HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2157, 27 June 1895, Page 49

HEALTH COLUMN.

Change of Air. * The necessity for charge of air, not only daring convalesence from illness, bat as a means of maintaining the normal standard of health, is now generally recognised. The father of a family who fails to make some arrangements for giving his children an annual holiday, either at the seaside or elsewhere, is not acting judiciously. Young people who live in large towns and who have comparatively little opportunity of Indulging in outdoor games and getting healthful exercise soon "ran down" and become depressed and debilitated. Many people seem to think that a preliminary illness is requisite as a justification for a bollday, but there can be no doubt that there Wanld be very much less illness if change of

scene and change of air were regarded as necessities of life and not as luxuries.

A? a matter of fact, one annual outing is not enough for the maintenance of robust health, and should, when possible, be supplemented by shorter excursions, lasting, perhaps, only a day or two, bufc taken at least five or six times a year. In ali large communities people are waking up to the absolute necessity of varying their ORDINARY DAILY TOIL with periods cf relaxation. English people are usually energetic enough in all that .concerns business nutfcoru, bub as a rule take their pleasures sadly. The absurd gravity with which many people indulge in a holiday may possibly arise from the feeling that they are doing something strange and unusual. The breadwinner of a family who is uaable to take a prolonged holiday in the summer should eeb aside a certain sum every week as a nucleus of a " pleasure hoard " to be devoted solely to the purposes of recreation. A man with an assured income of £3CO would be justified in spending 5j a week for this objeefc. FIVE SHILLINGS A WEEK judiciously expended would give a whole family eveiy week's end a few hours' invigorating exercise in the fresh air. ■ But-whenever a holiday ia taken the whole programme, even to the minutest details, should be worked out before, or there will be LO?S OF VALUABLE TIMB and conseqant disappointment. IE these little trips are arranged systematically every week they not only afford a vaet amount of pleasure and happiness, bub obviate the necessity of a resort to those useful features of modern life, the doctor and the chemist. — The Family Physician for j April.

Boxing Children's Ea.rs.— Never box a child on the head or ears as fearful brain trouble ia very often the result of such violent chastisement:. Da not resort to any whipping at all for faults if possible, for many other punishments of a lighter nature (such as standing in the corner, or going without sugar, ice.) will often have the sama effect, and will be certainly better for the I health of the child. Which is the Healthiest Part op the House ? — The upper part of the house, with a sunny aspect and an open fire. A well ventilated, cheerful attic, free from j drain air, is far better than the first and second floor bedrooms. Certain doctors insist upon their patients being taken up to the top rooms at tbe beginning of an illness. Sunlight is as necessary for good health as pure air, a fact practically recognised in America, where many hospitals in the country have rooms provided in which patients take "sun baths." The open fire has many advantages, the most signal being that it constantly renews the current of fresh air in the room, which is essential to health. ' Flatulen V in Ch.'LDHEn. — If an infant be very flatulent, a little carminative powder may with advantage he given, and will quickly relieve the pain or gripe. An excellent powder may be made by dropping five grains of aniseed and two of peppermint on half an ounce of lump sugar, and rubbing it in a mortar with a drachm of magnesia into a fine powder. Give a little of this in a little water when required, and it will be fonnd to always benefit. Sjine should be kept ready made in the house. Celery for Rheumatism.— "Let ma conclude this letter," says a Home correspondent, "by asking if your readers are aware that the sovereign remedy for gout and rheumatism is celery 1 It is a great mistake to ! imagine tbat these dreaded complaints are produced by cold and damp, which merely develop them. When celery is largely eaten, an alkaline blood is the result, and where this exists there can be neither gout nor rheumatism. Celery should be eaten raw at least twice a day by those predisposed to these complaints, or euffericg from them, and it does not lose its special properties when cooked. A very palatable diuh can be prepared by simply cutting the celery in pieces 2in long, boiling till soft in as small a quantity of water as possible, and serving covered with melted butter. A Long Life. — Sir Benjamin Richardson, M.D., of Eogland, thinks tbat the normal period of human life is about 110 years, and that seven out of ten average people could live that long if they lived in the right way. They should cultivate a spirit of serene cheerfulness under alj circumstances and should learn to like physical exercise in a scientific way. No man, he says, need be particularly abstemious in regard to any article of food, for the secret of long life does not lie there. A happy disposition, plenty of sleep, a temperate gratification of all the natural appetites, and the right kind of physical exercises will ensure longevity to most people.