HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2516, 4 June 1902, Page 64

HEALTH COLUMN.

Waists and Corsets.

Attention has been lately drawn by certain medical men to the disproportion which exists between the measurement of the female waist taken outside the corset and that taken on the nude figure. We should not (says the Hospital) have thought that there was much novelty in the discovery that the nude measurement is the bigger of the two. For years — nay, for centuries — the complaint has gone up that women persist in compressing the waist under the idea tfiat this proceeding adds to their beauty. It must be confessed also that many of them, and tho.se not always the silly ones, maintain that it also adds to Jheir comfort. This ive greatly doubt, although it is not improbable that a lady who has accustomed hw.-elf to the spurious support these instrument >• give may for a. time feel Fomewhat lost without some compression. One writer who has measured many scores of young women says that they mostly measure about two inches less outside the corset than around the corresponding part of the nude waist ; while another, who only confesses to 50 such measurements, gives the actual averages of his observations, which go to show that the average female waist in this part of the world measures 22. Sin*, while tiuLjwerjuce corset fey ysMflk

these waists are covered is but 21.7 in. Let the young ladies who are anxious about their "figures" ponder over these figures also, and give a thought to their muchcompressed and long-suffering insides. We admit the beauty of a neat figure and the attractiveness of a small waist. Nay, we will go farther, and confess than. many, of the most active and healthy young" women have what we should call email waists, although they probably would not be so designated by a fashionable corsetiere. Bnt a waist that is made small by aid of corsets is another matter ; and those who have had occasion to observe the stains and creasings of the skin, the displaced liver, and, in later life, the protruding-, pendulous abdomen which the produotion of a small waist so often involves will hesitate, we think, to call it a thing of beauty. A neat figure is chiefly a matter of heredity and original build. But those on the borderland who feel that their inches are becoming a somewhat . anxious question should seek beauty in diet, exercise, and regime, certainly not in corsets and compression.

Electricity for Consumptives. — A Philadelphian doctor proposes to electrically treat his consumptive patients in pavilions having steel frames and glass walls and roofs. The walls and roofs will be in sections, each hanging on a pivot, co that they may be opened or closed at will. The most perfect ventilation will thus Tie obtained. The pavilions will be supplied with electrical appliances, which will invigorate the air in them with ozone, a deadly foe to the germs of tuberculosis.

Food for Infants. — Dr Romme, in La Revue, describing modern efforts to find a substitute for human milk for infants, says that stei-ilised milk has failed because it lacked certain '"ferments" found in the human milk, and apparently almost vitally imr)ortant to children. Bui recent experiments, conducted by M. Spolverini, have proved that by regulating the food of a milch cow, for instance, its milk can be assimilated to human milk. He experimented firnt with a goat by feeding it on ordinary food, but adding eggs or a little meat ; and later orf he experimented with another goat by giving it sprouting grains of barley. In each case chemical examinations of the goat's milk showed that its constituents were extictlv those of human milk. For Tired Eyes. — People who suffer from tired ej-es may be glad to try a French author's nccidentally-discovered remedy. It is a simple method of restoring the vision to freshness. One night, we are told, when engaged in writing an article, before he could finish it . his eyes gave out, and he was compelled to stop. So turning from his manuscript his eyes fell upon some scraps of coloured silk that his wife had been asing for patchwork. These gay colours had a peculiar attraction for his wearied eyes. On resuming his work after gazing upon them for several minutes he found them quite fresh. After several experiments, he surrounded his inkstand with brilliantly-coloured striped silk material that hi& eyes might rest on the latter every time he dips his pen into the ink This brings instant relief.

Treatment for Tuberculosis. — Dr T. J. Mays has introduced a new treatment for tuberculosis at the Rush Hospital for Consumption in Philadelphia. Instead of a lymph or serum, a solution of silver (says Science Gossip) ie the agent employed. Dr Mays, who has been conducting his investigation for the past three years, does not contend that it is a cure for tuberculosis in its last stages, but is convinced of the importance of its discovery. That the treatment prolongs the life of a patient when the disease is advanced has been established.

Art of Breathing. — It is stated that one out of every four New Yorkers between the ages of 15 and 65 dies of consumption. Now, whatever may be the sources of the bacilli of consumption, it must be clear that the bacilli can get no hold upon the body unless they find a soil ready for them to live upon, and a great deal of this soil comes in with the breath. If the nasal passages of all the people in New York were examined, it would be found that the persons having both, nasal passages freelyopen were most rare exceptions. The result of this closing of the nasal passageis that people breathe through the mouth. The cold air is not warmed as it would be if it passed through the nasal passage ; and, further, the air inhaled by the ryuth is impure, whereas the nasal passage would stop the impurities on the way. Those impurities include particles of dust, which, irritate the lungs, and become the soil for bacilli. An occasional breath of extra pure air through the mouth may be good, bufe in cars and most offices and rooms nosebreathing is essential.

Milk and Eggs for Invalids. — The use of milk and eggs as a diet or an aid ia building up a patient is often a trial for tho nurse, remarks the Family Doctor. Manj patients will take milk slightly warm, or even hot, and digest it readily, when cold milk causes distress. It is an excellent plan to rinse the mouth with cold, cool, or hot water, as preferred, before and after drinking milk. The taste left in the mouth of mariy persons, after a drink of milk, especially a small quantity, often causes the patient to dislike it. The secret of success in giving milk and eggs to those who would rather not take them is to prepare jthem in different ways. For a delicate stomach the white of an egg, well beaten, added to hot or cold milk, sweetened to taste, will often prove tempting, .when even the sight of the yolk with milk is unpleasant.. At a time a, little of the yolk may be used, the white of the egg being added last, and' not stirred into the milk, but left on the top of the glass for ornament.

Growers of Fruit should consult Nnaro" and Blaib's general catalogue of Plante. in whioh will be found not only a collection of standard varieties, but all the latest novelties worth growing. In. this catalogue will also be found an ujj.-to.-d*tei A*Ua£ioi}