearing too little clothing or going
about in wet feet.
The Spartan practice of putting the
baby out of doors over night to see if it
is robust enough to live till morning, was
not recommended by the lecturer. The
food for babies is milk and nothing else.
The theory of adding water is now
almost wholly abandoned, said the
speaker, except by milkmen. But above
all things the milk used by an infant
should be kept as fresh as possible; even
few hours in warm room may bring
disease to the delicate stomach of the
child. If ice cannot be had, it is better
to boil it at once. Beware of giving
starchy food alone to babies. They need
nitrogen as well as starch. You can
almost starve child by giving it all it
will take of arrow-root and water. And
don't be forever feeding. Often child
simply wants drink, and then water
is far better then milk. For older child
rem and adults tea is better than coffee;
milk and cocoa is better than either.
Cocoa is pleasant, nourishing. and does
not disorder the nerves.
For alcohol in any and every form,
the lecturers emphatic advice was, "Let
it alone" More and more largely with
every year, are scientists coming over to
the doctrine that alcohol is one of the
agents to be resorted to only by the adj
vice, after careful thought, of the family
physician. In regard to foods, at least
two-thirds in ordinary cases should be
vegetable; but whatever you eat or drink
refuse, if you wish to keep healthy, to
eat and drink foul air. If in that con-
venient appurtenance, the permanent
washbasin, you observe a peculiar odor,
have the traps examined, cork up all the
little holes at night, or remove it alto
gether-that is, if you dislike diphtheria
and kindred affections. If you observe
the slightest smell Of gas from your coal
stove, have it looked after; leave the
room and open doors and windows.
Don't, as q rule, blow out the gass in
stead Of turning it of; but remember that
gas from your stove is more insidious;