The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-02-14

not anxious to have the need arise.
The Lord desires to answer numbers
OF these prayers, for restoration to
health, by preventing their occasion.
While the primal curse remains &C
lively registering itself in the earth,
there will always be, as a direct or
indir, c. consequence Of it, a large
amount OF sickness prevalent in hui
man society. But this sickness is not
necessarily a fixed amount. 1t is di,
mlnishable to a large degree by the
education of the masses in correct prin
Clip es OF hygiene, by the introduction
OF improved methods of sanitation,
and by private attention to the great
problem Of the case of the health, as
Its particular aspects differ, according
to the variances Of the personal equa
ton.
In the direction Of improved santa
ton, and a broader popular under
standing Of the laws of health, a great
advance has been made of late years.
Medical discoveries have been numer
Gus and important, and the progress
made In surgical science, has been
most note worthy. 1t is true that many
doctrinaire theories have been +
mulgated under the guise of flaws of
health" and a foolish fas~sidiousness
has been developed in many people. as
the result of a nervous fear of suffer
log some remotely possible bodily
harm Indeed, the word ''hygienic,"
has been so abused in many quarters,
as TO lead US co suggest this definition
OF it: II you do not want to eat a
thing it is hygienic; if you do want to
eat it, it is not"
The extravagances in theory or prac-
tlce OF class of people, however,
does not effect the main contention,
that the laws of health are very prop
erly becoming all the while better un
derstood, and thoroughly applied
throughout society, in a manner that
would have done the soul of that san
ltary enthusiast, Charles Kingsley,
good to contemplate. This is as it
should be. A complete modern civihza.
ton needs its boards OF health, it's lit.
literature Of hygiene, its popular
medical lectures, it's closer study of the
principles Of ane and sound living.
Only thus can the death rate be gradu.
ally lowered, and the average longevity
Of the race increased.
If men of skeptical tone, mere ma
terialists, slaves of the scalpel or the
test tube, as are some distinguished
modern scientists, take all this interest
in extending the earthly bounds of
human life, it surely would seem that
the Christian, who believes in making
the best of two worlds, should mani
fest even more Of an interest in the
problems Of health and hygiene. Be-
cause the Christian looks forward fond
~ to a heavenly sphere Of being, there
is no reason why he should hurry
thither before his time. Paul longed
to depart and be with Christ, but he
did not commit suicide. He attended
conscientiously to the medical advice
of Luke, the beloved ply stefan; and
it was largely through the assiduous,
afectionate attention of the latter,
that the apostles frail body was, de
spite the many hardships and buffet
ings it encountered, SO long preserved
from dissolution.
To care for the health, and to EN-
ploy proper medical remedies, as the
occasion demands, as a Christian duty.
A deliberate neglect to do this amounts
to self murder. The laws If health,
written deep in the physical constisu.
ton of humanity, r but the laws OF
God, to be ''obeyed and respected &C
C prdingly. New Y )rk Observer.