Evening star., 1928-04-12
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

where no light can penetrate. Is the
| transmitted light of day.
1T Is, of course. possible to have too
much OF good thing, and there Is. for
instance. a disease known as sunstroke,
| though very few cases so called are
really sunStroke at ALL the greater num-
| ber being more properly called neat
stroke, a wholly different thing. In
| general, light is the creator OF our lives
and their chief stimulant When the
| light fails, or even when we shut our
eyes. we tend to go to sleep, and the
diurnal- l-nocturnal rotation Is beneficent
A brief survey shows that
there must be great and varied posi-,
bilities for medicine q. e., healing) irl
| the use of light of various kinds In
various ways, and 1t is certainly true
that during the present century the SCI
ence Of photo-therapy, as we may most
generally call 1t. has made great con-
quests. and may claim place beside
that form of medicine which consists In
the administration of what the public
calls medicine And 1t would remark
ably appear that the line of progress Is
from extremely artificial applications OF
light to It's more natural uses, now known
as ,heliotherapy. and ultimately from
any kind of therapeutics to prophylaxis
scientific or modern sun worship, as the
reader pleases."
-
This same reader, DR. Saleeby says,
doubtless asks how TO use sun baths
II do not regard this question OF the
first Importance, he continues, for
the essential things to do are to abolish
our coal smoke and our slums. to equip
lxz, AEin Nfr1Ng
and to live more in the open air with
out the usual preposterous excess OF
skin covering. and thus to get our sun
baths at work and at play and In the
ordinary course of our lives while we
are thinking Of something else. That is
how people get their sun baths In
North America. and 1t illustrates the
principle OF natural prevention, and
also the profoundly important principle
of living healthy life"
Well, bless our hearts, here we in
America have been taking sun baths
all our lives and didn't know It'll We
find ourselves in the position Of the
celebrated character In Moliere's play
who suddenly became aware that he
had been speaking and writing prose.
The thing sounds simple and fool
proof, DR.. Saleeby says, but 1t Is moth
powerful agent, and, like other powerful
things. Is dangerous and may be de-
structive II misapplied. The heat OF
the sun beyond certain low point, OF
course) is enervating, destroys appetite,
promotes fever. devitalizes." He con-
tinues with the following wise warning
We need food. but not continuously.
We need sunlight, but the blessed calm
and peace Of the night, to which. as
creatures upon revolving world, we
are exquisitely adapted for sleep. re-
minds us that We do not need the sun
perpetually.
I'VE must protect the eyes and the
head from fatigue and sunStroke.
Light, food. water--nay. even love it
self-these boons do nothing for us ex-
cept in so far as we respond TO them.
Response Is individual and personal
Each child or adult must be treated as
unique; the proof of the pudding is in
the eating The principles are:
ITO hasten slowly. beginning with
only few minutes. gradually increased.
ITO use those sacred early morning
hours which Summertime in part re-
stores to us, invaluable because they
irradiate and invigorate us with more
light than heat.
ITO watch and go by the gradual tam
ming or pigmentation of the skin. a
vital reaction, as yet not understood,
which constantly goes with good results.
ITO expose the outlying parts of the
body arms and legs rather than and
before the trunk
"All such results as infiamed skin,
loss OF appetite. fever. WEAKNESS, head
ache. sleeplessness. are highly objec-
tionable. and constitute condemnation
of the method employed in the case in
question. The sun-cured per-
son begins to turn brown. The patient
who pigments deeply and quickly is the
patient who quickly profits by the light
and recovers"