TALKS ON HEALTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 45, 22 February 1936, Page 3

TALKS ON HEALTH

(By A FAMILY DOCTOR)

THE CARE OF BOYS My dear mothers, please remember '.jidu ) uur little boy will nut always be iiitlc, mid that uiiu day he must learn inuepcudeiiue. Are you beginning to train him in the light way nuw? lie must nut always be a mother’d darling, yuu know. 1£ ne is an only child, you must find companions ul liis uwn age lu- play with uini. He must share lus Loys, li his is taught that everytniug he cees is his uwn, he will quickly develop a selfish ciiaiacier. li he nas a football lie must let other boys Kick it. Some boys are happy at school, others miserable, it is generally the parent’s faint when a new buy at school its miserable, liicre is no law compelling parents to pass an examination before they ge> married; but ihere is no reason why the paieuts should not study the. characters oi growing children, and try to learn a little about their job. 1 had to stud) lor six yeaiv before 1 was let loose on tiie xiublic. The Duty of Parents. And so we find boys growing up gel fish, unaccommodating, spiteiui, ur sn,> mid frightened, blushing and nervous, untiuthxiil, and possibly criminal. I’meiiu< snouid always be made to sumo in ibe dock with their children. Wr can only advance by making the children ueLtcr than ineir parents were. Nigjht mid day fathers and mother shouuld work at the prablem of doing their best for their children. Generally parental influence is limited to pro aiding good food not. very well cooKed. and occasionally giving their sons a (lump on the head. Perhaps it would be a goud plan to send the buy tu sea, or io wurk uii a farm, or to train him us a watchmaker, or let him lake up a mucical instrument if he has a benu that way. But, alas, it is very hard to get patents to move. They just bung their boys into any blind-alley occupation for the sake of the few shillings a week. The poor buy is made to hang on to tiie tail of a van for three years until he gets the sack, and then lie knowb nothing; he gets one pound ol unearned dole, and loses a thousand poundi-.’ worth of self-reap’ect. All you who arc parents should write an essay on each one of your children describing his or her epecial mental and physical characteristics, setting forth whai work you intend to put them to and giving reasons for your choice. Advice to Mothers. It a mother has hud giic bad con Jinenient and, in due cuun-e, becomes pregnant again, she must go to the doctor and asK lus advice, it she leaves i.iie iwighborliood, she should usk he* ductor Lu be. so kind as tu write to Uic new doctor; perhaps i-oaie useiul in lormulioii would pass between the two. Ui the woman should go to the same hospital, and remind them she was an in patient a year or so ago, and would they lake her case on again. Al an) rate, something must be done; it uvery wrong to go muddling along trusting to luck liiaL all will ue weal. Remember the old principle 1 am aiways trying to drum into yoo, by lair memis ur tour —pre\enlion is butler than cure. L shall be really vexed with you this time it’ yuu go to tne ductor w urn it i.Luo late, and he says with a note dt.-pair in hie. vo-ict?, “Why did you not eoine before?” Do give tue ductuis mid nurses a chance. 'I noy wan to heip ) uu, and tiujiv is tne hospittii. uu ‘.quipped to du you a good tuiii. J hey wul welcome yu-u mid ue kind to you. I. am going to wasn out of tiie lists ol tne Registrar of Deaths those cases ol I pour wunieu who sultered m one birm mid never learned their lesson. This time, ask advice early. For cue thing, the Kidneys are sometimes affected during pregnancy, and the water, should I be, examined periodically all thiougn I the carrying Lime. What a Jot of siin- ' rimg such a simple precaution would I have! VZisdom xocta. I The wisdom Luoth comet, through at about the age ul iwunu, peimips a year or two earlier, as the ca.m may be. it icaiiy is very distressing lu a fine young man of twenty, wiiuse rnuusiacne is really quite perceptible, lu be turn by an iiindituig doctor that ne is cutting his teeia. xlie ductor wul not, how ever, reuummend the young man lu bite a piec-e of mdia-ruouei. hiuic in ns may nardly be aware that anutiiei tooth is coining turuugn, UUi JU UlilCl eases the wisdum loolu may give mucu pain. ’1 he wisdom is tne ju.iiiest bacii oi. tne three molar teeth. A good Ueaj depends on the space lei.t fur n. .11 the lower jow in rattier small ami the other teeth set far apart, tnere may be scarcely any ruum lor the wisdum to iurce itself thiougii.lt may intuiieic with the second inular, its next-door neighbour, it may cause the gum Lu Lv sore; in many cases it iriitutus the jaw muccles and prepents tiie ja..-point from being freely moved. The swelling that appears may give rise to the belief that an abcess is forming; an examination of the mouth may .show no sign of a gumboil and uu sign of a decayed tooth. The Straight Question. I should like tu collect ail the people who imagine they have cauce», ami make them marca lor ten milc» binging, “We’ve nut got cancer, ’ lu tmi tune of “Auld Lang Syne.” It is said that it takes a suigiual i.peialiun to get a joke into the bead of a Scotsman; it would take a broadside from a drx.uu nought lu drive the cancer buyey out of tn-e chraniunis of come of yuu. But r hear you complaining that 1 must uol laugh at you too much because you have known people who really have died c-f cancer. Well, it you think you have reasonable grounds for suspecting cancer, you must go to your doctor and say in a loud, bold voice, 4 ‘Hove I gc-t cancer ” If the man of medicine says “No-,” you may reply, “Very well, that settles it, good morning.” A Change of Shoes. Illness often follows carelessness in

simple matters. When damp muddy streets are the order of the day, you will oblige me by keeping a pair of dry shoes at the office and changing when yc-u arrive. This applies with extra force to young ladies —typists, governesses, clerks, and others—because they wear such thin shoes and stockings. If they would just adopt

the simple and sensible plan of taking a pair of dry stockings with them and changing their shoes, many a cold would be prevented. 1 am afraid they won’t do it; it is too sensible. However, you all know as well as I do that the at tack of pneumonia that Uncle Tom had last winter was solely due to his sitting in his office with wet feet.