MEDICAL NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3776, 22 October 1907, Page 3

MEDICAL NOTES.

EGGS IN THERAPEUTICS. The Medical Record gives the following ways of using eggs in therapeutics ;—A mustard plaster made with the white of an egg will not leave a blister. A raw egg taken immediately will carry down a fish-bone that cannot be got up from the throat. The white skin that lines the shell of an egg is a useful application for a boil. White of an egg beaten with loaf sugar and lemon relieves hoarseness —a teaspoonful taken once every hour. Au egg added to the morning cup of coffee makes a good tonic. AVOID OVERCLOTHING THE BODY. One of the most important precautions to observe is not to overclothe the body. The clothing should not be so heavy as to cause the skin to perspire; Many people smother themselves with woollen clothing. Too much bed clothing is a great cause of taking cold during the night, and, furthermore, leaves a susceptibility to taking cold during the day. Avoid a damp spare bed. Many a person has taken his death-cold, contracted pleurisy, rheumatism, sciatica, or some distressing ailment by just one night spent in such a bed. Ignofance and innocence are often deemed synonymous. The innocence which results from ignorance is no virture. The purity of the child is that of the mountain lake, which has never seen anything to reflect but the brightness ,of sunny sk’’es and the whiteness of sunny peaks. The purity of manhood is like that of the ocean, which, in spite of inevitable contact , with sullying influences, by virtue of its own inherent constituents, and by ever laying open its heart to heavenly agencies, maintains its healthfulness and purity. WALKING.

Walking is the best of all exercises if properly taken. One halfhour’s walking out of doors daily, with the body in good position, chest well forward, head erect, chin drawn in, and abdominal muscles well contracted, is good. If one has the advantage of walking in the country, or on an unfrequented street, or elsewhere excluded from observation, he may practice several useful walking exercises, in addition to ordinary walking. The following will be found very excellent: — At each step, in placing one foot forward at the same time rise upon the toe of the other foot. Take pains, in placing the advanced foot, to strike the ground with both toe and heel at the same time. This is a very vigorous walking exercise and should not be practised more than five minutes at a time.

Walk on tiptoes, with the fingers touching at the back of the neck, the elbows in line, taking pains to keep the chest well forward, head erect, and chin well drawn in. This exercise is one of the best means of curing roundness of shoulders and a stooped position in walking. MASTICATION.

Proper mastication must be secured by preaching diligently the need of eating slowly, and if the teeth are defective the assistance of a dentist must be secured, while in the meantime the food must be finely divided by mincing or pounding or being made into purees. Mr Horace Fletcher’s experience shows how much careful mastication aids digestion and nutrition, for he has proved that a much smaller amount of food suffices when this important function is carefully performed. Hurried eating is, says The Hospital, common in the present day, and the habit does not at once produce its evil consequences, hut when several masticating teeth have been lost and large gaps occur in the dental arcade, undivided lumps of food are swallowed unconsciously, and set up gastritis. The habit of rapid eating is not easily got rid of, and few patients recognise how large a part of their stomach troubles depend upon defective teeth until they are told of it. It is deplorable to see what a large number of young women of the poorer class have no effective masticating teeth ; but in men also between 50 and 60, even under favourable circumstances, the masticating efficiency of the teeth becomes greatly reduced and is the frequent cause of dyspeptic troubles.