HEALTH HINTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 152, 27 June 1914, Page 15

HEALTH HINTS.

HOW TO AVOID CANCER. Dr. Bashford, Director of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratory, in a lecture at the Royal Sanitary institute, laid down rules for the avoidance of cancer, which may be epitomised as follow: Cut down your tobacco allowance, take the pledge, and eat your dinner with the calm of a cow. THE SAUCE OF LABOUR. A warning to the over-strenuous was uttered at a National Health Society meeting recently by Professor Stirling. Severe bodily exercise, he said, was incompatible with full digestive activity. Mental fatigue greatly impaired bodily activity, and vice versa. Glands, like muscles, suffered from fatigue, and the result of a "quick lunch" was to exhaust the giands which supply the digestive fluids. The secret of health, said the lecturer, was to be found in rhythm. Between the heart-beats was a regular pause, which permitted a restitution of matter and energy. On a larger scale, sleep was such another quiescent period. Repose was the necessary complement of fatigue. The word itself meant to put things back in their places. In the words of Plutarch: "Rest is the sweet sauce of labour." BUGS AND BACTERIA. •Dr. .Walling Beveridge has been reading a paper at the Conference on Sanitation lately sitiing at New York, indicating what he calls "the msec: familiarly known as the bed bug." We used to think, says the "Medical Press and Circular," that the stoic who didn't grudge them the little bit they ace but disliked the constant tramp they kept up was pretty close to the nirvana of analgesia, and consequently to be envied. But the obvious objections are apparently less than the ones to which we are oblivious. It is only comparatively lately that attention has been paid to the .baeterrterous properties of insects. We now hear that these are greater than we have heretofore suspected. Tuberculosis, leprosy, and cerc-bro-spiual meningitis are all liable to inhabit the 'bug, and to be transferred by it to -th-e next human being for whom it forms a predilection. We must be careful. We have always dodged the elusive parasite from prejudiced motives connect-ed with comfort- and aesthetics. We now have an added incentive for avoidance. HOW TO TREAT BLACK EYES. Black eyes have, a sinister effect on reputations, though popular conjectures as to their causes are often erroneous. In any case the earliest possible cure is always desired, and if the case is treated properly from the first, the. swelling and discolouration can be reduced to a minimum. The first thing to do immediately after the injury has been inflicted is to apply cold water cloths, frequently changing tbem so as to keep the surface constantly cold. Cold compresses are even more effective for this purpose. Small compresses composed of six pieces of flauncl aud mcauring about an inch and a half iv diameter arc to be cooled upon a block of ice, and then applied to the ■ eyelids, and constantly changed for other compresses freshly cooled. After from twenty-four to forty-eight hours the swelling will have partly subsided, and the discolouration will be obvious. Then a little vaseline should be applied to the lids, and flannel cloths wrung out of hot water as hot as can be borne should be placed on the eyelids and changed every few minutes. The discoloured part may then be carefully massaged, a little vaseline being applied to the surface to avoid damage to the skin. By these means it is usually possible to get rid of the discolouration within twenty-four hours after the disappearance of the swelling.