The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-06-02
FOR FAT PEOPLE.
THE CAUSE AND TREATMENT
OF OBESITY.
BIsmarck's Private Physician Dis
courses Upon CorpuIeney and How
IL Can Be Cured What Fat People
May Eat.

in Germany rests upon wholly dif-
ferent footing this alone should enti-
tie him TO be heard with respect
| whenever he has Il consolatory mes
sage TO deliver TO sick and suffering
humanity. OF late years he has de-
voted his attention to the annihila-
ton Of the ills TO which well fed flesh
is heir, and has published his views
| in an article entitled Cure and
| Cures" His treatment Of obesity is
the outcome OF his views on its ma
ture and origin.
AS to the causes that produce en-
| bonpoint, Professor Schweninger
holds that they are legion. Among
the most frequent and effica cious,
| however, he enumerateS mental indo-
lsnce-leannes being "A characteristic
Of the thinker; lack of physical ex-
ercise, a sedentary life, too much
sleep, badly lighted and badly venti-
lated rooms, which promote corpul-
ency by impeding the organic process
Of combustion. But by far the most
effective cause is eating and drinking;
an increased supply Of food, VIII lie
consumption and secretion remain
the same or diminish, OF necessity
augment the weight Of the body and
lead to an accumulation Of fat.
The German physician lays great
| store by his method Of treating
| obesity and condemns those of all his
predecessors, who lay too little weight
upon details and upon the necessity
Of adjusting and modifying their pre-
scriptions in accordance with the
varying needs of the patient. Food,
he holds, plays an important part in
the cure OF corpulency, not, however,
merely by reason Of its chemical
composition, but in various other re-
spects. Thus, the amount Of liquid
food, the times and frequency Of
meals, their mixture and temperature
the relation between the quantity of
nouriShment taken and the amount
Of work done by the patient, are
mo re important factors in the eyes
of DR.. Schweninger than the ques-
ton of allowing or forbidding any
pa rticular edible.
Attention should also be paid to
mental activity, to exercise, repose,
clothing, dwelling, to the general and
local distribution Of the blood, to
secretion and excretion, to sleep, to
the weight and measurement Of the
whole body and of certain parts
Of it.
The treatment is not at all drastic.
In the first place, the progress made
during the cure must be verified and
controlled at every stage by means
OF weight and measurement, both OF
which, of course, are relative. And
first weight.
At least once week the girth OF
the body should be measured round
the chest and the abdomen. The
girth round the abdomen decreases
| in direct proportion to the weight,
one kilogramme of the latter cor
responding to ten centimetres Of the
former. The girth round the chest
| decreases much more slowly. The
| face often reveals burrows and
wrinkles during and even after the
cure. which had no existence before
and ladies especially are apt to wax
wroth at the awkward discovery. 1t
must be borne with, however, the
professor tells them, but only for a
| time. The wrinkles will certainly
disappear if only the patient show
herself worthy of that name.
At the very beginning of the cure
| the stout man must cast OIL all cloth
ing OF kind calculated to exert n
| pressure on the body, to impede free
circulation and hinder the process OF
combustion.
The next prescription is partial cold
water applications, which we are as
sured come rs n boon and blessing
TO the patient whose body, being
isolated from the outer world by q
| dense layer of fat, that is, by very
bad conductor of heat" can with
| difficulty free itself from the redund-
| ant warmth and longs for cooling.
As mechanical causes contribute
to obesity, mechanical action must
be enlisted in the service of the suf.
ferev from it. Walking, working,
gymnastics, are beneficial, in moder'
ation-the essential point being to
alternate physical exercise and re-
pose with mental. 1t is gross mis-
take to fancy that long walks, noun.
tain tours. heavy rowing, bicycling
or skating for hours at time are the
readiest means to lose flesh.
Moderate exercise, short walks,
dancing, swimming, rowing, and ever
tree telling, are all excellent in mo
deration, the golden rule being that
each individual should remain wei
within the limits Of his physical cap
acity, although he may, of course
aim Mt extending it gently and gradu
ally. But all exercise should be o.
short duration and followed by rea
repose, which same repose consist:
in something more than mere cessa
ton from previous effort, and in
cludes change of position. Thus
sitting is not the appropriate kind o
rest that should be INDUCED in afte'
n walk, but lying, because in botf