HEALTH HINTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 276, 18 November 1905, Page 10

HEALTH HINTS.

THE TKEATSIENT OF SCIATICA.

Sitting daily for a. time in water as near boiling point as possible, containing a pound of salt to the gallon, keeping up heat for 20 to 30 minutes with fresh brine, then rough-towel out ought to prove beneficial. At the same time, this is the favourite sciatica prescrip: ltion—lodide of potash, 2 drachms; infusion of calumba to 6oz; dose, a dessertspoonful three times daily between meals. Stop for a day if it makes nose run. Coast not desirable in rheumatic cases of any sort; got to hills. TEE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF AIR IN CROWDED'ROOMS. It is a commonly accepted belief that the unpleasant effects produced on the human system by the air in overcrowded rooms is due to volatile products given j oii' by the skin and lungs; but experi- j ! mentis made by Dr. Pr.uk of the Breslau Hygienic Institute, appear to indicate , that the main cause is the retention of! jheat by the body. Under normal conditions heat is lost by conduction, radiation, and evaporation of moisture, as well as during respiration. The loss of heat by conduction is to a largo extent prevented in crowded rooms, in which the air is usually of a relatively high temperature, and contains a high pro- j j portion of moisture, while the loss by (radiation is very incorrplete when tho body is surrounded by others at about \ the same temperature: In Dr. Paul'- I | experiments it was found that headache : iand all the other unpleasant symptoms ; ! could be entirely prevented by regulation of the heat, even when the air was saturated with respiration products, and contained as much as l. r > per cent, of carbon dioxide; whereas wfihout this regulation of temperature they appeared even when absolutely pure air was breathed. The retention of heat could be demonstrated objectively by the rise in temperature of the sldr_—"Knowledge." OLD AGE. In the "Buffalo Medical Journal," Dr. Charles G. Stockton deliberates on a topic that is of interest to arl mankind, namely, the consideration of what may be done to postpone age and to render it more tolerable when it no longer is avoidable. One of thtu aspects of the subject that deserve especial consideration, says the author, is the improvement in the nutrition of the aged as the result of good teeth. In his opinion it is doubtful if we fully appreciate how much the dentists have contributed to good health, and longevity. Thereupon he pays his compliments to the oculists and observes:— "Who can estimate the additional resources both of usefulness and happiness secured through the discovery of spectacles and the operation for Tact? Useful eyesight contributes much toward good health and long life, for the reason that it permits of a continued interest in living which otherwise would be lost. . . . rerhajls no one factor is so important in maintaining courage and health in old people as the creation and continuance of some keen interest in life."