New-York tribune., 1906-04-10
NATURE AND HEALTH,
Rules of Normal living Laid Down bv DR.
Edward Curtis.

Edward Curtis
This book has been written in great mart out
OF doors. Thought out under the open sky. il
has been committed to paper by the wayside on
knee or on the fiat tops of fences Brought
forth in such fashion, it is offered not as learn
ing. but a lure-a lure for the wise living
that shall gain from goddess farer than Hera
than Athene. or than Aphrodite herself that
Gift. all Hygeia's own-the priceless boon of
health, happiness and the usefulness of years"
Thus DR.. Edward Curtis. emeritus professor
of materia medica and Therapeutics columbia
University explains the purpose of the book re-
Gently published under the title Nature and
Health: A Popular Treatise on the Hygiene Of
the Person and the Home" Henry Holt & Co,
New-YorlO Writing in a vein calculated to in
terest and instruct the ordinary, average reader
without technical knowledge of anatomy in the
Chemical values of foods or domestic sanitation
the author has devoted chapters to such topics
as breathing, eating. drinking, seeing. hearing
pathing. disinfectng. exercising the body and
sleeping and waking
Dr. Curtis has horror of pottering over ones
self Healthy eyes. he says, need no wash other
than that which the whole face receives in
ordinary routine. The practice of plunging the
face into a basin of water and opening the eyes
there is senseless. AS for the ears, don't poke
anything into them other than the cloth armed
end OF the little finger. Don't cotton in the
ear as a protective. Such a measure simply
makes the ear oversensitive and more likely to
infame than otherwise. Don't use nasal douches
OF any kind except by order of physician In
regard to colds malady which the author
always places between quotation marks as being
the stupid, common name for catarrh,' cold
baths. he says. a good method Of breathing and
care of the general health will be found fully as
effective in warding them off as "pottering with
sprays, gargles and snuffs."
ON BREATHING.
Apropos of breathing the author makes many
lNthy remarks, all calculated to induce the
reader to breathe through his nostrils, sleep
with his windows open and sell his carpets and
portiares TO the ragman.
THE same kind Office" he says that long
grass offers to mosquitoes. a crumb strewn
table to flies upholstery presents to the emana-
tions Of the human lung. Very grand is the
drawing room, with its grand tapestries its
thick rugs and its thicker cushions, but after
a crowded social function there will linger in
the sumptuous apartment a noisome mustiness
that opened windows will be powerless to re-
move. The reason is simple: Those massy hang
Ings and coverings make ideal harborage for
stale breaths, an incongruity mocking and
as shocking as that Of Christopher Sly in the
! chamber of q lord"
eral adjuvant to the well being of the breath
ing apparatus. and, indeed, of the economy
generally" 1t develops and holds pervious
the various passages and chambers Of the res
piratory tract from brow TO diaphragm, and
trains and practises in deep, full breathing. En-
tirely apart, therefore, from all idea Of making
vocalists singing should be taught and prac-
tised in the family circle by all, be the voices
good, bad or Indifferent
Children should be brought up to eat any
4t ir,rr4 4l1ar &c who he ut no mr.
genuine idiosyncrases must always be needed.
When mutton poisons, or shelltsh and straw
berries produce rash, or butter and animal
fats generally disgust, these articles must be
avoided, Nature will exact penalty.
Another point on which the author Is en-
phatic IS that the dietary cannot be constructed
on chemical considerations alone. diet Of
isolated proXimate principles. taken in proper
quantity and proportion, would theoretically be
sufficient for nOuTiShment but nevertheless
would not nourish. For short time an enthUsi-
ast might Subsist on white of egg. butter, ar
rowrOOt. salt, phosphates and water but
palate and digestive tract both would rebel.
forcing the subject to come to his senses and
take his food in natural shape. The digestive
organs are equipped to handle food in crude
condition and not as sorted. sifted and con
densed in the laboratory of the manufacturing
chemist Even the indigestibe portions Of
natural food have their function in giving bulk
to the food mass and In provoking proper mas
ticatiOn and resulting insaliVauon. Also tasu-
ness and variety are essential to prevent palling
and loathing.
HOT AND COLD WATER BATHS
CONDENSED and predigested food is highly
valuable as temporary makeshift when for
some reason natural food cannot be taken. but.
in condition of ordinary health. much the best
are the foods that fathers provided and mothers
cooked before the day when the manufacturing
chemist first appeared in the land"
Dr.. Curtis would not have his reader rely too
much on hot water for cleansing purposes.
cold water win meet every need of washing,
though hot water may remove the epithelium.
But the epithelium, or scarf skin. must not be
trimmed down too fine. Such trimming, like
close cropping Of the hair biting Of the nais,
deprives the underlying parts of a natural pro-
lection. Incessant ablutons with very hot
water make the skin unduly tender"
What soap one uses makes very little differ
ence in this authors opinion, $50 long as it be
/ a respectable member of the saponaceous fra
ternity" miserable cheap soap, strong of
alkali and rank grease is. Of course, to be avoid
ed but an honest CASTLE soap or any nice soap
Of the drug stores. may be used indiferently.
/ The wonderful virtue Of this soap or that, be
! cause of some special trait Of constitution or
! of medicinal impregnation. is simply gam
! mon"
/ A long chapter IS devoted to eating-nost Of
! # 70 the dangers of overeating and the salts
! faction be derived in the case OF those not
/ neryous and thin by temperament Of A diet
/ reduced beyond the ordinary. After considering
/ at some length the results of Professor Chit
/ tenden's experiments in New Haven, he
! Cludes that the sporadic cases Of a Carnaro.
/ Bryant or a Fletcher are mot crazy they
! seem; that man really needs only from one
I half o 0ne-t third Of the amount OF prOteid food
. commonly supposed to be necessary as
matter of fact, he is stronger. more vigorous
and far more active on a reduced proteid fare,
/ and especially that there is call whatever for
/ a heavy proteid allowance because Of the doing
/ of hard muscular labor"