The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1890-04-17
A LONG LIFE.
A NOTED DOCTOR TELLS HOW 1T
MAY BE ATTAINED.
He Advocates Throwing Physic to
the Dogs - What Should be
Done to ProlonS Existence
A Cure for Consumption.

York surgeon, tells Herald represe nta-
tive what should be done to prolong hu-
man existence. He says:
Everybody, under ordinary .circum-
stances, ought to be one hundred years
old. As it is. people live from eight to
fifteen years longer than their forefathers
did. They have learned: to eat and drink; !;
how to keep their homes ventilated and
their sewers drained, and how to gen
orally take better care of themselves.
Still they do not live anything like as
long as they ought to, because they do
not yet live as they ought to. They have
too much to do, too much to think
about and too much care to bear. Many
are very much distressed as younger men
to know how they are going to make sure
of living. By and bywhen their repu-
tation has grown they are driven to
death with the work forced upon them.
If had lived anywhere near right in the
earlier part of my professional career l
believe my life would have been pro-
longcd beyond century. I never used
to know what it was to be tired, hungry
Or sleepy. When the decline begins the
face loses its color, the.plump, vigorous
look of the skin vanishes and lassirude
takes the place of elasticity.
"Open CRATES are far preferable to any
other means of heating house, for they
help ventilation, which is an important
factor in the prolongation of life l
never allow furnace to be lighted in my
house except when there'is danger of the
water pipes freezing up.
"One of the greatest dangers to human
life is the candy shop, which destroys
the stomachs of children.
Tobacco is decidedly injurious when
used to excess, the same as liquor. A
mild cigar smoked after dinner, how
ever, has soothing effect, and the
! smoker sustains less injury from it than
he would from rushing OFF to work ON
full stomach. No injury will result
from sleeping after meal. Old perple
are benefited by a nap after eating. AMI
mails afford an example. Feed two dogs
and let one curl up before the fire while
the other is taken out to hunt rabbits.
Then on the return from the hunting ex
pedition kill both dogs. The stomach of
the one tnat has been sleeping will be
clean, while the food in the stomach of
the other will be found u2digested. The
dog that has been hunting has expended
all his energies in the chase and the food
has had no chance to digest.
"Icc water, which people generally
gulp down in unlimited quantities, para
lyzes the nerves of the stomach, and is
one of the greatest causes of dyspepsia in
this country. People should drink water
at its natural temperature. Boiling water
drunk an hour or so before meals is q
valuable aid to digestion in many in
stances. The majority of people eat more
than they ought, and they also eat too
fast. In eating it is not question how
much person can deyour but how much
he can digest. Some people are better
off on two meals day than on three.
"Turning night into day-that is,
working at night and sleeping in the day
time-does not mean that the person
who does it is doomed to IN early grave.
Men who work nights may live to good
old age. VIM. Cullen Bryant was accus
toned to work nights and attained II ripe
old age. Still 1 consider that people
who work during the day and sleep dur
ing the night are better off. One thing
is certain, a person must have sleep at
some time, whether it is at night or dur
ing the day. The average person ought
to have eight hours sleep. When I was
young ! read than Napoleon only took
four hours sleep iu twenty-four. l
thought that no great man needed more
than four hours, so that was all I took.
I found out the error of that idea later.
"The great mortality from phthisis or
consumption is due to the varying tenn
perature and the foul air breathed. 1t
is contagious, and healthy persons can
contract it. The sputum, or cxpectora-
ton. becomes dry and is converted into
powder, which floats in the air and
may be inhaled. The next ten years will
show great diminution in deaths from
phthisis. Consumption can be cured.
The way to cure it is to put the patient
in the mountains where the air is dry,
and keep him away from the doctor and
the apothecary shop. He does not need
medicine. There is too much medicine
used in many kinds of disease.
Insanity, I should say, is increasing,
and the explanation is to be found in the
way in which we live. Men rush to Sc
cure millions when they ought to be salts
fled with hundreds of thousands. They
likewise rush to spend their money and
then worry to meet their financial engage
ments. Insanity may be caused by flnc'
tional disturbance or by an organic
change. In case of an organic change it
is doubtful if insanity is durable.
"Dreams do not indicate physica, de-
feet. They indicate that the dreamer's
stomach is out of order or that he is
worried Dreams often seem of long dura-
ton, but it should be remembered that
thoughts fly so fast that they cannot be
measured. They will travel over pretty
much the entire universe in five minutes.
If person keeps his mouth shut he will
not snore. If he cannot keep it shut
any other way he ought to tie bandagc
under his chin and over his head. The
nose is the proper thing to breathe
through. But snoring will not do any
harm. A. person VINO appreciates humor
and has good hearty laugh now and
then is the better for it, but to be cter-
nally giggling and smirking, when
hn ;c,I