HEALTH' COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Volume 02, Issue 2420, 2 August 1900, Page 62

HEALTH' COLUMN.

} fleet of> Water Cures.

The causes of disease, says the Hospital, may be roughly divided into those that arise Avithin the patient himself and those that are due to his surroundings; and in the same Ava-y Aye may divide our means of cure into those which aim directly at modifying the diseased condition into Avhich the patient's body, or maybe his mind, has fallen, and those which aim at altering the surroundings in which he lives, and modifying those veiy influences which have no doubt been largely concerned in bringing about his illness. It is obvious enough that in the treatment of acute diseases both these means of cure are brought into play. Whatever may be a man's daily work, and however his usual surroundings may tend either to health or disease, all is changed as soon as he is attacked Avith an acute illness. His work is thrown on one side, his habits are altered, his exercise is cut doArr ; he is kept in a room of one temperature, and put to bed; he is fed on simple slops at stated intervals ; he becomes a teetotaler; and, instead of the constant worry of letters and telegrams, he lies at peace. The change produced by such a modification of a man's habits and surroundings is immense, and is often in itself far greater than Avhat is caused by the medicine Avhich he takes.

But when we turn to the treatment of those less acute ailments which do not actually lay a man low, then Aye see how sliaitened are the opportunities of the physician when he -is tied doAvn to physic alone, and. cannot modify the patient's mode of life. Too often, indeed, the very things that have produced the malady remain in full activity, and Aye beat helplessly with, our pills and tabloids and other medicaments against the strongly intrenched habits of life which have themselves caused the ailments for which the patient asks relief.

While, then, we recognise to the full that baths and waters have their influence ; thai the saline constituents of certain waters are really important medicines having effects which require careful study, an I that different Avaters have different actions on the body; and although we admit, what certainly is true, that various hydropathic methods are carried out with very different degrees of effectiveness at different spas, many of which, indeed, have their own specialties which axe only feebly imitated at other places; and while we thus agree fully that it is by no means a matter of indifference where a patient is sent, it would, on the other hand, be foolish to s=lmt our eyes to the fact that, complicating, modifying, and in some cases overriding every other influence which goes to make up the spa treatment of disease is the removal of those home influences which have conduced to its production.

•The Question of Teeth.— Much disappointment has been felt by many candidates for army employment at being rejected on medical examination, and among the various reasons assigned for such rejection none has, perhaps, caused more astonishment and disgust among otherwise healthy candidates than the loss of teeth. But the rule that no one is to be accepted who has lost ten teeth is surely (says the Hospital), a proper one, especially when it is remembered that, according ' to the official "requirements" as regards the teeth of candidates for commissions, decayed teeth, if well filled, are considered as .sound. People, no doubt, get on very well at home with a small number of teeth, and many struggle on without experiencing much detriment even when such teeth as they possess are far from perfect. But it is another matter in the rough and tumble of war. . The question does not hinge, as some have supposed, on the loss of teeth being an indication of constitutional weakness ; for, as is well known, it is just as likely to arise from imperfect dentistry and a nature impatient of pain. The real point is as to the power of a comparatively toothless man to bear the hardships of war; and, in regard to this, there can be no doubt that he stands at a disadvantage. Put is as one will, the less of ten teeth must seriously interfere with the power of mastication, and must, to the same degree, render a man dependent on his cook — a very serious drawback where for weeks together only the roughest food may be available. Again, although it is maintained by dentists that with well-fitting artificial teeth masticatory ■nower is perfectly restored, one has to remember that people with such appliances, as well as those who possess carious teeth, are far more dependent upon the toothbrush than is the case with those whose teeth are as Nature made them. A time may come, perhaps, when it may be necessary to accept candidates whose efficiency in the field depends upon spectacles, false teeth, toothbrushes, and dinner pills. But that time is not yet. .

— The war has been the cause of some remarkable vagaries in respect of the nomenclature of infants in Oape Colony. We have heard of Talana Elanda Smith, Belmontina Graspana Modderriva Brown, and Perm Simons "White Robinson; but the following is, lip to the present, an easy first: A Boer named Trobkie, residing in the Cradock district, in Cape Colony, had his son baptised, by the Dutch Reformed minister, Immanuel Kruger Steyn Triomphus. None other than a Boer would ever think of' such a combination of names sacred and secular.

advice to Mothers! — Are you oroien in your rest by a sick child suffering with the pain of cxitting teeth ?• Go at once to a chemiat and a bottle of Mra Winslow's Soothing Syrup. It will relieve the poor sufferer immediately. It is perfectly harmless, and pleasant to the taste; it produces natural, quiet sleep by relieving the child from pain, and the littla cherub awakes "as bright as a button." It socthes the child, it toftens the gums, illaya all pain, relieves wind, regulates the oowsla, and is the best known remedy for dysentery) and diarrhoea, whether arising from teething oD other causes. Mrs Winslow'a Soothing Syrup is sold by medicine dealers erery where at la 3 id p«: bottle. — ADVX