The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1903-02-27
THE USE OF WATER.

Il ,
locality. And one of the reason
for it is the fine quality OF on
water. II has been tested fre
quently by competent chemists
and always pronounced pure. |
seems to us that it has been e3
traordinarily palatable during tn
recent cold spell. In view Of th
evolution of medical science upoI
the use of water, we clip an ex
tract from the editorial columns O
the Commercial Appeal upon tina
subject. In our personal expert
ence we feel that nature has Otter
been restored to healthy state, due
more largely to the generous and
frequent use of water than to any
other agency. People too often
resort to the use of drugs as laxa-
tives and purgatiyes, and the use
of narcotics for relief, when the
system has been deprived of the
most essential element for the
proper assimilation of food, and
the organism famished and secre-
tions retarded for lack of a suth
cient supply of good water. Then,
also, the human anatomy needs a
gentle flushing through its sewage
gates to discharge impurities,
and this cannot be we'll done with
out a liberal use of water. The
article is as follows:
Maj. James Cabell Minor, M. d.,
assistant surgeon in the army and
navy hospital in Hot Springs, has is
sued apamphletcontaining paper read
by him before the United States Army
Medical Lyceum in Manila when he
was on duty there in 1902. This paper
is on "Renal Insufficiency in the Trop-
les, but it applies everywhere and it
will be reid with interest because OF
its iconoclasm and plausibility. 1t
attacks and seeks to overturn the an
cient theory so generally held in army
circles that men on the march should
not drink water or only very sparingly.
1t is not 0 very long ago since the
doctors denied drink to fever patients
and, no doubt. whoever suggested the
change to the present method was
considered radical revolutionist. No
doubt Dr. Minor will suffer similar
fate, but no matter, his theory seems
plausible to the layman. He thus de-
scribes the unWisdom of neglecting to
keep the body supplied with water:
cit cannot be assumed that all who
thirst will drink; this is true only of
the lower animals who are guided in
stinctively to self-preservation, and
true only of those of the higher class
of animal, man, who have recognized
the Importance of obeying natures
calls rather than sacrifice the benefits
to be derived from her wisdom, to
pleasures and to the seeming necessi-
ties of life's vacations. The business
man is on guard as to his stock in
trade; the worry from watching en-
ployes and his other anXieties of the
busy forenoon crowd back into insig-
nifcance natures appeal for water at
regular intervals. Not until the fever
heat in the throbbing heart of finance
has cooled from it's daily rise does the
man on change listen to the call for
water to supply the waste Incident to
the rapid combustion that has taken
place; water to flush the channels Of
the debris of contlagration. The farm
er building his fence, digging his ditch
or blowing his crop is too much alb
Sorbed in visions of prosperity and air
castles to stop now and then to replace
the loss sustained by sweating; he will
Stagger while longer under his bur-
den, it will soon be noon and then he
can drink with unlimited satisfaction
from the old we'll. All procrastinate
when the instructive call for water
appeals to them. and each readily puts
it off to a more convenient season,
which will be usually, the next meal
hour, then each takes more wa ser than |
is wholesome, either for the digestive
process or for nerve functions. These
classes have not been taught"
In warm work or in warm weather
when Precipitation is constant and the
body is giving out moisture the amount |
If water drank must be large in order
TO keep up the supply, but no great |
amount should be taken at one time. |
Rather should the drinking be FREE
luent and in moderate quantities.
The kidneys must be kept supplied |
md active in order that the avenues
through which the impurities escape
nay be constantly flushed. Unless
jhis is done uric acid accumulates and
brings with it its train of diseases.