TALKS ON HEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16641, 25 January 1922, Page 6

TALKS ON HEALTH.

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR. SWAT THAT RAT. % The campaign against rats is one that should be encouraged. The harm they do is to be reckoned only in thousands of pounds. They* do no good—• we are not yet reduced to eating rata in spite of the high price of food. In countries where plague flourishes the rats are actively engaged in spreading the contagion. The rats harbour flea 9 and the fleas harbour gerrrft. The flea is quite content to live on the rat, hut when the rat dies of plague the flea hops off to look for some other nice warm animal whose blood h$ c«an suck, and if a man is at hand he hope on to him and ki'lls him by introducing the plague germ into his blood. &o we have this clear-cut case where the rat is tried aitd found guilty. Human beings are very tolerant. We share this earth of ours wdth most undesirable companions when a united effort would rid us of rate and fleas and flies and many other undesirables who live in and on dirt. I hope our children will stare at stuffed rats in a museum and wonder to hear old uncle tell them he remembers the time when they swarmed.

A SANGUINARY TOPIC. A drop of blood smeared on to a piece of glass 'looks to the naked ej*e like an ugly smudge and nothing more, but under a micrscope it is seen to be full of wonders. The red colour of the blood is not derived from the fluid, which is a very pale yellow; the redness is due to the presence of millions of tiny discs, each one so minute that three or four thousand put side by side wcfuld only measure an inch. Each one has its task: it travels in the blood stream to the lungs, there it receives a little cargo of fresh air (oxygen) and sails off with it to all parts of the body; it gives up its precious burden and returns for a fresh supply; and so it goes round and round until it dies, new ones being manufactured in the red marrow of the bones. A glance down the microscope shows up these little discs ; they show up better if stained with some red dye. It is a miracle to see their number and their tiny size, each one perfect. But we need not content ourselves with looking at dead specimens. We can see them alive and circulating in the bloodstream of the web of a frog’s foot. They travel very quickly. It is a strange thought that our blood is rushing round at great speed and yet we are not aware of it. But of what value is this scientific knowldege if wo cannot find a practical application P We ought to take a personal interest in our red discs. Sometimes there are not enough of them and we look pale. Sometimes they are in sufficient numbers but are not red enough. Sometimes they are not of the right shape. They are such jolly little chaps, these rosy little bodies floating in our blood. They hate finding bad air in the lungs; they object to inhaled tobacco smoke, to stuffy air, to bad smells. Do sleep with the window open and delight the hearts of your blood discs. It disheartens them when they arrive at the lungs hungering and thirsting for oxygen and do not get it. There are other little creatures living in the blood, but I must tell you about them another time.

CARE OF THE CHILD. I do not think anyone can complain that no effort is being made to help the children. Consider for a moment what is being done. The child goes to school, for which the parents pay nothing per week. The child has a running ear and will become deaf in after years unless something is done. It is very hard work to get the parents to look after their children. Many of them cannot be bothered. Even the father will not take the child to have its ear seen to. It is uphill work all the time. Everything possible is ready to be done for the child, and t-lio whole scheme breaks down becaA&e the child fails to attend. Not all parents are of thiß kind) of course, but far too many are apathetic.

HEALTH-GIVING APPLES. Thank goodness something is cheap at last— w© can get good fruit. The rosy cheeks of the apples make you feel well before you bite them. The Sugar in the apples is a valuable food. The fresh fruit is good for the blood, and is better than an opening pill. And then our new-found friends, the vitamines, live under the skin. You can eat the skin if you wash the apple first. I am told that the word translated apple ” in the story* of Adam and Ev 6 is of doubtful origin—it is not quite certain what fruit was meant. I regret that my own dear rosy-cheeked apples smiling at me from the'old apple tree should live under the sinister reputation of having assisted in such a dreadful world tragedy. Let us hope, after all, that it was a cocoanut. SUNSHINE SAVING. I see the British Sunshine Saving Act is being opposed, and it is even

suggested that this is the last year people shall witness its beneficial effects. If I had to attend the funeral of the Sunbeam Encouragement Act, I should wear my blackest mourning. The cows may bo against the Act, but I hope some means will be found to placate our four-footed friends in the meadows. I think they would listen to a deputation from secretaries of games clubs. Of course, it would come to exactly the same thing if everyone agreed to get up an hour earlier. but how much simpler it is to alter the clock. Some say the children will not go to bed in the daylight. I admit it. The children govern the parents nowadays. The blacksmith and his wife announce that Tommy is to go to bed. But Tommy tells the blacksmith not to talk nonsense, and the dutiful son (aged seven), tells his mother he is not going to be ordered about by a woman. So what is there for the poor parents to do? I shaill buckle on my armour and fight for the sunbeams, which bring us health and happiness, and incidentally save my pocket in lighting expenses.