The National tribune., 1890-08-07
HEALTH HINTS
For Old and Young.
BY FELIX L. OSWALD VI D..
Author of Physical EducatiOn"; Household
Remedies: the Bible of Nature" etc.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
SUMMER COMPLAINTs-(co CONTINUED.

CHAPTER LXXVIIL
SUMMER CoMPLAINTs-( (contiuued.)
There is tradition Of Polish peddler who
informed his friends that he was in the habit
of taking a bath ouCe year, whether he
needed it or not" and only too many people
seem to arrange the program of their Summer
recreations on the same principle.
No one would blame man for seeking refuge
from heavy rain, or declining to go TO work
in a fierce snOwstorm, but somehow or other,
the idea has got hold Of our cOuntrymen that
there is something pusllanimous and unmanly
IN Sinking work on account of warm weather.
The truth, however, is that under our pTsva-
lent system Of domestic arrangements, Summer
weather is for millions far more severe test
OF vital strength than the average cold Of
Winter. The cause is, that organism is
better adapted to increase than to reduce a
degree OF temperature not congenial to that Of
its normal constitution. In Labrador, where
the Thermometer sinks to 50 degrees below
zero, seal-hunteTs, warmed by furs and brisk
exercise, may enjoy tolerable degree of COM
fort, and the laboratory of their systems evinces
no difficulty in keeping the temperature of
the blood at its regular average. In tOrrid
climate, on the other hand, the body needs all
the aid of favorable circumstances to resist the
excessive heat Of tho -glaring atmosphere.
In other words the problem Of keeping the
temperature of the blood 14Oo above that Of
the Labrador blizzard can be solved more
readily than the task Of keeping it 14o below
that of the African Shamsin- winds, which
now and then scOrch the Mediterranean sea-
ports with the bake-Oven breath Of the Great
Desert.
The more Labrador hunter cats, the more
furs he wraps around his body, the more he
bustles about the better he will be able to
defy the blasts Of the Winter storm All the
wealthiest resident Of Morocco can do to keep
moderately comfortable in hot weather is to
wear and eat as little as possible and to sit list
lessly in the shade Of his fountain hall. The
indisputabie evidence Of the Fahrenheit ther-
mOmeter however, establishes tho fact that the
dos-days of our North American lowIand cities
are often quito as warm as any days of the
North African coast districts. Two weeks
ago the mercury rose TO IO3o in Chicago, 1929
in st. Louis, 1902 in New York and 1862 in
| Barre, Pa. And while the natives of the
Mediterranean coastlands 90 half naked and
live on fruits and bread our Workmen insist
on three meat meals day, and cannot risk to
doyiate too far from the general precepts Of
fashion. At dinner, even in the very warmest
days in the year, the manager OF a decent
boarding house would decline to permit his
bOarders TO sit down to their meals in shirt
sleeves, and those boardcrs, in their turn,
would refuse 10 allow the elimination Of beef
pork and greasy stews from their daily bill Of
fare
No wonder that in cities Of that sort. indoor
work in an aTtifcially heated atmosphere add
ing its caloric to that of broOding sum occa-
sIOnaiiy aveuges itself in a sudden collapse of
vital strength. Even with the aid of ice water
and fan ventigtors feeble constitutions would
barely hold their own against temperature
Of 1902 in the shade. but handcapping their
resisting power by furnace fires and heat pro-
ducing food means to send out a swimmer
To lanuFFDUz af tuin -
hands and fastening bail-and-chain to his
neck. The stream iufallibly Will carry him out
Of his course, and his hope Of survival must
depend upon the chance of being cast ashore
within reach Of timely assistance.
With n similar certainty our pork-fed labor
er5 in their sitting workshops can count upon
their disability Of weathering the dog. .days
wholly unscathed, aud in many cases their
best hope OF survival rests upon the chance of
effective assistance in the crisis Of their afflc-
ton. For one man who actually falls down in
the street overcome with heat, a thousand at
least approach the verge Of collapse. and at the
close OF a swelteTing day feel that they have
purchased survival only by heavy draft upon
tho reserve strength Of their organism In
eight or 10 hours they have expended the vital
ity Of eight OF 10 weeks of life under less alb
normal conditions, and that impairment Of
stamina will assert itself in reduced longevity
or premature decrepitude.
1t is in vain 10 hope that a short fever-dream
(sleep would hardly be the right word in such
cases. in an ill ventilated bedroom could re-
store the strength exhausted by the fatigues of
such days; but still sadder self-deceptiou is
the idea that the waste OF vitality could be re-
paired by means Of irritating stimulants
The sense of fatigue" says a modern physi-
ologst, IS a demand of nature for rest, for
time to repair the wasted tissues an admOni-
tion that the system IS in need of repose.
This provision nature has wisely made to oblige
Us To stop the vital machinery before il has
become so much damaged that repairs cannot
be made This admOnltiOn comes with such
force that it cannot be resisted for any length
of time. Unfortunately for the race, however,
ingenious man has discovered that there are
agents which will quiet OF smother this warn
ing voice, thus allowing the individual to 20
on destroying his tissues beyond the point of
safety, at which nature admOnisheS him 10 stop.
Alcohol and tobacco are among the most active
and frequently used OF these substances. and
tea aud coffee belong in the same category.
Very strangely, too, these agents are employed
and recommended for the very purpose that
renders them dangerous, and that, too By men
of learning and intelligence on most subjects,
but who fail to sea the folly of their action in
this particular case. Alcohol, tobacco, tea cof-
fee and opium viii make man feel well, and
think lac ia not tired when he is exhausted but
they cannot give him additional strength. The
individual feels better only because his sensi-
blities are beuunbed, not because he is really
better off. The proper course to pursue is to
stop work when nature says enough. Stimu-
lants only put off the day of reckoning for a
little while, and they run up an enormous
account to be settled when the day of retribu-
ton finally arrives"
An agreement among factory owners and
shopkeePers to dismiss their employees a few
hours earlier on warm weather days would not
seriously Inconvenience their customers, and
would do more to prevent sunstrokes than ell
the alcohol ever prescribed for stimulating pur-
poses
ITO be contiausil