TALKS ON HEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16735, 17 May 1922, Page 6

TALKS ON HEALTH.

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR, CHEAP CHILBLAINS. This is the season for chilblains — chilblains are cheap to-day. You must prevent them, and they will not need curing. First of all, you must try to tone up your general system, and, above all. improve the circulation by regular exercise. Stick to your cold baths in title .morning and have a brisk rub down: that makes the* blood spin through the veins. Chilblains are found in people whose circulation is sluggish. Next, you must have mercy on your poor feet. Stockings must be worn thick to protect the feet from cold, and you must have them the proper size. Small-pointed stockings compress the feet as much as tight shoes do. See that the stockings have I square toes. It is cheaper in the long run to throw away stockings that are too narrow. Give them to your little sister. I shall never forgive you u you torture your feet l>y squashing them into tight boots. Savages never have corns and bunions and in-growing toe-nails as we do. That is why we send missionaries over to their countries to teach them the blessings of civilisation. If only you teach them properly, the healthy natives trill squash th©ir feet like the of us. What I iwant is to see. a. few black people come over to us to show us their natural feet, built ns God made them. I want you to see how splendidly they walk. Their suppleness and -grace are never seen here, where the people wtsai pinching boots. CARE OF THE FEET Take a piece of clean paper and plant your boot on it. and draw a pencil round the sole so as to get the outline of the boot.. Now plant your naked foot on the same outline, and you will see that tho foot overlaps all round. Now bend down and press your toes together so that they are compressed within the compass of the pencil outline. You now have an opportunity of seeing how your toes arc placed when they -are inside the boot. Tho toes are not side by side, like a new-born baby’s. They are on top of one another; they are distorted and bent out of shape- Now, if you are not ashamed of vourself you ought to be. Tho Creator knows what shape your feet ought to be. but some of us think we know better. It is a lucky thing we know how to rectify the blunders of Creation. If a savage with a ring through his nose could see your feet, how he would laugh and wonder at the strange customs of white people and Christianity. Chilblains are often a warning that the feet are not being taken proper care of- How can the blood circulate through /feet, that are tightly compressed. It isi impossible; the circulation is seriously impeded, and chilblains result. If the feet arc unpleasantly moist, it is a good plan to sprinkle a little finely-powdered boracic acid into the stockings. The stockings should be changed frequently.

HEALTH BEFORE KNOWLEDGE. I sometimes have a breeze with my good friends the schoolmasters. My idea is that a child should be made a healthy animal first and foremost, and that his mind may be stuffed with knowledge later on. Particularly does this apply to delicate children. A studious child may be a great credit to the schoolmaster ; he may carry off prizes and scholarships, and his brain may visibly swell and his knowledge astonish the multitudes, but I cannot agree that he is making for success unless he is strong and healthy. And, in addition to his body, his disposition must be studied. He may be a very nervous, excitable child, and lie awake thinking about his home work. I complain when the growing boy or girl is compelled to spend many hours poring over books that might be more profitably spent in the open air. As is always the case, extremes are wrong, ("are must be giv*m to both the body and the mind. But it is my business to remind vou that your first duty >© to the child’s health. A bent back and first prize for Latin do not satisfy me. When he walks up for his prize I shall hiss, not clap my hands. If your boy gets first prize for Greek and I find th|t he is anemic, T shall send Tound a largo cardboard certificate awarding him first prize for an*mia; and I shall expect you to hang it opposite the certificate for Latin and Greek. Ncvot let a pale, nervous child do homo work. THE GERM-CARRYING CAT. We all love pussy, and no household is really complete without the harmless, necessary cat. But there is one place where pussy is not wanted, and that is in the sick room. In cases of infectious disease it is dangerous to allow the cat in the room, ns it has been proved that cats can convey diphtheria and influenza and other infections complaints. Cats do not have a, weekly tub as dogs do. and T am afraid the cat’s lick is scarcely sufficient cleansing to satisfy the demands of ths antiseptic a,go. The mysterious conveyance of a disease from one child to another when apparently every precaution has been taken to prevent the spread of disease has sometimes been explained by the wanderings of a cat. Going into the sick room and getting its thick fur covered with germs, it goes out * and downstairs, or out into the street, where some unsuspecting child hugs and kisses it and catches the disease. OUR MARVELLOUS BODY. When we are in health we do not realise what a marvellous machine the body is; it works with such ease and regularity that it seems impossible that anything can ever Ago wrong. Consider for a moment siafh a simple act as swallowing. Many of us. when asked to swallow a glass of beer, find that we can perform the act with remarkable facility. The friend who takes us out to lunch observes that we swallow without any difficulty. And yet, if you | will believe me, swallowing is a most intricate and complicated act, involving the precise and accurate use of a large number of muscles governed by nerves that come down from the brain. How watchful Nature has to be ! What a, disaster it would be if ytmr food went down the wind-pipe and suffocated you ; how unpleasant if your cup of tea game back through your nose. A COMPLICATED SWALLOW. Tf swallowing ie bo complicated, you will not be surprised to learn that not a few patients find their wav into the doctor’s consulting-room on account of difficulty in swallowing. A lady complains that she often chokes when she goes out to tea, and has to be ushered out of the room (Toughing and spluttering and red in the face. The cure lies in explaining the mechanism of swallowing, and teaching the patient that she can be cured if she will, only believe. For observe that the choking nearly always takes place in company, when someone is talking to her When the good lady i» in her own home sitting in front of the fire with her skirts up to her knees, holding her storybook. “ How Molly Married the Marquis,” in the other, she never chokes. Choking is a matter of nerves. Consider the mechanism -of swallowing tor a moment. the food leave,, the

' : back of tlie mouth it enters the gullet, a muscular tube, about nine inches long. THE ARTFUI/NESS OF SWAEI.OWTXG. When the food enter* this tube, the first inch contracts to squeeze the food on. and the second inch relaxes; then the second inch contracts, then the third inch, and eo on. So there is a ware of contraction trare!ling down. "Remember that the contraction of each inch in controlled hr nerves from the brain. Tf the brain is the least bit flustered, the fourth inch is made to contract, tightly just at the wrong moment. This gives a feeling of ■pain and choking The food is blocked instead of smoothly passing on Now that yon know the cause, you must cure yourself. A cool brain, a wellbalanced nervous system, a conviction that choking is impossible—and all is well. 1 can cure in tilts wav blushing, stammering, and choking, but 1 cau onlv point the wav von must do the hard work