The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-07-13
HOW ~ KEEP WELL.


There are lot OF people who pride
themselves On being well bathed be-
cause they Jump into a tub of cold
water every morning. AS matter OF
fact. it is quite possible to take
cold bath 365 days In the year aud
yet miss entirely, the real purpose OF
the daily bath.
The cold plunge or shower is alright
in its way for those to whom 1t is
suited. that is, the young and the Wig
orous. who react perfectly. For these
it is inviSorating and stimulating. AS
a cleansing process 1t is hardly
enough because getting clean does
not merely mean letting water pass
over the body or into the body. Bath
ing both externally and internally IS
necessary and must be performed
rightly to be of benefit To be really
clean one must make sure that the
millions of tiny pores, by means OF
which the skin does its work for the
physical economy and renders elm
ination perfect, are kept cleared OF
waste products and In good working
condition. The skin is one of the
most important OF the scavengers 81
the system, but one cannot expect IL
to perform its work properly II It's
|myriads of tiny holes through which
1t gives off waste matter are blocked.
This waste matter Is largely given on
In the perspiration, which is coming
through 1t all the time. whether you
are aware of 1t or not. II this persplr-
alton is checked the waste products
are driven back into the system and
reabsorbed with the result that the
other organs of elimination are asked
to do double duty; and double duty
cannot be demanded of any organ
without a heavy bill having to be paid
some time.
To keep the skin in perfect working
condition an occasional bath that
really washes Is called for. This bath
should take the form OF plenty OF
GOOD warm water, some good mlld
SOAP, a small brush, and above all a
good ROUGH towel for the final rub
is more important than the soap an
water wash. The skin is renewing
itself all the time, with the result
that 1t is always giving off minu's
scales. It is these that block the
pores. You can stand in good light
and use a clean dry flesh brush and
prove this Use the brush Vigorously
ON the skin for a few moments and
watch the dry particles of dead skin
fly of A swift plunge into cold water
and a rub with a soft towel Will not
remove these scales. If one were 40
placed that 1t was impossible to OBJ
tain a bath it would be possible TO
POSSIBLE to keep the skin for some
time in healthy condition by vlgor-
Gus rubbing, SO far as all the purpos IS
of health demanded,
To thoroughly perform the function
iinhaIe. although one seems to enjoy
jinhaling more than eyhalinS. We rath'
err take It for granted that we should
exhale after we inhale. but the one is
as vitality important as the other. In
order to live we must pump pure air
into our lungs but we must also punt
the impure air out 1t Is natural to
breathe, and we seldom know that
we are breathing. When we inhale a
breath of ordinary air. we draw into
our lungs a mixture OF about the fol
lowing composition: Oxygen. 20.99
parts out of a 100: nitrogen 1903 parts
out OF 100: carbon dioxide, 0S parts
out of 100; watery vapor, ammonia:
other substances and gases. Later we
exhale this air. In the meantime 1t
has undergone certain noticeable
changes so that when we exhale it its
composition is nearly as follows
Oxygen 16.033 parts out OF 100, nitro.
gen, 1857 parts out OF 100. carbon
dioxide ass parts out Of 100. watery
vapor. ammonia, other substances and
gases.
We observe at once the changes
that have taken place in oxygen. Mir :,
gen and carbon dioxide. About
parts per 100 have been lost by the
oxygen: there mas been a slight gain
iof nitrogen, the amount of carbon
dioxide has increased from .03 to 4.3S
parts per 100. The watery rapor Is
now in a condition close to saturation
The loss in oxygen can be easily ex.
planned, 1t has been absorbed and IS
lbusily at work purifying and preserv.
ing the body. The great gain In car
bon dioxide is easily explained. nature
lexpelled it as a poison from the syE;.