Morris tribune., 1920-10-15
The NEW PUBLIC HEALTH

Tetters on Health addressed 10
the Minnesota Public Health Assocla-
+ion. Shubert Bldg, St. Paul. M1nn''
With a stamped self-addressed en-
,,o1ona enclosed, will be answered by
. mail, If of general interest they VIII
he answered in this column also''
What is the cause or a cure
for eczema? Have had II on my
hand for ten years or more the skin
is drv and cracks-sometlmes II
saou7s to be getting better, only W
itch and crack again; is II cauSeu
nv eating honey or meat! sup
nose those questions make you laugh
Answer. No reason to laugh at
vonr eczema questions they are
rarfectlv sensible and up to date
Some eczemas are due to toods' SOME
to irritants, like very hard Water'
harsh soap, disinfectants used 100
e+ronC. brine, chemicals used III
,bo+ogranhv. etc. The cure is TO
find the cause and remove it. Flnd-
ing the cause may take lot OF eA-
norimanting in each individual case
A very interesting way OF discovering
if foods have anything to 90 Win
narticular case is this-certaln Dig
drng firms carry, as a supply tor
nhvsicians. extracts of all sorts OF
foods, carefully prepared, sterllzed'
etc. These the physicians places, a
drop at a time, one drop Of each kind
of food extract, on the steril1Zed
skin of the patient in a place free
from the eczema then he makes a
few very tiny pricks, not drawing
blood, through the drop, into the
skin; and thus the point of the
needle carries into the skin a very
small amount of the substance. Then
he wipes off the remains of the
drops. Most of these places will not
show anything; but if any one of
the food substances tested happens
to be the one responsible for the
eczema, then that particular spot
may come up red and itchy. In that
way you can discover the particular
substance which produces your parti-
cular eczema: and by avoiding it,
your eczema will gradually get we'll.
2. Question. l wish you would
say something in your column about
the evils Of meat diet. If people only
knew how much disease comes
from meat!
Answer. Vegetarians think veg
etarians are wonderfully resistant to
disease, but how about China and
India where the pople are vegetar-
ians in earnest-and die like flies of
every sort of Infection? Give me
your evidence that vegetarian diet
prevents disease-not your belief but
your evidence. I will publish it.
l. Question. The doctor at a
mental clinic said certain girl was
only two years old. Now know she
is at least Is and suppose he meant
it as a way of saying that she is not
well developed in her kind. She is
a big strong, sturdy girl, rather good
looking and dressed nicely. - I just
overheard it while I was helping with
one of the other children. Just what
did the doctor mean-or do you
know?
Answer. Mental experts classify
children's minds by mental age
that is, they have found out the aver
age intelligence that the average
child reaches at say two years old,
eight years old, twelve years old
Now it is quite proper for a child
born just two years ago to have a
two year old mind now, but a child
born eight years ago should have an
eight year old mind by this time, if
he was o. X. to start with and
nothing serious has happened since
But we have many records of people
born Is years ago, 80 years, or still
further back, whose bodies have
grown well, matured, even grown
old, yet their minds have remained
IL years old or eight or even two
never got beyond that stage, in other
words. Our prostitutes, small thieves
and minor criminals many alcoholics
and drug addicts come from these
people of '*undeveloped minds"
About two thirds of them inherited
their feeble mindedness from their
parents; about one third acquired it
as the result of disease or accident
or something Of that kind which hap
pened to them personally.
q. Question. I get out of breath
going upstairs-my feet swell to-
wards evening heart futters at
the least thing am not losing
weight; in fact 1 am gaining; I am
awfully pale or rather sort of yell
loWish-my friends say greenish-it
is very slight though. 1 don't seem
to eat we'll. Can you tell me what is
the matter?-P. S. I am a girl about
eighteen, 5 feet, inches high.
Answer Sounds like ch1orosis-