The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-10-10
Written for THE NATIONAL TRrBuSE.l
HEALTH HINTS
For Old and Young.
BY FELIX l.. OSWALD, NJ. D.,
Author of 'Physical Education'; Household
Remedies; The Bible of NATURE etc.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
HOME REMEDIEs-(c ontinued).

try raising fashionable pastime ali amateur
naturalist tried to hasten the exit of his chicks
by breaking their egg prison day before the
usual time of their appearance to save them
the trouble of achieving their own liberation by
persistent peclSing. But somehow or other
that artificial method of delverance always re-
suited in understood pullets, as if the exercise
thus ohviated had been essential condition
of their physical development.
similar mistake underles the plan of GER
tain sanitary theorists who try to restore the
vigor of debiitated patients by the pre-
scription of concentrated foods" rs they call
their Leef extracts and gluten preparations
BY saving the invalid the trouble of mastica-
tion they expect to husband his vital strength,
but the result rarely fails to prove the erro-
neousness of that superstition We cannot 1.-Two
Oh food extracts any more than we can breathe
pnre oxygen; nature appears to insist Of our
organism going through the preliminaries pro-
vided for by tho constitution of our lungs and
our masticating apparatus. Beef Is more whole
some than Liebigs beef extract; bread of
unbolted -four Is more dgestible than starch
and-gluten pap; sweet grapes are less apt to
disagree with q weak stomach than refined
sugar. In this age of preserves, the concen-
trated diet craze has become fruitful source
of dyspepsia. and its consequences are still az
gravated by the mschievous delusion that
strengt hcning food Tor any other stimuants)
would enable high liver TO dispense with ex-
erCise. On tho contrary only tho hardest
habit of outdoor life can enable human being
OF the lattcfday type TO digest high y-conceu-
trated articles of diet, and persons of sedentary
occupations had better make the best of the
slender chance Of exercise afforded by the
thorough masticati0n of tough crust of bread,
and, rs general rule. comestbIos that resist
boiling will prove most cougenial to the stom-
ach of nm INDECENT dyspeptc.
An apparent paradox, however, seems i'm
1,A.l -, 4.
method of living has not only enabled but
compelled them TO stimulate their organism by
abundant doses Of exercise We hear of old
soldiers who trace the origin of their digestive
troubles to the period Of their first active cam
paign, or of business men who contracted
chronic indigestions Mt the very time when the
removal OF their warehouse or the erection of n
new factory gave them n chance 10 interrupt
their counting house routine by weeks or
months of strenuous physical exercise.
The explanation OF the enigma is generally
sought in the sudden change Of deeprooted
habits, but might be more frequently found in
the circumstance that the exercise In question
was taken at the wrong timc of the day. Re
peatcd physical efforts directly after n full
meal constitute the most inlallible prescription
tor the contraction of chronic dyspepsia and
IN stress of more than usually hard work even
persons of strong gastric constitution had
better postpone the principal meal to the very
end of tho workinE-day. Severe mental labor
is almost equally detrimental ut tho hour that
should be reserved for digestion. School teach
ers bank accountants working on extra time,
and overworked newspaper editors, are espe.
cialy apt To suffer from that cause of impaired
health, aud the mere mental strain involved in
entertaining M unexpected visitor may prove
sufficient to derange the digestion OF an other
wise wholesome meal. Dyspoptics. in fact
would do well tn be mot at home To all call
pT1 In FfFaT he Heaf 1, faof sfs.rA
Just before meals tile most violent exercise
short of absolutely exhaustive work seems
rather 10 stimulate than To impair Digestion
medical theorists to the contrary notwithstand.
ing. Late dinners after long mountain trip
and followed by "A night Of uBdistnt bed rest are
apt 10 be digcsted with far moro than usual
tboroughnrss, and the risk of the previa ex.
nrciso implies nothing contrary 10 the plan of
Nature. ssraEes, like Beasts OF prey, often
have to earn their frasts by protracted chase
and after a fierce galop Of Is or 90 miles the
gauchos of The South American plains will sit
down 10 # painful of broiled steaks cut from n
deer which All hour ago was still dashing
through the high grass of the patbess savan-
nahs. In the semi -feudal conntryseats of the
Austrian Alps II Is still the role that hunting
party must shift at noon with n few scraps of
cold lunch, but indemnify themselves with
baunteoua supper eaten Immediately on their
return To the mansion of their host.
Hard work after dinner. on tho other hand
will sooner or later ruin the constitutional
vigor Of Samson. and the evil effects OF the
practice are no uumistakable that nothing bat
All ncnrahlo ohstinacy in the observation of
established customs can explain the perversity
OF dyspcptics who prefer daily martyrdom of
three or four hours to the alternative of defy
ing the DEGREES of Mrs Grundy. There are
people who would rather incur the peril of a
total physical collapse than the suspicion OF
uIispg IN tUu ia ac
strong native common sense often prefer the
latter risk, experience having too impressivciy
demonstrated the supreme value of health.
surveyor of tho Texas international Railroad
once mentioned To me the ease Of section
laborer who had 80 clearly traced his digest
i've troubles 70 the custom of going 10 work in
the blazing sun immediately after dinner that
hc concluded 10 devote his monday recess TO a
nap or =" stretch under tho canopy of a shade.
tFee, aud eat both his dinner and supper i'm tho
cool of tho evening. At first his comrades
bantered him numerically about IA caprice so
unheard OF la the annals OF American railroad
construction: but noticing tbs steady improve
ment Of his physical yigoT aud the return OF
his good humor first the one and then tho
other thought IL worth while to try his plan,
aud before the end Of the second month tho
entire section" force of eight men compro-
missed with the protests OF their cook by eating
light lunch at noon aud postponing their
pio Hlchl 10 inc olu Oh each WORKING
day.
The consequences of habitual after.dinner
work arc apt 10 be ascribed To wholly magin-
AIRY causes. One of those sanitary bugbears is
the habit Of drinking at meals" Drinking
cold water between dishes is frequently repre-.
scented as Il cause Of grievous digestive disorders,
possible Ia view Of tho circumstances that
cold eongeals the molten fat of our greasy made
dishes and thus is supposed To make them less
digestible. The truth, however, is the oft
forgotten physiological fact that tho human
stomach assimilates all ingesta to its own tenn
perature, and would find 10 lar easier To man
age cold c0mestibles than tho scalding- hot
sauces aud rag0uts of Il fashionable dinner
There is no harm in cold water whether drunk
at or after meals as long as tho evidence of
appetite indicates demand for moisture and
refrigeration. No creature of the species next
TO man in the ranks of the animal kingdom
shows the least hesitation about drinking dur
ing its meals; cold water, in fact, ID the one
universal beverage 0f all vertebrate animals
NJ welcome TO tho herbivorous stag as to the
frugvOTous ape or carnivorous panther. The
delusion in question As nothing but special
form Of the snpersti tIous dread Of refrigeration
that makes our Summer tourists shudder at
the idea OF promenade through the dewy
grass, aud horritiea our good wives by the faint
current of fresh air entering bedroom through
the Granny of an ill fitting window.
Mental aiilicti0n dimnishes the demands of
appetite, as a hint that repleton Ia perilous
while the mind is Frustrated by grief or
All Kiety, DyspeDtics esDecialIV shOull avoid