A HEALTH SERIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11717, 6 June 1916, Page 7

A HEALTH SERIES.

Methueu's Health Scries, ir may bo taken for granted, is an excellent is-uo of books on a variety of subjects connected with the human frame. The series does not presume to cover ali that a young man or woman should know. It is not a series in which 0110 would look for humorous entertainment. yet George Fernet, 31.1)., has mixed his admonition 011 the "'Health of the Skin" with a most refreshing bouquet, of droll humour. 011 the subject of general hygiene and baths, for instance, tho author says that the odour of the skin may bo influenced in affections of the. nervous system. Tims a hypochondriac smelt of violets and a hvsterical woman of iris. In the Middle Ages witches were supposed to have si sulphury smell, and this was a sign of Satanic possession. Saints, on the other hand, were said to give forth 'the odour of tho rose, the lily, jasmine and so forth, a veritable odour of sanctity. Saints, too, could smell out sinners." He states also that it 'is possible to diagnose the trade of individuals by tho nose alone. Thus, lie has specially noticed the smell of sawdust in carpenters, of fried fish in fried'-fish shopkeepers, and so on, without asking any questions. As the Chinese proverb says, " A man with a ted nose may bo an abstainer, but nobody will believe him." Dr Fernet treats of this painful subject lucidly and clearly, with his usual leaven of humour. The nose, ho points out, as in Barodlps and in " autient " Pistol, may be externally deformed through the . enlargement of the scbaceous or fatty glands. Thou bcarcft tlio Iniitlmrn ia tho poop, but it is in the nose of thee.

Job. says this medical humorist on another page, complained very much nt his bols raid blaines, but, ho very prob"ably suffered' from the itch. Potsherds, however, are not to be recommended as a mode of 'treatment. Another quotation is taken from Mover's delightful " Adventures of Iladji Baba of Ispahan," in which the hero says: " 1 was attacked by a disorder from, which few resident?, ns well as strangers at Bagdad, are exempt, which, terminating by n large pimple as it dries up, leaves ail indelible mark in the skin. To my groat morti'ication it broke out, upon th'„> middle of my rijilit ciieftk. immo-

di at el y on the confines of the beard, and' there left its baneful print, destrovmg some of the most lavourito of my 11 airs." The Health of the Skin "is largely a pica for washing, and the author remarks that though there are apostles of " how to tie .happy and healthy without gashing," it if-, on the whole, advisable to keep, one's skin clean. In fact, he adds, godliness should bo considered impossible without, cleanliness. He is death on socnlled skin foods, and gives some timo to a discussion of tho care of infants' skins. The book is a valuable guide to the hygieno of tho skin, and its lighter pages make a pleasant- variant from medical fact and precept. (Methuens, As net.) -J'iW"-"