HEALTH TALKS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8343, 1 February 1913, Page 9

HEALTH TALKS.

"Health is the second blessing: that we mortals are capable of—a blearing that money cannot buy,” It is said that in all large towns “walking is going out of fashion and becoming a lost exo^cise. ,, Many people say life is too short to walk, when a penny tram ride will take them over tho distance much quicker j but these people should bear in mind that by not walking they are probably shortening their life. A walk to business in the morning is a splendid tonic, and pumps vitality into the frame as no other method can. But there is a right and a wrong way in walking, the right way is to have the body erect, shoulders well hack, arms swinging comfortably, figure swaying at the waist, chest forward, abdomen in, and to take brisk, easy steps. Some people after a long country walk are troubled with stiffness of the limbs. They should, as soon as possible after their return, take a hot bath, then rub the limbs vigorously with a rough towel. Two or three tablespoonsful of ammonia, added to the water, will he very beneficial.

Steamed flannels are the best and easiest fomentations, as they neither wet the bed nor the patient’s garments. Half fill a kitchen saucepan, on which the steamer fits, with water, and let it boil. Put three or four squares of old flannel into the steamer, and they will soon be very hot, but not wet. Apply them quickly to the patient and cover with a piece of blanket to keep in the heat. It can be seen that a steamed fomentation will he much better than one rung out of boiling water, and much easier to handle, besides doing away with the difficulty of making the bed and clothing damp. The steamed flannel should ho renewed every few minutes, but as it is usually followed by a linseed poultice, both patient and nurse get a little respite while the poultice is doing its work.

Many people imagine that to express a liking for onions denotes a vulgar taste, but this much-despised vegetable has many excellent qualities. These were well known to the ancients, and as a food the onion was keenly appreciated by them. It has been cultivated in India and Egypt from time immemorial. It contains a large quantity of nitrogenous matter and uncrystallisable sugar with a pungent sulphuric oil. If children were encouraged to eat onions, many an illness might be prevented, and many a doctor’s bill saved. If baby has a cold or seems cfoupy frequent doses of onion syrup’ will give wonderful relief. The syrup is obtained by cutting the onion into thin slices, and covering each slice with brown sugar, and putting one on the top of another in a basin. A dish of boiled onions given once a week to children will keep them free from worms. People troubled with piles should take boiled onions for supper two or three times a week. Roasted onions with sweet oil make a good poultice for a cold in the chest. In a sick-room you cannot have a better disinfectant than an onion. It has a wonderful capacity for absorbing germs; a dish of sliced onions placed in a sick-room will draw away the disease; they must bo removed as soon as they lose their odour and become discoloured, and be replaced by fresh ones. For those who can take them, a raw onion eaten just before retiring is very beneficial —it acts as a tonic to the nervous system, purifies tfie blood, helps digestion, and very often prevents insomnia.

To what, otherwise, is attributable that amazing feeling of rejuveuation which follows upon a Turkish bath? i do not often go in for them (writes a medical authority) because I like to hold them in reserve. But, if a man will have a Turkish bath now and again, he will set up such a vigorous action of the skin as shall go far to make him a well man. Of course, Ido not mean that people are literally and physically dirty to the eye. What I mean is that the ordinary washing does not cleanse the body as it needs periodically to bo cleansed. Those who are strangers to the Turkish hath cannot know what I mean. Try it. I mean too, that we do not get clean air or enough air. And, above all, I mean that mistaken eating and over-eating leave us anything but “clean” inside. Up to now we have neglected the positive side of the way iu which we try our best to kill ourselves. On the negative side we leave undone those things that we ought to do, but what of the half-dozen things that we do, knowing all the time we ought not to do them? I don’t know how you find it, but I find that most people I know do violence to their bodies in the following ways: (1) They rob themselves of necessary sleep; (2) they smoke, and they smoke a great deal too much; and (3) they drink too much alcoholic liquor, which is good for no one—l mean physically. With regard to sleep I would have you get rid of that mad nonsense which says that eight hours pen day spent in bed, is too much. If you would be fit for the remaining portion of the twenty-four hours, not eight, nor even nine hours in bed, is too big a price to pay for it. As it is, most of us dawdle through our days in a state of half-fitness because too often we have unconsciously subscribed to the creed which declares that— The best of all ways to lengthen our days. Is to steal a few hours from the night. No, you cannot very well spend too much time in bed. And, further, u there were no other argument for the retention of the Sabbath day, it would be enough that a man could, for once, stay in bed as long as ho liked. The old idea that apples were the favourite fruit of the gods is a plausible theory (remarks the “ Family Doctor”). The 'freshness of youth was ever possessed by those who made apples their principal diet. Certain it is that there is no food so valuable. Apples nourish tho brain and spinal cord. They contain phosphorus, albumen, sugar, gum, chlorophyll, malic acid, gallic acid, vegetable fibres, and water. They cure gout and rheumatic disorder, and exercise a beneficent influence on the liver and stomach. Ripe apples and bread as a diet will do more to restore health than drugs.