The Washington herald., 1911-11-19

| We know that a body trained to hy-
| giene habits will disperse mental mists
and increase brain energy, and. con-
versely, that mental exercise. culture,
and discipline will increase bodily re-
/ sistance.
Every physician understands that
chronic biliousness will make a man hy-
pochondriacal and pessin1istic; that alco-
| holism will destroy the moral sense, and
that lack OF exercise renders the mind
I, dull and Iethargic, but he is apt to for
/ get that there are psychic causes of
disease which operate Just as powerfully
in undermining the constitution as
broken physical laws, and the patient
will never get permanently we'll until he
is mentally emancipated.
| Correct habits Of thought are quite as
| important as proper physical hygiene.
healthy mental attitude toward life in
| general makes a man Indifferent toward
minor cares and Ills. He scarcely OBJ
serves them, and disposes Of them
mechanically.
knowledge W.. Disease.
! Before a man can be seriously sick. be-
fore physical integrity is in danger, the
brain is notified, and IL It be vigorous
organ, trained to command. It promptly
summons all its forces to suppress the re-
bellion and avert the danger.
1t is quite possible, therefore. that a
time will come when the combination of
knowledge and will power will sufice to
abolish many diseases.
That day is still far distant, but the
| advanced physician may pront by his
| prophetic insight and re-enforce the good
effects Of his drugs and hygiene with a
little philosophy.
He will not stop when he has regu-
lated his patients diet, exercise, sleep,
baths, &C, ami prescribed the indicated
medicines, but will impress upon him the
| necessity Of leading a broad, elevated,
and Strengthening mental life.
He will explain that the brain is the
real, nutrient center Of the body, the
| seat Of government; that II Is not only
constantly adding to the individual s
capital by relations with the external
world. but mus, straighten out any
tangle and make W any deficit incurred
by the body.
When the Brain Is Crippled.
Therefore, II the brain is constantly
debilitated by weak or vicious thoughts,
or atrophies from inertia, or il narrowed
| by monotonous routine, its activity is
crippled, and the whole organism suffers,
| the soul Is starved and cramped, the
general physical tone is lowered. and
| the want of harmony easily develops
into disease.
There are physical conditions, also.
that must be considered, and one i'm
portant matter is that of proper elimlna-
ton of waste matter.
The body is constantly trying to throw
| of waste matter. 11his waste matter is
| intended by nature to be taken care Of
| and carried of by the bowels, the kid
neys, and the myrlads OF pores of the
| skin.
| II the. bowels do not move daily. or
oftener. If the Kidneys are not flushed
| taken midway between mot during)
meals, II the pores of the skin are not
| kept open, then the waste matter, which
should be thrown on. Is cooped up in the
system and poisons IT. saa
1t is often offered as an argument
against the necessity OF daily baths that
our ancetors had no bathtubs, and
bathed infrequently, but they were much
in the position Of the laborers OF to-
day. Their active lives, the coarse
clothes they wore. the coarse food they
ate, the simple lives they led, the pure
air they breathed. &C., all contributed
to keep their bodies frictioned into a
state of health.
The Secret of Proper Diet.
Many intelligent people. including not
few physicians, sincerely believe that
dieting implies the eating OF unpalatable
foods. This is a mistake.
Foods that taste good are more apt to
digest well than unpalatable articles, but
the individual also is more liable to be
tempted into dietary excess by the for
mer than the latter. This is all the
truth there is in this notion.
Dieting means simply that the individ-
ual shall refrain from eating things that
a Inn tn n With hi md
shall limit the amount which he eats,
while judicious medication and rest to
the digestive organs are restoring nor
NAL tone and activity.
When the alimentary tract is in Wig
orous condition, II protests forcibly
against overeating, but II can become
so debilitated by overwork and bad
treatment that 1t makes little resistance,
and the Individual suffers accordingly.
An unprotesting, weakly. compliant
stomach means a filthy cesspool in the
body, breeding poisons and polluting all
the springs and channels OF that body,
filling the mind with evil thoughts and
the body with disease.
A clean and wholesome stomach Is the
fount Of purity. integrity. sanity, energy,
both of mind and body.
Usually the necessity for dieting means
debility or abuse for the digestive organs.
and dieting alone, while 1t will insure
method of comfort, will not cure the
original trouble.
Indigestion means either a lack or a
peryersion of secretory activity, and this
implies some fault of innervation.
The stomach nerves may be unduly
sensitive, in which case there will be
oversecretion with undue acidlty; or the
nerves may be lacking In normal sensi-
bility, in which case there will be scanty
digestive secretions, with fermentation
and fatulency.
The first condition will be marked by
irritation and excitability; the second by
depression and lack OF tone. The quality
Of these secretIons will be Influenced by
the purity OF the blood.
Pure blood circulates at a normal rate.
illogical standard
II Is not wise to eat unless one Is
really hungry No food should be taken
unless there Is real, natural hunger; Il
Is far better TO miss a meal than to eat
without an appetite.
A prolific cause OF chronic Indigestion
is eating from habit. and simply because
"a r. meal-time and others are eating.
Eat OHIy when Hungry.
To eat when not hungry is 10 eat with
out relish and food taken without relish
Il worse than wasta. without relish tho
naIivary glands do not act. the gastric
nuida are not freely Hecreted. and the
best of foods viii not b. digesied,
Many perfectly harmless dinhea are
severely condemned for M othar reason
than they were eaten rsrfunctorily and
without relish and due iusalivation
ilunnef makes The piaineai foosia ~.