The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1886-01-20
GOOD HEALTH


Wnlcl mal Dtlp " q P-
At fir.t sight. the extraordinary isct
that bodily health i only Just com
ing 10 take first place among the
objects OF q reasonable mans inter
Ell. OF course the methods OF heal
ing sickness have always attracted 8
large measure Of attention. because
Of downright sickness = disabling
In a way that is too plain and irre-
sistible TO be oEeriOoked. Estry-
BODY will do biz best 70 get M OF
main when il is on him. But the
copcepti "a Of health ss something
mucD more than the mere absence
Of a uro-trafing or unmIstakaoiy
disagressble mAIady il considered
slower ia making way. 1heorsu-
caJiv. we prsy for health as the beet
gift which the code have to besto~;
but when the matter j. ieft ~ our
own hands, there are hundred
other goods which 'Fenever hesitate
about silently preferring-
Il il rather startling 10 reflect
bow few persons one k0oss WHO DO
not habitualiy sacrifice health ior
some other advantage coniesssdiy
les worth having. And noi the
least startling thing Is that the lev
who have the sense to make health
really their first aim are DOT seldom
the dullest blockheads 10 the choice
Of all other aims. At college Tor ex-
ample, and among the best sets OF
Young men 10 our large cities, the
men Of nnuscel are not commonly
the men Of brain. There are more
exceptions than there used 10 be- II
i true; bat the hard reading man,
a. a rule. still too generally contents
himself with that miserable and de-
lusiye form Of exercise which the
Elgli-h call a constitutional. But
what really il wanted everywhere is
a sysiem of gymnasiuns. A gym
nasium il neither the pleasaD'est nor
the most Elective form Of taking ex-
ercise; but. unlucklly, everybody
cannot afford to keep hOrse. The
persistence with which doctors urge
horseback riding IT, 70 the majority
a. absurd a. the persistence VIII
which they recommend plenty OF
old brandy OF sound dry sherry.
together with good living. to pau
per-. Those who cannot ride must
walk, as che saying Is; and those
who fad walking, for its oEn sake,
very dull aud mechanical, ana 10 all
respects the very reverse Of refresh
ing ought to be able to 90 to 3 gym
nasium.
But the scsutiness Of gymnasiums
j. not the only symptom that men
are more ready 70 talk tDan to act
a. If health were the prime good.
Gymnastics are not the Only form Of
exercise, aud exercise Is not the
only condition-perhaps not 10 all
respects the most important condi-
tioa-of health. The way IL which
people eat and driuk has as much
a. anything else 10 do with the sense
Of freedom and elasticity in all their
faculties. The prevalent reckless
ness in this respect 70 amazing be-
yond description We dine at one
hour one day. and another the next;
or We take a hearty meal imnediaie-
iy after rising from hard days
work, or Immediately before going
10 bed or, like Wellington, when
be dined with Cambaceres, we don't
care what we eat, aud take any
thing which a hippsni-ninded cook
chooses 10 serve. AZ somebody ha-
said, melted butter is the bane OF
modern society, and melted butter
is only a type Of other popular poi
sons. An ingenious writer has re-
Gently suggested that people who
cannot afford to give dinner pariie-
should ask their friends TO supper
that is TO say, you should ask your
friends to take at midnight guam
tity Of food which which will no, be
digested much after 2 or 3 in the
morning, and. If he goes TO sleep
meanwhile, will probably never be
digested az all Men in other res
poets IN their senses have been
heard TO declare that they would as
soon drink bad wine a. good. But
there is no end TO the barbarous ec-
centricties which we permit oursel-
yes 10 the matter OF diet. The spec
tacle of an ordinary dinner party,
with its admixture Of rich meats
and various wines, Is a sufficiently
familiar instance.
Excessive brainwork il probably
the side on which some of the most
useful men sin most ecklessly Ex-
ercIse and regularity and care about
food may counterbalance the mis-
chief up 10 a certain point, but the
fuel can never be supplied with a
rapidliy and certainty proportionate
10 the consumption. The long lives
of our Judges are commonly held
up as proof that the hardest work Is
not inconsistent with health. But
It Is worth while TO consider that,
though Judge works a good deal,
il is not all work which taxes his
mind very severely. IL is not like
work of an original producer. The
Judge sits a great many hours of
every year in a Court, but his mind
is not keenly on the stretch through
out the whole Of every case, perhaps
not even of the majority of cases
and, Ia the second place, a Judge
always has long rest once a year.
The vacation IL long enough 10 per-
NIT thorough renovation, aud this
is the great thing Every holiday is
so far an advantage; but there can
be no doubt that one prolonged
change of occupation and surround
ing is OF a better kind than a num-
Der of short changes. not one of
which is sufficient to allow the sys-
TEN entirely TO recover. It is mis-
take, therefore, to argue from the
example of the Bench that a man
may work his brain eight or ten
hours a day, most days in the year.
without seriously impairing his
health. Yet men OF all sorts AID
conditions are constantly attempt.
ing the impossible feat. Men ol
business, and politicians, and slu
dents. and journalists all supply in
stances OF the fatal sin of the time
II takes so long to rid tie mind OF
an old habit of looking at things.