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HEALTH AND CARE OF THE MATURE AND AGED.

Preservation of Health.—The preservation of health is sought by all wise persons, and the sweeping advances made by medicine in the past century, together with the better understanding of the masses, makes it possible to lessen disease, to minimize its evil effects, and to preserve the separate organs from involvment.

Patients Must Assist.—An educated physician has wonderful powers, but he can use but half his knowledge if he has no assistance from the patient or the patient's family. The physician recommends certain foods and advises against certain habits. An intelligent man will follow this advice to the letter. As regards many conditions, the reader can find ample advice in these pages.

Moderation.—All through life one word sums up the rule which all should heed. That word is moderation.

Temperance is almost a synonym.

Be temperate in food as well as in drink; in excercise and in work; even in sleep and rest, moderation is the word.

Effects of Immoderation.—Too much meat, too much pastry, too much tea or coffee, too little sleep, too heavy work and the blood is surcharged with deleterious material which is deposited in the various organs and tissues of the body and premature old age comes on, or the organs fail to functionate, and death comes years ahead of its time. Even in acute illnesses which are determined in their course in the first few days of the disease, constitution plays a most important part. This constitution may be inherited—a cause for congratulation—or it may be acquired.

Healthy Ancestry.—To obtain a good physique one should have healthy ancestors. For this purpose—to insure as healthy an ancestry as possible to coming generations—the most intelligent men of our times are agitating the passage and enforcement of laws prohibiting the marriage of the physically or mentally unsound.

Inherited Consumption.—Consumptives should not marry, or if they marry, should not create or bear children to inherit the weakened constitions[sic] and to look forward to the same early and revolting death that their parents have had.

Care in Inherited Consumption.—If, on the other hand, such a family history has preceded one's advent into this world, attention to every detail in the development of the body and to maintaining that condition of health which results, will usually lengthen the days and the reward will be worth all the struggle and effort. Climate, an outside life, temperance in all things, and the careful trial and development of the weakened parts of the body are essential to improvement.

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Criminals Should Not Have Children.—That criminals should not create offspring is most widely accepted. How to prevent this is the question that has excited discussion for several decades among learned men. That the vast majority of our criminals are the children of other criminals is acknowledged.

Children of Criminals.—A large number of their children are epileptics or idiots. With this horde of "misfits" in the community, there is a constant drag backward on the wheels of progress. Emasculation is the remedy most certain, and is offered by the most enlightened and advanced men in the world, but few among the masses are prepared to accept so severe a measure. Many people fail even in this day to realize that duty to mankind is above duty to individual man.

Cleansing the World of Disease.—The above paragraphs—on consumption and on criminals—are but hints to the thinking, and if followed to their natural conclusion will demonstrate the necessity of cleansing the world of disease by allowing those who are afflicted to live out their lives as comfortably and as happily as they can, only prohibiting them from perpetuating their kind, which they should have no desire to do anyway if they realize the sort of offspring that will surely be given them.

Care in Different Stages of Life.—In the third decade of life many excesses in work or in dissipation may be indulged in without any immediate ill resulting, but the fourth or at latest the fifth decade will show that all excesses must be paid for to the full. I do not mean to encourage laziness, for activity in business and in pleasure is as useful as can be.

Value of Recreation.—Vacations are a help and should be spent away from one's work and among new and novel scenes. Recreation from work and worry helps to lengthen one's days. Brain workers especially must throw off completely all thoughts of their work at frequent intervals and refresh their minds, and thus their bodies, with new or entirely different occupations. The return to work will reveal an increased power and interest.

Value of Sports.—Golf, hunting, fishing, and the various simpler sports are of value to a mature man or woman, acting both mentally and physically toward the well-being of the individual. No one should consider themselves old so long as they can possibly enjoy the milder sports of life. Borne men are young at seventy—yes, even at eighty—while some are old at sixty. "A man is as old as his arteries," says someone, and it is true that some men are older at thirty than others are at fifty.

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Avoid Worrying.—Don't worry. It ages yourself and all your friends. A woman who thinks herself a compact bundle of symptoms looks old, is old, but unfortunately does not die soon enough to allow her friends to enjoy a little youth.

Sunshine and Air.—A clean life, avoiding excesses of all kinds, with as much open air and sunshine as can be had will give the adult, as well as the child, the best chance for health and long life.

THE AGED.

Prolonging life.—In olden times the alchemists claimed to have discovered the elixir of life. They said that old age might be retarded and life greatly prolonged by means of an elixir having the power of preventing or suspending physical decay.

The possibility of prolonging life has in all ages been noticed by great thinkers.

The Organs in Old Age.—The latest scientific knowledge in regard to this subject may be stated as follows: The principal characteristics of old age, as demonstrated by anatomical research, are a deposition of fibrinous, gelatinous, and earthy material in the system. Every organ of the body, during old age, is especially prone to ossific deposits. The earthy deposits have been found to consist primarily of phosphates and carbonates of lime combined with other calcareous salts.

Bone Hardening in Old Age.—Man begins in a gelatinous and ends in an osseous or bony condition. From the cradle to the grave a gradual process of ossification is undoubtedly present; but after passing middle age the ossific tendency becomes more markedly developed until it finally ushers in senile decrepitude. These earthy deposits during old age materially interfere with the due performance of function by the organs; hence we find imperfect circulation in the aged; the heart gradually becomes ossified; the large blood-vessels blocked up with calcareous matter, and nutrition hindered.

Changes Which Produce Old Age.—"If repair was always equal to waste, life would only terminate by accident." It is the opinion of eminent scientists that the majority of all who pass sixty-five years suffer more or less from these ossific deposits. Therefore, bearing these facts in mind, it is plain that the real change which produces old age is, in truth, nothing more nor less than a slow but steady accumulation of calcareous matter throughout the system; and it is owing to these deposits that the structure of every organ is altered, elasticity thus giving way to senile rigidity. Blockage of various organs is thus commenced, and sooner or later a vital part becomes involved, and death of necessity follows. The idea that old age was brought about simply, or at all, by a decline of the vital principle, has long since been discarded by scientists, and the true cause found to be that of gradual disintegration of the tissues because of the inadequate supply of blood.

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The feebleness of old age, therefore, being due to nothing more nor less than ossific deposits, it is well for a moment to look for the causes and influences leading to the condition described.

THE CAUSES OF OLD AGE AND THEIR AVOIDANCE.

The two principal causes of old age are, first, fibrinous and gelatinous substances; and second, calcareous deposits. According to recent researches, the origin of the first, the fibrinous and gelatinous, may undoubtedly be traced to the destruction of atmospheric oxygen.

Fibrin Blockades Life.—Although unquestionably fibrin nourishes the organs of our body, yet it becomes at times, as we reach the cool and shady walks in the evening of life, accumulated in redundant quantity, blockading the streams of life as do the chilling winds of winter the mountain rivulets.

Proportion of Chalky Matter.—The calcareous deposits are proved to be caused by gradual deposition from the water which forms so large a part (70 per cent.) of the human system, and to be introduced by means of food.

Foods and Chalky Matter.—As a matter of fact, everything we eat does contain these calcareous matters to a greater or less degree. The cereals are found most rich in them; so bread itself, the so-called staff of life, except in great moderation, most assuredly favors the deposition of these salts in the system. The more nitrogenous our food, the greater its percentage of calcareous matter; thus a diet composed principally of fruit, from its lack of nitrogen, is best adapted for preventing or suspending ossification.

Effects of Overeating.—Moderation in eating, then, must ever be of great value as an agent for retarding the advent of senile decay. Large eaters more rapidly bring on ossific deposits by taking in more than is utilized or excreted, naturally resulting in blockading the vessels and destroying their normal functions.

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Best Foods for the Aged.—According to the best authorities, the following seem to be the best articles of food as containing the least of earthy salts: Fruit, fish, poultry, flesh of young mutton and beef; because, as before stated, they are much less nitrogenous. Fluids, as part of the diet, are of special import. All well and spring water contains considerable of the earthy salts, and should therefore be avoided and cistern water used in its stead, because water is the most universal solvent known.

How to Dissolve Salts.—Therefore, if when taken into the system clear of foreign matter, it is to that extent the better prepared to dissolve and take up those earthy salts and convey them out of the system. The addition of fifteen or twenty drops of dilute phosphoric acid to the glass of water, and drunk three times a day, will add to the solubility of these earthy salts.

RULES FOR THE CARE OF THE AGED.

1. The aged should not endeavor to perform the feats of agility, strength, endurance, and "of digestion," which were once their pride, especially during the extreme heat of summer.

2. The aged should avoid torpor of the bowels and constipation. Straining at stool may cause apoplexy.

3. Do not give up all mental and bodily work.

4. In the chill of any evening, or of early autumn, the aged need fire. Many an otherwise long life is cut short from neglect of this rule, by an attack of some form of lung inflammation.

5. Life can be prolonged, without a doubt, by a proper change of climate and of scene. The flickering flame of life can be protected from going out by a careful hand.

6. All warnings of weakness, or on-coming sickness, or decay, should at once be noticed by the aged, and due precaution and proper treatment instituted at once.

FOOD IN OLD AGE.

What Food to Avoid.—We eat to live or should eat to that purpose and as one grows old there is all the greater demand from Mother Nature that he adhere to this rule. Sir H. Thompson, in his book on Diet in Relation to Age and Activity, says that if a man past his half century of life "continues to consume the same abundant breakfasts, substantial lunches and heavy dinners which at the summit of his power he could dispose of almost with impunity, he will in time either accumulate fat or become acquainted with gout or rheumatism, or show signs of unhealthy deposit of some kind in some part of the body-processes which must inevitably empoison, undermine, or shorten his remaining term of life.  .  .  . The typical man of eighty or ninety years is lean and spare and lives on slender rations."

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Three Diet Rules.—Prof. W. Gilman Thompson, M. D., of New York, in his classic work on dietetics gives three rules to be observed in the dietetic treatment of old age. These are:

"1. To diminish the total quantity of food ingested.

"2. To give food at frequent intervals in small amounts.

"3. To give only digestible food, which does not produce too large a residue of waste matter, either in the intestinal canal or in the form of excrementitious material in the blood."

A Nature Hint.—Meats and tough vegetables are to be avoided and Mother Nature gives us a hint of this by taking away our teeth. This does not mean that the aged are to be kept on a fluid diet, for mastication is of use in promoting the salivary flow.

Liquid Tonic.—"Malt liquors are very good for the aged, and a moderate amount of alcohol acts as a tonic and supplies them with needed energy for digestion and other functions."

Minced Foods.—Yeo's suggestions as to diet in the aged are worthy of quoting in full:

"Of animal foods best suited for this time of life the following may be mentioned. When the organs of mastication are altogether inefficient these foods should be minced or pounded into a paste or otherwise finely subdivided:

List of Foods for the Aged.—"1. Young and tender chicken and game and other meats.

"2. Potted chicken, game and other meats, sweetbread.

"3. White fish, as soles, whiting, smelts, flounders, and so forth. Best when broiled.

"4. Bacon, grilled; eggs lightly cooked, or beaten up with milk, and so forth.

"5. Nutritious soups, such as chicken purees, or fish purees, beef tea, mutton and chicken broths.

"6. Milk in all forms, when easily digested.

"7. Beef tea and milk supply the needed mineral substances, and the former is an excellent stimulant.

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"8. The addition to milk of an equal quantity of Vichy water, warm, or of warm water, will often help to make it agree.

Vegetable Food.—"1. Of vegetable foods the following are all suitable.

"2. Bread and milk made with the crumbs of stale bread and without any lumps.

"3. Porridge and oatmeal gruel.

"4. Puddings of ground rice, tapioca, arrowroot, sago macaroni with milk or eggs and flavored with some warm spices, or served with fruit juice or jelly; bread and butter, at least a day old; rusks for soaking in tea, or milk, or water.

Artificial Foods.—"1. Artificial foods, consisting of predigested starches. The digestive ferments are scantily provided by the digestive organs at this age, and soluble carbohydrates are valuable for maintaining the body heat.

"2. All farinaceous foods should be submitted to a high temperature for some time so as to render the starch granules more easy of digestion.

"3. Vegetable purees of all kinds may be taken in moderation— e. g., potatoes, carrots, spinach and other succulent vegetables.

"4. It is important that the use of potatoes and fresh vegetables should not be neglected; otherwise a scorbutic state of the body may be engendered.

"5. Stewed celery and stewed Spanish or Portugal onions.

"6. Stewed or baked fruits and fruit jellies and the pulp of perfectly ripe raw fruits in small quantity.

Counteracting Acidity.—"The acidity of certain stewed fruits may be advantageously neutralized by the addition of a little bicarbonate of soda so as to avoid the use of a large quantity of cane sugar to sweeten it, as this is apt to cause gastric fermentation and acidity. In stewing fruit about as much soda as will cover a shilling should be added to each pound of fruit.

Use of Condiments.—"Aged persons often require their foods to be accompanied with some kind of condiment, which promotes their digestion and prevents flatulence.

"Caviare and the roes of smoked and salted herrings are of this nature.

Sweetenings.—"For sweetening food milk sugar is much less prone to excite acid fermentation than cane sugar.

Digestible Form of Fat.—"A very digestible form of fat, when it is needed, is cream mixed with an equal quantity of hot water and about ten drops of sal volatile to each fluid ounce."

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General Diet Required.—It is but fair to all concerned that I submit the teachings of Dr. J. Boy-Teissier, of Marseilles, who, in the most recent and complete work on this subject, handles the theme and the patient in a different manner entirely. As to diet, he says: "I do not think that a special diet is necessary. We must not forget that the normal old man is not a patient; all the functions of the adult exist also in the old man, only in a diminished degree; the functions are the same, but their activity only is lessened.  .  .  . We must regulate the quantity of food and adapt it to the degree of senilization.  .  .  . It is useless and even dangerous in the case of old people to try to maintain the strength at high point by means of alimentation.

A Diet of Maintainance.—"In a general way, having no longer an active life to lead, the old man has need merely of a diet of maintainance   .  .  .  watch  .  .  .   over the performance of the excretory functions; as long as the weight does not vary, and as long as the urea represents the quantity of nitrogen contained in the food we may regard it as certain that there is a perfect equilibrium and that the alimentation of the old man is sufficient."

Cautious Use of Wines.—Boy-Teissier does not subscribe to the saying that wine is the milk of the aged, but advises great caution in its use.

The Aged Should not House Themselves.—This same author advocates plenty of fresh air for the normal old man. So many old people house themselves up and shut out from their blood the pure aid which they need even more in their old age than when younger. If diseases of the lungs forbid exposure, heed should be given, but the normal old person should have fresh air, and also all the sunshine he can get.

Clothing of the Aged.—The clothing should not be heavy, but rather light. It should, however, be warm and comfortable. Bundling should be avoided in the latter days as in all the other days of life. The warmest place in the chimney has always been reserved for the grandparent, but this is a mistaken kindness, for it only increases his tendency to inaction.

Muscular Exercise.—To counterbalance this tendency to inaction, which means a retarding of the combustion of the products of nutrition, muscular exercise should be insisted upon. Care should be had lest this be overdone, but the old man should be forced to exercise.

Medical Care.—I have written here of normal old age, and it is the old age we all look forward to. Few attain it and those who grow old with some organs of the body more advanced in the aging process than others, find that they need almost constant medical supervision to help them live longer and to be more comfortable while they live.

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Natural Death.—"Above all modes of dying is that which we must call natural death, physiological death, that which necessarily and happily terminates existence. This death is gentle and calm, for it is free from all painful manifestations; it is, therefore, desirable, and all our efforts ought to be directed to its attainment. We should try to have it accepted as a happy event.   .  .  .   I have not to occupy myself with the values of life. Most commonly, I believe, it is worth only what we make it worth..

When Death is Welcome.—"But after having seen that all the vital phenomena have fulfilled their evolution, we may justly believe that this final act, that which is accomplished naturally, without our having had any responsibility in its hastening or retardation, that which terminates the series of organic acts, ought to be regarded as welcome."—Boy-Teissier.

CARE OF THE EYES.

To take proper care of the eyes is to do all we can to avoid such diseases as are avoidable. To do this we should know something about the eye and its diseases, descriptions of which have been given in Book IV —Part IV.

Near-Sightedness.—Boys often discover their near-sightedness by finding that their playmates can read signs and see clocks and faces at much greater distances than they can. Near-sightedness is a growing defect among young people and may be corrected in part by looking at distant objects in the heaven or on the ocean.

Weak Sight.—Fatigue of the eyes during or after the use of them is the first symptom of weak sight. This is more noticeable at first after reading, writing or sewing in the evening; soon the same fatigue is noticed after similar occupation in daytime. In time this fatigue comes on immediately after attempting to read or sew, and, if work is continued, pain and confusion of vision follow; letters run together, lines are blurred and indistinct. Weak sight is simply a disorder of the muscular apparatus of the eyes.

There are four striking symptoms by which we may judge that the eyes are being injured:

1. Redness of the eyelids and balls.

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2. Pain in the eyes.

3. Indistinct or imperfect vision.

4. Frontal or other headaches.

In health the muscles act in perfect harmony, but if these muscles are overworked, fatigued or sensitive, they do not act harmoniously and weak sight is the result.

Never Use Imperfect Light.—Never use an imperfect light. What is an imperfect light?

1. Deficient amount of light, as in the early morning or twilight, or an artificial light far distant, or a very small artificial light, or light far from a window which is too small for the room and for a dark day. When the light is such as to render it difficult to see the work or print before us a proper regard for the preservation of vision will compel the immediate stopping of the work.

2. Light may be imperfect from its unsteadiness. It is this quality that renders the electric light harmful to vision. Gas light often exhibits a degree of flickering very trying to the eyes.

3. The light may be steady but the car or carriage in which we are seated may move. The attempt to read in the cars is a fruitful source of injury to the eyes.

4. The practice of reading while in a reclining position upon a lounge or in a bed causes the light to enter the eye at such an angle as to require an undue amount of effort in order to see distinctly for a long time. Such a position should always be avoided.

When possible the light should fall upon the printed page or upon our work from the left side of the body and from behind the shoulders.

How to Preserve Good Sight.—1. Act as if the eyesight were of more importance than any other thing on earth.

2. Have your child's eyes carefully examined by an expert before it is given specific tasks to perform calling for the full exercise of healthy eyes. If the eyes are found defective then grade the tasks according to the nature of the defect.

3. Never use the eyes when such use causes pain in these organs or in the head.

4. Never use the eyes when imperfectly supplied with blood, as before breakfast, when exhausted after a severe illness, and so forth.

5. Never use the eyes for close work in an imperfect light.

6. Avoid the excessive use of alcohol and tobacco.

7. Heed the warning given by redness of the eyelids and of the whites of the eyes; by pain in or about the eye; by the continuance of indistinct vision for any considerable time.

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8. Regard the eyes as part of a very complex system of apparatuses, the best health of all being absolutely needful for the best health of each.

9. Remember that we do not see with the eye, but with the brain. Hence after the brain is exhausted it is impossible to really see.

Use of Spectacles and Eye-Glasses.—Weak sight is very often due to defective form of the eyeball itself, it being too flat, too full, or of irregular form. In cases of defective eyeballs, beside following the advice given above, the imperfect shape must be neutralized by the scientific adaptation of spectacles. It is quite wrong to depend upon your own judgment in this matter or to procure your glasses from a traveling peddler of spectacles. For elderly people, spectacles are usually preferred to eyeglasses, except for occasional use. For long use, spectacles are more comfortable.

Blue or smoked glasses in weak sight, when there is much dread of light. Their use should be confined chiefly to wear in bright sunlight on the snow, sand or water. For reading, colored glasses should not be too dark in tint, as too much exertion is required to see clearly through them.

Contagious Eye Diseases.—It should be borne in mind that diseases of the lids or eyes attended with a pus discharge are contagious. Those suffering with such a disease should be kept apart from others and great attention should be paid to cleanliness. Towels and washing material should not be used in common.

Common Eye Accidents.—Those who work where splinters of metal or stone are liable to strike the eye should wear spectacles at their work. Spectacles of ordinary glass are a good protection against cinders in traveling. Eye-stones are nothing but smoothly-worn pebbles. It is not best to use them. It is not common-sense treatment to cure an irritable eye, suffering from a foreign body, by placing another foreign body therein.

Removing Cinders.—A cinder or other foreign body may often be displaced by quietly and steadily looking downward at your feet, letting the tears that form wash out the irritating substance. If the foreign body sticks on the ball it sometimes can be readily wiped off with a piece of paper twisted to a lamp-lighter shape or the free end of a common match. If it does not come off easily professional aid must be secured as great harm may be done the beautiful, transparent front of the eye by the use of sharp instruments in unskilled hands.

If quick-lime or mortar has fallen into the eyes, the best plan is to drop in some olive oil at once. The eye then may be washed out with warm water to wash away all the particles of lime. This can be best done with a small syringe. If acid has gotten into the eyes use milk and water at once and in the same manner.

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CARE OF THE EAR.

Prime Rules.—1. Act as if hearing were of more importance than any other thing on earth.

2. Refrain from use of the ear when it causes pain, choosing quiet places and deadening sound by the use of cotton plugs.

3. Avoid all such injuries to the ears as result from slapping, pulling, and very loud and sudden noises.

4. Keep out of the external ear all things smaller than the forefinger, or stiffer than a towel or handkerchief.

5. Keep out of the ear all oils, all soaps, all cold water and everything else recommended by kind but mistaken friends; especially never apply a poultice to the ear for the relief of pain. Dry heat will do all that moist heat can do to relieve and be free from the danger of absolutely destroying the drum of the ear.

Cleansing the Ear.—In health, the deeper parts of the ear can be left to take care of themselves. The orifice of the canal is to be cleansed in precisely the same manner as any other depressed portion of the surface of the body—that is, with a wet sponge or cloth.

CARE OF THE SKIN.

Every-day Washing.—Every-day washing should be the rule the year round, but particularly so in summer. Ablution of the person sufficient for cleanliness may easily be made to act also as a proper stimulant by using a rapid sponge bath, followed by quick rubbing for a few moments with a towel of such texture as can be borne without irritation. The skin will not bear the frictions of a lintish towel so well in summer as in winter. Invalids should avoid chilling the body; simple and generally healthful as bathing is it cannot be trifled with. Many a good man or woman has unwittingly committed suicide with water.

Daily Attention to Feet.—If the person is very feeble and very sensitive to the application of water such a one can attend to one part of the body one day and another the next. It is well, however, to give daily attention to the feet. The feet perform a large part of our bodily labor, and the excretion from them is so great that particular care should be taken to keep them clean. Warm sponging followed by friction is more suitable for cleansing the skin of dirt and for the delicate invalid and child.

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Use of Soap.—The amount of soap used in the toilet depends upon the delicacy of the skin and the exposure to which it has been subjected. Those who have oily skins depending upon well-developed and active oil-glands require much more soap than those having harsh and dry skins lacking in oily secretion.

Cautious Use of Soap.—Daily application of soap to the face is not necessary unless one is exposed to considerable dust and dirt. Hot water and a coarse wash-rag with thorough rubbing and followed by cold water and more thorough rubbing will stimulate the skin and make it healthier than the excessive use of soap to remove invisible dirt. Many cases of "black-heads" and postular eruptions of the face have been benefited by stopping the use of soap on the face.

Removing Face-Shine.—Clean fine white velvet is an elegant substitute for powders to remove the shine on the face. Chamois skin is used for the same purpose.

Cosmetics.—Cosmetics are substances applied to the skin, hair, teeth, nails, and so forth, to improve their appearance. None of them are essential to health; the great majority are positively harmful. Health and strength give the beauty that is appreciated by all men and women of refinement.

CARE OF THE HAIR.

Attention to the Scalp.—The preservation of the hair depends upon a number of things and chief of these is the condition of the scalp which is the soil in this case. The scalp should be thick and movable and massage will help to develop this part of the body as it does other parts. So shampooing does double duty, cleansing and massaging. The brush does the same work in a different way and neither should be neglected.

Cleansing the Hair.—Cleanliness is the first requisite in the management of the hair. There is no danger that the scalp will be washed too often. Shampooing should be done as often as the hair is dirty. At least once a month the head should be thoroughly washed and the hairs cleaned down to their roots. Any good soap may be used but there is not one that is purer than the white castile. Tincture of green soap is a reliable and satisfactory soap.

Brushing the Hair.—The hair should be brushed several times a day, at least in the morning and evening and for several minutes at each time, until there is a feeling of warmth in the scalp. Adults should use a stiff brush and children or those with thin hair or a tender scalp a soft brush. Never brush hard enough to make the head sore.

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Good Combs.—Combs should be preferably coarse and used to disentangle the hair, not to cleanse it. The teeth should be well made and not ragged as they will then tear and pull out the hair. Never try to comb dandruff out of the hair. It should be brushed out or washed out.

Crimping.—Crimping the hair causes it to break and crack. This may be a matter of considerable importance in elderly women in whom the hair is beginning to fall and thin out, for this will hasten the fall and cause more or less baldness.

Grayness.—Women usually preserve the color of the hair longer than men. Fair hair falls out sooner than black but does not become gray so soon. Premature grayness of the hair is often produced by debility, anxiety or severe illness.

Baldness.—If from any cause the hair papilla becomes diseased or debilitated it either ceases to produce the hair or each successive hair becomes shorter, finer and more brief in its life, until, finally, atrophy of the hair follicles occurs and the hair is dead. Under ordinary circumstances the hair of the head begins to thin out between the ages of thirty and forty and this thinning proceeds slowly but steadily during the rest of the individual's life. Those who are affected with dandruff should pay immediate attention to the condition, otherwise the hair will begin to fall out and baldness results. Baldness can occur without the occurrence of dandruff, and, again, the hair remains thick and strong in some persons whose heads are full of dandruff. The baldness occurring in connection with fevers, skin diseases of the scalp, and so forth, is only temporary; the bulbs are not destroyed and the hair is again reproduced. In elderly persons, after sickness, the hair may not return to its full former condition.

Hair Invigorators.—When the falling of the hair has been caused by some fever or other illness the remedies used for relief are stimulants— something to increase the blood supply to the scalp. These are called hair invigorators. We would caution the reader against the use of all patent, advertised hair remedies. A simple and harmless "invigorator" is as follows:

Formula for a Good Hair Invigorator. 

      Cologne water ................................. 2 ounces
      Tincture of cantharides........................ 2 drachms
      Oil of lavender................................ 10 drops
      Oil of rosemary................................ 10  "
          Use once or twice a day. If it makes the scalp a little sore,
      discontinue its use for a short time.

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To Cleanse Hair of Dandruff.—Rub in well the yolk of an egg. Wash out with castile soap, rinse with cold water and dry well. The egg combines with the grease and dirt and gives the scalp a thorough cleansing.

A Good Wash for the Hair.— 

      Vinegar.................................... 2   ounces
      Salt of tartar............................. 2   drachms
      Spirits of lavender........................ 1/2 ounce
      Spirits of rosemary........................ 1     "
      Spirits of nutmeg.......................... 1/2   "
      Essence of almonds......................... 1   drachm
      Essence of violets......................... 1     "
      Pure spring water......................... 20   ounces
          Mix and bottle for use. This makes, as well, a cool and
      refreshing perfume.

CARE OF THE TEETH.

Attention to the teeth should begin early in life, even during the period of first teeth. Decay of the "milk" teeth should be prevented and filling is just as important as with the permanent set. The temporary teeth must be removed in due time if they do not fall out themselves and the permanent ones must be trained to fill their places. The teeth should be cleansed five times a day—morning, bedtime and after each meal. A soft brush is better than a stiff one so as not to wound the gums. The best dentrifice is water; sometimes a little prepared chalk or white castile soap may be used. The too frequent use of powders containing cuttlefish bone or charcoal will injure the enamel of the teeth. When the gums are tender and tend to bleed add a few drops of tincture of myrrh to the water. Avoid all patent tooth powders and washes. It is a good rule to visit the dentist once each season to find out the exact condition of these important organs. Never lose a tooth if art can save it. The shape of the jaw and face is altered by the removal of teeth. When, by reason of a collection of tartar on the teeth a powder is desired for its removal, the following will be found useful and agreeable:

Tooth Powder.— 

      Precipitated chalk ......................... 12 drachms
      Rose pink ..................................  2    "
      Carbonate of magnesia.......................  1 drachm
      Oil of rose.................................  5 drops
          Mix all well together.

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Care of the Mouth.—After the teeth have been cleansed, a valuable addition to the toilet is a mild and pleasant antiseptic mouth wash, which sweetens the mouth and by its action on disease-producing organisms purifies the mucous lining and acts against the decomposition of the food debris which the most careful attention to the teeth cannot completely remove.

Antiseptic Mouth Wash.— 

Rx.---Boric acid ................................... 10 grains
      Resorcin .....................................  4   "
      Salol ........................................  2   "
      Thymol .......................................  1/2 grain
      Glycerine ....................................  1/2 drachm
      Pure water ...................................  1 ounce

Care of the Feet.—The feet are subject to many diseases, but the most common ones—ingrowing nails, corns and bunions—are due to neglect of a few simple rules which nearly all adults know. Fashion decrees that certain shapes must be worn and the poor foot, willing to toil and bear, is pressed and pulled out of shape by misshaped shoes.

Shoes.—1. Should be neither too large nor too small. They should fit snugly but comfortably all parts of the foot.

2. The heels should be placed well back under the human heel.

3. The soles should be reasonably thick. In winter heavy soles have many advantages that are apparent.

4. Patent leather and other forms of non-porous leather are injurious as they prevent the dissipation of natural sweat. The retention of this sweat increases the tendency to soft corns and to sore feet.

5. Slippers and low shoes are to be worn only in warm weather. They expose the blood at the ankles and so encourage colds.

The toe-nails should be cut regularly and carefully. Overshoes should always be worn in wet weather. Ladies often go without them in damp weather, relying upon the thickness of the soles of their shoes, and thus expose themselves to risks. A sheet of India-rubber is sometimes placed between the layers of leather in the soles of shoes, or felt or cork soles are placed within the shoe. There is no objection to these, providing they do not supplant the rubber overshoes.

Ingrowing Toe-Nails.—Causes.—Tight shoes and the cutting of the nails square are the causes. A tight sock may also be at fault. The skin is pressed over the sharp edge of the nail and ulceration results. The edge of the nail may become thickened or proud flesh may spring up at the point of ulceration.

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Treatment.—"In mild or trivial cases the trimming or clipping of the free margin of the nail, scraping of the dorsal surface with a bit of glass or with a knife, so as to reduce its thickness and to produce a tendency to curling upward and backward of its lateral margins and the removal of any cuticle accumulated under the ingrowing edges of the nail are all that is required to give relief and prevent further progress. Pressure must be avoided. When ulceration has occurred a minute roll of lint shreddings should be neatly packed beneath the tender overhanging skin and ingrowing edge. Strapping is then applied so as to retain the lint and drag upon the overhanging integument and keep it pulled away from contact with the ingrowing edge. The lint may be removed in a few days and the space filled with boric acid, iodoform, lead nitrate, alum or zinc oxide."

In severe cases avulsion of half or all the nail is required. This is a sure cure and a favorite with many physicians.

Corns.—A common corn is caused by friction or irritation of the skin from tight, loose or otherwise ill-fitting shoes, hard, stiff leather, large wrinkles over the joints, high heels that pitch the foot forward and keep it constantly bearing against the leather over the toes, and shoes narrow at the toes. In such cases the skin thickens and hardens to protect itself from injury in just the same way that it does upon the hands or other parts of the body exposed to rough contact.

Treatment.—Ordinary hard corns, when young, may be removed by scraping up the callous skin about the borders and prying out carefully with a penknife. It must be remembered for the successful treatment of corns proper foot covering must be worn. The shoes must be soft and of proper fit. Only such means can effect a radical cure. Corn cures and plasters are but a vexation if the laws of hygiene are not obeyed. The important part of treating corns is to relieve the pressure. Persons ill with a long fever, confined to their beds, have found their corns gone on getting from bed.

If the corn is between the toes the sole should be extra wide so that cotton may be put between the toes to keep them apart. Dr. Keller (quoted in the "Therapeutic Gazette") advises that the foot be soaked in hot water for fifteen minutes before bedtime, this followed by an application of salycylic acid in collodion, one part to three. This is repeated for five or six nights, each time removing all dead tissues with a knife after bathing. A drop of castor oil well rubbed in every night helps greatly.

Bunions.—Cause.—The great cause of bunions is the wearing of short and narrow-toed shoes, making a constant tendency to enlarge, widen and project the joint of the great toe. Bunions may prove a menace to life, especially in those past middle life. Repeated inflammations may finally go on to suppuration and this leave an ulcer which is most tedious to heal. This ulcer in those past middle age is liable to lead to erysipelas and senile gangrene. Amputation of this part of the foot has been necessary in some cases.

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Treatment.—This is usually soothing. The deformity can seldom be overcome. Comfortable shoes are the things to be considered. When the bunion first appears and is characterized by simple thickening and a sensation to the examining finger as of fluid in a sack (which is just what is present), the bunion may be treated with flying blisters, tincture of iodine or strapping with mercurial ointment. If inflammation exists it should be treated as inflammation is treated elsewhere.

Chilblain or Frost-Bite.—Chilblains may be defined as an inflammation of the skin and underlying tissues due to cold. Anemic persons and those who are weakened from hunger or fatigue are more liable than their more fortunate fellows.

Symptoms.—First, redness accompanied by hypersensitiveness of the parts and tingling. This is soon followed by purplish lividity and diminished sensibility. Blanching with numbness supervenes. Next coagulation takes place and is characterized by the parts becoming hard, white, absolutely insensible. In very severe cases gangrene follows. The parts shrivel up and blacken. An inflammatory line of demarcation shows itself later.

Treatment.—In the stage of redness friction with a towel soaked in ice-water or with ice or snow should be resorted to until the congestion disappears, when the parts should be wrapped in cotton wool. The patient should not be taken into a warm room until after reaction has taken place.

Tonic treatment is indicated in nearly all cases and should consist of cod-liver oil, quinine or some such general tonic.

For the itching the following have been recommended:

Painting with tincture of iodine.

Soap liniment.

Diluted turpentine.

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Last Modified: Monday, 13-May-2013 15:31:47 EDT