Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-12
THIS AND THAT
BIZ CHARLEs E. TRACEWELL.

While it is true that the temperature
OF the blood may be 98.6, or whatever
fraction it is, in all human beings, 1t
is also true that their powers of action
and reaction vary widely, depending
upon the state of being and the very
construction of their underlying It's
sues, bones, organs, blood corpuScleS,
lymph, etc. And even their mind.
y
One does not have to visit the great
hospitals of the country nor study
medicine to realize the amazing diff
ference there Is among human beings
in the matter of tolerance. Some can
stand any amount of harsh factors and
some cannot. The plain truth seems
to be that some men are scrubs in this
respect and others are as they should
be-that is, as they should be for the
best physical actions and reactions. We
don't suppose this is very scientific, but
it Is what we mean and can be under
stood, which is something that cannot
be said for all technical discussions.
What we are getting around to is
just this, that no one can pop up in
public meeting and tell us that all men
are alike, and therefore all men must
live exactly the same way, and eat just
the same way, and drink just the same
way. If anybody wants to 60 out and
break hole in the ice In Winter and
take a bath in the river, that is his
affair, but it Is not ours and we resent
him telling us or anybody else that his
method of bathing is the one and only
way of keeping clean and healthy.
1t may or may not be significant
that the modern wave OF respirational
diseases came Immediately following
decade or so devoted to the cultivation
of the fresh air" fad.
After all, there Is no philosophers
stone in the cure of disease. The
nearest mankind has ever come to dis
covering the fountain of youth is the
sunlamp, which even now spreads its
benetlcent rays upon the skin Of the
discerning. The rest of mankind, with
its usual surety about matters concern
ing which 1t knows nothing, Scorns this
contribution of science to the we'll
being of the world, and says loftily,
When want sunshine will 60 out
doors and set it."
The discovery Of vitamins as health
factors has led searchers after-let us
say, better health, not health-to drop
and Snowdrifts and the biting gales of
Winter. These factors of growth, re-
sistance to disease, well-being, ETC., live
nicely, thank you, in warm things as
well as in cold thingsI 1t may be that
heat, high heat, will destroy some Of
them, but we have no brief for ex-
tremes of any kind, either cold or
hot. Such Is the very gist of this, our
contention Would it not be an amaz-
ing thing to discover that the common
sense of the common people has been
actually in line with the best which
modern science has to offer US, after
all?
The peasants Of Europe live in tiny
houses which have one door and few
windows. AS a matter Of fact, win
dowS throughout France, either in the
homes of the peasantry or others, are
closed during the cold season and left
that way. Nor have we ever heard
that these peoples suffer any more from
colds, influenzas and pneumonias than
the American people. If we value the
instincts of the animals, we must give
some standing to the Information of
the bear, the dens of the brute crea-
lures. When they are shivering they
are honest enough to admit it by going
somewhere and trying to keep warm.
If they have no steam-heated apart
ments, that is so much gain, but 1t
scarcely can be used as an argument
for cold Winter air. because the ami
mails are not as healthy as they seem,
as every veterinarian knows. There
never was a grosser lie propagated than
the old saying, Cats have nine lives"
They have but one, and often that one
a suffering one, even as among their
two-footed friends. Health and disease
are not just words but states of being,
and one cannot be gained nor the other
escaped through enthusiastic accept
anceS or reflections.