HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2199, 23 April 1896, Page 49

HEALTH COLUMN.

Dietetic Talne of Cheese.

There is an old saying that "cheese digests everything but itself." What share tnit household void may hayp had in the prevalent depression in the Cheshire and Cheddar cheese tiades it is hard to tell, but it wonld appear that thelesened consumption in Eoglaud of this, at one time, popular article of diet is due in great measure to a growing belief that it is inferior as a nutritive agent to tinned meats, and that this view is held by medical men. A medical journal says that this assumption is by' no means correct. It states, on the strength of official analysis especially undertaken for tho purpose of deoiding the question, that Cheddar cheese contains a much higher percentage, both of flesh-forming 'substance and of fat?, than meat* even of tho finest quality. This view was held by no less an authority than the late Dr Farkes, of Netlej, who persUtently maintained that as cheese contained a very large amount of albuminoid material in a ■mall bulk it was one of the best foods for soldiers in time of war. A. well-known medical authority, in a recent work, ' says tbafc cheese "is the most valuable animal food obtainable," and that it is " from two to three times as nutritious as the same money value of ordinary meat." Stimulating Deinks.— Hot coffee is ihe best drink In cold weather, for, while it is gently stimulating, it tends rather to close than to open the pores. Tea and cocoa are good towards the, end of the day, but should not be taken balore going out In the moming, as their effect on the skin is the opposite to that of coffee. Spirits and other alcohollo drinks are best avoided, as they lower the temperature after their first effect bae subsided, and it is this peculiarity which makes them Buch valuable medicines in fevers. Pekspibation ob 1 the Feet is often caused by general debility, or through poorness of blood (anasmia), or even through Btressof mental anxiety. In such instances the general health must first be attended to ; but, as local remedies, the feet should be washed twice or more times a day. It the perspiration baa a sour acrid odour, a little vinegar should be added to the water, or otherwise a little sea salt may be dissolved in it. Belladonna liniment robbed into the feet tbree or four times a day considerably alleviates, if it does not cure, this disagreeable symptom. Another very beneficial remedy is a dusting powder, freely sprinkled on the inside of the stockings), composed of equal parts of oxide of zinc and starch. The Dangers from Consumptives. — Tuberculosis, as is obvious, may be inoculated into any part of the body; and, being Inoculated at a given point, may develop there, and give rise to general tuberculosis, with fatal results. Several cases, interesting to the general public as well as to the medical profession, are given in the current number of the British Journal of Dermatology. For example, Dr White has recorded the case of » yoang girl whose tuberculosis first showed itself in the hand, and from the hand spread all ever the body, finally killing the patient. The disease had been inoculated into the hand by the girl's washing of some pockethandkerchiefs used by a consumptive patient. In passing, let me repeat the caution that consumptives should not be allowed to use pocket-handkerchiefs, bat only prepared paper, and that the paper should be promptly burnt. A still ~ more curious instance occurred in the case of a girl who was inoculated with the disease in the process of having her ears pierced. The friend who pierced tbe ears, and a eistex who afterwards dressed the wounds, were both consumptive.— Hospital.