THE FATAL COLD BATH.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1921, Page 10

THE FATAL COLD BATH.

SOME HEALTH FETISHES.

DENOUNCED BY DR. BLACKMORE.

“The fetish of the cold bath has, caused quite a large number of deaths, and has maimed quite a number of people,” said Dr. G. J. Blackmore, of the Cashmere Sanatorium, in a lecture on Child Welfare before the Workers’ Educational Association. | “If a warm glow succeeds the bath, all is well,” he added. “But if not, and especially if blueness succeeds, harm has been done.”

Dr. Blackmore went on to emphasise the necessity for plenty of rest and of fresh air for children. Dealing with the clothing of children, he said there was a tendency to overdo it. Clothing should be light and warm, and allow absolute freedom of movement. Hanging all the clothing from the shoulders made for round shoulders—a gymnast never exercised in braces, but wore a belt to secure freedom of movement. What were known as “growing plhins” were nothing .pf the sortthey were generally due to rheumatism, a serious trouble, and often brought on by wet clothes.

The feet of New Zealanders were criticised by Dr. Blackmore. “I doubt very much,” he said, “whether you will find in New Zealand one adult foot that is the shape Nature intended it to be. It- seems impossible to get in New Zealand boots of the kind that fit the natural shape of the child’s foot. We are contemptuous of the Chinese because of the way they deform their children’s feet, but there is more deformity in New Zealand, in proportion to the population.”

The danger of tuberculosis from cow’s milk, and the value of goat’s milk as a substitute, were stressed by the speaker. So dangerous could cow’s milk become that the careful farmer would not give it to his pigs, lest they should get tuberculosis. On the other hand, goat’s milk did not produce tuberculosis.