San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-07-27
WOMAN AND HOME.
rs THERE ANY WAY BY WHICH THIN
WOMEN CAN BECOME FEESHY7
womsn's Intellectual Opportunities Em-
ited-Linking Love and Daty-What Con-
stitutes a Perfect woman?-Advice of
Value to Mothers and Hsusekeepers.


Value to Mothers and Hsusekeepers.
At least one woman,in this city who is lean
and would be fat Is trying thettarch treat
ment She knows a woman who fell victim
to one of those crazes of the palate that some
times aff1ict otherwise sane people, and who
almost lived on starch for two or three
months. She ate a pound day, and carried
1t always with her, nunching it on the sly if
she thought people were not looking. During
her morbid freak cushions of adipose tissue
spread themselves over her anatomy, and
rounded out her formerly angular figure in
a way that excited the envy of all her thin
friends.
So this young woman, being very tall and
very thin, is heroicaliy doing her best to live
on starch. But the nauseating stuff has
aroused in her inner economy SO violent re-
pulsion that she is about to give up the at
tempt in despair. She has been trying it for
three weeks, and has not yet gained pound.
A Press reporter talked with physician
of excellent standing about the matter, but
was able to extract from his opinions small
comfort for lean women and faint hope for
their progress in avoirdupois.
doctor, can a lean woman make herself
and her mode of livingF'
at may be possible sometimes for a thin
woman to add something to her weight, but
there are many women who could not be
made stout, or even plump, by any treat
ment whatever
They are too nervously constituted 1t is
really more a matter of nerves than it is of
diet. If woman wants to put on flesh she
ba,. ;,,+ID
fectly sound and healthy state. Even after
that she may not find it possible to add to
her weight if she is by nature highly ner.
vous"
'Supposng her nerves do not stand in the
way and are in a proper condition, what
them
''She must have plenty of fresh air to give
her normal appetite and make her relish
her food. Pure air is just as necessary as
good food. Well intentioned people make an
ado once in while about the pies and pickles
that school girls and shop girls and other
women who are much confined indoors are
given to lunching on. But it is of no use
Their vtiated tastes are the result of vitiated
air. Give them good ventilation and they
will have normal appetites. They will crave
bread and butter instead of pickles and
cakes
And If women want to grow plump they
must breathe pure air and plenty of it as a
prerequisite to a good healthy appetite
Then they must have outdoor exercise to tone
up their systems, give them good digestions
and keep all their organs in fine condition.
The exercise must be such as will invigorate
rather than tire"
And after all this, what about their dietl
Doesn't their food have an important effect
upon. their weightW
Each woman will have to suit her diet to
her own particular case. Temperaments
vary so much that it is impossible to lay
down an unvarying rule. What would in
crease the weight of one woman might not
have the slightest effect upon another A
diet that is varied, palatabe and nutritious
is the best"
But, doctor, are there not certain lines of
food, such as bread, potatoes, rice and other
starchy articles, that are most apt to produce
deShi'
"Oh, possibly there are people who can be
fattened, just as hogs are, by being shut up
and fed on one kind of food Yes, suppose
there are women who would put on flesh if
they were to eat plentifully of the kind of
food you mentioned and sit lazily about the
house without taking exercise. But such a
course would make most women either bilious
or dyspeptic, and there are precious few
whom it wouldn't make stupid The kind of
flesh that is put on in that way, though, rs
not healthy flesh, and no sensible woman
would wish to have it. For it means simply
that q part of the natural process has been
stopped, that good portion of the food, in
stead of going on to make good rich USoUd,
sound muscles and healthy nerves, has stop
ped on its way and been turned Lilo tat.
That is why delicate, anaemc women fre-
quently look stout. Their apparent flesh,
which is only fat. is really disease. New