Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-01
RULES OF HEALTH.
Violated in Countless Ways Daily
Almost Every One.
From The Pittsburg Press.

From The Pittsburg Press.
1t Is rather curious that many OF the Ills
which make life a wretched affair ars|
caused by our own daily actions. SittinRi
on chairs. for instance. is the cause ofj
nearly all our evils in regard to the|
spine," according to DR.. Noble Smith, al
surgeon of repute. 1t would surprise tfe|
layman to know how many men, wonlen|
and children who pass muster in the street.
or the dancing room suffer from deformityI
of the spine. They are the surgeons best
customers. And IL DR.. Smith is right, vel
ought to abolish chairs and introduce the
ancient fashion OF reclining on mats.
DR.. Covers, one of the greatest authori-
ties on diseases of the nervous system.
brings another charge against chairs. *It
one habitually sits on a hard chair. DE
says, the pressure of the edge is likely 20
give rise TO sciatica. This Is worth re-
Numbering, for there must be thousands
of people who spend large sums tryfngSto
cure their sciatica while they are all the
time adding fuel TO It by sitting on hard
edged chairs.
This same disease, as well as the still
more painful one of lumbago, are caused
by other everyday habits. In this hot
weather people Sit without thought of the
consequences, on the grass, the sands, and,
worst Of all, on rocks Perhaps they escape
for the time; but as soon as the first TOUGH
of winter comes the lumbago and. sciaticaI
make their appearance.
Then in the morning tub We have the
seeds of rheumatism. Sooner or later this
daily chilling of the feet produces that b.
fammatory condition of the joint car
tilages which results in gripping rheuna-
tism. a simple precautiOn is to use a cshk
mat or a piece OF wood for standing on tiAe
bath. block that would raise the feet
out of the water is better still.
Perhaps the inventor of oilc!oth has been,
the greatest enemy of those predisposed TO
rheumatism Even when wearing thick
boots, If you stand much on oilcloth, you
can scarcely escape rheumatism in the feet
II you cannot afford carpets stain the
floor, and you will be saved much suffer
ing.
Most people make themselves III on suns
day. At least a majority are not in such
good form on Monday morning as on othel
days of the week. This fact has been ex
planned by suggesting that people eat tod
much and take too little exercise on tho
Sabbath. But probably the chief cause Is
closed doors and windows. On Sunday the
doors are closed, and. too often, the win1
dows also. Hence the Sunday night dull
ness and Monday morning below par con-
dition.
Doctors find those dyspeptic patients who
are engaged in bookkeeping and other desk
work almost incurable. The reason Is that
the writing attitude is most unphys.o~
logical. With the left arm resting on the
desk and the body bent. the spine is much
twisted. The left ribs lowered until
they touch the edge OF the hip bone. Cons
sequently the stomach and intestines are
compressed and moved out of place. the
heart, spleen. liver and other organs are
pressed upon, and to add to the evil the
neck Is also twisted, squeezing the blood
vessels and causing congestion or the brain.
Obviously no function can be properly per.
formed in these circumstances, and incur
able dyspepsia is a certain result.
By violent brushing of the teeth we ruin
our gums and produce decay of the teeth;
by leaving a little moisture in the cara
after washing cause neuralgia: py
drinking too freely In hot weather We
paralyze the stomach :
But the greatest number OF evils we work
on ourselves are produced by faulty articles
of dress. This has been written about so
much that doctors have nothing new to
say on the matter. except, perhaps with re-
gard to the waterproof coat. And although
that Is out of season Just now, II may be
pointed out that the man who wears
waterproof coat while walking or cycling
converts the clothing into a poultice. When
he takes 1t off he Is in the same position al
IL he had put on very damp clothes. and
this is a thing no one would be senseless
enough to do.