The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-11-23
ANTICIPATED NONSENSE.
No Other Term VIII Describe
Some Popular Beliefs.
People Who Are Content With Ideas
Originated Centuries Ago = Aged
Medical Theories Exploded =
Some Practical Health
Hints.

nlutos
The savage is always child, and so
are millions as we'll clothed. housed
and policed as ourselves-slaves to
their passions, prejudices and super
stitions. These are all fetich-worship-
ers to a greater or less extent. OF all
people that doctors have to deal with
they are the hardest to treat that have
some superstition or other in regard to
diseases or medicines. Some of these
superstitions, almost all of them, in
fact. are the remains of bygone medical
theories or methods OF practice,
s'Stuff cold and starve a fever" is a
superstition very frequently met with.
Until fifty years ago doctors never had
an idea that fever patient should be
fed; they were well starved. and if
they recovered they had to thank their
strong constitutions. But even at this
day, when every doctor knows that
feeding is the most important part of
the treatment in a case of fever, peo-
pie still believe that it is death war
rant to feed a person with fever. With
the starving of fever patients may be
placed the belief that persons with
fever, measles and some other diseases
should have only warm drinks. OF
course such a person should not have
ice-watea.. but q man that will allow
only warm drinks and Cruel to such
patients deserves to be roasted for
awhile. Let him have measles once
and he will change his views.
There are good many queer ideas
afloat in regard to bathing. One man
can take cold bath every morning in
the year and feel better for it; conse-
quently he thinks every person should
take q cold bath on getting out of bed.
Some people can't stand this. and there
is no use trying to force the body to
Withstand severe shock. The cold
bath crank thinks his children should
be trained to do what he does. It il
foolhardy to try to '.harden" children
in this way. ia young child likes 9
cold bath it is all right. but to put q
struggling and screaming child into
water that makes its teeth chatter and
its surface turn blue is cruelty. 1t il
cruel, too. to make children go about
In winter with thinly-clad legs, thir
stockings and knee-breeches, or shor1
brooches and short stockings. For one
child that can be hardened in this way
ten will have the foundations laid fol
weak constitutions.
The proper way to harden a child il
TO give it plenty of pure air. pure and
wholesome food, plenty Of playtime. al
little brain work as possible, and plenty
Of sleep. training it to regular habit.
of life. OF course the proper time t.
begin to train child is to begin will
/, its ancestors. but there are some diffi
culties in the way of doing this. Still
as every child Is presumably an an
cestor of future children, we can trair
Z, the ancestors Of those future children
giving them sound bodies, sounl
| minds. and even tempers.
The notion that q person should no
. eat before going to bed is another fet
ich. Why shouldn't people eat before
! going to bed if they are hungry Som,
win say that digestion stops during
sleep. It does nothing of the kind; i
is slower during sleep, but there is n,
hurry about the matter. People star
out in life, a. babies. by eating and
then going to sleep. The truth is, eat
ing just before going to bed is one o
the best means Of treating insomnia
that l have ever tried. We American
are always 80 much in haste that dur
ing the day we do not give our foo,
proper time to be digested; and If an,
thing should say that our digestive or
gans have q better opportunity for do
ing good work during sleep than a
any other time.
| You hear great many people "a,
when there is measles around: well
every child must have measles, an
mine may a. we'll have It now a. an
other time" No chile 10 under an
obligations to have any disease, espec
ally one that may kill it, or leave it .
invalid for life, a. measles may.
| One Of the ways that people have {
being silly Is to be eternally taikin
medicine for one thing or another
A great many people think ths
there Il something peculiar abor