Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

2 Copyright, 1913, by th« filar Company Great Britain Rirrht:■> Reserved. OVER Mow to Tell POOR HEALTH from GOOD By WILLIAM LEE HOWARD, M. D. , xrOU'RE looking fine mil," or, "My dear how well you are looking' What perfect health you must enjoy!” are expression* we hear every day. They are generally meaningless and often state just the opposite of the truth. To the average layman the personal appearance of a friend or stranger does not reveal the facts about his or her bodily health. Of course we leave out of consideration evidential condi tions of a real disease, a wasting affection or the effects of a prolonged illness. But take th % average man or woman of to-day, and what may look like perfect health in the morning may really be the signs of possible death or paralysis the following day or week. Clothing, facial massage, constant excitement, artifi cial stimulation—all of these disguise Nature’s warn- tlngs. Ignorance of the real signs of ill health and too much dependence upon medicine and not enough upon a good physician’s advice are- the causes of saying: “Bill, you look fine—never saw you looking better In your life!” and hearing of his death the next day. Just what are some of the signs of perfect or near perfect health and those of approaching Illness the average man or woman can observe? The eyes are the best indicators of health. If the eye is dull, If It is yellowish where it should show white, If the lids droop or twitch, do not tell the indi vidual he Is “looking fine,” no matter how jovial and hearty he may seem. He has some temporary or per manent disturbance of the liver. The liver cells are clogged and the poison they should throw off through ■natural channels Is hanking up lu the system and is showing evidence of this in the eyes. If such an individual the last time you saw him— say, several months before—was corpulent and now has lost flesh, weight, and his neck lias shrunken, don’t ask, "How did you do it?" Such a reduction of flesh and tho shrinking of the nect show a probable cirrho sis of the liver. Unless he is under proper treatment Where to Look for the WARNINGS Natim* Gives of COMING ILLNESS you will soon hear of his death. If he has waited for these marked signs of the disease before going to the doctor, lie is almost certain to die soon. There should always be a difference of several incl.e; between the measurements of the chest and abdomen In both man and woman—of course in favor of the rhest. A man with an abdominal measurement of thirty-four Inches should have a chest measurement of at least thirty-eight inches. If it is the other way about, the man is not to be congratulated upon bis healthy appearance. I am referring to persons between thirty-five and sixty years of age—the prime of life. In the matron, as she gets to be fifty or over, this difference is not so important; but the man should never permit his body to accumulate rolls of fatty flesh, lie is not in good health who looks puffed in face, lias over-red complexion, eats heartily, bleeps well and has the ever jovial appearance we usually associate with fat men. Such a man is getting fat around his heart. This condition compresses his liver and other internal organs, hardens his arteries and puts those in the brain in constant danger of bursting—apoplexy. Look at his haDds. They are red and puffed. Occa sionally his feet swell. He sits around smoking, laughing, but will not take any systematic exercise— it is too much effort. Of course it is an effort, for his heart and lungs are bound down by fat. or cold shower bath, drink plenty of fresh water, they may get riil of the poisons in their body with out harm to their tissues. When reduced in this way there will be no shrinking of the neck— a sure sign of some form of in sidious disease—no flabby muscles, no cadaverous appearance of facial lines. Of course, those forty folds in the neck will disappear—they must. When you meet such a changed man—clear eyes, shapely waist, hands showing the tendons and veins—then you may truthfully re mark, “Bill, you’re looking fine!” But remember!—no drugs or medicines to reduce the result of high living, lack of exercise and too much beer. Just live as you did when a boy of ten, and keep ever in your mind that the result was the outcome of years of ac cumulation, and that the reduction may take a long time unless your organs have not been too greatly affected-. A man gets out ',”f bed and looks ill—glary eyes, trembling hands, dfctiressed stomach. If you saw him at this time you w ot) id say: “BUI, old chap, you are going a hit too fast Bet up—get away and care for your, if.” But you-*: generally see him an hour or so after when he has ie d cheeks, steady hands and a brisk gait. You remark Wow fit he is looking—thanks to the barber and several focktails. But the flushed face, puffy hands, yellow ey?s ought to tell you he is artificially braced. lie is not fit. A woman's cond ition of health can be just as easily determined by a- i acute observer and one who knows something about - ‘h# psychology of women—as much as one can know abou t the charming and ever-puzzling sex. The condition erf the eyes is a tell-tale thing just as it is in man. Tint the condition of her ankles tells betterthan anything else. If the flesh hangs over the' edges of pumps or shoes, if there is the slightest appear ance of comprs i sion at the ankles so that they look out of properti :n to the size of the feet and lower limbs, you may 'be certain that if you say; “My dear, how Well you are! looking!” you are not telling the whole truth. The ankle -a™ a well woman should be such as to show some pro ninence of the bones-and the ankle cavi ties. When >, Iv er corsets bind the hips there should be no fold of fl( isljt. If she breathes entirely from the abdo men and flu shies upon any extra effort, you may be cer Look at another man who shows the same physical laziness and ob truding stomach. He is pale, an xious looking—always .has some kind of a grouch. However, he will stride along at times, be very active in his affairs, and appear to tho casual observer as a man in good health. Get a good look at his eyes and you will see at times a slight puf finess under them. He will show at intervals a heaviness on his feet. All these signs disappear at certain intervals and you wonder at his vitality. The truth is, his kidneys are in trouble but he does not know it. Such a man or woman needs a doctor’s advice, not drugs. If they will carefully heed this advice and adjust their methods of living, dress in loose clothing, cut out all stimulating drinks, commence ex ercising slowly and not violently, and after perspiring take a cool SIGNS THAT ILL HEALTH IS AT HAND. 1,—If a Man’s Chest Measurement (A) Is Less Than His W, ist Measurement (B); 2.—If His Hands Are hefl and Puffed; 3.—If His Eyes Are Yellow (A) When Ti-eli S Would Show White and If They Are Put A (B) Beneath Them; 4.—If the Flesh on a Woman’s Feet Puflf V.'ut Over the Edges of Her Shoes. tain that even if at the time she is in fair health ill health will soon follow. Why? Because she has been binding down and pressing flesh and internal organs—a serious matter with a woman. The shoes or pumps do not allow a proper return of blood to the upper limbs and thence to the heart. The lungs are not being given a chance to take a sufficient amount of oxygen, and the folds showing below the corsets indicate that even there the flesh is being deprived of a clear and unobstructed cir culation. All this means in time a disturbance of the only thing which can maintain good health—unimpeded cir culation. The way for a woman to keep her beautiful form is not to bind the flesh, but to free it and see that enough oxygen is taken in to burn up extra flesh. A woman's hair will tell the story of her health. The hair of a healthy woman will be glossy without being shiny. It will fall around her forehead and neck in waving folds, not remain stiff or hang “dead.” It can he bound or rolled in a mass and remain thus with only slight pressure of bands or pins. When shaken out it falls as a mass, the strands or a few individual hairs separating slowly, but always having a tendency to return to the mass. It will fly out in the wind like a fresh pennant, returning again and again to the main tresses. The odor of hair belonging to a healthy woman is distinct and pleasing. It is almost impossible to de scribe it, but it can always be known by its attractive ness and what might be called a scent of budding Spring. The hair of a woman in poor health has a slightly pungent odor a sticky scent, or sometimes the peculiar characteristics you notice in dead hair or comb ings. If the hair has been overwashed and vaselined or pomaded it loses this scent of attractiveness and health. This is for the brunette. With the blonde there^is the same healthy appear ance in the movements of the hair when unconflned, but there is always more flyffiness and the ends of the hairs are apt to split. This splitting can be avoided by clipping the ends. It has nothing to do with the health of the hair or individual. There is not that distinct bouquet to the pronounced blonde tresses there is to the brunette. Absence of it does not necessarily imply ill health as it does in the brunette. Ill health is shown in the hair by crispiness, dry ness or too oily appearance. The ends of the hair look “dead.” The scent is gone, or else lies a fatty odor. It does not stay together in a mass, but tends to collect in groups of strands. It falls out in spots, not as in healthy hair, where the combings are from all portions of the scalp. Why We Are LOSING Our TOUGH YOU MIGHT TR'K” TOBACCO Smoke Foe of GEMS to' w> sensfl nf tnnnh iu v«*rv liknlv tn Ho- wmnpn nf f un p-pripnitinna mint Vnw hftiiSA- ) HIL/E it has lODiT beftn kr.nwn that smnkii Tl IVH Q fniln A tho! tallxrn /innln inih'i* T HE sense of touch is very likely to be come a lost art in America. A thou sand labor-saving devices now take the place of motions which formerly required deftness and skill. Manual dexterity is giv ing place to mental guidance, and one of the most potent factors In the upbuilding of civ ilization is being abandoned. The effect of this has been made clear by the restlessness 1 Americans and tho absence of any means to release their nervous energy. Nervous energy Is misapplied unless them i some actual physical outlet. The nervous energy of rage finds its relief in stamping of the foot or in pounding the table with one's tlsl; the nervous energy of grief finds minis sion in tears; tho nervous energy of sus pense shows itself in a feverish pacing to and fro: the nervous energy of joy in quick, rhythmic movements, for, as the phi.isi goes “we dance for joy.”^ For centuries the nervous energy of women lias been consumed iu two who- by houm Hold tasks and by needlework. Hen ' hold duties require a good deal of physical a rear, and the more of these a woman has to do (Short of my-r-exertion I. Hie less lthelj be is to become nervous. If. however, not hn\ lug many household task.- she turn her attention to some work in which the finger: are employed and which dm in ■ d m ml too close attention, the same l-ervoie peri! are avoided. One remembers well how closely knitting and omehet am .issoclati d with the calm ease of life displayed hv tie women of two generations past. Now house hold duties are constantly becoming simpli fied and the knitting needle has been dis placed by the looms of commerce. The same is true of the man of the house. The "handy man" always found something to do which kept his fingers busy and thereby gave the necessary outlet for the nervous tension. A window blind ran awry, a hinge was loose on the cupboard door, a window screen needed new mosquito netting, or a thousand other small things required his attention. Nowadays, however, the “handy man” is becoming u rare specimen, and small jobs about the house are done by paid out siders. In the business world the same is true. For two nr three decades each year has seen less actual manual work done by the "boss" and more planning. Fifteen years ago every commercial man answered a certain number of letters himself; now everything is dic tated Typewriting has taken the place of the old-lime te—' 'i-oper’s exquisite script, and the telephone has eliminated the bene ficial exen-i - that occasional calls on clients or customers supplied. it is l»re-i> i-ocaus of the disappearance of (hi-- use >f letusl physical movement that the nervous i. tlessness of the age is becom ing i de. Healing at bridge is not a fair ■ iH-: 11u11 i "• the knitting needle, and smok- ■ • i :i s -snntly is less soothing than wutln: ,i let("!• in long hand. Poise of mind i in closer relation to the using of the . > ie of the body than many people Imagine. Cleaning Fish Dishes. fOT water with plenty of ground mustard add J i- tho op- >■ method of freeing dishes, kettles, silver and other utensils from the disagreeable taste and smell of fish. H 1 When You Cook Cabbage. 'T'ilE unpleasant odor which cabbage and cauliflower ma’ to while cooking can be avoided by dropping a couple of whole Engl.Walnuts into the kettle. For Ink Stains. T IIE stains of typewriting can be removed from linen by soaking in tur pentine for twenty-four hours—then pour boiling soda 1 iver the inked parts, rinse and dry. To Make Light Biscuits. r F you put your biscuits in the ice box for a few bout' t them they will be much lighter than if baked at once. ■before baking W HILE it has long been known that tobacco smoke is a valuable preven tive against infection during the epidemic of a contagious disease, it is only re cently that an analysis of smoke-laden air in a tenement district has been contrasted with equally dense air in which tobacco fumes were lacking. These analyses have shown that more than one-half of the harmful germs had been destroyed by the tobacco smoke. This fact has unconsciously been the means of preventing large loss of life, as was noted in the recent cholera epidemic in Ger many, when workers in cigar factories were found to be immune to cholera, and wherein the victims were mainly from the non-smokers of the city. Experiments conducted in a cholera-stricken house, one floor of which was occupied with a cigar factory, led Professor Wencke, of the Imperial Institute of Berlin, to the conclusion that the cholera germ cannot endure tobacco smoke. It was found that saliva containin' virulent germs was completely sterilized li; five minutes’ exposure to tobacco smoke. I was further discovered that although thi water used in the tobacco factory, both fo drinking water and in moistening the cigars was full of septic bacteria, not a cigarmake sickened, and the cigars themselves were frei of the deadly peril. Determining to put thi issue to a drastic test, a few tobacco leave: were moistened with water, a glass tumbler ful of which contained over a million activi germs, whereupon it was found that withii twenty-four hours every one of the bacill was dead. it has been a matter of common knowledge that inflammations of the mouth are fendei off by the use of tobacco, and that unheaith; conditions of the mouth can never he tracei to smoking, unless the habit is excessive Now it appears that the smoker in a crowdei tenement room is truly a benefactor to hu manity instead of the selfish brute the anti nicotine crusaders would have us believe. Why You Should Never Put MONEY IN YOUR MOUTH r HE reason that children, salesladies, conductors and others should never put any kind of money in their mouths is not because swallowing money, as money, is harmful—for boiled, sterilized and aseptic money can do no harm—Dut because money is 1 passed through so many consumptive, scarlet fever, diph theria and other loathsome, germ-laden fingers. Many trolley car conductors, children, and street ven - ders have the filthy, and often fatal, habit of holding bi How MUSIC Lures MOSQUITOES to Their DEATH T fllE Mosquito Commission ap liuted fo wipe out the mosquitoes of Atlantic City and its neighbor hood—for which purpose $.’•1,0011 lias been appro priated by the County Hoard -think-, of trying a new method for exterminating the la sts wl >rh invoices Un- use of musical vibrations generated hj electricity. The idea was originated by A. DeP. Weaver, an elec trical engineer of Jackson, Miss . while engaged not long ago in experiments in harmonic telegraphy, in which a musical note of a certain pitch was produced by electricity. He was amazed to find that when the note was raised to a certain number t r vibrations per second, all the mosquitoes, not only in the room whore the apparatus was. hut also from other pints it toe house and from outside, would congregate near the apparatus and he precipitated from the air witn aston ishing force against it. Hi then . >v< surface : 1 sticky fly-paper, and, after sounding the not- a fe.» . . . onds raptured all tile mosquitoes in the vicinity But it occurred to him that the » ethod might easily he so modified as to kill the ie. electricity instead of trapping them For t . ; 1, ; he took a piece of wire window serein, v ; 1 iho paint off it with tnr: entitle, and mount■ d i: or a he .nl. driving small pins into the hoard between the meshes at inter vals in such a way that their heads wet- ’ ish with tho surface of the wire net. Ail the pin being connected together electrically, an alternating current, of high potential was passed through them, ane when the note was sounded, the mosquitoes wlvh tl -ew themselves upon the screen were instantly electrocuted. To make the reuson for tn,. . (ear 't should be ex plained that the “song of the female mosquito seems to he intended for no ether purpose than to attract the mule. The latter is not a sinew, hut he eartv-s on his head a pair of very remarkable "whiskers’—if such they may be called—the hairs of which respond sym pathetically to c» ruin musical vjiyf ions !• i« ty/ Gft s tly Enlarged Model of One of the Male Mosquito’s Two Whiskers. They Are Hearing Organs, Responding Like Tuning Forks to Certain 1 means of these whiskers (which are branching ante p- nae), in fact, that the male mosquito hears. A human being as everybody knows, finds it v«(y hard to determine with accuracy the direction fro.*- which a sound proceeds. It is not so, however, with the male mosquito, which probably has the faculty J judging sound-direction more highly developed than gtt.v other animal.- And the reason why is simply this: If the song of the -female is uttered directly in front 0 f the head of the male, it is perteived with equal lout 1- ness with the hairs of both antennae. If the s< yu) id affects one antenna (or whisker) more than the o th‘ r - he turns his head until both are affected equally. Vtif m he knows that the female is directly- in front, anti, he flies toward her. Experiments have shown that he c an judge in this way the exact direction of the fe ta ale within five degrees. i In view of this exptanatiori it will be understood '*hy the mosquitoes, when a certain musical note ’ms sounded, flew against Mr. Weaver’s apparatus A t all events, it is obvious why the male mosquitoes d .<! it. The note sounded must have corresponded in the -v'-un- her of its vibrations to the song of the female. But why did the females likewise precipitate the.msel ves upon the wire screen? This is not adequately it ade clear. The important point, however, is that they did so; and it is believed by Mr. Wheeler that his me' hod employed on a great scale out of doors, might rid whole towns or even districts of the pests, electrocuting them wholesale. The song of the female mosquito, which has been likened to the distant note of a bagpipe is 1101 n ade by her wings, hut by the v ibration of little s' y>C-ters which regulate the passage of air through openinf s for breathing on the sides at the insect's chest. A 1 the air passes in and out. it makes the shutters yi' .'rate. Fifes and b^os fHp; thn su r Pf > *»*ny. tween'their teeth the coins and notes for which they give change. Yet nobody raises any objection, and few of us realize how dangerously tainted most of the money we handle is. Dr. M. Langlois, Director of Science of the French Academy, has recently pointed out the dangers of this mouth-holding money habit, lie proves experimentally that tainted money is no chimera of the muck-rakers. It is a real peril, as much to he feared as censured. I)r. Langlois placed various pieces of money in pure, germ-free water. Then he took this water, which hud previously been lacking all microbic life, and planted it l again in gelatin and on potatoes that had been boiled j and sterilized. What he found should fill with alarm > those who stick money in their mouths. $ Copper coins each had more than seven hundred and sixty thousand bacteria on them. Nickles had one hun dred and forty thousand and more, while silver and gold coins carried nearly a quarter of a million germs in their crevices. The reason nickles carry fewer germs is be cause wear makes them smooth and leaves fewer lodging places for ihe bacteria. Banknotes and all greenbacks are so full- of bacilli that after he had counted an average of a million and a quarter to each, the French professor and his assistants quit counting them. Among the disease-producing bacteria thus found upon the money were germs that cause boils, pus, blood pois oning, pneumonia,' tuberculosis, typhoid fever, diphtheria, tonsilitis, and erysipelas. Dr. Langlois advises every body who handles money to wash their hands frequently in soap and water. Moreover, all money should be baked in a dry oven whenever it is possible, and all banknotes should be redeemed as soon as they become badly worn or even slightly soiled. Silver coins Dr. Langlois found less dangerous than banknotes and coins of other varieties, because the chemi cal action of the silver renders many of the germs harmless. “Never put money in your mouth.” says Dr. Langlois, ‘‘and try to avoid handling it whenever tiiere are breaks in the skin of your hands. Barbers who make change for a customer and then put their hands on another man’s face are constantly spreading disease, and so are sales girls who alternately handle money and eatables like candy.” Why NERVOUS People Are HAPPIEST N ERVOUSNESS is a high tension of the nervous system. It is rather desirable than otherwise to be several degrees nervous. Well controlled nervousness is a sign of good breeding in human beings just as in animals. The higher bred the horse the more sensitive and the more delicately responsive is the animal. In a crisis the animal has greater fortitude, hearing pain without flinching. This the self-controlied nervous person also does. Again, if well controlled the nervousness stimulates to more and better work. Nervousness if ill controlled or not at all controlled is, on (he contrary, the cause of suffering to the person; of annoyance to his associates and of inefficiency to both. Uncontrolled nervousness causes flightiness and irritability. These lower the vitality and impair the functions of the heart and the digestive apparatus. Abrupt movements, shrill voices, hasty speech and im pulsive, uncertain actions are signs of this state of un controlled nervousness. It is not a misfortune to be nervous if you have a strong and active will. Nervousness in -such instances means merely that the strings of the violin are properly taut. Such nervousuess is normal and makes for the greatest success and happiness. While nervousness if properly controlled is good for- to—— netirnsthenia is always misfortune. Neurasthenia is a lowered condition of the nervous system, the oppo site of excitation. While a certain degree of nervous ness is quite normal, neurasthenia is always abnormal. Nervousness may he a purely healthful state. Neuras thenia is a disease. The depleted condition of the nervous system in cases of neurasthenia may even extend into the nerve fibres themselves and cause a slow atrophy of those fibres. Too low nervous tension causes poor circulation and inadequate elimination of the wastes of the body. Stagnation sets in and the body becomes like a marsh that requires draining. The neurasthenic is always a person who cannot or will not exercise, while the nervous person is ‘‘always on the go.” Healthy nerves must be surrounded by healthy muscles, and healthy muscles are the result of exercise. Melancholy persons and those who commit suicide are ail in some stage of neurasthenia. The person of high-strung delicate organization will under extraordinary pressure become irritable or show lack of sound judgment, but the reaction is quick. His anger is a fire of straw. The cause removed, or on being permitted a moment for reflection, his former serenity is restored. The neurasthenic, on the other hand, is “slow to anger” and slow of recovery from rage.