Newspaper Page Text
Why MEN
4re (he
WEAKEST of
All ANIMALS
By WILLIAM LEE HOWARD, M. D.
W E do not find curvature ol' the spine, hernia,
displacement of internal organs and many
other anatomical distortions in the upright
animals such as the gibbon, chimpanzee and gorilla.
These distressing deformities ai£ common occurrences
in man and have boon the surgeon s most despairing
conditions for correction. Why should man alone be so
disadvantageously placed for his dally labors?
It is because those displacements and distortions are
due to something more than anatomical troubles. They
are a part of the penalty man pays for evolutionary de
velopment—as our brain strengthens, our body weakens.
The big apes really do not walk upright in the manner
we do. Neither do they work with their internal organs
in a vertical position as we do. Their upright posture is
not. a com pit'-a ted affair of nerves and muscles; it is an
equipoise between delicately balanced muscles without
any strain upon the nervous system.
While tlic big apes are generally observed in an up
right posture, they do not propel themselves by feet
How MONKEYS CAN TEACH US to Make OUR OWN RABIES STRONGER
alone. Man does Many thousands of years ago our
hairy ancestors acquired the erect posture. While they
gradually abandoned the position of "all fours" even to
day neither the chimpanzee, gibbon or gorilla walk as
man. They depend upon the use of their long arms for
swinging and balancing, in the gorilla we see the
abandonment of the swinging aid. He uses his long arms
and his doubled fists to assist him in getting over the
ground. There is no straight planting of the feet and a
straining of the belly muscles to keep him erect. There
is no extra effort of the nervous system to keep his bal
ance as in man. It is just this difference in propulsion
and work and not in posture which lias caused so much
internal trouble to man and woman.
Knowledge of these facts can be of great profit if not
of interest to all of us. It will enable us to prevent
many of the anatomical distortions, especially hernia.
To understand this clearly wc must know something
about the changes in the arrangement of the muscles of
the pelvic floor- the big bony basin made up of the hip
bones and the very end of the spine—where the tail used
to be.
Have you ever noticed in the pictures of the big apes
what apparently big stomachs they have—how their
abdomens protrude like a man who has overeaten of rich
food and overdrank beer for years. Every man-ape has
a very prominently protruding stomach. He looks like a
beer swiller, yet his food consists of nuts, fruits and
possibly flesh—and he drinks only water. But he never
has his fill and constantly has to exert himself to get
even this simple food for himself and family.
Then why this overfed appearance? Because his inter
nal organs are where they should be—most of them—
outside of the pelvic cavity.
In walking on all fours, then later during the evolu
tionary stages of assuming the upright posture, the in
ternal organs were horizontal to the body. They were
held in place by powerful abdominal muscles. Even
when the ape assumed the upright posture there were
On the Left, an Ape’s Skeleton;
on the Right, a Man’s. The Length
of the Ape’s Arms Enables Him to
Relieve the Strain on His Abdo
men Even When Standing Nearly
Erect.
muscles which prevented them from
sinking into the pelvis, and when he
made hurried progress over the
ground he never put a strain upon
them by the movements we do when
we walk or run upright, keeping our
balance by an unconscious nervous
strain.
As man assumed the upright posture as a permanent
posture he soon lost the former strength of the belly
muscles. Force of gravity and weight soon commenced
to allow the internal organs to sink into the pelvis.
From lying along the belly muscles in a horizontal posi
tion, they massed in a vertical position, having lost that
protection from rupture and displacement which the
former big abdominal muscles gave. Floating kidney
wc now hear so much about is caused by the same con
ditions.
With the internal organs lying in the horizontal posi
tion, and so well protected by the muscles, the nym-ape
could jump, strain and run with the aid of his extraor
dinarily long arms without fear of displacements, because
the abdominal muscles squeezed the organs to each side—
not downwards or against delicate pelvic openings, as
happens to-day in man.
In certain physical efforts we now have to make—as a
woman at the washtub—the organs in the pelvis are
compressed against weak walls of muscles, and a rupture
may result or o^her displacements brought about.
Themtgain, in the course of the changes I have stated,
internal muscles which once passed to the tail and made
a strong barrier against the forcing of the internal
organs downward have mostly disappeared. This allows
those distressing displacements of the lower bowel so
often seen in man to-day.
Almost every four-footed animal starts to walk a few
hours after birth. Those that do not, crawl. Their in
ternal organs lie horizontally along the belly supported
by strong muscles. If you take a puppy and force it to
walk on its hind legs every day, soon the internal or
gans will sink into the pelvis and the subsequent pres
sure will cause a bad rupture.
The practical side of all these facts is self-evident.
What can we do to strengthen the abdominal support in
man and woman? Commence with the baby. The infant
begins to propel itself as did its arboreal ancestors, on
all fours. By so doing it keeps its internal organs from
sinking into the pelvis. Have you ever noticed the jolly
paunch of a baby before its mother foolishly encouraged
it to walk upright? That jolly paunch is not fat, not
the result of over-feeding—just all the internal organs
lying where they do in the big apes.
As long as the infant is allowed to crawl and creep it
is free from danger of hernia, and if a girl, from other,
displacements.
Every mother should prolong the period of crawling
and creeping as far as possible. Do not take hold of the
child's hands and encourage it to stand. Do not give it
a chair to stand by and push along. Those contrivances
in which a child is placed upright and held so it may
tvalk, should be thrown into the dump heap. Nature will
furnish the walking contrivance—leg-muscles when the
child is fit to stand the pelvic strain of the internal
organs.
Let the child creep and crawl so that the belly muscles
can develop. ‘Give the delicate openings in the pelvis
ample time to get a strong covering of tissue and mus
cle. If it is a boy especial care should be given to this
development, as boys are far more apt to have a rupture
of the intestines than girls.
But little girls are more affected by the weight of the
falling organs of the abdomen pressing upon those or
gans which in their sex really belong in the pelvic
cavity. So let them crawl even if your neighbor's little
girl of the same age is walking beside her proud but
non-understanding mother.
Every physician sees cases of rupture and other inter
nal displacements in little children “who could walk be
fore they were a year and half old.” And the horror of
it all! Doomed to a rupture, most all of them.
Keep your child mentally apd physically a crawling
animal as long as possible. By so doing you will give it
strength to do a man’s or woman’s work when men’s
work and women’s work mfist be done. Precocious chil
dren,'physically or mentally, are a menace to all future
success. Remember this, all you ambitious mothers.
How FISH SLEEP with BOTH EYES OPEN
1
T used to be thought that fish never sleep, because
their eyes are never closed. In fact, scientists at
one time believed that the existence of wljales and
other large fish depended upon their sleeplessness, and
that if by any chance they dozed off they would perish
by drowning.
Recent discoveries show that these notions are en
tirely erroneous. All fish sleep at more or less regu
lar Intervals, hut. they do so without closing their eyet.
and their slumber as a rule is lighter and more easily
disturbed than that of any other living things.
In studying how fish sleep they should be observed
under normal conditions, and not when stupefied by
drugs, says Professor Louis Schulze, of Berlin. This
is proved by the fact that if too much of a drug is ad
ministered the fish swim sidewise, showing that they
have hvet their sense of balance. In the case of human
beings we do not dream of comparing their condition
while drugged with normal sleep.
Observations of the sleep of fish under normal condi
tions is of far ttie greatest value and interest. For fish to
sleep well they must be In good health, that is, they
must be free of all parasites. The aquariums in which
they are studied must be large and not over-crowded. If
there is not enough oxygen present fish that would ordi
narily lie at the bottom are forced to interrupt their
slumber to come to the surface for air. When studying
fish that have the habit of seeking the Shelter of plants,
plants such as they require should be in the aquarium.
But a too luxuriant growth of plants prevents proper
study and observation, and is apt to interfere with the
supply of oxygen at night.
It is best to keep the different species of fish apart
and to keep out any disturbing animals, such as disturb
lisp in nature. While studying them the slightest noise
or shock must be avoided, as most fisli are very sensitive
to both. Darkness makes observation difficult, but no
light should be brought into play. Accustom your eyes
to the darkness, and choose a blight moonlight night,
having so placed the aquarium that the light shines
through it.
During many years of study in his numerous aquar
iums containing all kinds of fish. Professor Schulze has
found that all kinds of fish except those which seek
their food at night, or lie buried under stones, take tlieir
sleep at night, but this sleep differs in the species. Most
fish are very light sleepers and are always ready to rouse
themselves and dart away at any unusual sight or sound.
The North American perch remaihs at light midway
between the bottom and the surface of the, ater, perpen
dicular to the plaints among which it lives The dark
bands on its body make it very difficult for its enemies
to distinguish the fish from the stems of the plants
The diamond perch, however, passes the night lying
on the bottom, in the shadow of a plant or a stone. On
account of its light marking it does not stir from the
bottom all uiglit. With the exception of gentle breath
ing neither of these species makes any noticeable move
ment. If there is any disturbance, such as a slight shak
ing of the tank, botli kinds of perch show that they are
awake and ready for fight by moving the forward fins.
If the shaking is severe these fish dart around rapidly.
The Brazilian characinide sleeps between the plants,
just below tlie surface, giving no sign of life except a
very gentle breathing.
Three small species of carp found in Venezuela like
to lie upon the broad leaves of the water plants, but do
not sleep very soundly. This, is true of many other kinds
of fish
Why There Are NO PURE RACES
T
Is Every HUMAN BODY a Perfect WIRELESS STATION?
T HAT telepathy, that is, psychic com
munication betwen two minds, will
some day be in universal use betweei),
any two minds which have learned to at
tune themselves scientifically one to the
other, just as wireless telegraph stations
are attuned, seems a safe prediction in view
of the intensely interesting experiments made
by two Frenchmen, Philllpson and Menzerath.
It lias long been known that the electrical
current of the body, which flows from the
right to the left side, and which until now
was believed to be connected in some way
with the fact that we are usually right and
left-handed, is subject to variation. These
variations are caused by mntal work, or by
emotion, such as fright, fear, grief, excite
ment.
The two French scientists, by employing
the galvonometer of Fipthoven in their experi
ments, have produced highly satisfactory re
sults. The subject was placed in a dark room,
and in either hand he held one electrode of
the galvonemeter stationed in an adjoining
room. A bright light was then flashed in the
subject’s eyes and two seconds later ii was
noted that the right hand became positively
charged with regard to the left. An auditory
excitation, caused by a detonation, produced
a similar result, which, however, was stronger
in effect than the first.
The subject was then asked to mulitply nine
by four. Apparenlty the work performed was
too simple to cause any but the most trifling
change in the current, but a multiplication of
fractions, entailing considerable brain work,
occasioned a considerable difference in the
potential of the two hands. The subject was
then tested as to emotion, by being reminded
of an act of injustice which he had suffered
some time ago, and the current became great
ly agitated, more so than through work or
external nervous excitaation.
The experiments showed the same results ^
with a left-handed subject. The electric cur- i
rent flows always from right to left hand, -
and the right hand is charged positively.
The experimenters deduced from these ex
periments that the electrical current of the \
body is not due to nerve or brain action, but (
to mechanical action, it being noticed that the
right hand contracted slightly whenever the ;
subject became agitated, and the stretching
of the ski^ on the right hand resulted in that ;
hand’s being positively charged.
To understand how these facts may help
place telepathy on a scientific basis, it must 1
be borne in mind that emotion has a greater -
effect on the electric current of the body
tliau work or external excitation. It must
also be borne in mind that electricity and
electriq currents are so pervasive that we
can no where escape them.
There are? numerous well authenticated
cases on record in which persons, suffering
a violent death, appeared as phantoms to
persons who were dear to them at the moment
of death. The emotion which a person who
is conscious suffers at the moment when a
violent death is offered him In the form of
murder or accident, beggars every other emo
tion. Science, proceeding on the lines indi
cated above, hopes to unravel the mystery
attaching to telepathy, by showing how the
electric currenfs of the air, when impinged
upon by the electric currents of the body at
a moment of supreme emotional excitation,
will transmit that shock over miles and miles,
and deliver it safely to the receiving instru
ment in the form of another human electric
current, attuned to the first in some way
which science has not yet explained.
IIE old idea was that a race gained in
vigor by its purity of strain, says Dr.
Woods Hutchinson. This is a delusion,
and the purer a race strain is the less vigor
ous the members of the race will be. There is
no such thing as a pure race. Every race on
the face of the earth has been mixing with
others for thousands of years. The mixing of
races adds to their vigor, provided, of course,
the two strains have good blood. There is no
such thing as an “older race.” We in tilts
country are as old as any people in the world,
only our recent development has been under a
different environment. Mixing of races is
going on as constantly in Europe as it is over
here, but not on so large a scale. The regions
where there is the most mixing of races ate
the regions that produce the greatest men.
There is no known standard of race purity.
One race merges with another and is related
to it, recently or remotely. The mixing going
on in America is being worked out under most
favorable circumstances,
and the best blood of the
world is coming here, al
though at present the type
of immigrant is not so de
sirable as it was twenty-five
'years ago. Formerly we re
ceived the peoples of North
ern Europe, but now we are
getting them mostly from
the southern countries,
where the intelligence is
not so high. But there is
nothing to complain of be
cause on the whole the im
migrants are good. Way
back in the early days oi
5
the nation there were a
great many undesirables
coming in. and their proportion to the* whole
number of Immigrants was larger than to-day.
The old colonies of the Cnroljims and parts of
Virginia were penal settlements, to which the
criminals of Europe were sent. The iflinti-
grant, as a rule, is an enterprising person
witli plenty of courage and determination,
and as these are very good qualities, we need
fear nothing from the influx of foreigners.
Nqver before has the human family laid such
a splendid opportunity for mixing to the best
advantage. In this country we have good soil,
good climate, prosperity for everybody, and
the ultimate result of the mixing is bound 1
be a better class of people. The future race
to develop on this continent will not differ m
terially from other races in Europe. We mr
be further advanced in some directions, but
general appearance of the peoples will be
about the same as to-day.
There is not much difference between the
various races. If you went into a gymnasia \
for instance, where men from all the civil
(white races were dressed alike and none of
them spoke a word, it would be hard to dis
tinguish the men from England and America
from those from France, Germany or Italy.
The clue we have now to the different races is
mostly in the clothes and manners and
language.
An experiment carried <«i recently with
school children to determine how the foreign
born compared with the native born shows
how marked an effect the environment in this
country has on immigrants. It was found
that tlie children with the lowest standing in
school were foreign torn. The next lowest
were those born of foreign born parents; the
next after them were of parents born in this
country; and the highest were those whose
grandparents or great grandparents were born
here.
Just What FOOD BRAIN WORKERS SHOE 1.0 EAT
“W
‘HEN I look back over my twenty-nine years’
experience,” writes Professor Nussbaum,
"I find that very few patients came to me
because of over straining bones or muscles; but many
hundreds of these sufferers lin'd overstrained their brains,
and it was often difficult to help or cure them. I re
ceived ttie impression that man was designed for manual
labor far more than for study.”
This observation is eminently correct, says Dr. Karl
Renner, the famous German scientist. Every one can
prove this by experimeuAjnfe with himself and noting
that when he feels depressed and pessimistic, it is not
due to bodily weariness. When we have been engaged
in muscular work the poisons have been driven out of
How the EARTH SPLIT OPEN Like a BAKED APPLE
N ORTH and South America. Europe, Asia.
Africa and Australia were formerly all
one immense continent. They became
separated and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
were formed ages ago when the crust of the earth
split into two great gap* from pole to pole. That
this is tlie true explanation of the present ar
rangement of the earth's surface is proved. A
Henry Savage-Lnndor believes, by new evidence
•which he gathered on his recent long and peril
ous trip into ttie least known regions of South
America.
“I have never believed,” says Mr. Savage-I.au
dor, in the account of his expedition just pub
lished, “in the well-known theory that a conti
nent, now submerged, once existed between
lAmerica, Europe and Africa where the Atlantic
Ocean now is. Here is what really happened:
The earth at one period changed its shape—
wheu, is merely guesswork and is of «o conse
quence here- -and the crust of the earth—not the
core, mind you—split into two great gaps from
pole to poie, with a number of other minor fis
sures. In other words, the earth opened just
like the skin of an overheated baked apple.
“The African and American continents, as well
as Australasia, with New Guinea, the Celebes
Islands, the Philippine Archipelago, and China,
twhii-h before that event formed part of one im
mense continent, thus became divided, leaving
8
North and South America isolated, between tlie
Atlantic and the Pacific—which were then, and
only then, formed.
“It is easy, by looking intelligently at a map.
to reconstruct the former shape of the world.
Diagram Showing How Europe, Asia and
Africa Split Off from North and South Amer
ica. and the Secondary Fissure. Which Made
Greenland an Island.
You will notice that the most western portion
of Africa fits exactly into the gap between
North and South America, while the entire
African coast between Dahomey and the Cape
Colony fits perfectly, in all its indentations and
projections, into tlie coast line of South Amer
ica.
“The shores of Western Europe in those days
were joined to North America, and find to-day
their almost parallel and well-fitting coast line
on tlie east coast of the United States and Can
ada. On the oppositefside of the world, tlie
western side of South America, the same con
ditions can be noticed, .although tlie division of
the two continents (America and Asia) is there
much wider. Fraguiqpts were formed, leaving
innumerable islands scattered in the Pacific
Ocean, half way between the actual continents
of Asia. Australia and America.
“A mere glance is sufficient to show how well
Australia tits in along tlie Chilian and Peruvian
coast, the great island of New’ Guinea along part
of Peru and Ecuadbr and the west coast of tlie
Central American Isthmus. The Philippine
Islands probably in those days lay alongside of
Guatemala, while California bordere i on Japan.’’
In further support of his theory, Mr. Savage-
Landor cites likeness of feature, language, habit
and state of development between South Amer
ican tribes and those < f the lands over the seas
nerves and muscles and we feel satisfied and content
with life. Walking is not enough to give this effect.
Real work—practical, useful work, not gymnastics, is
what is needed.
It is a great pity that every one cannot work in a gar
den or field, or go hunting and sailing. Many are doomed
to a sedentary life at desks—clerks, merchants, teachers;
artists. The number of these is increasing from year to
year and can not well be prevented.
It is therefore important for the sedentary person to
know what to eat. Every one wishes to produce as much
energy as possible, and he is helped in this very largely
by his food, if we eat and drink wisely body and soul
are kept fresh and strong. The brain-worker who eats
what he should can ward off the evils of his sedentary
life more surely than he who gives no thought to this
important matter.
Food is made up of carbohydrates,. fats, albumens,
salts and water. By albumens we mean organic material
rich in nitrogen, chiefly meats, eggs and cereals, milk
and cheese, which help to build up the cells of the body
and to compensate for the losses it suffers. Fat and
carbohydrates, to the latter of which the starches be
long, are organic “binders,” without any nitrogen, chiefly
used as fuel for tlie stoking of tlie human machine.
Albumen has been hitherto considered the most import
ant element in nourishment. For this reason all try to
get enough albumen in the food they consume daily.
Boit, the physiologist, held that a man weighing 150
pounds should consume 414 ounces of albumen, 2 ounces
of fat, and 18 ounces of carbohydrates, giving him a
total of 3,000 calories.
But the question arises whether tiiis superfluity of
nourishment, especially in albuminous, animal food ac
tually is required by the body and helps its physiologi
cal processes. Paracelsus long ago said: “Food“'and
drink to excess is poison; it overloads the system.”
Rubner, the Berlin physiologist, says the same thing:
“The excess of alBumen is superfluous for adults, caus
ing an unnecessary and aimless heat. After a heavy
meal of meat a rea 1 fever is set up, fever in the intes
tines, which causes a feeling of weakness and weari
ness.”
“Animal foods are always more stimulating and heat
ing than vegetables, which yield a cool, gentle blood, de
crease the inner activity of body and mind, and greatly
retard liveliness,” was the sage remark of Hufeland.
“And in tlie end animal foods yield more blood and
nourishment, make possible more work and bodily move
ment; or man becomes full-blooded. They are not good
food on this account for those who have to sit much of
the time, for these persons do not need such strong food.
They should use milder foods, which serve better for
mental effort.”
While the bra in-worker should eat vegetables, rice,
potatoes, green vegetables, fruit In wide variety, he
should not altogether set aside meat. But he can eat
half as much as others, say two ounces a day and find
this sufficient. This sparingness in meat-eating will help
him in every way.
The brain-worker's food should be very simple and un-
spiced. He should he tempted far more by the surround
ings, flowers, snow-white service, etc. One of the most
important considerations is how the brain-worker eats.
He must have, his meals uninterrupted by business or
matters relating to his usual pursuits, and the conver
sation at tlie table should be light and pleasing. He must
be leisurely at fils meals.
It should not be forgotten that neither the stomach
nor the intestines have teeth, and, therefore, food should
be well chewed before it is swallowed. It is only the
well-chewed food that is properly digested and gives
strength and vigor without discomfort.
Each brainworker must determine for himself what
foods best agree with him, and enjoying these leisurely
lie will be in better form for the work which he wants
to do.
How PIGS Are SAVING MEN’S LIVES
T
HE despised pig is doing more than supply us witli
choice roasts and chops—he now is being led to
slaughter in the interests of science and is prov
ing of material assistance to surgeons in saving human
lives.
It has lately been discovered that a very young pig
furnishes the best available skin for grafting purposes.
So useful has pigskin proved for this purpose that the
operating staffs of a. number of large hospitals do not
consider their equipment complete unless they have a
litter of pigs ready at all times to supply the skin needed
for grafting on human bodies.
It has been found that skin taken from pigs when
they are from two to six months old can be grafted on
the' skin of a man or woman far more successfully than
the skin of another human being. Many surgeons, iu
fact, are abandoning the old method of grafting human
skin and are relying entirely upon the skin obtained
from very young pigs for such operations.
Tlie grafting of pigskin is successful in from 75 to 100
per cent of the attempts. The skin of other animals and
of human beings averages only 32 to 50 per cent of
“takes.”
Some surgeons have hesitated to use pigskin for this
purpose for tear that with the pig's hide they would
transplant to their human patient's body tlie pig’s stiff
•mil ugly bristles. This danger has now been removed
by a deep shaving process which removes the roots of
die bristles and prevents any danger of their growing^
on a human body.
Copy right, 1913. by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.