TREND FROM PRIMITIVE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20385, 17 April 1928, Page 13

TREND FROM PRIMITIVE.

EFFECT ON HUMAN FRAME.

CAUSES OF MODERN ILLS.

ADDRESS BY DR J. RENFREW WHITE.

Though, for the evolutionist, many moy still bear in'his bodily fram's the mark of his lowly origin, the medical professipn is apparently firmly of the opinion that he is to-day assailed by countless ills which his lowliest ancestors knew nothin" of, beoauee earliest man lived in mich° a way that his body, tlia eternal human machine, was given a reasonable chance to function according to the immovable and immutable laws of its structure. This would appear to be the opinion of the medical 'profession, as represented by Dr J. Kentrew White, who pointed out to a large audience in the Knox Sunday School Hall last night that the development and perfection of the human mind was slowly undermining the physical fitness and . perfection pi the body. He traced the evolution .through the ages of the hundred and one ills ta which the human frame is heir, and laid the responsibility for present-day disease and bodily disability at the door ot modern civilisation, which has sensitised the body to such a degree that it is now spoiled for its rightful functions. A similar sensitising of the mind, he claims, has resulted in a demand on the part ot the human frame for pleasure—pleasurable food, pleaaing ornamentation in the way of. clothes, and comfortable ease in habit and living. The lecture delivered by Dr White is the first of a scries of six which will be "■hen bv specialists, in aii endeavour to cope with the many problems existing today in respect'to human lae and health. The chairman of the meeting was MtU 4 de Berrv, and the hall was well tilled. * The lectmor began by emphasising the vital important:* of national nealth and strength, 'io illustrate the position in this regard in New Zealand' to-day, he -iroduced a %■;<■■-•'■'■ many alarming, not to say "meson; ', dr.Uils of. .>icUnees, disease, ■ and limrmuy ;■» i-ey awectcd New 2ca- j land, with special rct::rsfiiO to tnose , which ended fatally. Tin-, satisfies con- j r.-rncd the year 1025, and aeinpastrated clearly that the Dominion couiu not yet claim even a comparatively eiean bill ol health. A very tolling comparison was I tlnn- made of the various causes ot death. Old age, instead of being at the top of the list, occupied third place, superseded' by diseases of the heart, arteries, and kidneys in the first place, followed closely by cancer, which was responsible for one out of every 10 deaths in New Zealand. \ccidents 'and tuberculosis occupied fourth and fifth places respectively on the list. In 1925 01,504 cases were admitted to hospitals in the dominions and 25,003 operations were performed. Ihe expenditure for the year was £1742 012. Tuberculosis- had ftirlicted 2304 sufferers, and mental institutions held 6006 patients, involving an expenditure of £272,204. The question suggested by these figures, ho said, was why such sickness should prevail in New Zealand in these days. This he proceeded to answer. ■ The human bodv, said. Dr White, was just like a machine. It should be fed with particular fuel of only th» best tyw. Second grade stuff, was not good enough. Physical or mechanical abuse of any kind was sufficient to disorganise the whole. Moreover, the bodily machine of today had served man since the beginning of time with no great changes beyond those affecting tho hand and the brain. It was sf.fo io say that' fof 1,000,000 years man s body had remained almost constaut. iho machine still required tho same fuel and the idontical treatment of past ages, lho laws of structure governing its functions wore still tho same. But times had altered, and with the changing yeass man's habits, occupations, clothing, and diet had changed In illustration of this point the lecturer went back through the years to the time of tho " Java" man, the earliest type known,, and with the aid of.lantern slides he depicted tho habits and diets of that distant ago. What his home and raiment wero no one could suy to-day, but scientists knew that his diet was principally tho fruit of trees, nuts, and'roots. Pictures of Neanderthal man showed that theso inhabitants of Europe, living in caves, and clothed in tho crudest of skins, discovered tho use "of fire. They wero hunters, eating the flesh df animals and using tho skins, and supplementing their diet with roots, berries, and anything living, vermin and reptile. The Stone Age came next, with people living in rude shelters. Their clothes were skins, and thev had begun to till the soil. Crude pottery allowed them.to cook feed, and there commenced in this era tho domestication of animals, notably the dog and the cow, tho latter of which was looked upon as a life-giver, providing milk for the upbringing of children. But it was also a lifekiller in that it introduced the germs ot tuberculosis, and had continued to infest mankind ever since. Whether tho cow gave tho disease to man or vice versa, it was impossible to say, but there the diseasa had its birth. Other pictures dealt with houses in lO.COO'u.fl., the dress and habits of ancient Greece, Sparta, and Egypt, with special roferenoe to the respect and care given to the human body by Spartan discipline and diet. VanO'.is races of the world were mode tho subject cf dress studies, tho series being intended to demonstrate the birth of the artificial life we live to-day. Dr White referred to Mnoris before the contamination of white civilisation touched them. Their diet was roots, _ fruit, nuts, fish, birds, and potatoes. Their teeth had boon the finest of any race in the world on record, but in ICO years New Zealand dentnl standards had pone from the best to the worst. They hs.H vory few of our present-day ills, no goitre and negligible dental troubles The scenes changed to present-day towns, with their smoke and grime and dust and fog. congested streets and dwellings, dark and unhygienic. Those, said Dr White, simply demonstrated how man was getting further and further away from primitive life, and the further he got the greater was the toll of human' health and life. The body had become sensitised to an alarming degree. Comfort and pleasure nnd ease were the gods man worshipped. The body was too sensitive, and was always demanding pleasure in come form—food, ornament, or comfort. 'inc lecturer mentioned many of the habits and customs of present-day civilisation, the result of man's developing mind, which were undermining his bodily perfection. Perhaps the most alarming effect of these enervating influences was to be found in the rising generation. Our children were being affected. In illustration of this a score or more slides of New Zenland school children were shown, every one of which demonstrated physical deformity or abnormality, not very noticeable when concealed by clothes, but very pronounced when the subject was stripped. Man'a developing mind, which was now so quick to grasp and turn to his own advantage the wonders of the world, was ruining his body, and the race wap degenerating, the effects being seen in the school children of to-day. But although the mind had accomplished such havoc, k ' was quite equal to the task of studying and finding out the many and complex causes of the bodily imperfections shown in the pictures of school children.' However, the greatest check to a disastrous tendency was <i renunciation by people of the habits, customs, and pleasures that made life so artificial to-day, and the only way to accomplish this was by a gradual education of the community for the benefit of the next generation. Human wear and- tear, disability, and disease could not be otherwise eliminated. And where was it to be done? In the homos and in the schools of the nation! Parents, teachers, doctors, and scientists had to co-operate in this work if future generations were to be saved the blight of to-day. The meeting closed with a hearty vote of thanks to the lecturer and to the chairman.