The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1901-12-20

tion,-itself the parent of various
other evils; the liver may become
fatigued and surly and unruly, refusing
to do much except paint all occur
rences and conditions with bilious
and melancholy blue; the kidneys
may be decadent, deranged, and mainly
devoted to that which is detrimental;
the blood may be thinned or thickened
or detiled. and it's disorderly circula-
tion may be a frequent cause Of mis-
chief and discomfort: what am I say
ing? That one or several of these dis
eased conditions, or Of a hundred
others, may be entrenched in the
physical nature of him who announces;
am as we'll as usual; I am in my
usual state of health.
Consider again: In every one of your
homes there are number of medi-
cines, simple family remedies. In
every country store, there are elixirs
and cordials, ointments and plasters
and nostrums not few. In the larger
towns there are drug Stores in the
larger cities, scores of them, each filled
and stuffed with hundreds of remedies.
What do these wagon loads, carloads,
ship loads OF medicines, in the homes,
the stores, the pharmacies, indicate in
regard to the health of human bodies?
Then again, take birds eye view of
the State eff Connecticut any day: you
behold 1866 professional men weaving
rapidly over the Commonwealth in
Thousand directions: these numerous
physicians, an average of nine and one
lquarter for each town in the state,
these rapidly driving men are anxious
ly awaited in thousands Of homes
every day of the year. What do ID
physicians in Litchfield, 68 in Water
bury, 124 in Bridgeport; It's in Hart
ford, 222 in New Haven, what do these
hundreds of physicians testify in re-
tspect to the hygenic condition of Con-
necticut people?
We may not pause to summon as
sanatoriums, filed with acute and
chronic diseases, which are scattered
over the land.
Our survey has been sufficient to
Justify the frequent and constant use
Of our familiar salutation, How are
you? But in contemplating the uni
versal, or if you prefer, the almost uni
versal prevalence of bodily infirmity
and disease, here in slight degree,
there more intensely, here obscurely,
there manifestly, we have not COM
pleted the justification of peoples kind
health.
An additional consideration of great
, weight is that health is a cardinal
blessing. Not only is disease a want
of ease, condition of WEAKNESS, dis
comfort, often pain; but it is serious
disqualitier for the work of life. It
disables persons, sometimes partially,
sometimes wholly. 1t not only units
them for the normal duties of human
, beings, partially or completely, but it
imposes burdens, trials, sorrows, upon
those with whom the sick are associat-
ed. Health is transcendent blessing.
How are you?
HOW DO YOU DO?
Let US now introduce another divis-
ion of our subject with the inquiry,
: How do you do? In present usage, the
expression is equivalent to the former
expression, how are you, meaning how
) do you fare in health? But how did
the formula originate? l do not know.
; 1t is certainly adapted to suggest that
how are you, is determined by how you
do. Are you behaving in such way
| that you can be well? Is your manner
of life such as may conduce to make
you and keep you healthy girl, boy,
woman, man.
This is the point at which to recog-
niZe that by far the greater part of
human sickness is avoidable. BY earn
est study Of the laws of our being,
carefulness in applying them, and reso-
: luton in conforming to them, we
should presently exterminate three
: quarters of the physicians and pharma-
cists, and eventually much larger
) proportion. We are sick because we
take the way to be. 1t is not the d.
| vine wish that people be unhealthy. 1t
' was prominent part of our Lords
: employment on earth to heal the sick
Disease and debility are disa bility and
suffering: they are abnormal. We
: should take part in abolishing phys
ical disorder to the utmost. Let us
!. combat disease and cure it; but let us