The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-26
WAY TO CURE RHEUMATISM.


 existence will be almost free from it's torturing pains" That is what Dr. Leyden of the University of Berlin said to an American recently. To Dr. Ley den he had gone as the leading authori- ty on rheumatism in Europe, and after having been told by many physicians that he must grin and bear his affliction with all the philosophy he might, when hope and the efficacy of drugs ebbed low, the Germans opinion seemed all most too good to be true.
 We don't give any medicine in such cases as yours" said the doctor What you need is diet and exercise, and plen ty of both. The rheumatic who lives a sedentary life and feasts daintily is bound to come to very bad end. Hearty, frequent, well-chosen meals and much bustling about in the open air are absolute essentials to a cure. The prime cause of rheumatism is in digestion, and, though you may eat prodigious meals, if your stomach does not assimilate what is given it you are quite as poorly nourished as the man who gets but crust a day. As to what you can and cannot eat here is the rule: Of meats you must deny yourself heavy, dark flesh. Under this head is itemized mutton, venison, goose and anything that is cut off pig. Devote yourself to chicken, lamb, game, sweet breads brains and the more delicate fish, when simply cooked and served without rich sauces. Avoid lobster and crabs and every fried dish but enjoy oysters and clans.
 'Of vegetables never touch tomatoes, cucumbers and all salads that have a vinegar dressing, for an inadequate stomach is busy manufacturing more powerful acid than the system can en- dure. Eat lightly of potatoes, dried | beans or peas, and raw onions but let | yourself indulge freely in green beans | and peas, carrots, turnips and we'll | cooked greens. For all the starch your | body needs rice is the proper source of I supply. An abundance of well-cooked 1 rice is worth all the bread and beans 1 and potatoes put together.
 Strawberries, raw pears and raw ap- l pies are cut off from the rheumatic, | however wholesome they may be for | others and, strangely enough, where grape and orange juice will set a mans | joints throbbing he can help himself 1 safely and freely to lemon and lime juice. A divine healing quality is found l in the acid of both these fruits. There sugar: Don't eat it in any form what
 soever. Americans make the best sweetmeats in the world and suffer most cruelty from their use of them.
 Almost as sweeping a denunciation l l.n a1J1 IL 4...
 and milk. Beer, claret, port and cham l pagne act as a sort of poison OH the rheumatic system and though whiskey and brandy, gin and rum are not so in | furious, if taken sparingly and at long l intervals they are best abjured and wa | ter and milk substituted. In the past | ten years mineral waters have been consumed in enormous quantities by
 rheumatics in the belief that they af- | forded especial aid, and they are effi- | cacious, chiefly though from the fact | that they are very pure and that the
 use of them induces a patient to imbibe
 an unusual quantity of sweet cleansing | liquid.
 'T am willing to say that where min | eral waters are not easily obtained any l pure water, taken at the rate of two or l three quarts day, has an equally sal utary effect on the system. It must be
 pure however and filtered, if there are
 any doubts about it's cleanliness. This liquid taken slowly, in small tumber- l fuls, and for the most part between l meals will largely serve the purpose of | mineral water. Not more than a tum- l blerful is wholesome at each meal. and | it is best not to take the water just be-
 fore or after eating or on getting into
 bed.
 "A rheumatic must be nourished and most especially one who has a languid
 appetite Three meals day are not
 enough for such a patient. Between | breakfast and lunch and between lunch
 and dinner fresh egg, beaten up in sweet, fresh milk is an excellent stimu-
 lant more valuable than all the milk
 punches ever devised. All these req
 sonable courses do not lead to cure,
 though. unless exercise that is regular
 and never stinted is taken every day. First of all don't pretend to try for I athletics or violent motion of any kind
 since it is just as injurious to strain the aching limbs as to let them lie inert. "For example when rheumatism at- 1 IdckS IHe kIeeS, tO SWIIii, to Dlcycle or to play golf simply overtaxes the tor tured nerves and muscles but if you | will take a cane and walk quietly for a mile or two, or if the weather is dry take your gun and go prowlng
 through fields and woods in search of
 game or, lacking interest in that, try to cultivate a taste for hunting botanical or chronological specimens, the exer- else then serves as tonic. The main
 point is to use the muscles regularly. In wet weather bedroom gymnastics
 serve as an excellent substitute for the | more intelligent outdoor pleasures, but only in wet weather. Care must be 1 taken never to exercise so violently that any danger is incurred from cool ing off too suddenly.
 ''The average American puts consid- l erable faith in baths, and naturally pre- | fers the stimulating cold water. This is well enough when the twinges are not
 severe and the joints not swollen. In violent attacks of rheumatism it is most essential to avoid cold water and
 substitute a hot daily bath, dissolving in the water piece of sulphur as big as a hen's egg. Such a bath may not
 seem so invigorating as the cold water | but if taken rapidly, followed by brisk | towelling, with no sudden after-expo- sure for an hour to any cold air or