Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1899-01-02
HEALTH NOTES
BY Dr.. ]. ". VANCE



talking to a friend who complimented
him on his robust appearance not
withstanding his advanced age, three
score anu ten. oh said Mr.. F., 81
take plenty of exercise daily. go
down into our cellar and by the use of
a pair of Indian clubs timber up my
muscles in few minutes so that /
am ready for work, and do lots of
work about the house." 1t is a pleasure
to meet Mr.. F. on the street and to
exchange a CHEEKY greeting with him.
He evidently is not as the majority of
persons who seem to adopt the idea
that since they have reached the
sixtieth milestone they are very old
and that it is time for them to retire
from the active duties of life and give
place to the younger generation, seek
a quiet corner and await the angel of
death. Mr. F. is not built that way.
but keeps along with the procession,
and doesn't intend to drop out as
long as he can by healthful exercise
maintain his present vigor. He doesn't
look as young as he did a score of
years ago, but he feels and acts as
young and spry as ever. Did it ever
occur to you that longevity can be
and ought to me cultivated? Strange
as it may seem, the thing which the
average man holds dearest of all-his
life, is precisely that to which he at
taches the least Importance, therein
exhibiting one of the most unaccount-
able contradictions in nature, says
Prof. Terrell in the Omega. Although
we do not expect to find the anticipa-
ton of a ripe old age expressing the
thoughts of youth, yet we might rea-
sonably expect to find the middle
aged devoting some thought to the
prolongation of their days, even if not
strenuously endeavoring to attain
patriarchal honors; but the reckless
disregard of natural law-the wanton
ignoring of the simplest rules for the
guidance of life witnessed on every
hand, indicate Enthusiastically the alb
sence of applied design in the pursuit
of longevity. It is a perfectly reason
able proposition that longevity is at
taina.ble by conscious, intelligent eff
fort, and assuming that the human
entity enters upon life unhampered by
inherited pathological tendencies.
there is no valid reason why, with
care, he should not reach the century
mark. Even the adverse influence of
hereditary faint may, in a great meas
ure, be overcome by purely hygienic
mode of life.
There are three causes of death
accident, disease, and old age. The
first and second may be avoided by
care, but the last must inevitably
overtake us; yet death from that cause
may be indefinitely postponed. The
excesses of the rich and the privations
of the poor in reducing the average
duration of life are only exceptional.
Physical labor cannot be the cause, for
the peasantry of all nationalities have
always furnished their fair proper
ton of centenarians. Brainwork, as a
cause, is equally inadmissible, in view
of such examples as Gladstone, Bis
marck, Ii Hung Chang, and Pope Leo
XIII. Failing to find sufficient cause
in external conditions, we must look
within. The cause must be in the
human system itself. There are two
prime causes for the premature cur
tailment of human vigor. The first
is the deposition of calcareous sub
stances in the tissues of the body, for,
physiologically considered, old age is
simply Justification. Those substances
are chiefly derived from the water we
JV.ix ~ &c Ivy
rain water or distilled water only
were drunk our existence would be
heightened many years. The next
and most important is the imperfect
elimination of waste materials from the
system and their accumulation tends
to obstruct the channels through which
such products are thrown off. The
Incessant destruction and up building
is going on and when that process is
checked or ceases, life soon becomes
extinct. 1t is important, therefore.
that moderate exercise in the open air
daily should be engaged in in order to
insure the waste of and transmutation
of tissue, and thus promote health and
advance longevity.
Swedish Exercise-The Swedish sys-
tenn of physical training has gained
favor in schools, and for a remedy in
chronic diseases, until now its merits
are well established. Ling, the
originator, was a fencing master,
never studied medicine, but noticing
the good effects of exercise on his own
health and on the development of
others, devised a system of educa-
tional gymnastics and also a system
of exercises for invalids. Their aim
was to produce graceful carriage, in
vigorate every part of the body i'm
perfectly developed and to secure
good control of the muscles by the