HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3005, 18 October 1911, Page 76

HEALTH COLUMN.

The Holiday Problem. The cynio and the optimist —each with his own peculiar meaning for the words—will tell you that the best part of a holiday is the weeks of eager anticipation which precede it. Doctors, too, believe enough in the tonic virtues of fa.iul and a pleasant titillation of the imagination to reckon expectancy among the features which constitute the value of a vacation. But this period might yield a, still richer harvest if some of the intellectual effort which goes in idle luxuration and void dreaming were expended upon points of practical import. Even the question of where the holiday is to be spent seldom obtains the consideration is deserves.

Instead of this happy-go-lucky, follow-th-fasihion, see -what's-to-be-seen attitude, there ought to be a serious reflection —the head or heads of the household studying tJhe needs of the family and seeking julst such a health resort as may supply these. If rheumatism or any chest affection happens to be the skeleton in the closet, it may be desirable to secure the family physician's opinion as a to a suitable spot; some retreat whose dry, stimulating air and sunny sheltered places can for a few weeks put the weaklings in" an advantageous attitude and help them to conquer their besetting ills. Whether that place should or should not include a beach and salt water, or medicinal spring, or special bathe, must depend upon personal characteristics, and, of course, the purse of paterfamilias.

About nervous debilities and the weariness which comes from overwork, particularly too much or too exacting or too anxious brain work, one may say without hesitation that the popular conception of a holiday is for these quite wrong, utterly impossible. Current opinion notwithstanding, the pierrot and the pantx>inime song, daily excursions, and golf links and the special attractions of a choice boardingbouse or hydro, are simply so many barriers interposed between such sufferers and the dame who alone can cure them' — Mother Nature. Silas Wegg put the essentials in a phrase when he said, "Change of air, sea scenery, and my natural rest, I hope may bring me round." An idiaal, contented indolence in an unappreciated poppyland, wlhere winds from the ocean are tinctured with the fragrance of the countryside, and where church bells, and oattle, and bees, a,nd the waves upon the beach make all the music—that should be the aim.

—Some Special Points. —

Husbands and fathers should remember the claims of housekeepers. The old ballad has it that "A man's work 'tis till set of sun, But a woman's work is never done!" And the mother's month at the seaside is too often, through no deliberate selfishness, but just from a strange habit of thought, simply the usual drudgery in a different groove. By care in the selection of apartments, or a temporarv readjustment of everyday duties, or simplification ia the mode of life, or by a combination of these, the vacation ought to be made for her a real change and recreation. The long monotony of her year's work tells cruelly upon her nervous svstem, and none deserves a better holiday than she. In the selection of rooms, one must bear in mind the frequency with which consumptives and convalescents from all sorts of infectious ailments are ordered change of air, and the Tarity with which that law '"Thou shall love thv neighbour as thyself" is regarded in terms of bacteriology. A few judicious questions at the risk of seeming impertinent, even a certain amount of disinfection, is better than making shipwreck of the family health in an infected snite of apartments. To the same category belong a healthy curiosity regarding sanitary matters, the source and quality of the water supply, and where milk may be obtained at its purest and best. Even the capacity of the windows for admitting fresh air and sunshine must receive attention. For the annual holiday should not be a game of chance, but one of the best pieces of skilled work in the year, yielding profit enough to carry us handsomely through the winter and spring, and to land us healthy and well, and with energy to spare, right into tiie middle of next summer. Chronic Nasi! Cafairli. Many chronic forms of nasal catarrh are th© result of structural changes in the nasal passages, and without an examination it is impossible to say with certainty what may be the cause of any symptoms merely described by the sufferer. Further, when such structural changes are at the root of the matter, a surgeon is the proper person to deal with them. But in many cases of catarrh remedial measures can be used with good effect. Change of air is often of the greatest benefit; the town dweller is often attacked by catarrh due almost entirely to the smoke-laden atmosphere he is constantly inhaling even though he may follow hygienic principles of open windows.

A change to the sea or to some country; district proves this, because the catarrh will give no trouble till he returns to town. A tonic is also useful, such as the following:—Tinct. ferri perchlor, 5 drams; liq. arsenioalis, 1 dram; glyoerine, loz; aquae ad, 4oz. A teaspoonful to be taken throe times a day after meals. Various injections and dry inhalations will give relief in certain cases, each proving more suitable to some people than to othera. Hazeline diluted with an equal quantity of water, or acetate of lead (8 grains to a l ounce of distilled water) arc two useful injections, while a good dry inhalation may bo made by mixing Pinol, 2 drams; camphor, 40 grains; liq. amnion, fort., 1 dram; spirit rectif., loz. Place in a stoppered bottle, and inhale several times a day from the bottle itself. Where the mucus tends to accumulate in the form of crusts in the nostrils, it ils well to clear these out by a warm injection ot Bait and bicarbonate of soda (5 grains of each to the ounoe) before using any other injection or inhalation. In all cases of nasal catarrh, careful dieting, fresh air, and moderate exercise have a value that should not be overlooked.

Radium in Medicine. Acoording to experiments made by Professor Danne, of Mme. Curie's laboratory, and other scientists, radium can be introduced into the tissues by what an electrolytic method. Rabbits and cows, also persons, were operated on, and_ the radium passed into the tissues without 'injury to the skin. The penetration is independent of the blood circulation, and goes in to some depth, and the effect lasts for quite a time, so that cures can be madle in this way. Some of the curative effects of the radium were quite remarkable, as was brought out by Dr Haret at a recent meeting- of the Academie des Sciences. —Scientific American.