Evening star., 1934-06-16

Vltdlltyi
Who does not admire II, who does
not wish that he had 1t, or more of It?
Prof. Walter B. Pitkin of Columbia
University is its modern exponent. He
has written several books intending to
show other people how to be as vital
as he Is, but we suspect that many
of his readers come to feel that the
professor simply has something which
they do not have-vitality, the very
thing he Is writing about.
You either have 1t, 1t seems, or you
do not. The rules" of other persons
help the individual little.
1t is pleasing, therefore, to find a
book on the subject which gives no
"hows" at all, but considers the mat
ter in the light of the latest re-
searches of science.
This volume, appropriately called
Vitality" is by Dr. Boris Sokoloff, at
George Washington University Medi-
cal School. 1t is published by Dutton.
DR.. Sokoloff expounds the role of
Tactic acid as the beneficiary of man.
He treads on the toes of those who
have preached, in recent years, the
value of the so-called alkaline diet,
but he offers no solution, preferring
to let the reader deduct what he can
from the facts he places before him.
Exercise, fresh air, relaxation
these, we gather. are beneficial for
more reasons than we commonly
know. They help build up tactic acid,
the one and only food Of the brain.
While this element may be introduced
by the mouth. most of it is absorbed
long before it gets to the colon, where
it is needed most. So we must de-
pend on exercise to create it.
The book deals largely with cancer,
that scourge of humanity, which the
author labels a problem connected
with the beginning of old age and
the ending of pristine vitality. He
cites Napoleon as a classic example,
going extensively into the medical
records Of his last illness, the result
Of previous illnesses.
knowledge is not one dimeEsional,
but comes from many sources, often
at the same time This reader had
no sooner finished reading this book
than he picked up a paper containing
an Associated Press dispatch from
Cleveland. quoting DR.. William Car
penter MacCarty of Rochester, Mimi,
as saying Of cancer that 1T Is a dis
ease which is the result of disease" 4"
DIR. Sokoloff says that feeling of
fatigue, apathy, unwillingness to
move were Napoleons constant COM
plants from the moment when his
second illness began to gain ground.
1t Is well known fact, the author
contends, that an increase of the
alkalinity of the system attends can
Ger. This fact is admitted by one of
the leading exponents Of the so-called
alkaline diet in his latest work.
DR.. Sokoloff's words in introducing
this portion Of his book are a tribute
to his sympathy for all those who
have suffered:
This is most difficult topic to
write about. Not only because we
know very little about the causes of
this disease, but also because this
question moves and worries every one.
for each family has had a victim of
this disease, or friends who died of it,
1t is hard enough to have to write
lengthily and at times vaguely. when
clear and simple answer is expected.
But writing about cancer comes
hardest of all to a scientist who has
consecrated a large part of his life to
the study of this very disease, and
who now, even as he did twenty years
ago. finds himself in a half-dark.
thickly grown forest, where there is
no path, no road, and where the
CLEANS Of light are but a self-decep-
ton. an illusion, which is necessary
to Keep up his SPIRITS
Suppose an average man Of today
were to notice the following traits in