Tombstone epitaph., 1891-03-15
PROFESSIONAL MEN.
ADVICE TO THOSE PURSUING [
 SEDENTARY OCCUPATION.

Synopsis of Lecture by IT ofe,,sor Fran.
 cis Minot-What Is show Ly Statis.
 tics--Origin of Diseases -l;raiu Worh
 and Health.
 Professor Francis Minot lectuied re. gently at the Harvard Divinity scf ool op the health of professional men. The lect. ure included three topics: The actual condition of, the health of professional men; their peculiar disease, and the best mode of doing professional work. Under the term professional men, we include physicians, lawyers, clergyInen, writers, scientists and teachers.
 Dr. Minot said the health of profes. sional men ought to be as good as that of other people, for they had good shelter, good food, and were not exposed to ex. trcmes of weather and noxious surround ings, and were not tempted to dissipation md excess. This inference was shown to be correct by statistics. Longevity was not always attended by good health, but healthy life. Statistics of the age at death of over 200, ,000 people in Massachu. sets showed that, while the average of all was about 52, the average age of pro. fessiOnal men was little over 52, includ. ing actors and photographers. Of real professional men the average age was about 59; of judges, 6G, of clergymea, CO; of professors, 5S; of physicians. 57; of lawyers, over 56
 A DIFFERENT RESULT.
 Statistics compiled in England showed different result, for while clergymen were there also longer lived than lawyers or physicians, physicians were the short- est lived of professional men. During three consecutive years the death rate among physicians was 26 in 100; among lawyers, 20, and much less among the clergy. This difference was remarkable. It could not be explained by the irregular life lack of rest and overwork of medical men, for those conditions applied 10 Amer ican physicians, and was probably due to the fact that many English doctors spend years in India, whence they return with impaired health. There was general re. semblance in the mode of living of law. yers and physicians; they were obliged to exercise more and there was more variety In their lives than in those of clergymen and professors. The great longevity of ministers must be attributed to mUtIera. ;ion, temperance and freedom from anx. .ety as to pecuniary matters.
 Dr Minot then reviewed briefly the ori. gin of diseases in general and said many of them would disappear as soon as their causes became known. The danger tc the health of professional men lay in their sedentary life. They should warm their studios and offices with open fires rather than with furnace heat, and supply less oxygen in consequence Of greater raretica. tion of the air. Good hygienic conditions | in their houses was next in importance. Bad drainage caused typhoid fever, pneu- moria, diphtheria and blood poisoning. No drainage or sewer pipes should have | indirect communication through other pipes with the interior of sleeping rooms. Next to drainage the care of the person was of greatest importance. Sponge baths every morning were advantageous to those | whom the practice did not injure, and | daily moderate exercise was necessary. | Professional men often suffered from what was pOpularly known as biliOusness, | which was due to insufficient exercise iD the open air; from this ill lawyers and physicians were freer than clergymen and writers.
 WORK AND RELAXATION.
 From work professional men gained their livelihood and their happiness, and the question was, How can one do the most work with the lehst injury? The work should be uniform as regards hours,
 with intervals of relaxation, during which the mind should be completely withdrawn from one's work. There were many in. stances Of the beneficial effects of this alternation of employment. Sir John | Lubbock was m active banker and mem- Der of parliament, but became famous from his avocation as a naturalist. 4 | distinguished Massachusetts judge spent his evenings frequently in reading sen
 satona! novels. An hour at whist not o. .ly afforded @ positive gain as regards I health, but an increased capacity fol | tabor. A complete vacation at least once year was advantageous. B. K. Curtis said he could do his years work in nine | months, but not in twelve. Every pro
 fessional man, except the country doctor, l could generally take a vacation in the summer, and the country doctor should take journey, particularly Q journey | across the ocean.
 Professor Minot did not believe i'iat l brain work was bad for health. Instances | of the effects or over braii work were nearly all due to the neglect of hygienic rules or to hereditary diseases. Brain workers often lived long and laborious | lives. IJ was a natural inference when a professional man died of apOpleXy that he died of overwork. hut apopleXy was as liable to be caused by physical overwork as by mental. The professor closed with three examples of the effects of the rules
 he mad laid down: Darwin, who by regu' larity performed an enormous amount of
 work, in spite of ill health and intense pain; Dr. Little, whose ,dle of life in- cluded the twenty-four hours of the day, and who generally worked until 3 in tine morning and rose at s, took vacation of | one month every year, and lived to be nearly 90; distinguished London phy- slcian, Dr. Bird, who at 40 had built up a practice worth G1O,0OO year, but who died soon after, broken down by over.