HEALTH NOTES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5665, 12 August 1905, Page 16

HEALTH NOTES

SOMETHING AiiOGT BATHING. Exercise before bathing, so that one feels comfortably warm. Allow at lou.'.'t thr-eo hours to elapse af*er a full meal before taking a full bath. livery form of warm bath, whether general or local, should be followed by cold water application of oqual ox- ) i“ui-—buv only tor a moment oi time, 1 Tho weekly warm hath of those who take a cold bath daiiv should last not more than ten minutes. Chilliness after a bath indicates that lias done barm rather than good. Find out tho cause, and do not repeat it. Train ycmrsolf gradually to the use of tho cold bath, beginning with tepid wa.ter, and decreasing the temperature by degrees from day to day. ‘ After purely drying with the towel, vigoi ousiy rubbing wii.li the bauds until quite dry will usually prevent chilliness. FOR iniKHMATIS-M. Sufferers from rheumatism should dress entirely in woollen clothing, and dust tho inside of their clothing with flour of sulphur. IToy should abstain from raking beer, acids, sweets, sugar, or pastry, but take plenty of milk, celery, stowed in milk, or prepared in other way*, and onions. They should rub the joints night and morning with a brine of salt, -rubbing it in until the skin is dry. Turkish baths do much good to rheumatic persons, but, being a sovem remedy, should never bo tried without first consulting a medical man, or the result may bo most injurious. • ONIONS FOR THE COMPLEXION. There is no more certain bcantifier' of tho complexion than tho blood-pur-ifying onion. To imitate the example of the American ladies and reserve one day in thd week on which to consume in secret tho succulent plant would speedily impart to the dullest cheek a complexion that a Rachel might -envy. No other vegetable wo believe, has the same sustaining and strength-giving qualities. The Spanish and Portuguese muleteer will contentedly dine off brown broad and an onion, and walk for an entire day without showing fatigue. Our own labourers, too, are partial to tho juicy edible. With tho brawny navvies employed in tho making of railways, broad and cheese and an ‘•lagan” frequently comprise the principal meal of the day. Another attribute of this favourite vegetable and one perhaps not generally known, is its power of imparting heat. While lottup© and many other vegetables cool the blood, an onion eaten raw will send a glow of warmth through ono's body on the coldest day. THEi HAIR AT NIGHT. No matter how pretty and picturesque it may sound do have the 'hair failing over the pillow, never do it. It breaks the hair, loosens it, and is ruinous to its beauty. The proper way is to put it into a loose plait, thus keeping it straight and unbroken. DEEP BREATHING. The unvarnished truth about deep breathing, says a doctor, seems to bo that tho majority of folks do not occupy all their bod.es—they are content, as it were to make some rooms of their dwellings serve ail the purposes of life. We all breathe. Precisely as those ■wondroms little engines, our hearts, keep throbbing away tirelessly, through day and night, year afier year, whether we be asleep or awake, so those bellows, our chests continue lifting and falling, sucking in air and then expelling it, treating th© blood to oxygon and ridding it of its cargo of carbonic acid incessantly, without requiring conscious supervision at our hands. The thing is imperative if the system is to continue working and in working order. Work means waste. Afore work means more waste. But waste calls for replacement and purification. To rid the body of the products of its own activity, oxygenation must b© incessant: to replace tho usedup tissue, there must bo an endless supply of purified, enriched blood. This may best, be obtained by a course of deep breathing. WARTS. The best treatment tor those growths is to apply with a piece of match-wood the strongest glacial acetic acid onco a day. Where there is a very extensivo layer of epithelium, tho wart should bo shaved by a razor or a sharp scalpel before applying une acid, and when this is carefully done, and any bleeding controlled by pressure, one application of the acid may be sufficient. Failure results through want of attention to this dot ail, the horny epithelium shielding t.ho vascular tissue from tho action of tho acid. After the dried crust falls off, or is removed. the acid should be applied till entire destruction is accomplished. Saturated solution of caustic potash or the liquefied drug may bo applied. It is more speedy and certain than the acid. A less painful application is that of salicylic acid in saturated solution in collodion. Fowler’s solution of arsenic applied daily with a lino camel’s hair brush is a reliable wart destroyer, but the writer has found that it produces such pain after a time that often its use must be stopped. A minute quantity of arsenic made into a paste with water applied to tho wart causes its certain destruction. Butyr of antimony, nitrate of silver, chromic acid, mercuric uiratc. nitric acid, corrosive sublimate, and nearly ©very known

caustic has boon recommended. but iho gl.ic.al ascetic acid answers every requirement, even in iho most unprom-

ising cases.