VITAL ECONOMY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 449, 26 January 1909, Page 4

VITAL ECONOMY.

. \ a little book, “Vital Eco- ,.. iy, or How to Consetve Your Stungth,” issued by Mr Fisher Unwin, the author, Dr. J. H. C ,1 ke (says the Westminister Ga--2), deals with some interesting ds in vital economies. He .s, for instance, that many sle use the bath and soap not o' but top well. I find, he ys, many people imagine that : necessary for their salvation ;hey should not only plunge i y once a day in water, cold or as the case may be, but they . scrub themselves all over with ; every time they do it. This very effective way of dissimu■g the magnetic machine, and etiug the individual ot vital gy. Soap is necessary for the ised parts, but for delicate i and for those which have a ency to be dry,' soaping every is a perfectly unnecessary measure. There are many people who attribute''their immunity from colds to the practice of taking a cold bath all the year round ; but these, Dr. Clarke says, are only a minority; and the strong. The morning cold bath makes those who are not robust “susceptible to colds, instead of hardening them.” 'Dr. Clarke believes that the cult of s muscularity in this country Is vgry much overdone. “ Exercise” has become a fetish word luring us to' our perdition. Exercise is not, h 6 says, tor everybody or for anybody under all conditions, and the indiscriminate advice to take “ ( plenty of exercise” is just as fatal as the indiscriminate advice ft) take “ plenty of fresh air,” -‘' There are 1 "some people in the sld5 Id wha what it > be tired’’..apd they are genero\ llfis. They be proud of Lav-" itg sfcfhlss 'bi smett 6t sight: They are lacking in a very neces- ’ sary *sense—That is all. Those people willjover-laligue themselves without being in the least aware of it, and 1 have offen seen extremely serious results from,this want of the fatigue sense. *■ ’ is on the approach of old age ,tbe evils of over-indulgence in cise in early life are most ly seen, in inelastic muscles, a \ kened heart, and a liver which cannot obtain its wonted stimulus.

On the question of stimulants, Di. Clarke speaks with no hated brtath. He points out that alcoholic stimulants “ lead directly to a waste of vital eneigy even when used in what is commonly' calhd moderation.” Ancbot the “poison” habits, the tea habit be asserts is “ one of the most subtle, insinuating and injurious.” He goes on to say; 1 -- Tea belongs to a group of nerveslimulai'ts which enable a person to get more out of himself in the shape of mental or bcdily energy than he would be able to get without them. This is drawing a

bill on the bank of his nervous system, of course, and the bill will have to be met.

When the tea habit is established! it causes an abnormal rate of “nerve-wear,” and neurasthenia and djspepsia follow in the train. Coffee is less injurious, but it follows the general rule : “It is an excellent servant, but a bad master.”