TALKS ON HEALTH

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12735, 3 September 1919, Page 10

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR, NIGHT-CALLS. Now and. then I issue a' plaintive ap>eal against unnecessary night-calls. A ™ r y f»w s °* niy patients are Ujppgfafckss; most of them treat me far better than I deserve. But those few oiahm I. am sure, a special plot against me on any night when I am very, very fared. Bather feels a bit seedy‘in the morning, a. bit worse in the afternoon, andd>e stoutly refuses to see the doctor on hfe morning or afternoon round. Then the shades of night begin to fall; mysterious shadows cross the room, siwmee reigns except- for the creaking of die old wardrobe. Horrors! Father may be,dying;,this may ho the begiaitmg of his last fatal illness; many poop]© have ] , n , ® n!ght before i oh, how cold and -dark it seems! Ah, we hare it., for the doctor. 3 POOR OLD DOCTOR ! ~ n ° w this plot (for I am certain there is one) thickens; it is more dramatic to fetch the doctor out of his bed than meroiy to fetch him from Ids arraohaji. So a spy ig sent out to look at my windows. He goes back to report that t-h© dmmg-room light is still shining. Again, the spy goes out .and returns with the valuable information that the dining-room is in darkness, but the bedroom window is bright. Well, they' say, if the. light is still shining he may not be in bod yet. Wait a little longer. Lastly, the spy is able to give definite information; the doctor’s house is in complete silence, and a faint suggestion of a snore is carried on the brpesc. Now is the time; ring at tho bell,, crash oh the knocker. li> Js rain* J , n £»j «tpd a cold night wind is blowing. And then follow the doctor, please, to the sick-room; if he enters with a smile on, his dear old face, make Up your mind to lay a bunch of violets on his grave, when he makes his final exit from this world, CARE OF THE EYES. . Tn preserve your eyes, sit iu a -rood light .when leading or writing. fcdme misguided folk actually read bv fire-d!g,d;~a'-.dangerous liubit. Th e li«ht .uimnd . iitif over the left; shouldered

that tlie hand does not cast a shadow on t.ie portion of paper to be written on. Small print Is harmful to the eyes, and all children’s books should *be chosen as much for the clearness of tne print as for the matter of the text. As we grow older tbe tendency is for the sight, to grow longer; you often see elderly people lidding the book at alm°st arm s length and throwing the head back in order jo increase the distance between the back of the eye wrnere tne focussed rays fall and the print. _I. > a man is stfortesighted ho Unas ins signt improving with advancing years; the long sight of middle age corrects the short-sight he was born wirli. Glasses should be adjusted once m two years; the eyes alter, . the glasses remain the same. Great relief is found when spectacles that were bought six or seven years ago are discarded tor new and more suitable , lt payS to ] lave Four eyes examined by a specialist; you must not .V a pair of spectacles off 3, barrow as von might buy a banana. THE CHILDREN’S SIGHT. A squint in childhood can be cared by suitable glasses; only you must give the doctor a .chance. Go early to the -loepital; do not wait for four or: five years. In these days of modem free education, the parents ought to have sense enough to do these things themselves. But they have not; the State mis to be burdened with the responaioiJity : the father has no time to take jus little child to th© hospital. The doctor and the nurse have to pick out the children with squints and then bustle the, parents, send them cards, call on them, push them, shove them worry them And then the father wakes, up at last and says, “Oh tommy has a squint, has he? ‘Well’ hat! !’ The men who were il jected for to© army on account of eyesl“ _ had, m many cases, stupid parents. I K 1