1
W289
1554 
 ARMY MEDICAL, LIBRARY

//3  ^/WASHINGTON
Konn<l< <! 1S:?«
Section.
Number .2. J..(?.?....-?.. Q.
              Form 113c. W. D.. S. G. O.
ero   3—10543     (Revised June 13, 193G) 
 

✓ 
THE
PRESERVATION OF HEALTH.

               WITH

 REMARKS ON CONSTIPATION, OLD AGE, USE OF
      ALCOHOL IN THE PREPARATION
            OF MEDICINES.

                BY
     JOHN C. WARREN, M. D.,
   EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY AND SURGERY
          IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
          BOSTON:
TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS.
           M DCCC LIV. 
                        W289p

                        1854-
               ked:  81-lt~. I

     Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
           TICKNOR, REED, AND FIELDS,
fn the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
      STEREOTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 
 *
 »- •
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o

             PREFACE.
   Some  years since,  a  publication was
made by the  author of this little treatise
on the importance of physical education.
Two  or three large  editions  have been
disseminated  through the  country, with
the apparent  effect of awakening  an in-
terest  in  the subject  and  producing an
improvement in the management  of edu-
cation.
   At the present time, a more extended
treatise seems to  be  called for — a trea-
tise which  should embrace not only the
means  of acquiring health, but those cal-
                               (3) 
4                PREFACE.
culated to preserve it.   We have  therefore
endeavored to  bring together  a  few  in-
structions adapted  to  the formation of a
good constitution, and  also to its preser-
vation in  a healthy state. 
CONTENTS.
                                             PAGE
          I. —PHYSICAL  EDUCATION,   .   .   g

 1. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS,......9

 2. EFFECTS  OF LITERARY PURSUITS ON HEALTH,  14
 3. CURVATURE OF THE SPINE,......17

 4. CAUSES  OF THE  AFFECTIONS  ARISING  FROM

       MISTAKES DURING EDUCATION,    ...  23
 5. EFFECT  OF  MORAL  CAUSES  IN  PRODUCING
       PHYSICAL CHANGES.......26
 6. INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF COMPETITION AT SCHOOL,  29
7.  LOCAL CAUSES OF SPINAL DISTORTION,   .   .  32
8.  MEANS OF AVOIDING SOME OF  THE DEFECTS, .  34
                                     (5) 
6                  CONTENTS.


 9. CULTIVATION OF THE PHYSICAL POWERS IN

       YOUNG MEN,.........42

10. EXERCISE  AMONG FACTORY  OPERATIVES,  .   .  45

11. COMPRESSION OF THE CHEST, AND ITS CONSE-
   *
       QUENCES, ..........47

12. REFLECTIONS...........51



      H. —THE FUNCTION OF DIGESTION,  .  53


 1. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS,......53

 2. EFFECT OF LIQUIDS ON DIGESTION,   ...  55

 3. TEMPERATURE OF DRINKS,......57

 4. THE EFFECT OF  STIMULATING DRINKS;  MED-

       ICAL ABUSE ; SUDDEN DISUSE ; ETHEREAL

       INTOXICATION.........6g

 5. THE QUANTITY OF LIQUID REQUIRED, ...  65

 6. THE QUANTITY OF FOOD REQUIRED,   ...  65



              HI. — CONSTIPATION,   ...  72

 h CAUSES OF CONSTIPATION,.....     73 
CONTENTS.
7 '
2.  REMEDIES FOR CHRONIC COSTIVENESS,   .   .  77




3  INJECTIONS,..........80



4.  PREVENTIVES  OF CONSTIPATION; THE USE OF



      CRACKED  WHEAT, AND ITS EFFECTS, .   .  81







IV.—MODE OF SLEEPING AND VENTILATION, 92







           V. —USE OF THE EYES, ...  98







VI. —THE  EXTERNAL USE  OF COLD WATER,  100







               VTI. —FRICTION.....107







        Vm. —THE USE OF TOBACCO, .  . 108








    LX. — HINTS CONDENSED FROM THE PRE-




              CEDING CHAPTERS, .  .  .  .115







               X.—OLD  AGE,   .  .  .  .119





 L STATE OF THE ORGANS IN OLD AGE,  ... 120 
■
 8
CONTENTS.
2.  USE OF WINE IN OLD AGE; THE SUDDEN DIS-


      USE NOT INJURIOUS,......122


3.  CULINARY PROCESSES,.......125


4.  EXTERNAL FRICTION AND THE DUKE OF WEL-


      LINGTON,  ......      ...  127


5.  THE REPRODUCTIVE AND URINARY FUNCTIONS,  128


6.  THE UPRIGHT POSITION TO BE MAINTAINED, .  129


1.  CONCLUSION...........131





   XI.—THE USE OF ALCOHOL FOR THE


       PREPARATION OF MEDICINES,  .   .  m 
PRESERVATION  OF  HEALTH.
      L —PHYSICAL  EDUCATION.

           1.  Introductory Remarks.

  The  preservation of  health  depends princi-
pally on a perfect original organization; this may
be materially modified by education.  The physi-
cal  and intellectual education  of man demand
the application of  very different systems.  The
culture of the mind requires the early, constant,
and well-directed efforts of an  artificial  system.
That of the physical faculties is fully effected by
the powers of Nature.   All that she  asks is, that
we would leave her free and unconstrained.  Un-
happily, our state of civilization, while it has co-
piously  supplied  the means of  intellectual  im-
provement, has, nearly in the same  ratio, raised
obstacles to the  development  of the  physical
                                      (9) 
10
THE PRESERVATION
powers;  and if we wish to restore to these  their
original spring,  we  should  either revert to our
primitive condition, or find  substitutes in art foi
the modes employed by nature.
   Considerations of this description have   pre-
sented themselves occasionally to every one  who
has observed the evils arising from the prevalent
systems of  education, and who has noticed the
effects of too steady an application to  literary
pursuits  in educated men.  The unfavorable in-
fluence  of  studious  and  sedentary  habits on
health was  exhibited at one time  among the
members of the sacred profession, a  number of
whom became its premature and much-lamented
victims.  At another were displayed the effects
of a mistaken  system  on  the  constitution of
multitudes of the fairest work of creative power.
Many a  medical  man  has had the misfortune  to
behold, when it was too late to apply a remedy,
numerous instances of decay in the most vigorous
constitutions, and of distortion in the best propor-
tioned forms.
   The importance of health to the regular exer-
cise of the  faculties of mind, as well as those  of
body, is very well understood in theory, and very
generally neglected in  practice.  We are  daily 
OF HEALTH.
n
seen to accumulate  the treasures of  science on
intellects  where  the physical  machinery is dis-
ordered and made useless by the burden.  What
is the value of a  brilliant genius, or a highly-cul-
tivated  mind,  in a weak and laboring frame ?
Let  us  suppose the existence  of such a case  in
either of the learned professions.   If it occur in
the minister of religion, the organs of utterance
are enfeebled,  and the power  of instructing  his
hearers is diminished or destroyed.  The thoughts
that should  speak  remain unembodied in  lan-
guage, and  the words  that should burn are ex-
tinguished on his  lips.   His usefulness is im-
paired in the midst  of its full career; and even
if his days are not cut off at an early period, he
finds  his  mental abilities  prematurely chained
down by  bodily  weakness.
  If  it happen  in  the interpreter of  the law,
the powerful workings of the mind, in the  in-
vestigation of obscure points and the  elaboration
of profound  arguments, break  down a sickly and
yielding organization, and  bring  on  a train of
nervous affections and  perverted imaginations, as
permanent perhaps as  life, and less  supportable
than death.
  Again: a bad constitution in a professor of the 
12
THE PRESERVATION
healing art keeps  him at variance with all his
duties.  How can  he  heal  others  in whom  the
springs of health act feebly  and imperfectly ?   A
laborious and active course  of duty  demands  a
bodily vigor that  can endure all  unseasonable
labor; a steadiness of fibre that can bear to wit-
ness without  agitation the  sufferings  of  others
while attempting to relieve them; and a firmness
of health able to resist the attacks  of  those ma-
lignant epidemics that prostrate a whole commu-
nity.
   When we regard the influence of a debilitated
body on the more delicate  sex, we find it not
less distressing.  A young female,  at the age of
twelve or  fourteen, presents  a beautiful  figure,
rosy cheeks, an airy step, and the fulness of life
and happiness in every movement.   As she ad-
vances, her vivacity naturally lessens ; but, as- if
it would not  be  soon  enough extinguished,  it
must be repressed by art.   The lively motions of
the body and limbs must be checked, the spirits
must be restrained, and a sort of unnatural hypoc-
risy made to conceal every ingenuous movement.
The activity of disposition  is destroyed; by con-
finement she loses the  inclination for exercise,
and passes from her  school  to a state of listless- 
OF HEALTH.
13
ness at home, or to frivolous and useless amuse-
ments, or perhaps to fresh tasks.  By this reg-
ular repression  of  the physical powers,  their
energy is at  last broken.  Various  organs lose
their  tone and  their healthy action.  Even the
most  solid parts  are  gradually impaired,  and,
being  unable to support their ordinary burden,
they  sink under  its weight, and bring on un-
changeable   deformity.   Perhaps  the  exterior
of health may remain a little  longer, although
the destroying principle is working in the heart.
Should she  be  called  on  to be a mother, then
comes the most important trial of her strength.
The fruit, so fair without, is found decayed with-
in when scarcely matured.   Next the roses  of
the countenance wither; the limbs are feeble and
tottering ; the vivacity is extinguished; the whole
system undermined, and ready to fall on the first
shock.   Of what  use  now are  all the finery of
accomplishment, and the rich stores of literature
and of  science, the  fruits  of  so  many years'
labor ?   They are all  wasted, and perish unem-
ployed.
   What has now been stated as the result of the
mode  of female education  in use at present is
not a picture of the imagination; it is a fair rep- 
14
THE PRESERVATION
resentation of what we  are but too frequently
compelled to encounter.

  2.  Effects of Literary Pursuits on Health.

  My wish now is, to point out  some  of  the
principal ways in which literary pursuits may be
destructive to health; and  also to  show what
measures  might  be  adopted to prevent these
pernicious consequences.
  Action is  the object  for which organization
was created.   If the organs are allowed to  re-
main inactive,  the  channels   of  life  become
clogged; and the functions, and even the struc-
ture, become impaired.  Young  animals are filled
with the desire of motion, in order  that the fluids
of the body may be forced  rapidly through their
tubes, the  solids thus elongated and enlarged,
and every part fully developed.
  The immediate consequences of  action on  the
bodily frame are familiar and visible  to daily  ex-
perience.   Observe the sinewy  arm  of  the  me-
chanic.   The muscles are large and distinct; and
when put in motion, they become  as  hard as
wood, and as strong as iron.  Notice those who
are  accustomed to carry  considerable weights on 
OF HEALTH.
15
the head.  The joints of the lower  limbs  are
close  set and  unyielding,  the frame perfectly
erect, and the attitude commanding.   In the cul-
tivator of the soil, though the  form may be viti-
ated  by neglect, you will observe  that the  ap-
pearance of every part is healthful, vigorous, and
well fitted for labor.
   While all of us are desirous of possessing  the
excellent  qualities  of strength,  hardiness, and
beauty, how defective are our  systems of  educa-
tion in the means  of acquiring them!  In  the
present state of  civilization, a child,' soon after
it can walk, is sent to school, not  so much for
the purpose of learning as to  relieve its parents
of the trouble  of superintending its early move-
ments.   As he grows older, the same plan is in-
cessantly pursued and improved on, till a large
part of his time  is passed in  sedentary pursuits
and in crowded rooms.  In the short intervals of
confinement at school, the boy is allowed to  fol-
low the bent of his inclinations, and seek in play
that exercise which nature imperiously demands.
The development of his system, though not what
it was destined to be,  is attained in a degree, and
he is  exempted from  some of the evils which fall
heavily on the other sex. 
16
THE PRESERVATION
  The female, at an early age, is, in many fami-
lies, discouraged from  activity,  as  unbecoming
her sex, and is/taught  to pass her leisure hours
in a state of quietude at home.   The effects of
this habit have been already spoken of in general
terms ; it now remains  to point out some of its
results in a specific manner.
  In  the course of my observations, I have been
able to satisfy myself that at least half the young
females, brought up as  they are  at  present, un-
dergo some  visible and  obvious change of struc-
ture ;  and of the remainder, a large number are
the subjects of great and permanent deviations,
while not a few entirely lose their  health from
the manner  in which they are reared.   The pro-
portion of those who fall under the first descrip-
tion has aheady been stated.  The amount of the
two last it  is impossible to ascertain with pre-
cision ;  but  it is sufficient to form the basis of a
powerful claim on the attention of those engaged
in the management of young persons.
  The nature of all the particular affections and
diseases thus  induced it would be impossible to
describe in  this place.  We  shall  venture to
direct our views to the  details of only one  of
them. 
OF HEALTH.
17
          3.   Curvature of the Spine.

   The weight of the principal part of the body,
or trunk, of the neck, the head, and the two up-
per  extremities,  is supported by a single bony
column,  called the  spine.  This  column is about
three inches in diameter.  It consists of twenty-
four pieces of bone, placed one on the other; and
between each two is interposed a substance, some-
what resembling caoutchouc, or India rubber, for
the purpose of giving it elasticity.  This column
is hollow, and contains the spinal marrow.  The
spinal  marrow is the origin and source of the
nerves, that  convey  the influence necessary to
voluntary motion;  and they are  sent off in pairs
to the muscles on  each side of the body.  The
bony pieces of the  spine are confined together by
many small ligaments,  by the elastic substance
just  spoken of,  and by numerous  muscles, affixed,
not only to connect and support, but also to move
them.
   The bones of the spine, at an early period of
life, are  themselves, in part,  composed  of an
elastic,  cartilaginous,  or gristly  substance,  and
are  always of a porous and sponge-like texture.
In consequence  of this kind of organization, the
                   2 
18
THE PRESERVATION
spinal column possesses much elasticity and flex-
ibility, which enable it to yield and  to  move in
different directions, and expose it to receive per-
manent flexures, when there is a deficiency of
natural  strength in its composing parts.
  Causes which affect the  health and  produce
general  weakness  operate   powerfully  on  this
part,  in consequence of  the complexity  of its
structure and  the  great  burden it  supports.
When weakened,  it gradually yields under  its
weight, becomes bent and   distorted, losing  its
natural  curves, and acquiring  others, in such
directions as  the operation of  external  causes
tend to give it; and these curves  will be propor-
tioned in their degree and in their permanence
to the producing causes.  If the supporting part
is removed from  its true position, the parts sup-
ported necessarily follow, and thus a distortion of
the fepine effects a distortion of the trunk of the
body.
   The   change commonly  begins at  the  part
which  supports  the right   arm.   The  column
bends towards the right  shoulder, forms  a  con-
vexity on the side where  the shoulder rests, and
thus  elevates the right higher than  the other.
This  elevation, or, as it is  commonly called, grow- 
OF HEALTH.                19
ing out of the shoulder, is the first phenomenon
that strikes the  friends of the patient.   Often,
when observed, the shoulder has already under-
gone  a considerable change of position; and the
change is not confined to the shoulder, nor to the
portion of spine immediately connected with it.
On examination, it will be  discovered  that the
curvature to the right, in the upper part of the
column, is accompanied, as a natural consequence,
by a bend of the lower part to the left, and  a
correspondent projection of  the left  hip.   It is
perfectly obvious that the inclination of the up-
per part of a flexible stick to one side will leave
the lower part on  the  other;  and when, by this
inclination, the vertical support is lost, a disposi-
tion to yield at the  curving points will continually
increase, until it be counteracted by some other
power.   Thus it happens, that any considerable
projection of the right  shoulder will be attended
by a correspondent projection of the left hip.
   The  rising  of the  shoulder involves  other
changes  in the osseous  fabric; for, as the spinal
bones support the ribs, when these bones project
they necessarily push forwards the ribs dependent
on them.   These ribs form the frame of the chest,
and of course the right  side of the chest is pro- 
20
THE PRESERVATION
jected forwards, and causes  a deformity in the
fore part of the body.   The  changes do not stop "
here.    The posterior  ends  of the ribs being
pushed forwards,  and  the  anterior  ends being
confined to the sternum, or breast bone, the right
edge  of the sternum will be drawn forwards, and
the left edge  consequently turned  backwards.
The fore parts of the left ribs will be gradually
forced inwards or backwards, find thus the left
side of the chest  distorted and contracted.
   It  is difficult to have a distinct notion of these
intricate changes in the human machinery with-
out an exhibition of the parts concerned in them;
but we  shall endeavor to represent the train of
phenomena as they exist in nature, and to render
them sufficiently intelligible to excite considera-
tion  and inquiry.
   Perhaps it may be imagined that these cases are
 of rare occurrence, and that we have no occasion
 to alarm ourselves about a few strange distortions,
 the consequence of peculiar and accidental causes.
 Unhappily they are very common.   It has been
 already stated, that, of the' well-educated females
 within my sphere of experience, at least one half
 are affected with some degree of  distortion  of
 the spine.   This  statement cannot be accused of 
OF HEALTH.
21
exaggeration, when compared with that of  one
of the latest and most judicious foreign writers.
Speaking of the right lateral curvature of  the
spine, just  described, he tells  us,  " It  is so
common, that, out of twenty young girls who
have  attained the age of fifteen years, there are
not two who do  not  present very manifest  traces
of it." *
   As  the bones serve to  contain  most of  the
great organs, any change in their forms will be
likely to  produce   changes   in the  condition
and healthy action of these organs.  The spine
gives lodgment, as has been  said,  to the  spinal
marrow;  and this sends out nearly all the nerves
that carry the influence of voluntary motion, and
many  of  those  that  convey energy to the great
organs  of respiration, circulation, and digestion.
When the containing part is distorted, the part con-
tained is likely to be disturbed ;  and this disturb-
ance must produce  important effects on the nerves
issuing from it, and  of course on the organs to
which these nerves are distributed.   If the com-
pression be slight, the operations of the organs will
be partially disturbed.  Hence proceed shortness

  * Lachaise, Sur les Courbures de la Colonne Vertebrate. — P. 23. 
22
THE PRESERVATION
of breath, palpitation of the heart, the phenomena
of indigestion,  flatulence, acidity,  &c.   These
again  give  rise to the uncomfortable feelings
called  nervous,  though they  may be the direct
consequence of partial compression of the spinal
marrow.  When this pressure  is considerable,
the bad consequences are more obvious and formi-
dable.   In such instances, the muscles  supplied
with nerves from the part below that compressed
lose their activity.   The circulation in the lower
limbs  is retarded;  they  grow  cold,  and  livid,
and swell.   Sometimes even a complete paralysis,
or loss of the power of motion, occurs in one or
in both of these extremities.
   The ribs and the breast bone enclose and guard,
as we  have said, the organs of the chest.  Their
position being  altered by the  deviation  of the
spine, the cavity they form becomes  deranged.
Its left  part, where the  heart is  placed, being
diminished  in extent, this organ is  embarrassed
in  its movements, and, striving to  relieve itself,
produces painful and  dangerous palpitations, and
a general disturbance in  the circulatory  system.
The lungs, for the same reasons, cannot fully ex-
pand in the effort of inspiration.  This function is
but partially performed, and the blood imperfectly 
OF HEALTH.
23
oxygenated — an irregularity of itself sufficient
to bring on a low state of health and a disposi-
tion to disease.
   The want of conformity between  these organs
and the bones they are  in contact with, causing
interference between the  parts, an irritable condi-
tion of the lungs may be engendered, disposing
to acute inflammation, or  to the slow develop-
ment of chronic disease.

  4.   Causes  of the Affections  arising from
          Mistakes during  Education.

   Having given some notion of the nature of the
affections  brought  on by  mistakes  during  the
time of, education, let us  advert now to their
causes.
   The  general causes of these derangements are
those things that weaken the  constitution.   They
may be physical or mental.  Among the most
important physical causes are want  of the exer-
cise proper to develop the  powers of the  body,
the  taking  of food,  improper   in  quantity  or
quality, and many other causes  of  inferior  im-
portance.    The  mental  causes. may  be a  too
constant occupation  of the mind in study,  the 
24
THE PRESERVATION
influence of feelings or passions  of a depressing
nature, &c.
  The facts that show the want of exercise to be
one of the greatest causes of these affections and
of the weakness that induces them are very nu-
merous.   Among  these, we observe that  young
people brought  up to hardy and laborious occu-
pations, whether they are males  or females, do
not suffer in this way.   The sons and daughters
of farmers and laborers, for example, never ex-
hibit  the  deformities spoken  of, except in cases
where there is a  great scrofulous defect  by in-
heritance.
   A still more remarkable fact of a general  na-
ture may be seen on a comparison in this respect
between the two  sexes.  The lateral  distortion
of the spine is almost wholly confined to females,
and is scarcely ever  found  existing in the other
sex.  The proportion of the  former to the latter
is at  least nine  to one.   What is the cause  of
the disparity ?   The  two sexes are equally well
formed by nature.   The difference in physical
organization results  from  a difference of  habits
depending  upon education.   It  is  not seen till
after this process  is advanced.   The girl, when
she goes  from school, is, as we have before said, 
OF HEALTH.
25
 expected to go home and remain, at least a large
 part of the time, confined to the house.   As soon
 as the  boy is released, he  begins to run, jump,
 and frolic in the  open air, and  continues his
 sports  till hunger draws him to his food.   The
 result is, that in him all the organs get invigor-
 ated, and the  bones, of course,  become solid;
 while a defect exists in the other sex proportion-
 ate to the want of physical  motion.
   A question may fairly be asked,  whether these
 evils  are supposed to be greater  now than for-
 merly,  when  females  were  equally confined.
 The answer, in reference  to the  young  females
 of our  country, is, that  they then  took a consid-
 erable share in the  laborious part of the domestic
 duties ; now, they are devoted to literary  occupa-
 tions, of a nature to confine the body and require
 considerable efforts of the mind.
   It is  not necessary,  in  this  place,  to  say any
 thing of the second of the  physical  causes of
 weakness spoken of, as it will be adverted to
 hereafter.  The next of these causes which pre-
 sents  itself to our view is  of a moral  nature —
the influence of too great occupation of the mind
in study, and  that  of feelings and  passions  of a
depressing nature. 
26            THE PRESERVATION

  The operation of mental causes on the bodily
frame is not unknown  to any of us ; though it
may not perhaps have been thought,  in regard to
education, to be of very great importance.   The
effect  of anxiety, grief,  and  other  feelings,  in
diminishing strength  and wearing away health,
arc  quite familiar.  The loss of property and of
friends  has been known to bring  on diseases ;
and it has sometimes happened, that an agreeable
reverse or a favorable incident  has  speedily re-
moved  them.   Confidence in  a physician  is  a
great  help  towards  receiving  benefit from his
prescriptions ; and many of the cures wrought
by  empirical or quack medicines are  to be attrib-
uted rather to the  operation of the mind  than
to  the  action  of the medicines.

  5.   Effect of Moral  Causes in  producing
              Physical  Changes.

  The production of physical changes in a sud-
den and  sensible way, by the action  of moral
causes, is difficult to  comprehend.   Yet medical
men do sometimes have an opportunity of observ-
ing changes effected  by this  power,  which might
appear incredible, and almost miraculous, to  those 
OF HEALTH.
27
   not  aware of the force of mental  operations on
   the  human organs.   Many  such cases  could be
   adduced.   Perhaps it will be proper to state one
.   or two in detail.
     When, some years ago, the metallic tractors
   were in the height  of their reputation for  the
   cure  of diseases  by  external application  to  the
   part affected, the following experiment was per-
   formed by Dr. Haygarth, of- Bath.   Two tractors
   were prepared, of a non-metallic substance differ-
   ent from the genuine  tractors, but made to resem-
   ble them.   These were  applied, in  a number of
   instances,  with all the good effects of the real
  tractors.   Among  other remarkable cures was
  that of a person with a  contraction of the knee
  joint, of six months' duration.   After a few min-
  utes' application, this man was directed to use his
  limb, and, to the surprise of all present, he was
  able  to  walk about  the room.   Such  instances
  are not very unusual.   Many empirics succeed in
  calling into  action the same principle.   The pa-
  tient, after a number of manipulations  of the
  part affected, is  directed to make use of his limb;
  and though this call on  his imagination does not
 infalhbly  succeed, it  is not  wonderful  that,  by
 exciting the nervous energy of the part affected,
 it should occasionally do so. 
28
THE PRESERVATION
  I will relate another case of this kind.   Some
time since a female presented herself  to me with
a tumor, or  swelling of the sub-maxillary gland
of the neck.  It was about the size  of an egg,
had lasted two" years, and was so very hard that
I considered any effort to dissipate it by medicine
to be vain, and advised  its  removal by an oper-
ation.   To this the patient could not  bring her
mind; therefore, to satisfy  her wish, some appli-
cations  of considerable activity were  directed to
be made to  the part; and these  she  pursued  a
number of  week*, without any change.   After
this she called  on  me, and, with some hesitation,
begged  to know whether  an application recom-
mended to  her would, in  my opinion, be safe.
This consisted  in  applying  the hand  of  a  dead
man three times to  the diseased part.   One  of
her  neighbors  now lay  dead, and she   had an
opportunity  of trying  the experiment,  if not
thought dangerous.  At first I was disposed to
divert her from it; but, recollecting  the power
of  the  imagination, gravely  assured her she
might make the  trial without apprehension of
serious  consequences.   A  while  after she pre-
sented  herself once more,  and, with a  smiling
countenance,  informed  me  she  had used  this 
OF HEALTH.
29
remedy and no  other ;  and, on  examining  for
the tumor,  it had disappeared.
   The possibility of operating powerfully on  the
corporeal  organization  by moral causes being
established,  it is clear that the long exertion of
intellectual  efforts, and, still  more, the  frequent
action of depressing passions, may have  an influ-
ence on the  condition of the body, at the flexible
period when education and growth are going on
together.  A  close  and constant occupation of
mind,  too long  continued, lessens the action of
the heart; and a  languid  circulation  thus being
induced, prevents the full growth of the body.
Depressing passions do not act less conspicuously.
We sometimes have occasion to notice, though
the case is rare in this country, the condition of
children subjected to a persevering  system of
harshness at home.  They are pale and shrivelled,
and their  growth is checked.

 6.  Injurious Effects of Competition at School.

   In the present  modes of education, great pains
are taken to excite the imagination by  competi-
tion.   These  efforts are attended with   but  too
much success  in  susceptible minds.  An anxiety 
30
THE PRESERVATION
to excel becomes the predominant passion.   The
health, the sports, and  too often the friendships
of youth are sacrificed to the desire of surpassing
those around.   When this becomes an all-absorb-
ing  passion,  the  result  is  most  unfriendly  to
physical  organization;  and  a  multitude of fine
constitutions  are ruined by  it, in  both sexes.
   Whether any proper substitute can  be found,
in the male sex, for competition and rivalry, must
be left to others to decide.   So far as my experi-
ence extends, the answer  would be in the affirm-
ative ; and without pretending to be a  competent
judge in the case, it is  fair  to  say,  that the habit
of giving  public instructions for forty years has
afforded  me  some conclusions of a satisfactory
nature.  In the attendance of lectures on anatomy
and surgery, no  competition was employed; yet
a large part of the students acquired during  their
three years' curriculum a fair knowledge of these
two sciences, and every year presented a number
of them who might be said to be distinguished.
This subject might be expanded with advantage;
but this is not  the place.
   The application of the system of rivalry to the
 softer sex, with submission, appears to me fraught
 with mischief.  It inflames the imagination, fes- 
OF HEALTH.
31
ters the passions, and  poisons  the  happiness of
the  brightest days of  life ;  and  since the very
highest  grade of  literary acquirement  is  not
essential to the duties of the sex, it seems as un-
necessary as it is pernicious.
   The  question  is, whether there is a substitute
which is sufficiently practical to be  of general
use.  If none exist, the ingenuity of instructors
could not be employed on a more important sub-
ject than in devising such  substitute.   The spirit
of improvement  has  aheady discovered that the
reasoning process may be generally employed with
great success in the instruction of young persons.
There are individuals who use it to a  considera-
ble  extent, and  with  the  most  happy  results.
They endeavor  to enforce on  their pupils the
doctrine, that the path of duty is the most easy,
and most for the interest of the individual to
pursue.  They do this  by argumentative conver-
sation, and  the process  succeeds with those who
are capable of being influenced in any  way: and
why should it not ?   Children  of a very early
age  are  capable  of feeling the force of reason ;
and it will generally be found that they are under
the power of their parents rather in proportion
to the employment o£ this agent than  to that of 
32
THE PRESERVATION
the rod or any other compulsory means.  If they
understand reason at so early a  period, surely
they cannot lose  their susceptibility to  it at one
more advanced.   There are minds on which the
powers of language make no impression, and all
the  weapons of  argument fall as if pointless.
But these  are to be considered as exceptions to
general laws — cases in which all the means of
severity and kindness equally fail.   They should
not  cause discouragement.  Patience should  be
the everlasting motto of the instructor.   With it
he performs wonders — without it he can do little.

     7.  Local Causes of Spinal Distortion.

   The remarks made above will  give  some no-
tion of the most  important general causes of ill
health and imperfect growth during the educating
process.  It is desirable  to say a few words  on
some of the  immediate  causes of spinal distor-
tion, which may be called local.
   The most obvious of the local  causes are bad
postures  of the  body and  limbs.   The habit of
bending  the neck  forwards,  while  writing or
drawing, gradually compresses the vertebras, and
the intervertebral substance on their anterior part 
OF HEALTH.
33
and causes a permanent change  in  the form of
this part of the spinal column.   This distortion
is so very common among us that we are apt to
consider it a necessary evil.  In fact, however, it
is the effect of habit  in  a great  number of in-
stances.   Sometimes  it  is  the  consequence of
negligence, and not  unfrequently of timidity.
Whether it tends to impair the health always, is a
question; that it  sometimes does  so, is certain ;
and its effect in deforming the shape is even greater
than a moderate degree of lateral  curvature.
   The  immediate  cause  of the lateral curve of
the  spine  to the  right,  opposite to  the right
shoulder, is the elevation and action of the right
arm in drawing, writing,  and other  acts.  This
posture pulls the part of the spinal column to
which the muscles  of the right  arm are fixed to
the right side.   The  convexity of the spine thus
produced keeps the right shoulder elevated, and
the left consequently  depressed.    The lower part
of the column is thrown to the left side ; and this
displacement being favored by the disposition to
rest on the  left foot,  while standing  to speak or
read,  causes  a permanent projection  of the  left
hip.  The postures employed in practising on
some  musical  instruments sometimes  bring on
                   3 
34
THE PRESERVATION
these distortions; as, for example, a great use of
the harp favors  the disposition to lateral curva-
ture, from the constant extension of the right arm.

  8.   Means of Avoiding some of the Defects.

  Having adverted to the nature and the causes
of some of the  defects  that  arise from want  of
attention to  physical education, some  hints will
be thrown out as to the modes in which they may
be avoided.
  Nature, as has been before said, if left to her-
self, is all-sufficient to the development of physi-
cal  organization.  But  we live in  an artificial
state — a state that continually thwarts the course
of the native dispositions of the animal economy;
and as we must  abandon the advantages of these,
we must seek for substitutes in an artificial pro-
cess.
  The principles whjch should form the basis of
such a process will readily be seen on attending
to the nature  and the  causes  of these defects.
We  shall then see that  the remedy, or rather the
preventive means, lies in a certain regulation of
the  sentiments,  and  passions, and  intellectual
operations;   in  promoting bodily  activity;  in a 
OF HEALTH.
35
salutary regimen, and in some other inferior con-
siderations.   In regard to the first of these, that
is, to what  relates to the mind, having already
said all that is intended at this  time, the others
will be now adverted to.
  Towards  a  perfect  system of education,  it is
necessary there  should be a  balance  preserved
between physical  and  intellectual  cultivation.
When the mind is closely  occupied,  the body
should be carefully guarded.   If the pursuits of
the former are severe and absorbing, those of the
latter should be  cheerful and relaxing.  Instead,
then,  of abandoning the physical  to the intellect-
ual culture, it  should be increased in the same
ratio,  and  followed with  the same  earnestness.
  Exercise  is  so material to physical education
that it  has sometimes been  used synonymously,
though it really constitutes only a part of it.   In
order that exercise may have its due operation, it
must  begin  at the earliest period of life; and, of
course, the parent  must in this act the part of
instructor.  He must  take pains to have the in-
fant carried into the air every day, and in every
season; for, whatever may be  the  dangers  of
such a course, they are in the end less than those
incident to the accidental exposures of a delicate 
36
THE PRESERVATION
constitution.   In the  earlier  years,  the dress
should be arranged so as to allow that use of the
body and limbs  to which  nature  prompts, in a
perfectly free manner, yet without  impropriety.
When children are sent to  school,  care should be
taken that they are not confined too long.  Chil-
dren under fourteen should not be kept in school
more than six or seven hours a day;  and this period
should be shortened for females.   It is expedient
that it should be  broken into  many parts, so as
to avoid a long confinement at one time.   Young
persons, however well disposed, cannot support a
restriction to one place and one posture.   Nature
resists such restrictions ;  and if enforced, they are
apt to create  disgust with the means and  the ob-
ject.   Thus  children learn to hate studies that
might be rendered agreeable,  and they take an
aversion  to instructors  who would otherwise be
interesting to them.
   The postures they assume while seated at their
studies are not indifferent.  They should be fre-
quently warned  against the practice  of maintain-
ing the head and neck long in a stooping position;
and the  disposition to it should be  lessened  by
giving a proper elevation and  slope to the desk;
the seat should have a support, or back, of a few 
OF HEALTH.
37
inches, at  its edge.   The arms must De kept on
the  same  level;  and  there should be  room to
support them equally, or the right will be apt to
rise  above the left, from its constant use and ele-
vation.  A standing posture in writing and study-
ing is not commendable  for young persons.  The
secret of posture  consists in avoiding all bad po-
sitions, and avoiding all positions long continued.
   For  many years, in my anatomical lectures, it
was  recommended that children should be  taught
by their parents to use the left hand equally with
the right.   This  habit will in a great number of
instances prevent the occurrence of  the distortion
mentioned, and preserve the lateral symmetry of
the body.   It will  also  give a valuable  resource
in case of  those  injuries, which in every  one
temporarily, and in some permanently, impair the
use of the right arm.*
   The ordinary carriage of the body, in walking,
should be an object of attention to every instruct-
or.  How different are the  impressions  made on

  * A personal fact in support of this opinion may be added.  In
the earlier part of my anatomical practice I experienced an affec-
tion of the right thumb, which compelled me to rely on the left
hand for nearly a year,  and, in consequence, produced a facility in
doing many surgical operations, and in shaving with the left hand,
which otherwise would  not have been attained. 
38
THE PRESERVATION
us by a man  whose attitude  is  erect and com-
manding,  and by one  who  walks with his face
directed to the  earth, as  if fearful of encounter-
ing the glances of those he meets !  Such atten-
tions are not less important to the fairer sex, where
we naturally look for attraction in some form or
shape.   If nature  has  not given beauty  of face
to all, she  has given the power of acquiring a
graceful movement and upright form — qualities
more valuable and more durable than the other.
These  qualities  are  lost or gained during  the
period of education; and of course they lie, to
some extent, within the control of the instructor.
It should seem that it would afford great satisfac-
tion to the superintendent  and  guardian of the
rising  population  to be able  to send out to the
world  his  annual  recruits, not only well  imbued
with knowledge  and virtue,  but also  endowed
with a handsome  form and graceful manners.
   The influence of an upright form and expand-
ed chest   on the health  has  been sufficiently
explained;  and what  may be  done to  acquire
these  qualities, is shown by  many remarkable
facts, one  of  which may be mentioned.   For a
great number of years it has been the custom in
France to give to young  females of the earliest 
OF HEALTH.
39
 age, the habit of holding back the shoulders, and
 thus  expanding the chest.   From the observa-
 tions of anatomists lately made,  it appears that
 the clavicle, or  collar  bone, is actually longer  in
 females of the French nation  than in those of the
 English.   As the two nations are of the Cauca-
 sian race, as there is no other remarkable differ-
 ence  in  their bones, and  this is  peculiar to the
 sex, it may be attributed to the habit above men-
 tioned, which, by the extension of the arms, has
 gradually produced a national elongation of this
 bone.  Thus we see that habit may be employed
 to  alter and improve  the solid  bones.    The
 French have succeeded  in the development of a
 part that adds to health and beauty.
   As young persons advance  in age, and  as the
 disposition to motion naturally diminishes, it be-
 comes important to encourage  and provide for
 it, especially  in females and  in young men of
 studious  character.  Instead of restraining  their
 movements, and blaming the disposition to frolic,
 they, should be  allowed and advised  to  it,  at
 proper times, and  in  becoming modes.
   Next  to walking in  the open  air,  the  best
exercise  for  a young  female  is dancing.   This
brings into action  a  large part of  the muscles of 
40            THE  PRESERVATION

the body and lower  limbs, and  gives them grace
and power.   The best mode in which it can be
employed is not in balls and crowded assemblies,
but at home, alone,  or with  two or three friends,
or in  the domestic circle.  As this practice does
not give motion to the upper  limbs, and as the
exercising of them is  too  apt to be neglected, it
is  important to provide  the means of bringing
them  into  action, as well to develop  their own
powers  as  to enlarge and invigorate  the chest,
with which  they are connected, and which they
powerfully  influence.   The  best method  of  ac-
complishing these objects is the use of the trian-
gle.*  This  exercises the upper limbs  and the
muscles of  the chest,  and, indeed, when adroitly
employed,  those of the whole  body.   The plays
at -ball with both hands, and that of dumb bells,
are useful.    The parallel bars  afford a very fine
exercise for the muscles of the body and upper
limbs.  Battledoor should be played with the left
hand  as well as the right — a habit, like all others,

  * The triangle is made of a stick of walnut wood, four feet
long, an inch and a half in diameter.  To each end is connected
a rope, the opposite extremities of which, being confined together,
are secured to  the ceiling of a room, at such height as to allow
the motion of swinging by the hands. 
OF HEALTH.
41
 which   may  readily  be  acquired  by  practice.
 While  these are particularly mentioned, as  great
 a diversity  as  possible in  exercise and amuse-
 ment should be adopted, so that, when the  mind
 or the  muscles  get fatigued with one, they may
 take up  another with  fresh ardor.   Every  semi-
 nary of young  persons  should be provided with
 the  instruments for these  exercises.  They are
 not  expensive,  occupy but  little room,  and are
 of unspeakable  importance.
   In the various modes of  physical  development
 accidents are occasionally  produced, and hence
 prejudices have been  naturally  excited against
 this  very important part of education.   It  must
 be recollected,   however, that such  accidents are
 exceptions to the general rule, and  should  have
 no other  influence  than   to  increase  the  care
 which should form a part of  every system of ed-
 ucation.
   While active exercises  should  occupy  time
 sufficient to excite the circulation and gently to
 agitate  the organs, there must also  be an occa-
 sional relaxation.  At proper intervals, the whole
muscular apparatus should be allowed to repose ;
not that the young lady should sleep during the
day,  but  should assume a  graceful attitude  on a 
42            THE PRESERVATION

couch, or sofa, as a necessary alternation to mus-
cular effort.
  The remarks last made have reference princi-
pally to  the  exercises of young  ladies, who  are
more likely to suffer in this respect, in our plans
of education, than the other sex.

  9.   Cultivation  of  the Physical Powers  in
                 Young  Men.

   The necessity of cultivating the  physical pow-
ers in young men  is sufficiently  uderstood.
   In the year 1825, a great effort was made in
Boston to form a gymnasium  on  a  large scale, in
the  hope that its principles  and practice might
be disseminated through  the  country.  The wri-
ter of these  pages took an active  part  in the exe-
cution of this plan,  and addressed to the cele-
brated Professor Jahn an invitation  to come to
this country. The Professor did not accept the
invitation; but in his place came Dr. Lieber, now
 Professor in Columbia, S. C, and an ornament
 to  the science  of this country.   Soon after his
 arrival,  Dr.  Lieber  opened a  very successful
 gymnasium.   At the same time letters were ad-
 dressed  to some of the most distinguished  per- 
OF  HEALTH.                 43
sons  in  this  country, to  invite their attention to
the  subject  of gymnastics, and  their  influence
in  diffusing  a knowledge of their  importance.
Among these, a letter was addressed to a gentle-
man now no more, whose name and opinion must
have great weight; his reply to this  letter is in-
serted below.*
   The  establishment  of  gymnasia  through  the
country  promised  the  opening of a new era in
physical education.   The  benefits which resulted
from these  institutions far  transcended  the most

                                  * November 17, 1825.
  My dear Sir : I am highly pleased with the idea of a gymna-
sium.   It is a subject which has often occupied my thoughts, and
in relation to which it has appeared to me that the fashion of the
times needs to be changed.  Those who have the charge of edu-
cation seem sometimes  to forget that the body is a part of the
man.  The number of young men who leave our colleges, emu-
lous indeed, and learned, but with pale faces  and narrow chests,
is truly alarming.  The common rustic amusements hung about
our literary institutions for a long time ; but they at length seem
to have been entirely abandoned, and nothing, at least nothing
useful, has succeeded them.  If it be desirable that there should
be cultivated intellect, it is equally so, as far as this world is con-
cerned, that there should be also a sound body to hold it in.
 . I shall most gladly assist in your endeavors ; thinking that I
do some service when I aid any measure calculated to enforce on
the rising generation a sense of the invaluable advantages of tem-
perance and exercise.
           I am, dear sir, most truly yours,
                                   Daniel Webster.
  For Dr. "Warren. 
44
THE PRESERVATION
sanguine expectations.  Many instances occurred
of  protracted and distressing  affections  wholly
removed,  of  weakly  organized  forms  unfolded
and invigorated, and of the attainment of extraor-
dinary degrees of muscular energy and elasticity
in persons in health.*
   The diversions of  the gymnasium should con-
stitute a regular  part  of the duties  of all our
colleges  and seminaries of learning; and, to give
them the requisite  power of excitement, the sys-
tem of rewards, so dangerous when mismanaged
in  literary education,  might  be introduced with
beneficial  effect.    Our young  men  may  surely
find  time  to  cultivate  those  exercises   which
Cicero, and Csesar,  and some of the most  studious
among the ancient and modern philosophers, con-
sidered  necessary, and  contrived to prosecute in
the midst of  their studies and  affairs.f
  * Some  cases  of great  increase of muscular vigor and of
general health have presented themselves from the regular use of
gymnastic  exercises, even at an advanced period of life.  Among
these I might refer to a distinguished member of the legal profes-
sion, who first began the  practice of gymnastics when nearly sev-
enty years  old.  He acquired great additional vigor, lived to  the
age of eighty-four in habits of constant activity, and died at this
period in the most easy and tranquil manner.  He was one of
three generations -bearing the name of William  Prescott all of
whom  have done honor to their country.
  t Cicero is described by Plutarch as being, at one period of his 
OF  HEALTH.
45
    If the gymnasium is deserted because  it calls
 for too much effort, let me entreat them, at least,
 to adopt a regular plan of walking.   If they are
 desirous of avoiding the marks of  disorder in the
 face while  young, and  a  dyspeptic, nervous, dis-
 abled frame  through   that  part  of  life,  which
 especially requires  health and activity, two hours
 a day must be devoted to this business.


     10.    Exercise among  Factory  Operatives.

    The  foregoing remarks  on exercise are,  per-
 haps, sufficiently extended for the general objects
 of  society; but there is a class, which has risen


 life, extremely lean and slender, and having  such a weakness in
 his stomach that he could eat but little, and that not till late in
 the evening.  He travelled to Athens, however, for the recovery
 of his health, where his body  was so strengthened by gymnastic
 exercises  as to become firm and robust; and his voice, which had
 been harsh, was thoroughly formed, and rendered sweet, full, and
 sonorous.
  In regard to Julius Caesar, the same author informs us that he
 was originally of a  slender habit of body, had a  soft and white
 skin, was troubled with pains in his head, and subject to epilepsy;
 but, by continual marches, coarse diet, and frequent  lodging in
 the fields, he struggled against these diseases, and used war, and
the exercises and hardships therewith connected, as the best med-
icine against these indispositions. — Sir John Sinclair. 
46
THE PRESERVATION
into  existence within a few years, to whose con-
dition I feel myself called on to advert.  A large
number of persons in this  country have  lately
engaged in the  labor  of  manufactories.   The
establishments in which these  labors are carried
on are, it is well  known,  better regulated than
those in  the  old  world,  and  the amount  of
health of the individuals  employed in  them  is
undoubtedly greater.
  Notwithstanding these favorable circumstances,
no one, I think, will maintain that they possess
so robust an  appearance,  and  enjoy  so high  a
degree of health, as do the members of families,
both male and  female, who are occupied in the
pursuits of agriculture.  The difference in the in-
fluence of these occupations is attributable to the
difference in the variety of labor, and to that  in
the atmosphere which is respired by these classes.
As to the former of these circumstances, no im-
portant changes can be expected, but in the latter
much improvement may be made.
   The operatives in our manufactories, especially
 females,' ought to form and pursue a regular plan
 of exercise in the open air  during the intervals of
 labor.  This  plan, I am aware, will seem to im- 
OF HEALTH.
47
pose on them an additional burden; but the prac-
tical effect would, I am confident, be beneficial.
A walk abroad two or three times in the day, at
all seasons,  would  bring  into  action  muscles
which are not sufficiently exerted in their daily
toil, would give fresh vigor to the circulation of
the blood, and inspire them with new cheerful-
ness in their  monotonous routine.   In this way it
may be  hoped  that  an impending  physical de-
generation may be avoided  in a large and inter-
esting portion of our society.

   11.  Compression  of  the Chest,  and  its
                 Consequences.

   Females are unfortunately compelled by fashion
to  adopt partial and unequal coverings of the
body.   A  part of the chest is very much cov-
ered, while another part is  occasionally exposed.
The dangers  which spring from fashion are more
easily pointed out than avoided.   They serve, at
least, to place in a clearer  light the necessity of
inuring young females to exposure,  and invigor-
ating them by exercise.
   There is one part of female dress, the dangers 
48
THE PRESERVATION
of which have  been  made known, but which
still  continues to be practised;  I mean the close
girting of  the chest.
  In what notions of beauty this  practice took
its origin it is not easy to discover.  The angu-
lar projections formed by a tightly-drawn cord
and  certain pieces of whalebone, or steel, are in
direct  opposition  to  the  models of  Grecian or
Roman  beauty.    In the  flowing,  robes of
the  Juno,  the Vesta,  and  Diana,  every part is
light and graceful.  Nor can we discover, in the
representations of the Muses or the Graces, any
habiliment which would  lead us to believe they
wore stays or corsets.  The taste of  the  other
sex  is uniformly opposed  to the wasp-like waist
and  the boarded chest.  Yet, strange as it seems,
there is scarcely a young lady of fifteen who has
not  imbibed a disposition for this  species of ap-
plication, and scarcely a well-dressed  lady of any
age  whose chest  is not confined in such a man-
ner  as to impede the motions of respiration and
the  free  use of the muscles of the upper extrem-
ities.  It is true, we are constantly told that they
are  uncomfortable without these appendages ; but
this  only shows  what great inconveniences we 
OF HEALTH.
49
can, by habit, become accustomed to.   The In-
dian nations, who consider the flattened  forehead
to be a beauty, confine the heads of their infants
between two pieces of board corded together; and
the child exists  under  this pressure,  and may
grow up.   Yet there can be  no doubt  that dis-
eases are  generated by it;  that some lose their
lives, and others their intellects.   Still the fashion
continues  from age to  age.   I have now in my
possession flattened heads which must have lived
some hundreds of years since, and others which
have belonged to individuals of the existing gen-
eration.
   Nature has so contrived  the human chest that
there is no superfluous play of the parts compos-
ing it.  Its  movements are just sufficient to give
such an expansion to the lungs, and  such an ex-
tent of oxygenation of the blood, as are adequate
to the wants  of  the individual under   different
occurrences.   In  females,  the  chest is shorter
than in males;  and to compensate  for  this, the
motion  of the ribs is naturally more extensive
and more frequent.  Whatever limits this motion
is,  therefore,  peculiarly injurious, especially as
they are  more  disposed to   consumption and
 
50
THE PRESERVATION
other chronic affections  of the lungs  than the
other sex.   The ligatures  in  the fashionable
dress are placed precisely on that part where the
motion  should be greatest; that is,  below the
middle  of the chest.  It is  precisely here, that,
in case of fracture of the ribs, when we desire to
stop the  movements of the chest,  we apply a
tight bandage ; though rarely do we venture  to
make it so tight as the ordinary corsets.   The
effect of such pressure, begun  at an early period
of life,  will be understood from  what has been
stated in  regard to the spine.   The bones must
yield to  it;  their  shape  become  permanently
altered; the lower part of the breast contracted;
the  space  destined by nature for the heart and
lungs diminished; and what the  fatal results  of
all this on  these  tender and  vital organs are.,
every day's experience shows us.  The influence
on the  health, though slow, is certain.  It may
not  at  once produce consumption, but it lays the
foundation for ills  painful to describe.  By way
of specification, among  other diseases  of which
this is the fruitful germ, I might adduce a num-
ber  of  instances of perpetual headache, at  last
bringing  on insanity, and  terminating in  death. 
OF HEALTH.
51
 The  immediate  cause  of the  disease was  the
 compression of the heart and great blood vessels,
 and the consequent accumulation of blood in the
 head.
   As  young ladies  are disposed to this practice,
 probably by fancies communicated  by their com-
 panions, those who have  charge of them  should
 not only inculcate the prohibition of these appli-
 cations ;  they  should,  for  themselves,  observe
 whether any thing is  wrong; and after the  young
 ladies  have reached  the age when  dress  is con-
 sidered a primary object, they should resolutely
 oppose every encroachment  on the  rights of the
 vital organs beyond what is required by a decent
 attention to the prejudices of the day.*

                12.   Reflections.

   Too much of the  time of the  better educated
 part of young persons is,  in my humble opinion,

  * Within a few years, the practice of tight lacing has so far
 diminished, that we now and then have an opportunity of seeing the
 female form in a dress which does not wholly conceal its natural
 symmetry and grace.  It would be thought singular if this per-
nicious practice, thus  becoming unfashionable in the  one sex,
should have been adopted by the other, as is believed to be the
fact. 
52
THE PRESERVATION
devoted to literary pursuits and sedentary occu-
pations, and  too  little to the acquisition of the
corporeal powers indispensable to make the former
practically useful.  If the present system  does
not undergo a greater change than has taken place
within the past few years, it  is much to be ap-
prehended we shall see a degenerate and sinking
race, such as existed  among the higher classes in
France before the revolution,  and such as now
deforms a large part of the  noblest families in
Spain.  I am informed,  by a  lady who passed a
long time at the Spanish court in a distinguished
situation,  that the grandees have  deteriorated by
their habits of living  and the restriction of inter-
marriages to their own  rank; and, though  fine
persons are sometimes seen among them, they,
when assembled at court, appear to be a group of
manikins.   But  if the  spirit of  improvement,
so happily awakened, continue to animate those
concerned in the formation of the young mem-
bers  of  society, we  may  be able to exhibit an
active, beautiful, and wise generation, of  which
the age may be  proud. 
OF HEALTH.
53
II. —THE  FUNCTION  OF  DIGESTION.

           1.   General  Observations.

  The  renovation of organized structures is  ac-
complished by the process of digestion.  This,
whether it take place in vegetables or animals, is
effected by the assimilation of external substances
constituting the food which is to be appropriated
to the structure to be repaired.
  The  digestive organs  are very simple in vege-
tables.  Food is taken from the earth by the rad-
icles of  plants, circulated in the vessels, elaborated
or digested in the leaves, and sent to the different
parts of the plant for  their support and develop-
ment.   In most  animals, the apparatus of diges-
tion is much more complicated.  In  the  lower
classes,  it is, in truth, but little  more  complex
than  in vegetables;  but in the higher animals,
and  in  man, it forms one of the most extensive
parts of the animal economy.
  The  primary and most essential portion  of  the
digestive apparatus in  man is the stomach.  Into
this  cavity articles  of  food  are introduced  in
great variety, and these, in the course of  a few 
54             THE PRESERVATION
hours, are  gradually  dissolved.   The power by
which this  solution  is accomplished has been as-
certained to be a liquid exuded from the coats of
the stomach,  similar in its aspect to liquid saliva,
and which has been denominated the gastric fluid,
or juice.   The experiments of Spalanzani, Stevens,
and others,  and finally those of Dr. Beaumont on
Alexis  St.  Martin,  an  individual who  had an
aperture* in  his  stomach  from  an  accidental
wound, have  proved, that,  when food was intro-
duced into an empty stomach, this exudation was
seen  to  take  place in proportion to the quantity
of food  received   into  the  organ within  certain
limits.   The  food, brought into  contact with the
different parts of  the stomach by the action of its
muscular coat and by the movements of respira-
tion,  is attacked by this liquid in successive por-
tions, and gradually melted into  a homogeneous
mass.
  * An opportunity was presented to me of examining and veri-
fying this remarkable phenomenon.  I saw the interior  of the
stomach of St. Martin, and saw him discharge a quantity of
water he had recently drunk through an aperture in the side of
his body.  He lived many years in this condition, enjoyed a good
appetite and good health, except  when he drank brandy and
water, which he was much inclined to. St. Martin is now dead
and Dr. Beaumont has followed him, after possessing for a long
period the best opportunity  of investigating the physiology of
the stomach which is recorded in the annals of medical art. 
OF HEALTH.
55
  In  a healthy stomach, a moderate meal is di-
gested in four hours, and then the food is pushed
by the stomach into  the  duodenum, a sort of
second stomach, in which, and in the tube below,
the nutritious liquid  is separated from the solid
part of the food, then absorbed, and carried into
the blood vessels, and circulated  through every
part of the  animal  body.  It may, therefore, be
said that  the whole of the drink taken  into the
stomach, and a considerable part of the solid food,
ultimately make their way into the blood vessels,
and are circulated throughout the animal system.

       2.  Effect of Liquids on Digestion.

   It  has  been also  observed, that, when liquids
were   taken  into the stomach  at  the  same time
with  solids,  the liquids were separated from the
solids,  and  disappeared.   Both  reasoning and
observation have plainly shown, that, while any
considerable  quantity of  liquid remains in the
stomach, the  gastric fluid  is too much diluted to
accomplish the solution of the  food.
   From the facts above mentioned we consider it
to be established, that the  taking of  quantities of
liquid at  the same time with solid food does not 
56
THE PRESERVATION
promote the digestive process, but interferes with
and suspends it.   Hence the swallowing of large
quantities  of fluid of any description, such  as
wine, tea, coffee, or even water,* is not consistent
with a healthy and speedy digestion.  The prac-
tice of  drinking at our meals is so universal as to
make it appear like a second nature; but it is, in
fact, contrary to nature.   Animals do not drink
at the time they eat, but  some hours after; and
they generally take very small quantities of liquid
compared with  that which is used by man.   The
savage, in  his native wilds, takes  his  solid food,
when  he  can obtain it, to  satiety, reposes  after-
wards,  and then, resuming his chase through the
forest, stops at the rivulet to allay his thirst.
   The  disadvantage of taking a large quantity of

  * The  distinguished Professor Silliman, among other valuable
suggestions in a letter addressed to me on this subject, has made
the inquiry, whether water may not be converted into nutriment,
and whether this fluid is not necessary to preserve the pliability
of the body.  To this  it  may be answered, that water may no^
doubt be converted into nutriment, as it has been established by
many facts, that, in  persons deprived of food, life can be main-
tained longer by the use of water than without it.  Water has
another use under these circumstances — that of filling the blood
vessels, and thus keeping up the action of the heart. Moreover,
it has been stated that the moderate and seasonable use of fluids
is not intended to  be  proscribed, and that a large proportion of
fluid is contained in all  the solid we employ for food. 
OF HEALTH.
57
 liquid must be obvious when it is considered that
 the  digesting liquid is diluted and weakened in
 proportion to the quantity of  drink.   Children,
 especially, are much mismanaged in this particu-
 lar.   We  begin at  an early period of life  to
 drench the stomach of a child with large quanti-
 ties  of milk and water, of simple  water, or of
 some other liquid.   The poor child suffers from
 distention of the stomach, and, complaining fre-
 quently, the  mother supposes it to be hungry, and
 drenches it with additional drink till it can take
 no more.  If the child still continues to suffer,
 she presumes it may be affected with worms, and
 many violent purges are given to destroy these
 supposed invaders.   The  digestive apparatus is
 thus weakened  still  more; chyle is imperfectly
 formed, the blood itself hence becomes weak and
 impure, and  in  this  way the  seeds  of scrofula
 may be developed.

         3.   Temperature of Drinks.

   The  temperature  of  our  drinks is another
point worthy of attention.   Very hot  and very
cold drinks are unfavorable to a healthy action
of the stomach; the former by diminishing the 
58
THE PRESERVATION
tone of this organ, and the latter by suppressing
its secretions.  Cold liquids are, in our present
habits, more  copiously used than  hot;  and it is,
therefore,  more  necessary to  guard  ourselves
against  them.  Ice, iced water, and iced cream
are valuable remedies in the hands of the physi-
cian, but objectionable as luxuries or articles of
daily food.
   There is a practice very extensively adopted in
this  part of the country, especially among ladies,
of using iced water, and cooling the stomach be-
low  its  natural  temperature.    Dr. Beaumont
found  in the stomach of St. Martin that a glass
of very cold  water lowered  the animal  heat  of
the gastric organ for  a period of half an hour.
The process of  digestion would, of course,  be
retarded during this time.   Ices taken freely and
hastily into the stomach must produce the same
effect.   The  employment  of  this  luxury, there-
fore, during or after a full and luxurious meal, is
an attack on the digestive function, which must
disturb its natural and healthy progress. 
OF HEALTH.
59
 4.  The Effect of Stimulating Drinks;  Medi-
   cal Abuse ;  Sudden Disuse ; Ethereal Intoxi-
   cation.

   Animal  food should  be  sparingly taken  by
 young persons who use little exercise;  and chil-
 dren, generally, do not need it.  Bread and milk,
 and fruit, are the best articles for children.  Wine
 is highly pernicious  to young persons.  It is a
 slow but certain poison.   Before  the body has
 attained its full growth,  there is an overplus of
 excitability; and if to this is added the powerful
 agency of wine, or any other  stimulating  drink,
 the  constitution cannot fail to be hurt.   Females
 are  more injured  by stimulating drinks  than
 males, because  their  system  is more  susceptible
 of physical excitement.   The nervous power is
 more energetic; the  pulse  and respiration  are
 quicker; and  the  development of animal heat
 greater.   Hence it is, that they require less cov-
 ering  in cold weather,  and  suffer more incon-
 venience from heat, than the other  sex.
   Stimulating drinks  are of pernicious  effect  in
two  ways:  1st* by diluting the  gastric  fluid,  as
above stated; 2d, by over-stimulating the stomach. 
60
THE PRESERVATION
When food is  taken into the stomach, the inner
coat of  the  organ is  excited, and  thereon be-
comes reddened from an increased flow of blood;
this  is a  natural excitement  of  the  organ.   If
stimulants of  any kind  are  thrown into the
stomach, it becomes over-excited, and, like  all
other over-excited parts,  suffers  a proportionate
debility afterwards.   If then a quantity of alcohol
and  water, or wine, which is a mixture of alco-
hol, water, and  some  vegetable  substance, are
taken into the stomach at  the  same  time with
the food, the over-excitement must be injurious.
It may not, indeed, produce immediate disease  or
death;  but it lays the foundation for the former,
and shortens the road to the latter.  A single ex-
cess or debauch  takes  off something  from life;
and when this excess is frequently repeated, even
if not carried  to habitual intoxication, the effect
must be materially to  diminish the term  of ex-
istence.   One of the  effects of  the  over-excite-
ment produced by stimulant liquid on the stomach
is, a separation of the cuticle, or epithelium, which
guards  its inner  coat,  and the formation of little
canker  spots in the interior of this organ.   This
was often observed by  Dr. Beaumont   in the
stomach of St. Martin when  he  had taken much
alcohol. 
OF HEALTH.
61
  All alcoholic drinks have the property of pre-
venting the decomposition, and of course the di-
gestion, of food.   This property it is that enables
us to preserve portions of the  flesh of animals for
a great number of years, when steeped in alcohol.
  The employment of the  tinctures or alcoholic
preparations  of medicine has  been a frequent
cause of the habitual use of ardent spirits, and
the consequent production of  ill health and even
of positive  disease.  The  sensation of warmth
communicated to the stomach, and the  temporary
exhilaration, would naturally lead to a repetition of
the cordial.   In this  way the  use  of such articles
became  so common  in these parts,  that,  in the
year 1827,  the  State Medical  Society passed a
resolution containing a warning  against the fre-
quent and protracted  use of stimulant drinks in
the convalescent stage of fevers  and  other dis-
eases.  This expression of  opinion had the effect
of greatly reducing the use of medicines in this
form  during a year  succeeding its passage;  but
whether the diminution has continued, I am not
able to say.  The reasons in  its favor are  so
closely connected with the health of individuals,
that it has  been  thought expedient to introduce
at the conclusion of these remarks some consider- 
62
THE PRESERVATION
ations  on  the possibility  of  substituting othei
preparations  for the tinctures.*
  Many persons,  and even  many medical men,
believe  that there is danger in  suddenly abandon-
ing the use of stimulant  drinks.  Most of the
great  English physicians  appear  to  be  of  this
opinion; and they seem to be particularly clear in
regard  to the  ill  consequences of the  abandon-
ment of ardent spirits in those who have become
diseased by the habitual use of these articles.  In
this country, where more has been said and done
on this  subject than in any other, a very great
mass of experience  has been accumulated.   The
results  of  this experience are,  that persons in
health  and in disease, with certain  exceptions,
may safely break up  the  habit.   We  know of
hundreds of instances,  and there  is reason to be-
lieve that thousands exist, of  a sudden and total
abandonment of the use of ardent spirits, and of
all  the  fermented  liquors,  without  bad  conse-
quences.   This mode has,  therefore, been adopted
generally,  wherever the  temperance  reform has
extended itself, in preference to the difficulties of
a gradual abandonment.

  * Vide " Use of Alcohol in the Preparation of Medicines." 
OF HEALTH.
63
   This method has been based on a multitude of
observations,  tending to show that  the gradual
disuse of habitual stimulants can rarely be effected.
We therefore  always  recommend  to  those in
health  to  break off  the  practice suddenly,  and
we do it generally in cases of  disease brought on
by the  use of these  articles.   By supporting the
patient with  small quantities of good, nutritious
food, we succeed in  bringing  him right without
resorting to  the deleterious  fluid.   The worst
cases of this  description are  those of delirium
tremens occurring in drunkards  from violent in-
juries,  such as fractures and  extensive  wounds.
In such instances, the  patient may, perhaps, be
saved, if it is possible to save him, by the use of
opium.
   Without going into further detail, we feel quite
authorized to  state, as a general rule, that the use
of wine and  other stimulating liquids  may be
suddenly relinquished by persons  in  health with-
out bringing on disease, and that, in the greater
number of instances of those disordered by them,
there is, on the whole, more safety in abandoning
than in continuing the practice.
   Since the diminution in the use of stimulant
drinks  in  this country, other  modes have been 
64            THE PRESERVATION

resorted  to for a pleasurable excitement — opium
and  tobacco  among males, and ether among the
more delicate and  sensitive sex.  These practices
have not an equal  immoral tendency with  that of
stimulant drinks;  but they all tend to debase the
intellectual, corrupt the physical faculties, bring
on ill health, and produce incurable nervous affec-
tions.  Opium and tobacco eaters  there  are  and
always will  be, notwithstanding  the pernicious
effects  of  these narcotics; but  that  the more
moral of the sexes could plunge into the brutality
of ethereal intoxication, at the risk of all that is
pure and holy, would  not be credible,  if there
were not abundance of evidence to support the
fact.
   The introduction of ether as an anaesthetic in
surgical operations, and  the use of chloroform to
allay the pangs of parturition, have, we are well
informed, induced a  growing habit in the sex to
employ these articles for  the relief of  trifling
ailments, and even for the purpose of procuring
a brief intoxication.  Susceptible nervous females
are most likely to fall into this practice, and most
hable to be dangerously affected by it.   Without
detailing the particular evils this habit will inev-
itably induce, we  think it sufficient to warn the 
OF HEALTH.
65
sex that such evil  practices do exist, and that it
is their duty to avoid the  first steps which may
lead to them.

     5.  The Quantity of Liquid required.

   The quantity of drink required  for health and
comfort is very small.  In cold weather, a pint  of
liquid in twenty-four hours is sufficient: in the
hot seasons, this quantity may  be  increased; but
this  increase is rarely necessary,  except in the
laborious classes, if a reasonable amount of fruit
can  be obtained.

      6.   The Quantity  of Food required.

   The agent in  the  digestive process  being a
fluid, formed in  limited  quantity, it  is obvious,
that, when the amount of solid food taken into
the  stomach is  too great  in  proportion  to the
quantity of this gastric liquid, the whole of the
solid cannot be  digested in time to prevent it
from undergoing the acid or putrefactive fermen-
tation.   The fermentation thus generated  is pro-
ductive of every  degree  of suffering, especially
from the following symptoms, viz.,  a burning
                   5 
66            THE PRESERVATION
sensation  in  the stomach, foul breath, and  fre-
quent  eructations of  offensive gases.   Further,
the existence of a putrefied mass in the centre of
the human body must, if it occur frequently, lay
the foundation of  disorder.
   The Author of Nature did  not destine his off-
spring to be  the victims of complicated and pro-
tracted diseases.    In  a state of, nature, disease is
comparatively rare ; and the conveniences of social
life, if rightly employed, would aid us in the  pre-
vention of those  affections to  which  the savage
state is obnoxious.  So that, instead of being less
healthy than in  a state of nature, we might be
more  so.   To attain such a state, however, we
should  be compelled  to  alter our  habits  to a
greater extent than our social  organization would
admit.  This change being impracticable, the  best
thing to be done is to realize, that all that part of
society who  are  not  called to daily and constant
labor  constitute cases exceptional  to  those laws
which the Author of Nature has been pleased  to
establish for  the whole race.   By a due consider-
ation  of this exceptional  state, as applied to  our-
selves, and  a right accommodation of our habits
to this state, we  may prolong life, and avoid much
suffering. 
OF HEALTH.               67
   The  inhabitants of the Philadelphia Peniten-
tiary,  confined  to  a uniform  regimen,  which
almost  necessarily limits itself,  enjoy  uninter-
rupted  health.   Those  who were diseased from
bad habits before they became  its tenants are
effectually cured after a short residence there.  I
say this from  personal  knowledge  derived from
an examination  of the  prisoners.
   Regulation  of the food is  of primary  conse-
quence towards the formation of a good constitu-
tion.   The most  common error in  relation to  it
consists in the use of  too much food.   Nature
has given us organs of a certain  capacity,  on the
presumption that, being called  on to manual la-
bor, we  should then require a large quantity of
food.   Muscular effort exhausts the strength, and
requires renovation by nutritious substances ; but
when the muscular efforts are small, the quantity
of  nourishment  required  is comparatively less;
and if, in consequence  of the  appetite, a large
quantity is taken, the result will be  pernicious,
directly or  indirectly.  Parents are uneasy when
their children eat but little^ and would encourage
them to eat against their inclination.  No mistake
can be more pernicious  to health; and if  perse-
vered in,  disease will  infalhbly  result from it. 
68
THE PRESERVATION
When the  child wants appetite, instead of being
compelled  to take food, it  must be compelled to
take exercise, unless positively ill,  and  then  it
must  be compelled to take medicine.
  The quantity of food, then, is not to be regu-
lated  by our appetites, but by our occupations.
A great deal of exercise requires  a great deal of
food; little exercise will tolerate only a moderate
portion of food;  and if we  offend against this
rule, we must expect to suffer some form of dis-
ease sooner or later.  Liebig has clearly elucidated,
what  was  settled  before, that food  and clothing
should  be  in an inverse  ratio.  An individual
exposed to cold requires a greater  amount of food
than one in whom the animal heat is retained  by
warm clothes and  a  warm atmosphere.  On the
other hand, those who live in an elevated temper-
ature, whether natural or artificial, must take less
nourishment, or expect to have the organs clogged
by  unassimilated food.
   Inhabitants of warm climates require less food
than those of cold.   The Italians, Spaniards, and
other southern people eat less than the English,
Swedes, and Danes.   Chevalier di Renzi, an emi-
nent  physician  of Naples, in good health,  and
well  constituted,  told  me that his habit was to 
OF HEALTH.
69
 rise  early,  go  out  on  business, and  return to
 breakfast at two o'clock; after which  he took a
 very moderate meal in the evening; and he added,
 that this course was pursued by his contemporaries.
   In a great number of instances we are able to
 trace the origin  of diseases, at first view not con-
 nected with  digestion,  to derangements of  this
 function.  In the  course of my professional ex-
 perience, I  have had occasion  to  witness many
 instances  of acute  disease  originating  from  a
 single excess.   A person much exposed  to cold
 and wet  is more liable to be dangerously affected
 after taking  an  inordinate  meal.  Some  species
 of typhus undoubtedly begin in disorders of the
 digestive apparatus; for it  has been established
 by Louis  and others, that  derangement of the
 bowels occasionally precedes  an attack of fever,
 even at some distance  of time.  Gout,  though
 generally produced by combined excess in eating
 and  drinking, is, I have had occasion to  notice,
 often the  consequence of excessive eating alone.
 Scrofula likewise,  though the disposition to it is
 generally hereditary, may be developed by an
 improper use of food.*   We could go  on and

  * Sir James Clark, one of the most able physicians of our times,
in his Treatise on Pulmonary Consumption and Scrofulous Dis- 
70
THE PRESERVATION
specify  a  great number  of  diseases  which  un-
doubtedly take  their origin from disorders of the
stomach,  liver, and  intestines,  and  which  are
brought on by the abuse of food;  i. e., by a  dis-
proportion betweeen the quantity of food and the


eases, says, "An imperfect supply of food, or food of an innutri-
tious quality, forms a very efficient cause [of scrofula,] although
we have rarely  an opportunity of observing  the  effects  of this
alone; because, when the means of procuring proper nourishment
are wanting, other causes are  generally in action at the same time,
such as residence in  ill-ventilated and  dark apartments, exposure
to cold from imperfect clothing, &c.; all of which are often  com-
bined, and heifcje  more  spredily  effect the deterioration of the
health.  But pfoper food, when taken in excess,  or when of too
exciting a  quality,  may also induce  tuberculous  cachexia in
youth — a circumstance which is  not  sufficiently  attended  to, I
may say not generally understood, even by medical men; never-
theless, I hold it to be a frequent  cause of scrofula.  The adapta-
tion of the  food, in quality and quantity,  to the  age of the
individual, as well as to the powers of the digestive organs, is too
little considered, and the evil consequences of this neglect are
often evinced in the children of the wealthy classes, who are fre-
quently allowed an unrestricted use  of  the most  exciting kinds
of animal food,  than which there cannot be a greater error.  By
a too stimulating diet at this early age, the digestive organs be-
come  over-excited;  the biliary and  other  secretions  connected
with digestion are diminished; congestion of the abdominal cir-
culation ensues;  and the skin, sympathizing with the  irritation
of the internal surfaces, becomes  dry and harsh, and  cutaneous
eruptions,  or copious perspiration, are common  consequences.
The ultimate effect is often tuberculous disease, which is generally
attributed to imperfect nourishment; and, on this erroneous view
steel and other tonics  and stimulants are often  prescribed  by
which the evil is increased." 
OF HEALTH.
71
 quantity of exercise.  Habitual temperance in the
 use of  food  is, therefore, indispensable  to the
 healthy action  of the physical powers.
   From the  preceding  remarks, it appears  that
 persons of different occupations  require different
 quantities of  food.  The point we wish to  ascer-
 tain  is, what amount, of food  is necessary for
 those  who  do not live  by manual labor.   Such
 persons  generally consume three or four pounds
 in a day.  That this quantity is too great  there
 can be no doubt, and of this a distinct proof is
 found in the  following'fact.   The seamen in the
 British  navy were  formerly  allowed  to  eat as
 much as they desired; of late years, however, the
 quantity of food has been fixed at about 32 oz., or
 2 lb. avoirdupois; *  and the result has b,een, that
 a smaller number have been found upon the sick
 list since the introduction of this regulation.  If,
 then, the laborious British seamen can be kept in
 the best possible condition by two pounds, or two
 pounds and a quarter, of solid  food, certainly a
 much less quantity would be proper for a gentle-
man in England or  in this country.  This quan-
tity we might fix, perhaps, at from one pound to

      • Vide Carpenter's Human Physiology, p. 382. 
72
THE  PRESERVATION
one and a half.   It  is said, and  I apprehend on
very good authority, that the  soldiers  of the
American army are  allowed  not less than  four
pounds of solid and four pounds of liquid a day.
What a multitude of diseases in our army might
be traced to this bountiful supply of food!  What
a preparation  it must make for typhus fever, yel-
low fever, cholera, &c.!  The loss in our army by
disease in the Mexican war is said to have been
much greater  than that from  the  hostile  army!
and it is known that  a great  portion of it  arose
from errors in regimen.
         ' III. —CONSTIPATION.

  The retention of any of the habitual excretions
produces derangement of the  animal  economy.
The suppression of the  cutaneous exhalations is
followed by local inflammation.  The suppression
and retention of urine bring on a  sudden paraly-
sis  of the nervous system ;  and the suppression
and retention of the  contents  of  the alimentary
canal produce  indigestion,  foiil breath,  hemor- 
OF HEALTH.
73
rhoids,  chronic headache,  cutaneous  affections,
and, in fact,  a vast number  of diseases, which,
though not all arising directly from this source,
may be traced to  its remote  and gradual  influ-
ence.
                                      i
          1.   Causes of Constipation.

   Constipation of the bowels is frequent in per-
sons of sedentary habits, especially those  called
by profession  to  constant mental  occupation;
while bodily activity and a correspondent incep-
tion of food  protect the cultivator of the soil.
The most common cause of this evil would,  there-
fore, seem to be an inert state of the bowels from
want of exercise and of sufficient stimulus from
food.  Weakness  of the bowels, a  deficiency of
mucous secretion,  and,  above all, an absence of
healthy bile, are also common causes.   The bile
being the natural  purgative, its deficiency will,
of course, leave the intestines in a  torpid condi-
tion ; and thence it happens that, in persons con-
stitutionally costive, the liver is found to be in
many cases unnaturally small.   Dry atmosphere
predisposes to this  affection;  and we find,  there-
fore, that the  inhabitants of the  eastern parts of
the United States  are  more  disposed  to it than 
74
THE PRESERVATION
those of the  damper climates  of England and
Holland.  For this reason it is,  no doubt, that
the latter are  able  to  make  great use of astrin-
gent wines  with less consequent inconvenience
than the former.
   The use  of improper articles of food is a fre-
quent  cause of constipation.   Food is composed
of two kinds  of substance,  possessing  different
properties ;  one soluble and  nutritious, the other
insoluble  and non-nutritious.    The  former is
taken  up, in  a  great  measure, by the absorbent
vessels, and conveyed into the blood.  The latter,
the non-nutritious, remains  in  the  intestines,
stimulates  their  action, and is subsequently ex-
pelled.  One of  the most remarkable of the nu-
tritious substances  is fine wheat flour,  a very
common article  of food.   This, in  its  varied
preparations,  unless  counteracted by some  other
article, is  an indirect cause  of costiveness ; and
the reason is,  that its particles are  in  a great
 measure absorbed.  The  same is  true  of other
 substances  containing  a considerable  proportion
 of nutritious matter.   Such are  jelly, arrowroot,
 starch, milk, and its  preparations.   I knew a
 learned, gentleman troubled with dyspepsia, who
 had come  to a  conclusion to  live  wholly on 
OF HEALTH.
75  .
nutritious  substances,  which,  being easily ab-
sorbed, he thought might be taken without indi-
gestion.   After he had employed  this  kind  of
food for some weeks, the'intestines  ceased to act
with  sufficient energy.   It was even difficult to
excite them by medicinal substances, and he came
near losing his life.
   The insoluble part of the food is of no use for
the purposes of nutrition,  since every substance
to be taken up by the  absorbent vessels must be
in a state  of solution.   Such  are  frequently the
coverings  of seeds and fruits, woody fibre, etc.
Skins  of  fruits,  especially dried  fruits,  which
have been  eaten, are  constantly seen in the evac-
uations.   Seeds,  as those  of  mustard,  etc., are
well known to  pass through the whole intestinal
tract  in  an unchanged state, in consequence  of
the insolubility of their outer coats.  Hence it
happened,  when  these  articles  were medicinally
employed,  some thirty years  ago, that in  some
cases the intestines became ultimately filled with
insoluble matter,  actually plugged by them, in
such a way that nothing but  mechanical  means
were sufficient  to  remove  the  obstacle and save
the patients' lives.  In these instances they were
relieved, not without much suffering, by breaking
down  the  concreted substances and extracting 
76
THE PRESERVATION
them with scoops and forceps.   The same kind
of obstruction is  said to  have been produced by
accumulation hi  the intestines of the remains of
undigested nuts  and raisins.
  A great alarm has been excited in regard  to
magnesia, because some  persons have died from
its excessive use, and the intestines,  it is  stated,
have been found paved with it.  This  is  pos-
sible.  Magnesia is an earth, insoluble in the hu-
man stomach to any considerable extent.   When
it is taken in  small quantities  and  of  the  best
quality, it unites with, and is neutralized by, the
acids it meets with in the digestive tube, — hydro-
chloric, carbonic, lactic, etc., —  and salts more or
less soluble are produced.   But when the quality
of the magnesia  is  bad, and the quantity great,
the acids of the digestive canal  are inadequate to
its conversion into a salt; and, mass being thrown
in upon mass, the  intestines will ultimately  be
clogged, and sometimes wholly blocked  up.
  The' immediate consequence  of the retention
of excrementitious matters is the absorption and
passage of part  of  them into  the blood.  For,
although  there seems to be a natural repugnance
in the intestinal  lacteals to the  absorption of ex-
crementitious matter,  this repugnance may ulti-
mately be overcome, and absorption  of the  fecal 
                  OF  HEALTH.               77

contents of the intestines  take  place.  The con-
sequences  will be  offensive breath, dyspepsia,
cutaneous  eruptions, etc., as aheady mentioned,
and an impure state of the whole mass of blood.

     2.  Remedies for Chronic Costiveness.

   The principal of these  are either medicinal or
alimentary.  Of the former, I shall mention only
four — aloes, magnesia, the extract of dandelion,
and the wine of senna produced by fermentation.
The bitter quality of aloes seems  to  render it a
proper substitute for the natural purgative, bile.
A few grains of the substance of this gum in the
state of powder are  a mild and effectual  purga-
tive.   The watery extract, or inspissated solution,
in fhe dose of  from  five to ten grains, combined
with an aromatic, such as  a drop of oil of anise
or  oil of  nutmeg,  taken  fasting, is one of the
mildest laxatives.
   It  is a  common practice to take a laxative
medicine at night.  There are objections to  this.
One is, that the stomach usually contains a quan-
tity of food, and the medicine,  being  intermixed
with this, is sometimes too much diluted, some-
times altogether buried  in the alimentary mass, 
78            THE PRESERVATION

and thus becomes ineffectual.   Another objection
to taking medicine at night is its having the effect
of disturbing repose, especially  if  the patient
be of a nervous temperament.  The proper time,
therefore, is when the stomach is empty, as before
dinner or before breakfast.
  The mildest, though not the most  certain, of
all  laxatives  is  pure  magnesia.    This  useful
preparation, as made by  English  chemists,  may
be taken  in the  dose  of a teaspoonful  in two
thirds of a wine glass of water, with the addition
of four or  five drops  of  tincture of peppermint,
at night — being therefore  an  exception, in this
respect, to other laxatives.  It is so mild that it
does not disturb the night's sleep, and  combining,
as it does, with the acids which have been gener-
ated in the stomach during the day, it is likely to
be more completely neutralized  under this cir-
cumstance,  and to  have  a more  certain effect.
When the stomach is not  acid, the juice  of half
an orange will aid its operation.
  The  extract  of dandelion  combines  a tonic
with a  laxative virtue.   Many think  it is to be
preferred to other laxatives,  because  its action
causes less sinking of the bowels than other med-
icine.   A  moderate  dose is   a  teaspoonful,  or 
OF HEALTH.
79
about  one  drachm;  but  many persons  require
double or triple  this dose.  The way in which I
have recommended it to be taken  is to dip a tea-
spoon  into ginger syrup, then to  spoon up the
dandelion and  dip again into  the  syrup, when it
may be swallowed very conveniently.   Another
mode  of taking  this  article is by dissolving a
teaspoonful in a wine glass, or  about two ounces
of hot water, and adding a drachm or a teaspoon-
ful of  ginger syrup.
   The  fourth substance — one which I have em-
ployed lately with much satisfaction—is the wine
of senna, produced by the fermentation of infusion
of senna-with sugar, according to  the process  of
Dr. Butler Lane.   The dose of this for an adult is
from half an ounce to two ounces ;  being shghtly
stimulating,  it  may be taken  for  an  oppressed
stomach at night.   If used in the  morning  on an
empty  stomach,  it should be  diluted with  an
equal  quantity of water.*

  * A curious fact  connected with the operation of purgative
medicines was brought to my knowledge in the early part of my
practice, perhaps thirty or forty years ago. On visiting a patient
the day after a purgative medicine had been advised, and inquir-
ing if it had operated, I was occasionally told that it had eight or
ten hours after it was administered, but that dejections had oc- 
80
THE PRESERVATION
                  3.   Injections.

   It would not be proper to pass over injections,
so generally employed abroad and so little in this
country.   Their application  is  to be  preferred,
when  it  answers,  to  that  of any cathartic.   A
valuable use of this  remedy has  been introduced
by the followers of the much-extolled and much-
denounced Broussais,  on the  supposition  that  it
would  extinguish  inflammation  of the  intestinal
mucous membrane.    Cold  injections  into  the
rectum were proposed by them, and it was shown
that cold water might be thus employed  without
alarming consequences.   For the relief  of the
bowels, the prevention and  cure of hemorrhoids,
the  mitigation of  urinary  and  uterine derange-

curred before the operation of the medicine, within an hour from
its administration.  This at first appeared to be accidental, but
ultimately it was ascertained  that the first operation was no less
the,effect of medicine than the others, but that, in the first case,
the purgative had not passed  through the bowels, and that there
was an interval of many hours between the first dejection and the
actual passage of the medicine.  The conclusion, therefore, was,
that the first dejection was the effect of sympathy or reflex action
between the stomach above  and the intestines below.  This observa-
tion,  which is of some practical  importance, I have been  able to
confirm by the experience of some of my most distinguished col-
leagues. 
OF HEALTH.
81
 ments, cold water, in  quantity from a  gill to a
 quart, is most  valuable.
   Fifty years ago, I first heard of a distinguished
 Italian lady who was in the habit of dashing the
 abdomen with  cold water, for the relief of the
 bowels.   This fact, considered so  wonderful at
 the time, made  a deep impression  on my mind,
 and led me to recommend for this purpose, with
 excellent effect, a  sponge  with  cold water,  or
 the hip  bath, and finally general  shower baths.

 4.  Preventives of  Constipation;  the   Use of
         Cracked Wheat, and its Effects.

   The most important of the remedies applicable
to constipation are to be found in articles of food.
Some individuals  have discovered  substances of
this kind which suit the exigencies of their con-
stitutions,  and  carry them comfortably  through
life.  The greater part of  those subject to this
derangement are obliged to  temporize with their
trouble,  and employ different substances under
different conditions.
   Fruits are among the most useful and agreeable
of these.   Fresh fruits are preferable to dried,
                   6 
82
THE PRESERVATION
because a large portion of the latter consists of a
skin which is with difficulty attacked by the gas-
tric fluid. Whether fresh or dried, fruits,  if used
to aid  the  bowels, should  be taken* when the
stomach is free from other food, especially before
breakfast  and before dinner.  The use of fruit
after a regular satisfactory meal of meat and vege-
tables  is  a  common cause  of cholera, and other
disorders  of the  bowels, by bringing  on the ace-
tous fermentation.   Fruits and vegetables produce
their laxative effect by their acid and saccharine
qualities, and also  by the bulk • of their effete  or
insoluble portions.   The  laxative vegetables are
not  very easily  digested by patients  who have
weak  stomachs,  and they  are often  obliged  to
abandon them on account of the distressing flatu-
lence  which  follows their  use.  On  the  other
hand, a beneficial effect results from acids  in some
peculiar  cases.   Some children, after weaning,
become  excessively costive; this state  may  be
altered by  an infusion  of cranberries,  slightly
sweetened.   It is likely that any other smart vege-
table acid would  have the same effect.    Some
individuals  find  great  advantage in  drinking a
glass of cold water before breakfast;  and it is a 
OF  HEALTH.
83
practice of others to drink a cup of strong coffee
before rising in the morning.*   The use of these
drinks  must  be accommodated to different consti-
tutions.

   Animal food  has  rather a  laxative effect than

the reverse, perhaps by the animal oil intermixed
with its fibres.   Fatty substances are, in  fact, gen-
erally laxative, but  they are  also uniformly un-
manageable by weak stomachs.   The Laplanders,
and  other inhabitants  of very  cold regions,  as
well  as a certain number of individuals elsewhere,
are able  to  take, in large quantities, the fat  of
various animals, without  exciting a revolt  in the
stomach.

   Some individuals  use great quantities of wine,
under the belief that the bowels would not  move


  * Many persons.are  unfavorably affected  by the use of coffee.
The toxic principle causes headache, giddiness even to falling,
etc. Some years ago, my attention was called to a preparation of
coffee  by Dr. J. M. Langdon,  of Kennebunkport, Maine, which
he considered to be divested of the toxic principle in a degree suf-
ficient to obviate the evils mentioned above,  without impairing its
agreeable flavor.  This preparation I have employed almost with-
out interruption for the last fifteen years, and have recommended
its use to many friends and patients. The mode of preparation I
am not acquainted  with, but know that there is no foreign admix-
ture— the bean being presented to me in its entire state,  and
never burned nor  ground, as  is the practice in many  foreign
countries. 
84
THE PRESERVATION
without.  The laxative effect in such a case would
arise from the pressure made on the intestines by
the bulk of the liquid.  Perhaps, again, the wine
taken in this way exerts a toxic or poisonous in-
fluence, which causes the bowels to throw it  off;
and the notion is confirmed by the fact  that  this
practice, so far as I have seen,  has uniformly  ter-
minated  in  dropsy, or some other chronic  affec-
tion.  Most of the wines we are acquainted with,
when taken in moderate quantities, constrict  the
fibres of the intestines, and produce costiveness.
This  is certainly  the  effect of sherry, madeira,
and other strong white wines; and still more so
of brandy and every form of alcohol.   The  use
of articles having a stimulating effect is followed
by indirect debility and constipation.
  The  cerealia  were  perhaps the  earliest,  the
most general,  and the most valuable articles of
human  food.    Wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats,  and
maize  are  employed in different  countries,  ac-
cording to the properties of the soil and the taste
of the inhabitants.  Wheat seems  to  be  more
extensively  used than either  of the others,  and
is, perhaps, the most palatable  and the  most di-
gestible.  This grain is not used entire.  It con-
sists of, principally, two substances; the covering 
OF HEALTH.
85
or part containing,  and the flour, or part  con-
tained.  In the early  ages  of the world, these
were  probably employed together;  but art  has
been directed to their separation, and has reduced
the flour, as nearly as possible, to the state of an
impalpable powder.
   Flour, taken  apart from  its coverings, has  a
most constipating property.  Its great use by the
inhabitants of  towns and cities will, therefore, go
far to explain why constipation  is so general.
The separation of the  coverings from  the flour,
as usually practised,  seems to  counteract the in-
tentions of nature,  which undoubtedly destined
them to be  employed together.   The external skin
of the grain, thus thrown away, contains important
properties; and instead of being in a great meas-
ure rejected, it should be altogether preserved and
ground up  with the flour.   This substance, which
is  known by the name of bran, is the part which
prevents the flour from  producing  costiveness.
   About the year 1825, I began to use bread in
which the  bran was retained; and after  having
employed it a considerable time in my own family,
I ventured  to recommend it to others.  For some
time it was ridiculed under the name  of sawdust
bread; but finally, in  a very slow way, it came
to be  employed by a large number of persons, its 
86
THE PRESERVATION
valuable  properties were ascertained and  admit-
ted,  and  it has  now come- into general use.
In a  tour  through Europe,  about fifteen years
since, I found that this same bread was becoming
an article of food for the upper classes in Lon-
don, Paris,  and Rome.  Among poor people, a
brown bread is employed  in most conntries of
Europe, and probably has been from time  im-
memorial.   In Germany, coarse meal is made into
cake, with  oil,  and forms a convenient food for
horses on a journey.
   Some years ago, it  occurred to me, that, as the
brown wheat bread was beneficial on account of
its coarseness, but was not sufficiently active in
all cases, it might be  well  to use  the wheat  in a
coarser state, and without making it into bread.
I therefore directed some wheat to be ground in
a  coffee mill,  and  after  boihng three or  four
hours, a little  salt having been  added,  it  was
found very palatable.  This  substance has a bet-
ter effect in preventing constipation of the bowels
than  any article  of food I have ever met with,
after  many years  of observation and inquiry.
"When the  stomach is very weak, it will not  bear
it in sufficient quantity to answer the purpose.
But for costive people in general, it will produce
quite a remarkable revolution, and a consequent 
OF HEALTH.
87
favorable change,  in the appetite and  general
health, when taken in the right quantity; and
this I  consider to be about twelve  ounces for an
adult.   It may be used at breakfast as a part, or,
when  the case  requires a large quantity, as the
whole of a meal, and at dinner as a substitute for
puddings and vegetables.   For the evening meal,
I  have  rarely recommended it.  By those who
require  some addition to  render it  savory, the
substances which are  employed with hominy for
the  same purpose  may be  used, such as  milk,
butter, cream, or molasses.   The  sweet articles
are not well  borne by a weak stomach,  especially
molasses; but  when  they can be  used without
inconvenience, they add to the laxative  efficacy
of the wheat.
   The preparation of it consists in  washing clean
in cold water, then in boiling from three to four
hours, adding water, from time to time, sufficient
to bring it out with about the consistence of hom-
iny or boiled rice.  The longer it  is boiled, the
more agreeable it  is, but less effectual.   A mod-
erate degree of fluidity — for instance, that of
boiled rice or hominy—renders it more laxative.
   The principles on which  the  coarse wheat op-
erates  as a  laxative are not very  obvious.  M.
Millon  has reported to the Academy of Sciences 
88            THE PRESERVATION
that the bran of wheat possesses various valuable
properties  not  before  known.   Whether any of
these  are calculated to  have a purgative effect,
we know not; but such may possibly be the fact.
The wheaten bran operates in two  ways : first, by
the stimulus of the edges of its branny particles;
second, by mere  bulk.   It may be  supposed to
operate in the first mode by the undissolved por-
tions of  bran acting on the mucous coat of the
intestines, exciting  thereby the  nervous energies
of ^he  parts, and producing contractions of the
muscular fibres.  Secondly, bulk  is necessary to
keep up the action of the bowels, as has been
already shown in the allusion  to the effect of
highly nutritious substances, which, being in  a
great measure taken up by the  lacteals, leave no
mass of  insoluble matter to fill the calibre and
excite the action of the intestines.   People who
eat much  food  are  more  regular in  the bowels
than those who  eat little; though  they may be
obliged to  pay for this  advantage by the injury
done to  the  overburdened stomach.
   Superfine flour bread, as has been stated above,
is not  a healthy article  of food for man or ani-
mals.   Dr. Truman,* in his Rules for Diet, says,

         * Truman on Food, p. 161.  London, 1842. 
OF HEALTH.
89
 " The French plan of eating enormous quantities
 of bread at dinner is  unwholesome for most peo-
 ple,  unless  they take  very violent exercise: a
 very liberal  allowance of bread is  always apt to
 induce  headache  and  a confined  state  of the
 bowels."  Animals, so far as I have observed, do
 not like, and for the most part  cannot live upon,
 fine bread; whereas many animals, even  carniv-
 orous, can subsist on  coarse wheat bread.   Dogs,
 according to the French physiologists, die after
 feeding  about three weeks on fine bread, but will
 live on  coarse  bread an  indefinite time.   Birds
 are  very  fond  of coarse bread and  of cracked
 wheat hominy,  which they eat with avidity ;  and
 it agrees with  them.   There is reason to  believe
 that the vertebrated  animals  generally can  be
 subsisted on coarse bread, but not on fine.*   Many
 persons  object  to coarse bread, that it  is not so
 agreeable  as  fine.   This  sentiment is  the result
 of habv£;  for those who have been accustomed to
 use the  coarse  bread, for a reasonable time, find
 it sweeter to the taste, and more satisfying to the
 stomach, than the other.   It seems, then, unfor-

  * My authorities  for these experiments I am unable, at this
time, to quote, many years having elapsed since I read them ; but,
as they were published in the popular journals, they are probably
well known to the medical profession generally. 
90
THE PRESERVATION
tunate that fine flour, an article of food which is
deficient in some principle necessary to its healthy
action on the  animal economy, should have been
so long employed, and so widely spread,  among
the population of cities, and, in  truth, among a
great mass of people elsewhere.
   Since  I  have  made use of the coarse wheat, 1
have had frequent communications on the  subject
with  professional friends,  as well as with many
other  individuals,  and find that, generally, they
are satisfied of its valuable effects.
   In concluding this subject, it  must be stated,
that of  all the  articles  of food  which,  in  the
course of fifty years' practice, I have had occa-
sion to recommend for the prevention of a con-
stipated state  of  bowels  and its consecutive evils,
this cracked wheat is the most effectual.
   Many years after  I  had been in  the habit of
using  the  coarse wheat,  a passage  in  Aristotle
came to my notice,  recommending its  use,  and
thus confirming  the suspicion I had entertained,
that this article must have been spoken of by
some former  writer.   Since that  time,  further
confirmation has been received from Hippocrates,
as will appear by the following extracts.*
  * Td avyKOnarra a\evpa rpoipriv p.iv i^a iXdaaoi, Staxwphi  St fiaXXov
ra SI KO.Qa.pa TpoipiiKorepa, rjacov Si Siaxwiti.
                    Iltpl Aiair^f, rd Sevropov, 40 'Innoxpar. 
OF HEALTH,
91
   Now that the properties of  coarse  wheat bread
and  cracked wheat are  extensively  admitted, it

  TIvpol iirxypOTtpni  KpiBwv Kai TpoipipoiTCpoi, Siaxwpiovoi Siriocrov ko.1
airoi Kai b xv^S- "Aproj Si bpiv avyKOptaros \ripaivu  xal Siaxo)pia, b Si
Kadapog rpiipti piv paXXov, Siaxoipiei St Tigitov.
                         'JiriroKpaTTis, Jlepl Aiairrig, to Sevropov, 42.
  OiSa piv yap  ko.1 to.Sc Sfftrov on Siatpcpet £j r<5 a&pa tov dvBpdirov
Ka&apdg apros ))  £vyKopicTds, iq d-KTiaricv rrvp&v ri iirriapivuiv, v iroXXoj
vSan vetpvpripciios, rj dXiyoi, iaxvpws -ircipvpripivos r\ dipvpriros, t\ tfonroj r\
tvupos, aXXa re itpos  tovtcoioi  pvpia- &$ S' avrios Kai irepi pages' Kai al
Svvdpie; peyaXai  re CK&trTov, Kai oiSev fi cripr/ t!J tripy ioiKVia.  "Ootij
Si ravra ovk iiriaKtirrai, rj okcttt6pcvo;  ovk olic, jrtof av ti ovtos Svvairo
rdv Kara rov avdpoirov itaBripariav ciSivai; iffd yap ivos Ikolotov rovricov
iraaxti tc Kai trcpoiovTai 6 avBpuiros r\  roXov r\ toiov xal Sia rovriuv iroj
5 ffios Kai iyiaivovn,  Kai ex vovaov dva rpttpopivtn, Kai Kapvovri.
                           'IvTrnKpdrris, Htpl 'Apx<n/)S IrjTpiKrjs, 14.
  Havre; plv yap ckoviti avveXBdvTCs iKavfiv aioBriatv, Kai piyvvpevoi toT;
ficXrioui rag -xdXas wifttXovoi, KaOdircp  ft ur) KaBapa  rpoipi]  pcra rrjs KaBa-
pas ttjv Traadv ttouT xP1alPG,T^Pav T'K dXiyrjs- xaPli <5'  tKaoros drsXris
7tepi rd xpivciv iariv. —Aristotle's Politics, vol. i., book iii., chap, vi., sect.
7; edition of J. Barthelemy St. Hilaire.   Paris, 1837.
  Unbolted  wheaten  flour is less  nourishing, but procures more
alvine evacuations; and  when bolted it is more nourishing, but
procures fewer alvine evacuations. — Hippocrates on Regimen, sec-
ond part, paragraph 40.  Littre, vol. 6, p. 537.
  Wheat is  stronger  and more  nourishing than barley; but it
evacuates less,  both the grain itself and its decoction.  The bread
from unhulled wheat dries and procures  alvine evacuations; while
that of bolted wheat is more nourishing, but procures fewer alvine
evacuations. —  Hippocrates on Regimen, part  second, paragraph
42.  Littre, vol. 6, p. 539.
  I know well  that  it  makes a great difference with the  body
whether we use bread made  of bolted or unbolted flour, kneaded
with much or with little water, well kneaded or slightly kneaded,
well baked or slack  baked, and numberless other  differences. And
we may say the same with barley bread.   And the powers of each
are great,  and  those of the one  in no wise resemble those of the
other.  He who has not noticed these differences, or, having no- 
92
THE  PRESERVATION
appears wonderful that  authors and  practitioners
should not  have  brought  forward  at an earlier
period, to the public knowledge and for  the pub-
lic use, properties so very valuable.
IV. —MODE  OF  SLEEPING  AND  VEN-
                    TILATION.


   The manner in  which  individuals sleep will
readily be  acknowledged  to be important;  yet


ticed them, does not understand their meaning,— how can he know
any thing of the diseases of mankind ?  For each of these qualities
act upon the body, and alter it in this way or that, having a bear-
ing upon the whole life, whether in health, convalescence, or dis-
ease.  Littre, vol. 1, p. 600.
  It  remains, therefore, that the  people at large be intrusted
with the deUberative and judicial powers of government; because
the members of assemblies, senates, and courts of justice, acting
not individually, but collectively, prove mutually assisting to each
other.  In such popular tribunals, virtue and passion, reason and
sentiment, courage and wisdom, are  harmoniously  blended into
one salutary composition, in which even the grossest ingredients
are not without their use ; for experience teaches, that the purest
nourishment is not always the best, but  that fixe flour is most
WHOLESOME WHEN MIXED WITH the coaese. —Aristotle's Pol-
itics, book iii., Gillie's translation, third edit., p. 216  London
1813.                                                  ' 
OF HEALTH.
93
very little  attention  is paid to it.   Children are
sometimes crowded together in small and unven-
tilated rooms, often two or three in a bed, and on
beds composed of half-prepared  feathers,  from
which issue noxious effluvia, infecting  the  child
at a period when he is least able to resist their
influence;  so that  in  the morning, instead of
feeling the full  refreshment  and vigor natural
to the age,  he is pale, languid, and for some time
indisposed  to active  exertion.
   There never should be more than one child in
the same bed ; and  this remark may be, applied
with  equal propriety to adults.   The  substance
on which they lie  should be hair, thoroughly
prepared, so  that it  shall have no bad smell; in
winter it may be  of cotton, or of hair and cotton.
It would be very desirable, however, when prac-
ticable, to place them in separate apartments, as
well as separate  beds.
   More animal heat is developed about the heads
of children than about  any other part of their
bodies. The hair being a sufficient protection when
the head rests upon the pillow, any additional
covering is injurious.  This last remark, I would
add, might be generally applied to adults also.
   Bed  curtains prevent a free circulation of air 
94            THE PRESERVATION
about the bed,  are  receptacles  of dirt, vermin,
and  unhealthy animal effluvia;  the use of them
ought therefore  to be abandoned, and happily is
so, in  a great measure, in this country.
   It has been just  said that adults, as well  as
children, had better employ single instead of
double  beds ; this  remark  is intended  to  apply
without any exception.   The use of double beds
has been adopted very generally in this country,
perhaps, in part, as a matter of economy; but this
practice is objectionable for more reasons than can
be stated here.  Two or  three may, however, be
given.
   1. The interference of one individual with the
tranquillity of the other.
   2. The inhalation of matters  excreted  by the
breath  and by  the  skin.
   3. The communication of cutaneous diseases,
and even of insects, such as ascarides, and other
vermin, from  one  to the other.
   Sleep is tranquil in proportion to the absence
of moral and physical causes of disturbance.  In
regard to the former, the satisfaction of reviewing
a well-spent day is one of  the  most effectual;  in
regard to  the latter, the principal means we can
bring  into operation are those which are connected
 with exercise and digestion. 
OF HEALTH.
95
  Muscular exercise in the course of the day and
evening has  a powerful influence  in promoting
sleep.   The day laborer no sooner  stretches him-
self on his  pallet than he  is involved  in a pro-
found  sleep,  which is but  slightly interrupted
until  the morning  calls him  to  fresh labors;
while the sedentary man is  often  exposed to a
long combat with nervous  affections, which the
thoughts and feelings  of the day  have excited.
An hour's walk, before repose, in the  fresh air,
or, if this cannot be obtained, within one's domi-
cile, has a great tendency to prevent these painful
sensations.
  If there is much food in the stomach, the di-
gestive process, being attended with a certain de-
gree of labor, produces agitation of the physical
and moral functions.   Of course, it is best not to
take food immediately  before the hours of repose,
and not even to take a quantity of liquid into the
stomach on going to  bed,  as  is the practice of
many persons.  These  rules may seem to oppose
the habit of taking  a  short rest after dinner, or
after the principal meal of the day; and, in truth,
there is danger in sleeping immediately after  a
full meal, since we know that apoplexy is some-
times the consequence  of this practice.  But if 
96
THE PRESERVATION
the dinner should  be moderate, and if the pre-
caution of reposing on the side,  instead of the
back, be adopted, no difficulty will arise.  When
we go to sleep on the  back, as in an easy chair,
the full stomach will compress the diaphragm and
heart,  and prevent the free reception  of blood.
The consequence may be an accumulation in the
brain, and compression;  such, at least, has  been
my personal experience.   For a great number of
years I was compelled,  by excessive  fatigue, to
sleep a short time after dinner, which was usually
done  in a semi-recumbent posture on  the  back.
About the age of sixty this practice, hitherto safely
pursued, was accompanied in the first moments with
a startling convulsion, which led me to beheve it
would be necessary to abandon the great relief
hitherto  enjoyed.   Before doing  this, however,
the experiment  of resting on the side was tried
with  a successful result;  and from that time to
the present, a period  of fifteen years, this plan
has been pursued with perfect success.   The lat-
eral posture, it is presumed, takes off the pressure
of the loaded  stomach from the heart and great
blood vessels, and leaves their circulation free.
   The rooms in which children are brought up
should be well  aired, by having a fireplace, 
OF HEALTH.
97
which should be kept open both day and night, or
by some other mode of ventilation besides the win-
dows.   The best temperature for a sleeping apart-
ment, in winter, is from fifty-five to sixty degrees.
The practice of placing domestics and others in
an attic, where there are no means of proper and
safe ventilation in summer, nor of heating the
apartment, when necessary, in winter, is injurious
to health,  and ought not to be employed.
   The  mode of warming apartments  is not less
important  than  their  ventilation.   The  most
healthy way  of heating  a  single  room is by an
open fireplace.   A large  house, with spacious
entries  and passages, will  have its comforts and
salubrity increased by the  use  of a furnace, so
regulated   as not  to overheat  the apartments.
Seventy degrees of Fahrenheit is the proper tem-
perature in a room which has an open fire ; when
this is wanting, a higher temperature is required.
The airtight stove, so much  employed within a
few years,  does  not favor a sufficient circulation
of air for free respiration, and therefore ought not
to be employed, excepting in rooms which are so
amply supplied with cracks and crevices as to
admit the  free entrance of fresh  air.
                   7 
98
THE  PRESERVATION
        V. —USE  OF THE  EYES.

  The organ of vision is, perhaps, the most beau-
tiful, the best known, and most  abused.   Of the
abuses to which it is subject I will mention two.
  The Author of nature,  besides other valuable
properties, has endowed this organ with the pow-
er of  adapting itself to the inspection of  minute
objects; but  apparently it was not destined to be
employed continuously, and for a length of time,
in such inspection.  The prolonged application
of the eyes in reading, and  especially such read-
ing as is found  in many of the  badly-printed
newspapers and cheap  publications of this coun-
try, is a violence, which cannot be practised with-
out doing mischief sooner or later.
   Another abuse to be mentioned is the practice
of long-continued reading and  writing by artifi-
cial light.  This kind of light abounds in yellow
and red rays, which are not  congenial, and is de-
ficient in the green and blue,  which harmonize
best with this delicate organ.   In Rome, it is cus-
tomary for a number  of artists to  club together,
and  paint from the human figure by lamplight.
The first efforts at this kind of  painting are gen- 
OF HEALTH.               99
 erally thrown aside as daubs, from the great pre-
 ponderance of yellow in the picture.
   The evils above mentioned are to be prevented
 rather  than  cured.  The  prevention is  accom-
 plished by avoiding the improper use of the eyes.
 When the evil  has actually occurred, the  best
 remedies I know of, next to rest, are  the free ap-
 plication of cool  air and water.   A very fine, con-
 tinuous stream  of cold  water, driven upon the
 naked  eyeball,  is  submitted  to after  one  trial
 without any  reluctance, and is a most efficient
 application for weakness  of the eyes  and chronic
 inflammation.
   A common opinion exists, that, when the sight
 begins to fail, the use of spectacles should be de-
 ferred as long as possible, and that, by making an
 effort, the eyes may gradually reassume their pow-
 er at the ordinary distance.   Cases are even cited
 of individuals who, having the power of distinct
 vision impaired, have regained it by refusing arti-
 ficial aid.  This  opinion is erroneous.  When the
 eyes  have become longsighted, the effort  to dis-
 tinguish minute  objects, as in reading,  will  fur-
 ther diminish their power.  A person  who cannot
 read a book at about the distance of a foot should
resort to the timely aid of spectacles.  The cases 

100          THE  PRESERVATION

of recovery from longsightedness are  exceptions
to the general law, and arise from a conformation
of the organ  of vision peculiar to the  individual.
   Many instances occur of an inability to employ
spectacles  for any length of time; for, although
they render objects sufficiently distinct, the eye
becomes so much weakened by their  use as to
render it absolutely necessary to discontinue them.
Those who are so unfortunate  must be satisfied
with the enjoyment of general vision, and aban-
don the hope of a continuous practice  of reading
or writing.
VI.—THE  EXTERNAL  USE   OF  COLD
                  water:

  In a lecture on physical e'ducation, delivered in
1830, the external use of cold water was strongly
recommended, and especially of the shower bath.
Since that time, the employment of cold water
externally in  this  country has  been very much
extended; the  shower  bath especially has been
introduced into a  great number of families. 
OF HEALTH.          *     101
   The  institution  of Preisnitz, at Graeffenburg,
has  done service, by showing to what extent the
use  of  water may be carried without producing
dangerous effects.   It is not intended to recom-
mend this valuable agent  in the modes proposed
by Preisnitz and his followers; but I have always
advised, and  still  advise, a very frequent use of
cold water.   Perhaps  further  experience may
justify the use of it to a still greater extent than
what my observations have authorized me to rec-
ommend.*
   The  application  of cold water to  the human
body is beneficial principally in two ways : first,
as a purifier; second, as a tonic.  1st.  It purifies
the body by removing from its surface those ex-
cretions which  are continually poured out.  The
skin is  an outlet, by which are discharged matters
necessary to be  thrown  out of the system; for,
if retained, they would produce disease.   These
matters cause an incrustation over the surface of
the  skin; and this, to a certain extent, obstructs
the  little orifices through which these exhalations
  * The  hydropathic practice has unfortunately been combined
With homoeopathy in this part of the country. There is, however,
no proper connection between them.  Hydropathy, in a reasonable
extent, is supported by good sense and exact observation; homoe-
opathy is in opposition to both. 
102
THE PRESERVATION
take place.  Physicians and surgeons are in the
habit of observing deplorable instances of filthy
concretions on the skin of poor patients; and this
kind of neglect, unfortunately, is not wholly con-
fined to the lower classes.
  Besides these  exhalations,  the surface  of the
skin becomes more or less charged with cuticular
exfoliations, which ought to  be daily removed.
The linen taken from  the body of a  poor person
is frequently seen to shed a shower of flakes of
separated cuticle.  The regular  removal of these
substances  not only gives  a more free outlet  to
cutaneous exhalation,  but the process by which
they are removed also serves to promote the
healthy action of the capillary vessels.   Since the
introduction and general use  of ablutions with cold
water, the itch,  formerly so  prevalent, has dis-
appeared within  the  circle of my  experience.
Whether this  change has been  produced  by the
use of water, or by some unknown cause, I would
not pretend to say.  Further:  the want of clean-
liness produces a scent from the body, which can
be readily recognized, and which does not exist in
those who are in the habit of frequent and thor-
ough ablution.
  2d.  The effect of cold water as a tonic is well 
OF HEALTH.
103
 known.   The  refreshing influence of water, ap-
 plied to the face, neck, hands, and arms, is a mat-
 ter of general experience.   The operation of cold
 water, applied  to the  whole surface of the body,
 is to produce an agreeable  and refreshing sensa-
 tion.   This is  followed by a glow more or less
 considerable, depending partly upon  the differ-
 ence  between the temperature  of the water and
 that of the body, and  partly on the state of the
 body  itself to  which the  application is made.
 Immersion of the hand, or  any other part of the
 body, in cold weather, in tepid water, is followed
 by a  sense of chilliness; but immersion  of  the
 same  part, for  a limited time, in iced water, is
 followed by a  sensation of positive heat.  Im-
 mersion  of a part, or  the whole of the body, in
 cold water, causes an  increase of vigor.   This is
 particularly obvious in hot weather.   When one,
 who is exhausted with heat and fatigue,  plunges
 into cold water, or receives  the affusion of it over
 the whole surface of the body, the languid frame
 is immediately invigorated and prepared  for new
labors.   This change is probably attributable to a
uniform  contraction of the  small  vessels, and a
consequent more  regular flow of  blood through
the relaxed organs, thus reviving their vigor.
   In the same way congestions, by which the vi- 
104
THE PRESERVATION
 tal actions are impeded, are removed, and this not
 only in the external  or cutaneous portion of the
 body, but also by the reflex nervous action of Dr.
 Marshall Hall,  or  sympathy, as it has been for-
 merly called, in the great central organs, the
 heart,  lungs, stomach, and intestines.   Thus  a
 great many complaints may be removed in the in-
 cipient  stage ; for vascular congestions, or accu-
 mulations of blood in particular vessels, by which
 the circulation is obstructed, constitute the origin
 of a large number of diseases.   All those who
 have been in the habit of using cold water know
 that an  incipient catarrhal  affection often disap-
 pears on its judicious  application to the surface
 of the body.   This disease is a congestion of the
 blood in the vessels of the membrane lining the
 nostrils,  trachea, and  lungs, arising,  in this in-
 stance, from the application of cold  ah  to the
 surface of the body.  When cold water is applied
 to the skin,  it produces  increased circulation in
 this part, and the blood is thus diverted from the
 internal organs.   A similar train of occurrences
 takes place in the germination of many diseases.
The effect of the  judicious application of cold
water to  the  surface of the body is, therefore to
relieve temporary languor,  remove incipient'dis-
ease, and give permanent tone to the animal system. 
OF HEALTH.
105
   It will naturally be asked, What mode is the
best for this  application ?  Sponging the  body
over with . the  coldest water is a very convenient
mode, and  one which may be resorted  to  with
great facility.   The use  of  the cold hip  bath  is
valuable for affections of  the back, and of the
organs  in the  lower part  of  the  trunk of the
body.   A sudden plunge  of the  feet into cold
water removes  swelling of the veins and absorb-
ent vessels, and prevents  accumulations in the
cellular membrane.
   Perhaps the  most convenient and efficient mode
of producing the beneficial effects of cold water
on the whole  body is by the shower bath.   This
was recommended in the lecture of 1830 ;  and all
that I have seen of its effects since that time has
confirmed the  belief that it has an  efficacy supe-
rior to  that of other modes.   In hot weather, I
personally  employ  the  shower  bath with great
freedom.  I have sometimes resorted to it three
or four times a day, and found it to produce great
refreshment from the debilitating effects of  heat.
  I am not able to ascertain the extent of the use
of cold affusion among our countrymen  in the
south, but have no doubt that relief might be ob-
tained from  the effects of excessive heat by a fre-
quent judicious resort to this delightful applica- 
106
THE PRESERVATION
tion.  The introduction of a daily cold  bath, or
cold sponging, among the black population, also,
would be well worth the experiment..  The in-
crease of health, comfort, and that moral purity
which is in some degree associated with cleanli-
ness, would abundantly repay  its attendant ex-
penses, especially in hot weather.   As a general
rule, the  cold bath should in all cases be em-
ployed daily throughout the year.
   The use of the  douche is worthy of some re-
mark.  This is a  continuous  stream of water,
thrown with  a certain degree of force on  some
one  part of the body.   It is generally used for
medicinal purposes, and is particularly beneficial
in weakness of the back and limbs, the joints, the
eyes, &c.   The douche is easily arranged by con-
necting a flexible tube, from ten to twenty feet
in  length, having a stopcock, with a reservoir
placed at  that  distance  above it.  This reservoir
may  be  a cask,  or cistern, or  any other  con-
venient receptacle.
   For children, either the shower bath or the
sponge bath is convenient, beginning at the earliest
period of life.  The infant thus becomes accus-
tomed to have its head  wet; and the habit  being
formed, no inconvenience results from the retention
of moisture in the hah,  if this be removed by fric- 
OF HEALTH.
107
tion with cloths and brushes as soon as practicable.
The dipping, although some children bear it well,
generally produces alarm and aversion, while the
other plans gradually become grateful and desi-
rable to  the  child.
             VII. — FRICTION.

  The  external use of cold wrater almost neces-
sarily involves that of friction, which  may  also
be employed independently.   The object of this,
as before said, is to increase the flow of blood to
the external parts, and thus to relieve the internal
organs from too great an accumulation of the cir-
culating fluid.  It has been already stated, when
speaking of the use of water, that  congestion, or
inordinate  partial  accumulation of blood, is the
primary cause of  many  diseases.   An instance
may be specified in the common pain in the side.
This, we know, will, in  persons subject to it, be
brought on by sitting long in a confined posture;
as, for example, in writing  for too long a time.
It sometimes produces very acute pain, and even 
108          THE PRESERVATION

may go on to inflammation of  the  pleura.  An
individual  who  is affected in  this  way  natur-
ally applies his hand to the part, and attempts, by
friction, to dissipate the pain.   When this is ac-
complished, it is done partly by exciting the ac-
tion of the congested  vessels, and partly by in-
creasing  the  circulation  in  other textures  near
that affected, and thus abstracting the accumulated
blood from  the  latter.   Friction, then, over the
general surface  of the body,  by equalizing  the
circulation,  and by exciting a healthy action in
one  organ,  contributes  to its  health and vigor.
Some further remarks  on  this  subject will  be
found in the  chapter  on old age.
    VIII. — THE  USE  OF  TOBACCO.

  While the general means for the preservation
of health  have been materially advanced in our
society by attention to exercise, by the external
use of cold water, by moderation in food, by the
curtailment of dinner parties, and more especially 
OF HEALTH.               109
by the fast extension of  abstinence from stimu-
lant  and  intoxicating drinks, there  is  in  one
particular  a  decided  and  unhappy deteriora-
tion of our social habits — the increased use of
tobacco.
  Many  persons, and some  of  them wise  and
valuable  men, inpair their health  and shorten
their  lives by this poison.  If we  look  around
in a company of our legislators, judges, and even
of our venerable clergy, we see a certain number
of them  marked by pallid countenances, relaxed
muscles,  yellow-colored lips, and a  languid, list-
less posture.   We may set these down as chewers
of tobacco.  If we follow them  to  their  homes,
Ave  find  some  of them complaining of lost  ap-
petites, pains in the chest, occasional palpitations,
daily  indigestion, and, finally, some irremediable
disease, which carries them to their graves.   The
number of persons of intellectual  pursuits  who
voluntarily place themselves  in this suicidal list,
is too great to be counted; and this country, we
are sorry to say it, exhibits an immense propor-
tion of such  instances among its best men.  In
my experience, a great number  of  cases  sim-
ulating disease  of the  lungs and  stomach have
been  explained by the discovery  of the habit of 
110           THE  PRESERVATION
chewing tobacco, and the relinquishment of the
practice has been followed by restoration to health.
  Of the three modes of using tobacco, smoking
is that which seems to have insinuated itself most
extensively among the young men of our  com-
munity.  This  practice  impairs  the natural taste
and  relish for food, lessens the appetite,  and
weakens the  powers of the stomach.   As to the
pleasure produced by it, it  is, I  believe,  a well-
known fact, that a person smoking in the  dark is
often unable to determine  whether his  cigar is
lighted  or not.
  Tobacco, employed in this way, being drawn in
with the vital  breath, conveys its poisonous  in-
fluence  into  every part  of the  lungs.    These
organs, by the countless  number of cells which
form  their  internal structure,  have  a   surface
greatly exceeding  that of the whole exterior of
the body.  The lining  membrane of these cells
has a wonderful absorbent action, by which they
suck in the air destined  to vivify the  blood.   If
this ah is impregnated with the fumes of tobacco,
even in  a weak degree, the great extent  of sur-
face  in which the absorbent action takes place
must necessarily  produce an  impregnation  of
the blood with the deleterious properties.  The 
OF HEALTH.
Ill
noxious fluid is entangled in the minute spongy
ah  cells, and has time  to  exert  its influence on
the blood, not in vivifying, but  in vitiating it.
The blood, having imbibed the narcotic principle,
circulates  it through the whole system, and pro-
duces, in  consequence, a febrile  action in most
individuals, and especially in those of a  delicate
habit.   The pecuhar effects of the narcotic action
must, of course, be developed to  a greater or less
extent; and  eruptions  on the skin, weakness of
the stomach, heart, and lungs, dizziness, headache,
confusion of thought, and a low, febrile action,
must  be the consequences.  Where there is any
tendency to phthisis in  the lungs, the  debility of
these  organs, consequent on the use of tobacco in
this way, must favor  the deposit  of tuberculous
matter, and thus sow the seeds of consumption.
   Snuff, received into the nostrils to some extent,
enters the cavities opening from  them, fills those
cavities, and makes a  snuffbox of the olfactory
apparatus.   The voice  is consequently impaired,
sometimes to  a remarkable  degree.  I  knew a
gentleman of the legal profession, who, from the
use of snuff occasionally, lost the resonance of
his voice  and the power of speaking  audibly in
court.  Moreover,  portions of this powder are 
112
THE PRESERVATION
conveyed into  the lungs and stomach, and exert
on these organs their deleterious effects.
  The worst form in which tobacco is employed
is in chewing.  This vegetable is one of the most
powerful of narcotics; a very  small portion  of
it, say a couple of drachms, and perhaps less, re-
ceived  into  the  stomach, might  prove  fatal.
When it is taken into the mouth in smaller por-
tions, and there retained some time, an absorption
into the system of part of it takes  place, which
has a most debilitating effect.  If we wished to
reduce our physical powers in  a slow yet certain
way, we could  not adopt a more convenient pro-
cess.   Who, among the chewers of tobacco, has
not felt that deadly sickness which  it occasionally
produces?   Those who  have  experienced these
effects will not, I think, deny its great power of
relaxing the whole animal system.
  The more limited and  local effects are indiges-
tion, fixed pains about the region of the stomach,
in some  cases looseness of the  bowels, in others
torpor of  these  parts, debility of the back and
of the reproductive  organs.    In  regard to this
last  point,  much might  be said   of  a striking
character.  But to the consequences aheady men-
tioned, we will only add affections  of the brain, 
OF HEALTH.
113
producing  vertigo,  (an   effect  well known to
most of  those who are in the habit of chewing
tobacco,) and also  affections of the mouth gen-
erating cancer.
  Tobacco is by some persons recommended as
beneficial to the teeth ; but while it can have no
material  effect in  preserving the bony substance
of the teeth, it has a real influence  on their vi-
tality,  by  impairing  the  healthy action  of the
gums.   These, and also  the  adjacent parts, are
very subject to  cancer, particularly  the  tongue
and lips.   For more than  thirty years I have been
in the habit of inquiring of patients, who  came
to me with cancers of these parts, whether  they
used tobacco; and if so,  whether by chewing or
smoking.   If  they have  sometimes answered in
the negative as to the first question, I  can  truly
say, that, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
such  cases are exceptions to  the  general  rule.
When, as  is usually the case, one side  of  the
tongue is affected with ulcerated cancer, it arises
from the habitual retention of the tobacco in con-
tact with this part.  The irritation from a cigar,
or even  from a tobacco pipe, frequently precedes
cancer of the lip.  The  lower lip  is more com-
monly affected by cancer than the upper, in con-
                    8 
114           THE PRESERVATION
sequence of the irritation produced on this  part
by acrid  substances  from  the mouth.   Among
such  substances, what is  more  likely to  cause a
morbid irritation, terminating in disease, than the
frequent application of tobacco juice ?
   Aged persons are very liable to cancer, especial-
ly about the  face;  and when  an irritating  sub-
stance is applied habitually, the skin becomes dis-
ordered, and  takes  on a cancerous action.  This
irritation may be produced, as aheady stated, by
the use of tobacco  in the interior of the mouth,
by the habitual application of a cigar to the  lips,
and even by a  pipe  applied to  the same parts.
Few days pass without my having an opportunity
of witnessing the verification of these  facts ;  and
at the moment of writing this, such a case presents
itself  for my opinion.   The patient is a farmer,
healthy, except  that he has formerly used spirit-
uous  liquors, about fifty  years old,  an habitual
smoker, who, two years since,  was affected with
cancerous  ulceration of  the  lower  lip.   The
primary  disease was  removed  by an  operation,
and the wound  healed; but soon after numerous
lymphatic glands on  both sides of the neck be-
gan to  display  the effects  of cancerous  poison;
and there are now  developed a number of large, 
                 OF HEALTH.              115

very hard bunches, which must continue  to grow
until they produce a fatal termination.
  The want of attention to cleanliness often con-
nected with this  practice, and the  consequent
lodgment of the particles of  tobacco on  the sur-
face of the  lip, has, as aheady suggested, a great
influence in these cases.   This  would naturally
suggest an inquiry, whether those, who have been
in the regular habit of general and exact cleanli-
ness, are so often  affected with external cancer as
others.   My experience  would lead me to  be-
lieve  that they are  not  so;  but this is  not  the
proper place to enter into an inquiry upon this
subject.
IX.— HINTS CONDENSED  FROM  THE
        PRECEDING  CHAPTERS.
                 i
  Perhaps it may be useful to add some hints,
in a condensed form, for the preservation of health.
  Children, as soon  after  birth  as practicable,
should be washed, or rather dashed, with a sponge
and cold water tAVo or three times  a day, and well 
 116           THE PRESERVATION

 rubbed afterwards.  This  practice is to be con-
 tinued summer and winter, except in case of ill-
 ness ; and even in most cases  of febrile disease it
 may be used with advantage under medical direc-
 tion.
   The food of young infants  should be adminis-
tered to them at stated periods, and not when-
 ever  they  cry.   Children very frequently cry
 from having taken too much food.   A good rule
 for general use is, to give nourishment to an in-
 fant once  in  about three hours.  From the time
 of Aveaning until the first dentition  is over, their
 best food is bread and milk; coarse bread is better
 than fine in most cases.   After the first dentition,
 a greater variety of food may be employed, but
 animal  food  may,  perhaps,  be  advantageously
 omitted until  after the most critical period of the
 second  dentition.*
   During  the  time of  school education,  every
 kind of wholesome food is proper, but it should
 be  so plain as not to encourage the propensity to
 take a greater quantity than  the power  of the

  * This opinion  was first suggested to me, many years ago, by
 my friend  Dr. James  Jackson, late Professor of Theory and
 Practice of Medicine in Harvard University — an authority, in
 my estimation, as high as that of any living physician. 
OF HEALTH.               117
stomach can  control.   The disposition to drink
should be  discouraged; and, Avhen  drink is  em-
ployed, it  should be water.   Sugar, in the liquid
and  solid  form, should be  avoided in a great de-
gree.  The stomach Avill bear a certain  amount of
saccharine matter Avithout bad consequences; but
Avhen  this amount is habitually  exceeded, the
healthy  state  of  the  blood becomes   impaired.
Some of the most dangerous attacks of cramp in
the stomach and of colic, Avhich I have seen, have
arisen from the too  free  use  of sugar in vari-
ous  forms.   The  sugar used in tea  has often,
within  my knoAvledge, been the cause of  evils
attributed  to the injurious influence  of  the tea in
which it was  conveyed.*   All stimulants should
be  avoided.   Happy  are they Avho have never
learned  the use of them  in any way, especially
of alcohol in its different forms !  Their lives may
be insured at comparatively a Ioav premium.   It

  * " Sugar exists in considerable quantity, and but little com-
plicated, in many plants.  Moreover, the  greater number of the
other saccharine principles are capable of being converted into
crystalized sugar by artificial processes.  Sugar is the  only crys-
tallizable product employed in considerable quantity as an aliment,
and by the perfectly healthy stomach seems to be readily assimi-
lated.  There are, however, certain states of disease in which this
organ appears to lose, in a great measure, the power of assimilat- 
118
THE PRESERVATION
has  been calculated  that  the temperance refor-
mation has  increased  the physical  strength of the
State of  Massachusetts  one  sixth part:  the im-
provement  in health, property, and happiness of
the people  is beyond calculation.
   Exercise during the early period of life should
be regularly enforced; or rather, the natural dis-
position to  exercise  in  young  children  of both
sexes, instead of being repressed, should be en-
couraged in  every variety of  form.   Exercise,
when  practicable, should  take place in the open
air; even young infants should be carried into the
air soon after birth, and should be taken out of
the  house  afterwards daily.   Every family  pos-
sessed of a moderate competence should have  a
play room devoted to the use of their children in
bad Aveather.   There should be, during the whole
period of their education, a balance  between the
hours  of exercise and the hours of study; the

ing this principle; and, in such states of disease, sugar, conse-
quently, is ill  adapted as  an aliment.  Indeed, on the whole,
though sugar,  as we have said, is capable of  being assimilated in
large quantity, it is doubtful if mankind have been the gainers,
except in convenience, by employing it in a form in which it is the
farthest possible removed from organization and life." — On the
Nature and Treatment of Stomach and Urinary Diseases, etc., by
W. Prout, M. D., F. R. S.  London, 1840, p. 8. 
OF HEALTH.
119
younger the subject, the greater must be the pro-
portion of physical action.
  A great  number of young persons, especially
of the male sex, lose their  health from a vitiated
imagination;  the  prevention and  cure of this
should be one of the greatest objects of  attention
to parents and instructors.
               X. —OLD  AGE.

  Few young  persons realize that they Avill grow
old if death does not prevent, and still feAver take
measures  to lessen the evils  Avhich age  brings
with it; on the contrary, a large part of the male
population seem to endeavor to hurry on age and
aggravate its defects  and deformities.  The inev-
itable  change is thus accelerated;  and before the
period  arrives  which nature has assigned for the
decay  of the faculties and functions, this decay is
prematurely advanced.*
  *  These remarks on old age are generally the result of my own
observation; but I  am indebted to Dr. Day's Practical Treatise 
120           THE  PRESERVATION
     1.   State of the Organs in Old Age.

   The function of digestion, the mainspring of
organic movements,  is impaired by the use of
stimulants and by excess of healthy food.   The
coats of the stomach become thickened and in-
active ; the  amount  of food they formerly mas-
tered Avith ease noAV  overpowers them, and  brings
on  phenomena  of  habitual indigestion; among
the  most prominent of  which  is the  constant
eructation of  gas from the fermentation  of the
contents  of the  stomach.   Another phenomenon
still  more important is the loss  of appetite  for
food, especially in those who have employed wine
and other stimulants.   To such persons, the com-
mon articles of food are apt to become disgusting;
they are glad to avoid them, and, considering them
simply as means of  prolonging  existence, they
look upon them without hope,  and take  them
without pleasure.  The  intestinal tube  loses its
activity, and, not being able to carry off the unas-
similated  food, the blood is impregnated  with a
poison derived from  its contents.

on the domestic Management and most important Diseases of
advanced Life, &c,  for some valuable hints on the organic
changes it presents. 
OF HEALTH.
121
   The organs of circulation are necessarily in-
 volved in the changes of the organs of digestion.
 The  heart  becomes  thinner  and  weaker.  The
 arteries  that  spring  from it  ossify, i. e., form a
 bony or  cartilaginous deposit, which impairs their
 elasticity.   The circulation of the blood has been
 supposed to be slower  as we advance  in age — it
 is true that the pulse of the adult is slower than
 that of the infant;  but at the adult age the pulse
 attains its maximum of slowness, and  soon shows
 a disposition to return to the infantile state.  The
 pulse of an adult man  is about 70, and of a wo-
 man 75, in a minute.   It has been observed that
 in one hundred and ninety-seven old men, of  the
 mean age of sixty-eight years", the pulse was 72.5;
 and in five hundred and sixty-two old women, of
 the mean age of seventy-three years, the pulse was
 79. It appears, then, that nature quickens the pulse
 in old age ;  and this fact renders it questionable
 whether artificial stimulus is necessary, or even sup-
 portable, consistently with the most healthy state
 of the functions.  The veins, unable to return their
blood  to the  heart, become varicose, and cause
swelling, particularly in the lower' limbs. The
thickened capillary and absorbent vessels circulate
the blood slowly, and cease to contribute their  aid
in maintaining  the vital heat,  especially in the 
122
THE PRESERVATION
skin, so that additional  clothing  becomes  neces-
sary.  The secretory, and particularly the repro-
ductive organs, not only become languid, but fall
into a state of disease, especially when they have
been abused in the  earlier part of life.   From
this perversion  of their  structure arise miseries
not to be described.
   Changes in all these parts of the organic sys-
tem influence the functions  of the brain, nervous
system, organs  of  external senses;  the brain
shrinks, the  sensibility of the nerves is blunted,
the   organs  of  sense gradually  lose  their  fac-
ulties.  In the educated classes, the organs  of
vision feel the effect  of a too early and too con-
stant effort;  and  at  that period of life Avhen ab-
straction  from society  and  from  the common
employments calls for the solace of  literature and
science, the  eyes refuse  their aid,  and leave the
sufferer to lament his neglect of the many warn-
ings he has  received as  to their abuse.

2.   Use of  Wine in Old Age ; the sudden Dis-
               use not  injurious.

   The  diminution or prevention  of these ills is
for the most  part taught by Nature, if men would
seasonably listen to her voice.   Habitual temper- 
OF HEALTH.
123
ance in  regard to quantity of food, the use of
such exercise  as has been indicated in the former
part of these pages, and abstinence from all stim-
ulants  except for  medicinal  purposes,  would
greatly diminish or obviate  the evils of age.   It
is idle  to say that men can and do live sometimes
even to  great age under the practice of various
excesses, particularly under the use of stimulants.
We have seen that the natural and sufficient stim-
ulus of the stomach is healthy food;  and any
stimulus more active produces  an  unnatural  ex-
citement, which will ultimately tell in the  great
account of  bad habits.   The old adage, Vinum lac
senum, (Wine is the milk  of age,)  is  not  sup-
ported by exact observation of facts.   As milk is
known to  agree Avell with many old persons, Ave
should be  disposed to  say, Avithout  pretending
that the remark would  apply universally, instead
of Vinum lac senum, Lac vinum senum!  The au-
thor already referred to, Dr.  Day, recommends
for  the aged the use of lime water Avith milk.
  Wine, in a pure state, frequently becomes un-
pleasant in the latter part of life; and those who
retain its use do so, in many instances, rather from
the force of habit  than  from  a natural  appetite.
Though  it  causes  more or less  inconvenience,
they neglect to attend  to its unpleasant effects, 
124
THE PRESERVATION
from belief that they could  not dispense with it,
and that an attempt to abandon what they have
so long been accustomed to  consider necessary
might  involve  pernicious consequences.   Many
English physicians, as mentioned on page 62, are
of this opinion, and inculcate it strenuously upon
their  patients; my experience  does  not  support
it.  The author alluded to  before  is one Avho
thinks the moderate  use  of  Avine by old men to
be not  very objectionable;  and he would  allow
one glass of madeira at luncheon, two at dinner.
We must say, on the other  side, that such an al-
lowance  Avould be  rather large; and, for reasons
aheady given, it would be better to omit it alto-
gether.
   For more than twenty years  I have had occa-
sion to notice a great number of instances of the
sudden disuse  of wine  withou,, mischievous  re-
sults.   On the contrary, the  disuse has generally
been followed by an improvement of appetite, free-
dom from habitual headache, and a tranquil state
of body and mind.  Those  who have been edu-
cated  to the use of wine do,  indeed, find some
inconvenience from the substitution of a free use
of water ; if, hoAvever, they begin by taking the
pure fluid in moderate  quantities only, no such
inconvenience occurs.   The preceding remarks 
OF  HEALTH.
125
 may be applied to  beer,  cider,  and  other  fer-
 mented  liquors.*
   After the  age  of sixty, I myself gave up the
 habit of drinking wine ;  and, so far from experi-
 encing any inconvenience, have  found my health
 better Avithout than with it.   When I  have occa-
 sionally  tried its  effect,  it has  generally proved
 pernicious, except during  the period of convales-
 cence.    If continued after this,  it  produced  its
 peculiar effects  in a  very distinct manner;  viz.,
 heat in  the forehead, general headache, diminu-
 tion of appetite, and constipation of the  boAvels.

              3.    Culinary Processes.

   Animal  food, partly, no doubt, from change in
 the  masticating  organs, is disagreeable to many
 old  persons;  and this is often true even in regard

  * M. Robin has lately made a communication to the French
 Academy of Medicine, proposing a new means of prolonging fife.
 He is of opinion, that if the vital combustion could be carried on
 more slowly, the rigidity of the organic fibres produced in old age
 would not occur at so early a period.  The means he proposes to
 employ is  to use electrified oxygen gas, or ozone, in the process
 of respiration.  This  idea of M.  Robin may serve as  a hint to
 wine  and spirit drinkers not to accelerate the vital combustions
by the use  of wine, spirits, and other stimulants, which have a
direct tendency to hurry on these processes to their final and fatal
conclusion. 
126          THE PRESERVATION
to soups, which require no mastication.   In this
connection let me  remark, that more health, as
well as pleasure, might be enjoyed by a scientific
improvement  in culinary processes.   I  can here
present only tAvo instances illustrative of this fact.
Professor Liebig has shown that, in some modes of
cooking, our meats  are rendered less Avholesome
and  less agreeable  than they might  be.
   The application of a strong heat in the process
of ebullition, though it may tear apart the fibres
of the substance, not only fails to make it tender,
but  actually constricts  these fibres.   He  recom-
mends plunging the meat into boiling Abater for a
few minutes, and then reducing the temperature
by about one  third.   By the application of boil-
ing  heat, the albuminous matter  on  the exterior
of the meat is  coagulated, and  its juicy, saline,
and  nutritious portions are prevented from  es-
caping, Avhile  the moderate  heat, long continued,
renders it tender.   In the  formation  of a  nutri-
tious soupy on the contrary, the meat,  finely divid-
ed, should  be steeped in an equal weight of cold
water, which  will  combine Avith and extract  its
juices ; after the accomplishment of this  it may
be boiled for a few minutes, and flavored agreea-
bly to the taste. 
OF HEALTH.
127
   4.  External  Friction  and  the Duke  of
                   Wellington.

   Such is the sympathy betAveen the skin and the
 digestive  organs, that the  digestive process may
 be aided  in old persons by the  persevering use
 of frictions.   The  languid  state of the cutaneous
 capillaries is  an important cause  of indigestion
 and general ill health.
   The  great English duke, whose abilities were
 happily blended with an unusual share of common
 sense, employed very vigorous and persevering
 frictions over all the body and limbs.   He gave
 his hearty approbation to the invention of horse-
 hair friction gloves.  No doubt the retention of
 his physical faculties Avas  partly attributable to
 this practice;  he  added to  it,   however,   other
 practices not less important.   He lived  Avith so
 much simplicity that his cook, who Avas  a master
 of the art, retired from his seiArice for Avant  of an
 opportunity of displaying his great skill.  Wine
 he did not employ.   He said to a friend of mine,
 (His  Excellency Abbott LaAvrence, then  minister
 to the Court of St. James,) that he found no ad-
vantage could be derived from it, and made up his
mind to disuse it for the sake of health.   He  slept 
128
THE PRESERVATION
upon his narrow,  iron, camp bedstead, arising
early, and often making his appearance in  the
streets on foot, or  on horseback, at hours  when
other gentlemen were in  their beds.  The  duke
made no  use  of tobacco  in any form,  and Avas
never knoAvn  to spit in a gentleman's  company.

 5.  TJie Reproductive and Urinary Functions.

   Among the other functions  specially impaired
in old age are the reproductive and urinary.
   The great abuses to Avhich these functions  are
liable in the early part of life  impair the organs
which perform them so generally, that few indi-
viduals  reach the meridian  without a material al-
teration in their structure.  The part most  liable
to disease, and, when diseased,  most apt to  inter-
fere with the health and comfort of the individual,
is the prostate gland, a body about the size of a
horse chestnut, placed at the neck of the bladder,
and performing an  office  Avhich is  not  entirely
understood.  This, being  enlarged,  opposes  the
free passage of  the urinary secretion, causes it to
accumulate,  and thus brings  on  an   irritation
which is  distressing, permanent, and  sometimes
fatal.  The cause of  this  enlargement  is  most 
OF HEALTH.
129
 commonly a vicious indulgence, the consequence
 of Avhich is not known at the period  of life in
 which it occurs.   When the mischief is discov-
 ered, it  is usually too late to remedy it; and the
 evil is implanted in the miserable sufferer for the
 rest of his life, as no remedy or operation adapted
 to its removal has yet been discovered.   The suf-
 ferings of the  patient  in this complaint may be
 mitigated, however, by a very temperate way of
 living, by avoiding a long-continued sitting pos-
 ture, by abstinence from stimulating  drinks,  by
 restraint  of the venereal  appetite, by the use  of
 the cold hip bath, by the cold water sponging of
 the  back,  by cold  douche on  the perinseum,  by
 the injection of cold water into the  boAvels many
 times a day, and by a very careful  regulation of
 the  evacuations.

  6.   The Upright Position to be maintained.

  When the vigor of the  human  body fails, a
 tendency of the upper part of the frame manifests
itself  to an inclination  forwards.   This  arises
principally from tAvo causes — the weakness of the
muscles of the  back, and the power of gravity;
the latter  inclines  the body forwards,  and  the
                   9 
130
THE PRESERVATION
other annihilates the power which would oppose
this inclination.   Can this propensity be combat-
ed successfully by any effort in our power ? Per-
haps  it can  be.   We see in  European  nations
great numbers of people who preserve their  up-
rightness by a habit Avhich is  early formed,  and
which they are compelled to follow till it becomes
easy.   Many officers of the army are particularly
successful  in obviating the  tendency to incline
forwards, and continue to be erect through a long
old age.   What we wish  to  inculcate, therefore,
is the adoption of a  persevering effort to avoid
stooping, commenced  early, continued  till  it be-
comes habitual through middle life, and maintained
with  increased determination when age threatens
to overpower it.
   Having  called attention  to this subject, Ave
shall  only here  mention another  useful  mode
of counteracting this propensity.   At first vieAV
it would seem to have an opposite tendency, and
Avill, in fact, do  so,  if not rightly managed.  I
allude to  the use of a walking stick.  This  is
commonly looked on as the insignium and attend-
ant of an old man; and a valuable one it is; for,  if
duly used before a curvature actually takes place,
it will,  by extending the action  of the  arm  in 
OF HEALTH.
131
 pressing the stick on the ground, push the upper
 part of the body backwards, and enable the indi-
 vidual to rectify his vicious position.   To accom-
 plish this the more perfectly, the arms should be
 employed  at  alternate intervals, one of  them
 grasping  the stick  at  one time,  and the  other
 afterwards.     f
                7.   Conclusion.

   When,  by the combined  influence of nature
 and education, the constitution has become devel-
 oped in its full poAver and strength, it depends on
 the individual to  retain health and avoid disease.
 In other words, it may be considered as a general
 laAV, that health may be preserved to a late period
 of  life  by the use  of those things which are
 friendly, and the avoidance  of those which are
 noxious.   Most diseases are the consequences of
 violations  of the laAVS  of nature,  sometimes the
 result  of ignorance, more  frequently of inatten-
 tion.   Let there be a  due balance betAveen the
 bodily and mental exercise, — I speak here of the
educated division of society, — a reasonable regu-
lation of the amount of food and drink, a  proper
restraint of the passions, the omission of all extra
stimulants, and a removal, by the means indicated, 
132           THE PRESERVATION
of all noxious agents, and we might calculate on
avoiding a great number  of the  afflictions which
ordinarily harass  and  shorten  our lives.  If Ave
treated Nature with the attention she merits, she
would rarely inflict upon us disease and suffering,
and by her hand Death would  be introduced as a
kind friend rather than an enemy.
   An instinctive dread of death is, for Avise pur-
poses,  deeply implanted in the human  breast.
Were it not for this instinct, disappointment, de-
spair, passion, and pain would  very often lead us
to rush hastily into the dark futurity which seems
to promise a  termination of suffering.   The  com-
mon idea that death is agonizing  must, however,
be vieAved Avith some qualifications.   The termi-
nation of chronic disease, presenting as it does, in
many instance's, a violent commotion of the phys-
ical fabric, inspires in  those who behold it a dis-
tressing notion of  suffering caused by the separa-
tion of body and spirit.  And there are, no doubt,
instances of very severe suffering ;  but  these are
exceptions to the general law, the passage  from
life to death being, in  most persons, accomphshed
without the sense  of pain.
   When the blood ceases to be oxygenated, phys-
ical sensibility is destroyed, and the oxygenation 
OF HEALTH.
133
of the blood being accomplished by the lungs, if
these organs are obstructed, a proportionate pri-
vation of sensibility will necessarily be the result.
The lungs  are weakest of all the great vital or-
gans ; they ordinarily begin  to  die  sooner than
other parts,  and  their function is actually sus-
pended before that  of other organs.  Thence it
folloAvs that  the oxygenation of  the  blood being
gradually  suspended, the privation of  nervous
sensibility immediately ensues, and there  can be
no suffering.  These theoretical  notions are sup-
ported by facts.   So far  as  my experience goes,
if a dying  man  be asked Avhether he suffers pain,
he will, in the greater number of instances, answer
in the negative; yet there may be at the same time
a frightful  appearance of distress.
  My opinion, therefore,  founded  on  a great
number of observations of  the  character above
mentioned, is, that death is not generally painful,
and that Nature, "like a kind mother," while she
surrounds  its idea  with  imaginary  terrors,  has
contrived  the animal organization in such way as
to  produce a natural anodyne in depriving the
blood of oxygen.  There will be found, no doubt,
exceptions  in chronic diseases already alluded to
as arising from physical causes, and there  will be 
134           THE PRESERVATION
another class of exceptions of a different nature
from moral causes, such as the recollection of a
bad life.
XL —THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOL FOR  THE
     PREPARATION  OF MEDICINES.

  In a number of the states in this  country laws
have been  passed, prohibiting the sale of alcohol
except for medicine and the arts.  In these states
the apothecaries  have  become  its  only  regular
venders,  and some  of them  have availed them-
selves of the  opportunity thus afforded  to  retail
it to the tippler.   This practice partially defeats
the operation  of the law, and thus threatens  to
be a public nuisance.  The question has naturally
arisen, whether alcohol  is  a  necessary article  of
the materia medica; and  if  so, to what  extent ?
Whether, for  example, it is not  employed  in
many cases where other  articles  might be substi-
tuted Avith propriety, and even with advantage ?
  The principal  uses for  which alcohol  is em-
ployed in  medicine, are,  first,  as  a stimulant;
second, as  a  menstruum;  third, as an antiseptic. 
OF HEALTH.
135
   As a stimulant, it is not so necessary as might
at first view appear.   When it is employed, for
example,  to revive a person who  is much  ex-
hausted, the distilled aromatic herbs, or a mixture
of the essential oils, would answer.   Peppermint
water and  the other  aromatic Avaters, by increas-
ing the proportion of the  essential  oils, may be
made as strong a stimulant  as can be swallowed
Avithout excoriating the throat.   These may often,
therefore, be very properly substituted for brandy.
For some other  cases, the  preparations of ammo-
nia are more proper.   Their action is more rapid;
they possess greater  stimulant  powers; and  the
quantity required is  therefore  less.
   Second,  as a  menstruum, alcohol is  employed
for extracting the virtues of medicinal plants and
dissolving medicinal resins.   The substance being
infused in alcohol a certain time, imparts its prop-
erties, or a portion of themr to the liquid;  which
is then administered,  sometimes in a pure state,
and sometimes diluted with water.   Many people
are not aware  that, when they take a  glass of
elixir proprietatis or of tincture of rhubarb, they
swallow tAvo ounces of strong rum.   Yet delicate
females, and even children, are made to take these
daily, and thus become habituated to the use of 
136           THE  PRESERVATION
alcoholic  stimulants.   The danger arising  from
such practices, in some inflammatory complaints,
must be very great.
  The medicina][ resins for which alcohol is used
as a solvent are aloes, myrrh, guiacum, &c.  The
tincture formed by the  combination of  alcohol
and the first two of these is the famous  " elixir
pro.,"  which, in former times, every good mother
thought herself obliged  to prepare and keep  for
the benefit  of her young family.   Many an un-
conscious  mother has  brought on  symptoms  of
violent  fever by intoxicating her offspring with
these insidious articles.  For these there are sub-
stitutes, which may be employed in a great num-
ber of instances.  An infusion  of rhubarb  in
water,  with some aromatic, is a better medicine
than the alcoholic preparation in three cases out
of four.   Aloes may be used as an extract in pills,
and  may  be employed in the  simpler state  of
powder, and even in decoction; so that there are,
in fact, very few cases where the spirituous prep-
aration is  required.   It is a common opinion that
tincture of aloes and myrrh, or elixir proprietatis,
is an excellent remedy for colic.  If it be used in
a cohc from indigestion, the  astringent property
of the alcohol may, by  contracting the stomach 
OF HEALTH.
137
 on undigested food, increase  the  pain; and  the
 same is true of brandy, gin,  and other forms of
 alcohol.  If, again, it be used for Avind colic, or
 pain  from flatulence, drinks actually hot, as  hot
 peppermint water, or  even simple hot water, are
 preferable.   Tincture of cinchona, or "tincture
 of bark,"  as it was formerly called, contains less
 tonic power than  may be  found in the  prepara-
 tions  of quinine;  and the same  rule  applies to
 most  of the  bitter tinctures, as calumba and cas-
 carilla.   Tincture  of  red  lavender poured upon
 loaf sugar has been a  favorite  cordial with young
 ladies who Avished to fortify their stomachs against
 any particular emergency; and it is notorious that
 this  indulgence has  been a very frequent origin
 of tippling.   If,  instead  of taking  lavender to
 relieve the cloyed stomach, they omitted the use
 of sugar plums and bonbons, they might avoid
 forming the  disposition for, and  the  ill  conse-
 quences arising from,  alcoholic articles.   Stough-
 ton's  elixir, which is the tincture of gentian, was
 regularly introduced  into  the draAving  room,
 durino- the last generation, to give keenness to the
appetite for an approaching feast.   But  at  last it
was discovered that by over-stimulating the empty
and unprotected organ, and producing a sense of 
138
THE PRESERVATION
satiety before any food  was  taken,  instead of
quickening the appetite or aiding the digestion, it
blunted the  one and enfeebled the other.   Epi-
cures, having sagaciously observed these disagree-
able effects, have proposed to  tickle and awaken
the stomach  by  the  introduction of a large, cold
oyster or two.   The best  substitute for both of
these will be found in half a glass of water, fresh
as it comes from the spring, and not  spoiled by
ice.  The cases  above mentioned will perhaps be
thought sufficient to shoAV how easy it often is to
find substitutes for alcoholic medicines.
   There is  a class  of preparations revealed by
science, which  promise  advantages  as substi-
tutes for the tinctures.   In the number of  the
Boston Medical  and  Surgical Journal for Septem-
ber 5, 1849,  will be found an account of a mode
of  producing fermentation,  by which is  gener-
ated a  substance  containing the  properties of
medicinal articles in a convenient state for pres-
ervation and administration.   By  adding  to  an
infusion of senna a due  proportion of sugar,  a
fermentation  is  generated  which  produces  a
vinous  fluid, so weak  as  not  to possess any im-
portant stimulant  properties,  and   yet  strong
enough to prevent decomposition.   This prepara- 
OF HEALTH.         .     139
tion we have tried, and find elegant, convenient,
and safe.  It cannot be used for the purposes of
intoxication,  on  account  of  its  weakness  and
medicinal effect.  Various preparations,  as, for
example,  of aloes, opium, gentian, rhubarb, and
many others most necessary in medical practice,
may be made in the  same way.   Perhaps it  will
be thought that they are no better than tinctures ;
but, in  fact, they have not the  stimulant  power
of  tinctures.  No  extraneous  alcohol  is  intro-
duced.   We  recommend  to  the  enterprising
apothecary the  preparation of these products of
fermentation, as promising much advantage to the
medical practitioner, and a valuable improvement
in economy to the apothecary himself.
   A third use of alcohol  is to prevent decompo-
sition.   For this purpose it  is  added  to  some
infusions, decoctions, and syrups.  But  the  tAVO
former  of these should  always  be prepared re-
cently and Avithout alcohol; and the last, if prop-
erly made,  do  not  require it.   Some  of the
pharmacopoeias direct that spirit should  be added
to infusions, to prevent decomposition, Avhen they
are to be kept any length of time.  This may be
accomphshed  without alcohol,  by  placing the
I 
140
THE PRESERVATION
infusion, while  hot, in a closely-stopped bottle,
and keeping it  in  a cool place.
  Physicians have been amongst the most forward,
persevering,  and able advocates of temperance.
Without their aid,  the  temperance reformation
could never have proceeded as far as it has.  But
it appears  there is  an evil existing under their
eyes, and, in a measure, maintained by their pre-
scriptions, which is formidable  to  public morals.
If they would take the matter into consideration,
and  satisfy their own minds  as to the  cases in
which alcoholic  preparations  are really required,
their  prescriptions  would undoubtedly be much
more restricted than they now are in the  employ-
ment of the tinctures.  The facts so briefly stated
above  will probably  be sufficient to  convince
them that  they might, with a very little sacrifice
of convenience,  employ substitutes more beneficial
to the patient, and  less objectionable on the score
of temperance; while they would  have the satis-
faction  of believing that  they had removed from
the reach of their patients an  article which might,
by  sIoav and insidious steps, have ultimately led
to their ruin. 
 
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