Milford chronicle., 1889-12-27
Boards AND GOOD HEALTH.
Medical AuthOrity's Testimony to Prove
That They Are Useful,

meolcaA AuthOrity's Testimony to Prove
That They Are Useful
What medical arguments can be adduced
In favor Of wearing the beardl
The weight of the evidence, says DR.. Fer
dinand Seeger in Medical Classics, seems to
prove that those who wear the beard are less
subject to colds, sore throats, bronchitis,
coughs and consumption than those who
shave. The Jews, Turks and certain tribes
who never shave are comparatively free
from these disorders.
By glancing at the exciting causes OF these
affections, it is seen that sudden checks to
perspiration, in consequence Of exposure of
the throat and neck to cold, rank first in i'm
portance.
Is it strange that the public speaker, who
habitually exercises the muscles of his throat
in crowded assemblies, and then seeks the
open air with the pores Of this sensitive part
open and relaxed, should be a sufferer from
bronchitis, catarrh, sore throat and other
disorders Of the respiratory apparatusq Is it
surprising that the public, who daily remain
for hours in overheated apartments, or in at
tendance upon public meetings, should con
tract colds, coughs and other pulmonary dis
easesl A considerable portion of the throat
is usually kept snugly enveloped in a hand
kerchief or cravat, thus securing a free open
ing of the pores so long as the individual re-
mains in the house, and an abrupt closure Of
them whenever he enters the open air.
These throat bandages are so admirably
arranged as ventilators that the slightest mo
tion Of the head or the act of speaking when
out Of doors allows a current Of cold air to
come in contact with the neck, so that, if
there is no protection from beard, a cold is
pretty certain to ensue Another important
Office which these neck ligatures perform
consists in making such pressure upon the
superficial veins Of the necK as to interfere
materially with the return Of blood from the
head to the trunk, thus giving rise to head
aches vertigo, congestion and occasionally
to epilepsy. This remark is especially appli-
cable to persons Of sedentary habits or to
those whose occupations require them to pass
much time in bent and constrained positions,
like writers, students, etc.
Every man who reads this will be sure to |
make himself an exception to this rule, and, |
to fortify his position, will place himself in |
an upright posture and insinuate his two fore |
fingers with ease between his throat and the |
ligature alluded to; but let this same man |
watch himself narrowly for twenty-four |
hours and he will find himself half strangled |
twenty times during this period, on account |
OF the different positions he will be called |
upon to assume.
Musicians who are accustomed to blow 4
upon wind instruments rarely shave the
upper and lower lips. Experience teaches
them that a mustache and imperial enhance
the strength of the lips and en-
able them to accomplish more than they
would be able to do If deprived Of them.
In Africa the heads Of the natives are fur
nished with such perfect non-conductors in
the form Of wool that the most intense rays
If their tropical sun cannot penetrate it suffi-
GENTLY to produce any deleterious effect upon
the parts underneath In this instance the
lair is not merely useful, but absolutely in
lispensable to the Preservation Of health, and
perhaps life. In cold latitudes the hair, by
his nou-conducting property, serves admir-
ably to retain the heat Of the body and to re-
list the injurious action Of external cold. In
and changeable climates nothing
S better calculated to guard the throat and
,hest against sudden checks Of perspiration
han the beard. Clergymen and other public
peakers troubled with hOarsehess should al
ways let their boards grow.
But, asks the advocate Of shaving, il these
riews are just, why are not females fur
lished with beardsi
To this the reply Of the medical gentlemen
$ that women's organization proves that she
5 designed by nature to act in q different
phere. With fragile body, delicate con-
fitution, a sensitive, timid and shrinking dis
'osition, instead Of the courage, resolution
lld self reliance peculiar to the male, It {
7ould manifestly be perversion Of the de
igns Of nature to subject her to the outdoor
ccupations Of the other sex. II a man ex-
els in intellectual and physical strength,
roman is his superior in everything that per-
aims to the affections. If man, with his
ough nature, can contend successfully against
be severe trials of active life, woman, by her
entleness, her purity and her love is capable
strewing his path with flowers, Of watch
lg over the tender years of his children, and
inclining him to higher and holier aspira-
ons The appropriate sphere of the weaker
essel, J." they say, is evidently domestic one,
nd her vocation Is within doors, where
cards and other manly appurtenanees would
rove superfu0us