HEALTH IN THE HO

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 553, 26 March 1913, Page 7

HEALTH IN THE HO

A QUEER FACT ABOUT AGIDS. Here is a man who has a sour stomach'. He naturally thinks that if there is too much acid in his stomach it would make him worse to eat acid fruits or to drink acid fruit juices, yet> in all probability, eating such fruits would help his trouble. Many a reader might think it would look foolish to give an acid when there was already too much acid. A little knowledge of chemistry, however, will show that it is really scientific to expect that a little acid will help to cure too much acid in the stomach. How does acid fruit really act? It is this way :

These fruit acids are present in „large part jn the fruits in chemical combination with such substances as sodium and potasium, in the form of salts, and are absorbed into the blood, where they are oxidised or changed into alkaline salts, and these alkaline salts reduce the acidity of the blood. So, for people who have any chronic trouble, particularly rheumatism or diabetes, it is a very good thing for the patient to eat acid fruits, because they tend to increase the alkalinity of the blood, and that is a very desirable thing.

It is well to remember that in healthy people the blood is usually slightly' alkaline, and that in chronic diseases the tendency is for it to become acid. Acid fruits help to cure the acid tendency and keep the blood alkaline.

HINTS

Sprains.—Bathe the joint four or five times a day with warm vinegar or hot water. Apply warm poultices between bathings, and to reduce the swelling rub frequently with camphorated oil for fifteen minutes at a time. To strengthen the joint after the swelling has gone down bathe it four times a day with salt and water, and frequently place it under a cold water tap, ancj allow the water to run over it.

A Bruise.—Bathe the part frequently with warm water, or steep it at once in warm water for a quarter of an hour, and apply hot bread poultices. ''' -• A Gathering.—Bathe the part in warm water several times a day, and keep it constantly covered with warm bread or linseed meal poultices.

Whitlow is a gathering under the nail, which, being hard, presses on the swelling. Keep the part in hot water as much as possible, and apply plenty of hot bread poultices to soften the nail.

Chilblains. To prevent them wear woollen stockings, keep the feel: dry, and allow the blood ■to circulate by wearing easy-fitting shoes. To cure them, rub two or three times a day with a stimulatinglinimeat of camphorated spirit of lime, or mustard liniment. If broken wash in warm strained gruel, and apply soft linen rag spread with cold cream or spermaceti ointment. Chapped Hands. —Wash with a paste of oatmeal, using rain or boiled water; rub over with glycerine after each washing, and wear a pair of leather gloves during the night. Ringworm.—To kill the fungus, wash the part several times a day using soap and soda in abundance; cut away the hair, and after each washing apply black ink to the spot by means of a feather.

Hiccough.—Fill the mouth with cold water and hold the breath as long as possible; repeat this several times. CARE OP THE MOUTH. Rinse the mouth' several times daily with water, to which add either myrrh, claret, common salt, aromatic vinegar, eau de Cologne, etc. A half' ounce of listerine to a glass of water, used ad libitum, is excellent; so is boric acid solution, especially after milk diet, to prevent decomposition of particles remaining in the mouth.

Equal parts lemon juice, glycerine, and water make an excellent v. asli; ' glycerine is soothing, and lemon juice stimulates secretion of sjj'iva, and is, therefore, grateful «in modifying dryness caused by opium or its alkaloids.

For sores in mouth, apply boric acid, or borax and glycerine (not honey, as it may decompose). For decayed teeth or bleeding gums, rub between lips and guihs powdered boric acid twice daily.

Remove false teeth and cleanse with listerine or saturated solution boric acid; deposits on plate scour off with prepared chalk.