: - ■■ ■ ■ , •• ; ' L . < *. ' 
■ ' . ■ ■ - AN OUNCE OB' PREVENTION. Copyright, 1915, 
Bv CHESTER A. EATON, 
Printed in the United States of America. AN OUNCE OF 
PREVENTION 
A practical little book to be used as 
a health guide for the preven- 
tion of diseases and pro- 
longing life 
CHESTER A. EATON, M. D. 
PUBLISHED BY THE 
NATIONAL BAPTIST PUBLISHING BOARD 
523 SECOND AVENUE, N. NASHVILLE. TENN I*reface- 
The chief business of the modern physician is 
to prevent disease. The matter of treatment and 
cure should take second place. The physician 
who spends all his energies treating and curing 
diseases and never teaches his patient how to 
prevent diseases is guilty of a great sin ot omis- 
sion. 
But before any great degree of success can 
crown the efforts of the physician who tries to 
teach the prevention of diseases the people must 
be educated along that line, otherwise they will 
not be able to understand and apply the teaching. 
Ignorance and superstition are great hin- 
drances to the teaching of hygiene and preventi- 
tive medicine, and these must be overcome before 
any great and permanent good can be accom- 
plished. 
The writer of this little work has endeavored 
to leave out all difficult words and expressions 
and to present the facts in their simplest form. 
Having been written in the midst of a busy prac- 
tice, between calls and sometimes on the road, a 
perfect literary production correct in every 
minor detail cannot be expected. 
Should this little book be instrumental in caus- 
ing some careless, thoughtless person to improve 
his hygienic surroundings and thereby prevent 
disease and premature decay, or should it be of 
assistance to some mother in, safeguarding the 
health and life of her infant, thereby reduce 
the rate of infant mortality, the writer will feel 
that his efforts have not been in vain. 
Fayetteville, June, 1915. 
4 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
TO 
MY MOTHER I nfrodnctiOEi. 
Man is nothing more nor less than a skillfully 
constructed machine, perfectly adjusted, so much 
so that we see in him the handiwork of God. 
Yet he is a machine, and for convenience we will 
call him an automobile that has been given the 
power to think and reason. 
The more complicated a machine is the more 
skillful must be the one who has charge of it. The 
man who has charge of a railroad engine needs 
and must have greater knowledge of mechanics 
than a man who pushes a wheel-barrow. 
Since the human body is the most complicated 
and most wonderfully constructed of all 
machines, the one who has charge of it should be 
intelligent and know the rules that govern it, 
otherwise great damage will be done in handling 
it. 
Before a man is entrusted to handle an expen- 
sive, complicated machine, he must study and 
understand the different parts. He must know 
how each part works and what relation it bears 
to the whole machine. He must know how to 
prevent breakdowns, and excessive or unneces- 
sary wear and tear. 
The human body is the most important, most 
valuable and most complicated of all machines. 
How vastly important it is then that we should 
understand something about the parts that go to 
make up the body. How essential it is that we 
know how these parts work and what relation 
6 Introduction. 
7 
they bear to the whole body. How important it 
is that we should know how to prevent break- 
downs and unnecessary or excessive wear and 
tear. It is along this line that this book is writ- 
ten. People, as a whole, are far too ignorant 
and superstititious about diseases, their cause 
and prevention. 
The good book says, that the way of the trans- 
gressor is hard. This is true physically as well 
as spiritually. When we transgress the laws of 
health, let us remember that the penalty is sure 
to come soon or late. 
Chester A. Eaton. Content s. 
Fresh Air 38 
Exercise • 43 
Sleep • 52 
Alcohol 57 
Tea and Coffee • 69 
Tobacco 73 
Constipation 80 
Colds 87 
Consumption 93 
Typhoid Fever 191 
Dust • • 110 
Diptheria 116 
Measles • 120 
Whooping Cough 123 
Scarlet Fever 126 
Mumps 128 
Chicken Pox • 129 
Rheumatism 130 
Heart Disease 134 
Kidney and Bright's Disease 138 
Toothache and the Care of the Teeth 149 
Worms 153 
One Hundred Don'ts 159 
8 The Baby. 
Great efforts are being made throughout the 
country to decrease the death rate of babies. 
The present death rate among children under 
two years old is a reflection on civilization; it 
is about three times too much among the more 
intelligent class of people and about five times 
too much among the ignorant class. 
The best way to cut down the death rate is to 
teach the people how to intelligently care for 
the babies, and stop doing silly things because 
their grandmothers did such things. 
Ignorance and superstition are directly re- 
sponsible for the majority of deaths that occur 
in childhood and especially before and during 
the second summer. 
It has been the aim of the writer of this book 
to give here, in a short and simple way, some 
information that will help to keep the little ones 
in a healthy condition and thus make the physi- 
cian's visits less frequent, and if the service of 
a physician is needed, the information herein 
contained will assist the care-worn mother in 
co-operating intelligently with the physician. 
Any physician will appreciate and welcome in- 
9 10 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
telligenb help and nursing. This little book 
will help the physician to reduce the death rate 
among infants by giving the mother or nurse 
much needed information. 
THE BATH. 
Since a bath is the first thing we get after we 
make our .appearance in this world, it is im- 
portant that every mother should know how to 
give an infant a bath. 
First: The room should be warm and no 
bright light should be allowed to shine directly in 
the baby's face. The water should be warm, 
not hot, nor cold. It should be remembered that 
the hand of a grown person is more tough 
than a new-born baby's skin. This should al- 
ways be remembered. The writer has seen 
midwives almost scald babies because they used 
their hands to test the heat of the water with- 
out due allowance for the tenderness of the 
baby's skin. 
Second: Never use soap on the new-born 
baby's face, for fear it might get into the 
the eyes and irritate them. Be sure the soap used 
is the best grade of castile and not cheap imi- 
tation. Buy it from a drugstore. The child's 
face should not be bathed with the same cloth 
that is used on the other part of the body for 
fear that germs may get into the eyes and 
mouth; but the face should be bathed with a The Baby, 
11 
cloth that is used only for that purpose and it 
should be washed before the soap is put into the 
water. After the face has been bathed with warm 
water and no soap, the eyes and mouth should 
be cleaned with boric acid water made by ad- 
ding boric acid to a small quantity of water, say 
one-half pint, till the acid will no longer dissolve 
in the water but will collect on the bottom of 
of the bottle. The baby's eyes and private 
parts should be cleaned with this solution. Some 
of this solution should be kept and used freely. 
Wet a piece of clean cotton in this solution and 
let a few drops fall into the baby's eyes and in 
this way clean them. 
The mouth should be thoroughly cleaned with 
the same solution. A little mop should be 
made by tying a piece of clean cloth on the end 
of the nurse's little finger or some other small 
object. The mop, when finished should not be 
too large to easily get into the child's mouth. 
This mop should be wet in the boric acid solu- 
tion and the child's mouth cleaned and washed 
out. The child's mouth should be turned 
downward or to one side to allow the solution 
to run out. Then give the full bath using 
castile soap, a soft cloth, and plenty of water. 
The child should be dried off very quickly with 
very light rubbing. A good, grade* of talcum 
powder may then be used and the child dressed. 12 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
The room should be warm in cool weather, 
and the water warm but not hot. 
THE BELLY BAND. 
The belly band should be placed on smoothly 
and tight enough to stay in place, but not too 
tight. It should not be moved till the cor I 
comes off unless it accidently gets wet, in which 
case it should be removed and a dry one ap- 
plied; but the dressing should not be removed 
till the cord comes off. When the cord comes 
off a fresh band should be put on and borated 
talcum powder used freely. 
The band is to support the child and does not 
have to be tight as to cause discomfort. It 
may be worn from four to six months if 
the child is fat and healthy, and the navel is 
not punched out. But if the child is thin and 
sickly or if the navel is punched out the band 
should be worn much longer. As a rule the 
band should not be taken off in cold weather. 
It should be made of a soft material and should 
fit cozily and smoothly, not tight at the top and 
slack at the bottom, but it should fit smoothly 
and not be in folds. If the band does not fit 
right it is very uncomfortable and may be the 
cause of much crying and fretting. 
DIAPERS. 
Diapers should be large enough to be folded 
three or four times before putting them in place. The Baby 
13 
They should be made of a soft cotton material. 
As soon as one becomes soiled it should be re- 
moved and a dry one applied. The soiled ones 
should be washed with soap, then boiled and af- 
terwards rinsed without soap. 
CLOTHING. 
Great care and good judgment should be used 
in clothing the baby. Too much clothing in 
summer may mean over heat and sickness. In 
winter the child should wear clothing sufficient 
to keep it warm^ but not every piece that can be 
squeezed on. 
In winter when the child is kept in the house, 
it should wear clothing enough to allow the room 
to be aired. 
The child's chest and stomach should be well 
protected from the cold by flannel bands. In 
damp cold weather the child should never be ex- 
posed to a draft. 
FRESH AIR FOR THE BABY. 
Fresh air, for babies is very important, and 
it is to be regretted that so many people are 
ignorant as to the need of fresh air. 
So well, grounded is this ignorance that the 
physician's advice is often set aside. A baby born 
in warm weather may be safely carried out 
doors on the tenth day but care should be taken 
that the sun does not shine directly in the 14 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
baby's face. The face should be protected 
from dust and wind. The child may stay out 
doors five or ten minutes the first day then the 
time increased about five minutes each day. 
A child born in cold weather should not be 
carried out doors till at least one month old. 
A child should never be kept in a hot, close 
room. Fresh air should be kept in the room 
always, night and day. After the child is a 
week or ten days old, the room must have a 
special airing each day. Dress the child and 
wrap it up as if you were going to take it out 
doors, then open all the doors and windows of 
the room and let the air blow through for five 
or ten minutes at first and increase the time a 
few moments each day. Don't let the child be 
exposed to a direct draft and become chilled. 
It is very important that the child should have 
fresh air but care should be taken to clothe and 
wrap it snugly so that no draft or strong wind 
will chill it. 
Children soon get used to fresh air and will 
be much more healthy and have less pneumonia 
and colds. 
Don't be afraid of fresh air. More people 
die from too little fresh air than from too much. 
Don't be afraid to give the baby fresh air. If 
it is allowed to become accustomed to the air 
slowly, it will not take cold but will grow fat 
and healthy. The Baby. 
15 
FOOD FOR THE BABY. 
We now come to a subject that should be 
studied with care and patience. 
It has been truthfully said that more babies 
die because they are not fed right than from 
all other causes put together. 
On this subject the writer will make no at- 
tempt at details, but will try to be so plain and 
practical that even people with a very limited 
education can get something by which to profit. 
It should be remembered that a child's di- 
gestive organs are not fully developed and we 
should not expect it to digest heavy vegetables, 
rich gravies, puddings, pork, etc. It is a 
grave mistake to expect a child only a few 
months old to digest these things and thrive on 
them, because it has no teeth and therefore 
must swallow the food just as it is given. It 
will be impossible, therefore, for the stomach 
and other digestive organs to do their work 
properly. Feeding such food to babies has 
caused, either directly or indirectly the death 
of many thousands before or during the second 
summer. 
It is a very common thing to see, among the 
poorer or ignorant class of people, a child 8 or 
10 months old being fed on any thing that the 
mother eats, such as cabbages, corn, beans, pork, 
beef and deserts of every description. Such a 
thing should be considered nothing less than a 16 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
crime. It is an indirect but sure way of killing 
the child, or so injuring its digestive organa 
that a normal development is impossible. 
Then there is the other extreme that must be 
guarded against. The food may be too rich and 
heavy or it can be made too poor and thin. 
The writer once called on a baby that had 
lived four months on water with a little con- 
densed milk in it; a tea spoonful to the pint. 
The child would cry and fret all day and all 
night and was slowly but surely starving to 
death. As soon as the food was properly pre- 
pared and fed at regular hours, the little 
thing took on new life and in a few weeks 
developed into a fine healthy baby. 
The death rate among infants will never be 
reduced till the general public becomes better 
informed as to the care of babies. 
SELECTION OF FOOD. 
What shall we give the baby to eat? The 
future welfare of the baby depends on how this 
question is answered. It should be known and 
distinctly understood that the mother's milk, as 
a rule, is the best food for a baby. Whenever 
possible the mother should always nurse her 
baby. But if the mother has some deadly dis- 
ease as consumption, pneumonia, typhoid fever 
or any of the catching diseases then the child 
must be put on a bottle. When there is any 
doubt as to whether or not the child should be The Baby, 
17 
kept from the breast, the advice of a physician 
should always be sought and carried out. If 
the mother cannot nurse the baby, then what 
is the next best food? The answer to this 
question has been studied and discussed for 
years and yet there is no exact agreement 
among physicians. Yet it is almost generally ac- 
cepted that pure, clean cow's milk prepared to 
suit the condition and age of the child, is next 
best to the mother's breast milk. Cow's milk 
must be pastuerized or sterilized when the con- 
dition indicates. All of which will be explain- 
ed. 
There are certain conditions, especially 
among the poor people, where condensed milk 
seems to be indicated. There are also legions 
of patent baby foods. The majority of these 
are worthless. 
When possible every mother should nurse her 
baby for the first nine or ten months of its life. 
But since this is not always possible, let us 
look around for the best substitute for the 
mother's milk and learn how to prepare it. 
Cow's milk is too strong for the baby's 
stomach, therefore we must make certain 
changes to make it as near like the mother's 
milk as possible. 
THE PREPARATION OF COW'S MILK. 
We will attempt to give some practical infor- 
mation as to how to prepare cow's milk for 
a baby during the first week or two of its life. 18 
xAn Ounce of Prevention. 
Put one-third of a pint of milk into a pint 
bottle. To this add one teaspoonful of lime 
water to overcome acid. Add to this one tea- 
spoonful of sugar, plain granulated sugar. Add 
from, one-half to three teaspoonsful of cream 
one-half to begin with, then increase one-half 
teaspoonful every week or ten days. To this 
mixture add enough boiled water to make one 
pint. This should be kept in a cold place, on 
ice if possible. When the baby is to be fed, 
pour out the amount to be given and warm it 
by placing the bottle in warm water. If the 
child vomits or throws-up the milk it is a sign 
that the cream should be decreased and the lime- 
water increased. 
It is impossible to give, in this little book full 
instructions • on preparing milk, for some cases 
must have the attention and advice of a physi- 
cian. The instructions given above will not suit 
every case, for what will fatten one baby, may 
be against another; so when the milk disagrees 
with the baby, the cause should be carefully 
looked for and removed, and if the mother or 
nurse cannot do this a physician should be 
called in for advice on the case. 
It must be remembered that too much of the 
right rood will injure a child almost as much as 
the wrong food. 
Too much cream in the milk will sometimes 
cause the child to vomit. The Baby 
19 
It is important that the milk used for the baby 
be fresh, clean and from healthy cows. It 
should not for a moment be exposed to dust, 
dirt or flies. All vessels used should be boiled 
before and after using. 
STERILIZED MILK. 
By sterilized milk we mean milk that has 
been boiled for at least thirty minutes and 
cooled as fast as possible. 
This boiling destroys all the germs that can 
cause consumption, diphtheria, typhoid fever and 
other germ diseases. But at the same time it 
makes the milk almost unfit for use. It is hard 
for the child to digest, it will not fatten the child 
like clean, pure raw milk that has been proper- 
ly prepared. It will also constipate the child. 
It should not therefore be used very long at a time 
if it is possible to get clean fresh milk. Clean 
fresh milk does not need boiling unless it is going 
to be kept for several days. 
PASTEURIZED MILK. 
This kind of milk is simply cow's milk that has 
been heated to a certain degree of heat but not 
boiled. It should be heated to about 155 degrees 
F. and kept at this degre of heat for thirty 
minutes. This milk does not harm the child as 
the boiled or sterilized milk. It does not con- 
stipate and is more easily digested. All milk 
should be pasteurized when there is the least doubt 20 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
as to its purity and then prepared to suit the age 
and condition of the child. 
It is best to buy a thermometer to test the heat 
when the milk is pastuerizing. It should be kept 
as near as possible at 155 degrees. But when 
a thermometer is not available it should be heated 
but should not be boiled. 
CONDENSED MILK. 
A good grade of condensed milk stands next 
to pasteurized as a food for children. Con- 
densed milk is better than boiled or sterilized 
milk. When it is to be fed for a long time it 
should be mixed with some other kind of food. 
Only the best grade of condensed should be used. 
It is cheap and is easily prepared, and for this 
reason it is used a great deal among the poorer 
classes of people. It must be diluted with boiled 
wates. Below is a rule for diluting condensed 
milk. 
During the first 2 months 1 teaspoonful of 
milk to 16 teaspoonsful of water. 
During the 3rd and 4th months 1 teaspoonful 
of milk to 12 teaspoonsful of water. 
During the 5th and 6th months 1 teaspoonful of 
milk to 10 teaspoonsful of water. 
During the 7th and 8th months 1 teaspoonful 
of milk to 8 teaspoonsful of water. 
It is very important that the baby be fed at 
regular hours. Don't feed the baby every time 
it cries. The Baby. 
21 
During the first day or two the child does not 
need very much food. After that, the feedings 
should be at regular hours. It should be fed 
every three hours from 6 o'clock in the morning 
till 9 or 10 o'clock at night. It should be fed 
not more than once or twice during the late 
hours of night. These late night feedings 
should be omitted when the child is seven or 
eight months old. 
The child should be fed at regular hours and 
not between these hours. It will be better for 
the child and less trouble and worry for the 
mother if the instruction given here as to regu- 
lar feedings is carried out. When the baby is 
4 months old, the feedings should be every 4 
hours instead of every three hours. 
THE AMOUNT TO GIVE. 
The amount should be increased very slowly 
when every thing is going well; but when the 
child shows signs of being sick, such as vomiting 
or bowel disorder, the food should be made weak- 
er and the amount decreased or stopped for a 
while altogether. 
The amount for each feeding may be regu- 
lated as follows: 
For first 30 days 1 to 2 ounces at a feeding. 
From 1st to 3rd month; 3 to 4 ounces at a feed- 
ing. From 3rd to 6th month 4 to 6 ounces. 
From 6th to 12th month, 6 to 8 ounces. 22 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
The food should be increased very slowly. Good 
judgment must be used in feeding babies and if 
for any reason the food does not agree with the 
baby, stop and find out what the trouble is, for 
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 
If the child' vomits or the bowels get bad the 
feeding may be too heavy or the milk may be too 
rich, the feedings may too frequent or the 
child may be sick from some other cause. Find 
out what the trouble is and remove it. 
THE WEIGHT. 
The average weight at birth is between 7 and 
8 pounds. In six months the weight should be 
doubled, and in 12 months the weight should be 
three times the weight at birth. The gain should 
be slow but steady. If the child fails to gain 
weight steadily there is something wrong. Lo- 
cate the cause and remove it. The service of a 
physician may be required to find and remove 
the cause. 
All water used to prepare the milk should be 
boiled water. 
MILK, THE ONLY FOOD 
During the first 12 months of the child's life, 
the mother's or properly prepared cow's milk 
should form the only food. As the child grows 
older the milk may be increased both in quality 
and quantity, but in no case should a baby less The Baby. 
23 
than 12 months old be given such things as cake, 
bread, meat or vegetables. The child should not 
be allowed to taste these things. Mothers 
make fatal mistakes by taking their babies to 
the table and giving them bits of meat 
or a bone with a little meat on it. In 
this way the child soon learns to like meat 
will sometimes cry for it and refuse to eat any- 
thing else. Some babies learn to eat deserts 
such as pie, puddings, cake, etc., and will cry for 
a large portion of them and the mother very 
often yields. The child soon learns that crying 
will bring what it wants. Such mistakes on 
the part of the nurse or mother carry thousands 
of babies to their graves every year. 
FOOD FOR SECOND YEAR. 
During the second year the child should learn 
to digest such things as gruels, broths, weak 
soups, oat meal, and a little rice or hominy di- 
luted with milk and a little sugar added. 
Toward the end of the second year the food 
may be made a little thicker or richer and the 
following may be added to the food list. Soft 
cooked eggs, bread and butter, vegetables (very 
light) and light deserts. When the food is 
to be increased, it must be done very slowly and 
carefully, especially during hot weather, and if 
any thing, disagrees with the child and causes 
colic, vomiting, or diarrhea, such things should 24 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
be omitted from the food list altogether, for a 
while at least, and when they are used again, 
great care should be taken not to give too much. 
GENERAL INFORMATION 
1 
A plenty of pure cool water should be given 
babies at all ages and especially during hot 
weather. The child's growing body needs plenty 
of water. 
2. 
Attention must be paid to the child's bowels, 
If any food passes through the child with little 
or no change, if the stool smells worse than com- 
mon, if they have a greenish or whitish color, 
if the child passes blood from the bowels get 
busy, find out and remove the cause before it is 
too late. When a child shows the above symp- 
toms, discontinue all food, give a big dose of 
castor oil and send for a physician. 
3. 
The common house fly is a baby killer. Don't 
let it take the child's face for its privy. Many 
thousands of germs have been found in a single 
fly speck. Flies distribute such germs as cause 
consumption, typhoid fever, and many other 
deadly diseases. The Baby. 
25 
4. 
Fresh air is the baby's best friend. Never sep- 
arate them for a moment, night or day, summer 
or winter. 
5. 
Teething is blamed, very often, when the child 
is sick other wise. 
6 
Stomach and bowel trouble very often get a 
firm hold on' children because mothers think 
"they are only teething." If the child is sick 
and getting weaker and losing weight, have a 
physician to see the child at once. Some people 
send for a midwife instead of a physician when 
children get sick; this is a great mistake for the 
majority of midwives know a little less than 
nothing about sick children. If the baby is 
sick lose no time in getting the service of a phy- 
sician. 
TEN HEALTH POINTERS. 
1 
Remember that three out of five babies that 
die before they are two years old, are babies that 
have not been properly fed and that, directly or 
indirectly, causes death. 26 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
2. 
In dealing with children always remember 
that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure." 
3. 
Never forget to use boric acid solution for 
cleaning the child's eyes, mouth, and private 
parts. 
4. 
Do not forget to keep them in fresh air, and 
not in hot tight rooms. Fresh air will prevent 
taking cold and is needed for the child's health 
and growth. 
5. 
Do not attempt to rear a baby on the bottle, 
unless it is impossible for the mother to nurse 
it. Milk from a healthy woman is the best 
food on earth for a baby. 
6. 
' It is not wise to give the baby catnip tea, sugar 
teat, gruel and such things the first twenty-four 
or forty-eight hours of its life. The mother's 
breast, as a rule, is all that is necessary. 
7. 
Strive to know more about babies by reading 
this and other books that have been written about 
babies. Don't depend on midwives and what 
"people say." The Baby. 
27 
8. 
Never forget that thousands of children die 
every year from being over fed; while very few 
suffer from being fed too little. 
9. 
Don't feed the baby any of the wrong thing 
nor too much of the right thing. 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. 1 1 
10. Water. 
The sickness in a certain neighborhood may 
be measured by the water supply. That is to 
say, where there is bad water there is much sick- 
ness and where there is good water there is lit- 
tle sickness. 
Water may look good, taste well and yet be full 
of germs that cause deadly diseases. If a well 
or pump gets muddy when it rains it is a sure 
sign that surface water is finding its way into 
it. Surface water is water that collects around 
the house and on the ground when there is a 
heavy rain. Surface water most always contains 
disease germs, and when this water finds its way 
into the well or pump trouble may be expected, 
and it will always come in one form or another. 
It may come in the form of an attack of typhoid 
fever, or it may come in the form of dysentery, 
worms, diphtheria, consumption. No surface 
water1 should be allowed to flow into the well, 
pump or spring; and especially water from 
around the stable or privy. 
People should be more careful about what they 
eat and drink. Nature has provided a way for 
the body to ward off and destroy disease germs 
28 Water 
29 
to a great extent, yet we should not depend on 
this and carelessly allow disease germs to get 
into our bodies. 
If there is any doubt as to the purity of the 
water it should be boiled. While boiled water 
does not taste very pleasant yet the boiling de- 
stroys nearly all the disease germs. It is a 
good idea to boil all drinking water that has been 
exposed to flies or dust, or when it has been near 
sick people. Water is one of the absolute ne- 
cessities of life and should be used more freely. 
As a rule people do not drink enough water. 
Water forms a very large part, of our bodies, 
nearly two-thirds of it, it is therefore important 
that the body should have a liberal supply. 
Some people suffer from constipation because 
they drink too little water. It was taught 
years ago that it was injurious to drink water 
during or even near meal time. This has been 
proven to be altogether wrong. It is now known 
that unless the water is ice cold or too much is 
taken, it will do no harm taken before, with, or 
after meals. Never drink too much ice cold 
water at any time, and especially at meal times, 
for this may chill the stomach and render it un- 
able to do its work properly. But even in a 
case like that it will be the cold and not the water 
that does the harm. 
A moderate amount of water taken with the 30 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
meal will neither hinder nor upset the diges- 
tive organs. A free supply of cool pure water 
may be taken without fear by both sick and well. 
A free use of water not only supplies a mate- 
rial that the body is compelled to have in order 
to live, but water has a tendency to cleanse the 
body and dilute the poison that may find its way 
to the kidneys and other delicate organs. 
As has been said many cases of constipation 
have been traced to too scant use of water. 
Never drink muddy water. It should be 
strained or filtered after which it should be 
thoroughly boiled. 
Drink freely of water, less tea and coffee and 
no alcoholic drinks at all. If these instructions 
were carried out, this would be a different old 
world in a few years. Food. 
It is very needful for people to know what to 
eat, what not to eat and how to eat, for knowing 
and practicing these things we may avoid 
disease and prolong life. 
Our bodies are self-mending machines. When 
an automobile begins to wear out and break 
down, some one must fix it, but when our bodies 
show signs of wear they have the peculiar power 
of mending themselves and that is what food 
is for, to take the place of worn out tissue in 
the body and build up new flesh. We must 
also have food to make energy or working 
power and also body heat. Without food we 
would be like a railroad engine trying to run 
and do work without the material to make 
steam. There are many people who don't know 
how to eat. There are those who don't know 
how much to eat and therefore eat far in excess 
of what is necessary to keep their bodies in a 
healthy condition. In this way they over work 
the digestive organs and they are soon worn 
out. 
Meats of all kinds are used too freely as a food. 
While our bodies call for a small amount of meat, 
31 32 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
yet bread and vegetables should be eaten more 
freely. It is not to be understood from this that 
meat is to be cut out of our food list alto- 
gether but we would live longer and have better 
health if we would eat meat not more than once 
a day and eat more freely of milk, 'cooked 
softly) and vegetables of different kinds. 
The Japanese people are known for their 
bodily strength and endurance yet they eat very 
little meat. 
People who have kidney and liver troubles 
should eat very little if any meat at all, for meat 
gives these organs extra work to do. 
People should follow the advice of a physician 
when they are sick, yet they should have more 
general information as to what and how to eat. 
Meat once a day, soft cooked eggs, pure fresh 
milk, vegetables with few if any fancy dishes 
and heavy deserts is a good common sense food 
list. Special emphasis may be put on milk and 
eggs as a food. People in the country who can 
keep plenty of chickens and cows, should pay 
special attention to them and take advantage of 
their country surroundings. Country people 
as a rule are compelled to pay more for medical 
service than town people but in turn they have 
a great advantage of town people and they 
should make use of it. Most country people can 
have plenty of milk, butter, eggs and vegetables 
if they would eat these things and cut out pork Food 
33 
they would be more healthy and wealthy. If 
we all could live on such food there would be less 
rheumatism, less Bright's disease, less constipa- 
tion, less gout and less sickness in general, and 
have a better chance to reach a happy and 
healtbr ^d^age. 
icy, nigh-seasoned, rich dishes have, es- 
pecially when associated with alcoholic drinks, 
caused many diseases. Few people who 
live on high, rich food and drink, reach middle 
life with healthy digestive organs. 
There is not much real pleasure in life for a 
person who cannot digest a good meal. It is 
easy for disease germs to attack and overcome 
such people. 
If people every where would stop drinking 
alcoholic drinks of every kind and instead drink 
pure milk and pure water; this would be a differ- 
ent old world in a few years. The country 
could get along with about one-half as many 
physicians, one-half of the convict guards would 
lose their jobs for one-half of the convicts would 
vanish. The police forces of the cities and 
towns could be cut about one-half. The insane 
asylum and county homes and other charitable 
institutions would almost be something of the 
past. The insurance companies could cut their 
rates about one-half and yet not suffer. The 
population of the world would increase rapidly 
and this would be a different old world in every 34 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
way if people would eat and drink according to 
the laws of health. 
HOW TO EAT. 
Some one has said that the meal hour should 
be the happiest hour of the day. There is 
a reason for this. The nerves control the glands 
of the body that make the juices which cause 
the food to digest. Unless these juices are 
made our food will not digest and if the food 
does not digest it will form a poison which will 
poison the whole system. 
And since our nerves control the making of 
the juices that cause the food to digest, we 
should do all we can to help the nerves and not 
hinder them, especially at meal time. A happy, 
bright, cheerful disposition always helps to 
stimulate the nerves and causes them to do better 
work, while worry, sadness, and discontent de- 
press the nerves and hinder them in their work. 
Thus, we can see why it is best to be happy and 
cheerful especially at meal time. People who 
are happy and cheerful generally have a good 
appetite and good digestion; while stupid, sad, 
worried people generally have bad appetites and 
poor digestion. 
People as a rule do not chew their food well. 
This is sometimes called the first step in digestion 
and must be thoroughly done if you expect per- 
fect digestion and to be free from bowel and Food 
35 
stomach trouble. The mouth and teeth must do 
their part well if the stomach is expected to do its 
part well. The teeth must be kept in good con- 
dition and all cavities should be filled as soon 
as they are discovered and not allowed to en- 
large till the tooth is destroyed. It is impos- 
sible to chew the food when there are no teeth. 
The teeth and mouth should be washed after 
each meal and before breakfast using a good 
tooth powder. If you have no teeth buy some 
for it is better to have false teeth than no teeth 
at all. 
EATING TOO MUCH. 
Eating too much, is a sin for which a great 
many people must give an account. Not only the 
rich but a great many poor people eat too much. 
It is well to remember that we can eat too much 
of the right kind of food and this is about as bad 
as eating the wrong kind of food. It has been 
recommended in this article to eat more freely 
of vegetables, etc., but this does not mean that 
too much should be taken but only enough to 
keep the body in a strong, healthy condition. 
Children should not be allowed to eat too much, 
much. 
TEN HEALTH POINTERS. 
1. 
Don't be afraid to drink water; most people 
drink too' little. Drink before meals, after 36 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
meals, or with meals, since you do not wash the 
food down before it is properly chewed. This 
is an old error corrected. 
2. 
Always be mindful of the fact that more peo- 
ple die from eating too much than from eating 
too little. 
3. 
To eat too much meat is like burning the candle 
at both ends. It does not pay. 
4. 
Vegetables, bread, eggs, milk and a little meat 
is a good general diet rule to follow. 
5. 
Be cheerful and bright at meal time and ex- 
pel sadness and gloom. 
6. 
Chew your food properly and if you have no 
teeth, buy some. 
7. 
Drink pure milk and pure water but not pure 
whiskey. 
8. 
Be temperate in all your eating, to be other- Food. 
37 
wise will surely lead to trouble of a serious na- 
ture. 
9. 
Eat simple, wholesome food at regular hours. 
10 
Eat to live; not live to eat. If you live to eat 
you are sure to eat too much. Fresli Air. 
Too much cannot be said about the importance 
of fresh air. Our bodies are always throwing 
off impure or worn out matter, and if the air in 
a room is not changed, but allowed to become 
stale and impure, this thrown off, worn out mat- 
ter will accumulate in the room and we will take 
a part of it into our bodies the second time. This 
is a violation of the laws of health. People 
who form the habit of sleeping in hot tight rooms 
must soon or late suffer for it. 
VENTILATION. 
Too much heat is almost as bad as too much 
cold. Hot, tight rooms are responsible for what 
is called a "common bad cold." 
When a window is open both at the bottom 
and top, fresh air will come in at the bottom and 
stale air will go out at the top. This keeps pure 
fresh air in the room all the time. And as the 
bad air goes out .at the top it will carry more or 
less dust in which are thousands of germs. It 
is not necessary to open the window too much 
and allow a draft or too much dampness to come 
into the room for this may also cause a cold. 
38 Fresh Air. 
39 
Just a little information and common sense 
are all that is needed to keep a bed room, church, 
office, or school-room in good condition. 
During damp cold weather do not open the 
window as much as you would in dry cold weath- 
er, about one or two inches at the top and the 
same distance at the bottom is all that is neces- 
sary in cold weather. This can be greatly in- 
creased in warm weather. 
Rooms that are heated by stoves or dry heat 
need more air than rooms heated by the old- 
fashioned fire-place. Too much dry heat is 
injurious. A bed room should never be a hot, 
close room. 
Too much moisture in a room is injurious and 
should not be allowed. A bed room should 
never be a damp room, neither should it be a hot 
tight room full of dry heat. 
Some claim that the matter of ventilation is of 
no great importance. Yet, we see and know 
that people who stay in pure fresh air have less 
sickness, especially colds, grippe, pneumonia, 
and consumption. They have better health, 
purer blood and resist disease more easily than 
people who spend a great deal of their time in 
tight, hot rooms. Bad colds are caused direct- 
ly by a germ, and fresh air is an enemy to 
such germs and will sometimes prevent them 
from taking hold even' after they get into the 40 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
body. On the other hand, living in hot tight 
rooms, where these germs can multiply easily and 
rapidly, makes it easy for them to attack the body 
and do it great harm. People who live in pure, 
fresh .air seldom have colds. 
People with consumption, pneumonia, or bron- 
chitis should live in a room with a cool even 
temperature and a plenty of fresh air. Some 
physicians recommend that all pneumonia pa- 
tients should be kept out of doors where they can 
get all the air possible. Good results have been 
reported from such treatment of pneumonia pa- 
tients. 
Children who are weak and sickly should be 
kept in the fresh air. They must become ac- 
customed to fresh air gradually and not be ex- 
posed to a draft or too much dampness. 
Fresh air is one of nature's life givers. It 
is the freest and most abundant thing on earth 
and there is no reason why every man should not 
have as much as he can use. 
NIGHT AIR. 
Some people are extremely afraid of night air. 
When night comes, then all air is night air. 
There is nothing to do but to breath night air, 
since we cannot hold our hreath till morning. 
There is nothing peculiar or poisonous about 
night air. Fresh air is needed at night as well Fresh Air. 
41 
as in the day, but a person not accustomed to 
dampness should not sleep exposed to it any time. 
TEN HEALTH POINTERS. 
1 
Do not be afraid of fresh air, it will be a bless- 
ing to you. 
2. 
Remember that pure blood is impossible with- 
out pure air. 
3. 
Remember that good health is impossible with- 
out pure blood. 
4. 
Fresh air is abundant and free, so let each 
person enjoy as much as possible. 
5. 
Remember that hot tight rooms are very in- 
jurious to health and have been the cause, direct- 
ly or indirectly, of much sickness. 
6. 
Do not sleep in tight rooms and teach others 
not to do so. 42 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
7. 
Fresh air is a natural free gift; enjoy it night 
and day. 
8. 
Fresh air is an enemy to most disease germs; 
keep the enemy on your side. 
9. 
Fresh air will help to prevent most all diseases 
either directly or indirectly. 
10. 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. Exercise. 
This subject should be studied closely and 
the advice given herein followed carefully. 
Exercise should be taken regularly by all 
healthy people. Babies need exercise as well 
as grown folks. The kicking and yelling that 
infants often do, have a good effect, for in so 
doing their muscles get exercise and thereby 
their development is assured. 
When a certain part of the body is exercised, 
an extra amount of blood is carried to that 
part. The extra blood carries more food ma- 
terial to the part and also carries away the extra 
amount of waste matter that is formed as the 
result of the exercise and in this way the part 
developes and grows strong. 
If a strong person would take one of his 
limbs, say an arm, and bind it to his side in 
such a way that the muscles would be motion- 
less and thereby could get no exercise, such an 
arm would become weak and the muscles less 
powerful. This goes to show that exercise has 
a good effect on the body and should be en- 
couraged. 
No one kind of exercise will suit all people. 
What may be healthful for one may be the op- 
43 44 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
posite for another. People with a weak heart 
should consult a physician for information as to 
exercise. Such people should be very careful 
about exercising and let it be very gentle and 
simple. When the heart is in a bad condition 
no exercise should be taken at all except as di- 
rected by the physician. 
For well people, walking is a good exercise. 
People who do office or other indoor work should 
do a great deal of walking in the open air. 
Children require and should have a great 
deal of exercise. As a rule they should be at 
liberty to play and romp to their heart's con- 
tent, but such play should, of course, be in 
proper surroundings. 
The exercise taken by older people should be 
more gentle in its nature. They should engage 
in nothing that will cause great fatigue or 
shortness of breath. 
The blood vessels of old people are hard and 
likely to burst or the heart over strained if very 
vigorous, violent exercise is taken. 
Exercise should always be taken in the fresh 
air and when possible, in the sunshine. 
Morning is the best time for exercise. 
Exercise will increase perspiration and in this 
way carry off an extra amount of poisonous mat- 
ter. 
After the body is cooled and rested, then the 
daily bath should be taken to rid the pores of the Exercise. 
45 
skin of the waste matter that accumulated dur- 
ing the exercise. Care should be taken not to 
take cold during the bath. 
Taking cold may be avoided to a great extent 
by giving the body a smart rubbing immediate- 
ly upon leaving the , water. This rubbing 
should be kept up till the body feels wann and 
comfortable, then the body should be clothed at 
once. 
Bathing and exercise add greatly to the life 
and health of people who will put themselves to 
the trouble of taking them regularly. 
The rules regulating bathing and exercise 
should be learned and carried out for it is worth 
the while to every one who values health and 
desires long life. 
TEN HEALTH POINTERS 
1 
If you don't get the proper amount of exer- 
cise out of your daily work; get it any way. 
2. 
If a person who is supposed to be well and 
strong gets tired and exhausted on taking light 
exercise, there is something wrong. Find the 
cause and remove it. 
3. 
People with kidney or heart disease should be 
very careful about exercise. Only gentle ex- 46 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
ercise should be taken and not even this if you 
are easily tired. 
4. 
Remember that even infants need exercise. 
Kicking and yelling do them good. 
5. 
Exercise rids the body of much worn out 
poisonous matter that would not have been 
thrown off otherwise. 
6. 
Exercise helps to develope the body and make 
it strong and healthy. 
7. 
Exercise should always be taken in the fresh 
air and in the sunshine when possible. 
8. 
Regular exercise carried out year after year 
will help to make life longer and health better. 
9. 
Only young people should take very vigorous 
exercise as such exercise may do old people more 
harm than good. 
10. 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. Battling. 
Before we can understand this subject, it is 
necessary that we take a close look at the skin 
and learn something of how it is made. 
If we look at the skin through a strong mag- 
nifying glass, we will see that there are thou- 
sands of little holes called pores of the skin. By 
little tiny muscles in the skin these little holes 
may be opened or closed. 
All around the little holes there are many very 
small blood vessles, that form somewhat of a net 
work in the skin. 
If the body is to remain in perfect health it is 
necessary that these little holes be kept open, 
clean, and in a healthy condition. Through 
these little holes the body throws off a great deal 
of worn out poisonous matter, and they are so 
small that they are easily clogged with dirt, worn 
out particles of skin and perspiration. To keep 
these little holes clean and open is the main rea- 
son why a bath is needed so often. A bath is 
needed every day to keep the skin healthy and in 
a first class condition. 
In taking a bath warm water and soap should 
be used freely, with plenty of rubbing. The 
47 48 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
skin makes a fatty or oily sustance and more or 
less of it is always on the surface of the skin 
and for this reason soap must be used with warm 
water to properly clean the skin. 
Bathing not only cleans the skin but there are 
other good effects that come with proper bath- 
ing. A warm bath has a good effect on the 
circulation of a healthy person. 
When warm water is applied to the skin, as in 
a warm bath, more blood comes to the surface, 
that is to the skin, and this gives such organs 
as the heart, kidney and liver less work to do, 
for there is less blood on the inside of the body 
for them to deal with, hence they get a little tem- 
porary relief. And on the other hand the ex- 
tra amount of blood that comes to the skin, 
makes the skin more active and thereby more 
healthy. More worn out matter is thrown off 
and this helps the kidneys. A warm bath also 
stimulates the sweat glands of the skin to great- 
er activities and they sometimes act very freely 
by throwing off large quantities of sweat. 
This is a great help to the kidneys for in this 
way very much poison is carried off that the kid- 
neys otherwise would have to discharge. 
If now while the skin is warm and full of 
blond, we apply something cool, such as codl 
water, the blood vessels and the little holes in 
the skin will contract or draw up and this will 
force the extra amount of blood back into the Bathing 
49 
inside of the body. But if at this time we give the 
body a good hard rubbing and dry it off very 
quickly, we will again bring the blood back to the 
skin. This is sometimes called a reaction. 
The skin in this way is trained how to protect 
the body against taking cold. When the body 
is exposed to a sudden change of temperature, 
the pores and blood vessels of the skin will con- 
tract or draw up and thus force the blood to the 
inside of the body and prevent it from becoming 
cool too quickly. Very soon a reaction will 
take place in the same way as when taking a bath 
as stated above, and taking cold will be pre- 
vented. 
In taking a bath great care must be taken that 
the body does not remain chilled but it should 
be rubbed with dry cloth till it is glowing with 
warmth. That is, rub the body till the reaction 
takes place. 
It should be remembered that if the reaction 
does not take place, a cold is very likely to fol- 
low. 
Most people should use more soap and water. 
In summer especially should a bath be taken 
ev°ry day. 
There are many different kinds of baths, the 
sweat bath, vapor bath, turkish bath, and 
many others; but all these should be taken as 
directed by a physician. 50 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
How To Take a Bath. 
The water, to begin with, must be warm, not 
as hot as can be borne. Soap and water should 
be applied freely and with much rubbing to 
every part of the body. After every part of 
the body has been well rubbed with soap and 
water using brush or rough cloth, the body 
should be sponged or wiped off quickly with 
water that is a little cooler than the 
first used. This last water must be cool enough 
to slightly chili the body, this is to make the 
pores of the skin contract or draw up. The 
sponging off in cool water m/ust be done very 
quickly, not more than two or three minutes 
should be taken for this. As soon as the cool 
sponge is finished, the body should be rubbed 
off with a rough dry cloth. The rubbing should 
be done as fast as possible using a good deal 
of pressure on the skin. The rubbing should 
be continued till all the chilly sensation is 
gone and the body is glowing with warmth. 
This rubbing brings the blood back to the skin 
and causes a warm pleasant feeling. 
As soon as the body is warm and dry it 
should be dressed very quickly and not allowed 
to get cold again. 
1 
Remember that bathing is not only cleansing 
but there are other good effects. 
Ten Health Pointers. Bathing. 
51 
2 
Remember that bathing properly will help 
the kidneys, the liver, the heart and every 
other part of the body. 
3 
When taking a bath do not allow the body 
to become chilled without giving it a brisk 
rubbing to warm it up again. 
4 
Use soap and water freely when taking a 
bath. 
5 
Do not put on damp clothing, especially after 
taking a bath. 
6 
If you wisih to have perfect health, bathe 
every day in the year, summer and winter. 
7 
Remember that bathing properly will usually 
prevent taking cold. 
8 
Dry the body as fast as possible at the end 
of the bath and it should not be chilled again 
before putting on the clothing. 
9 
One should exercise every care to prevent 
taking a cold during and after a bath. 
10 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound 
of cure. Sleep. 
Sleep is far more ^mjportant to health than 
it may appear at first thought. A person who 
cannot sleep at night is not a well person. He 
never arises in the morning feeling refreshed 
and bright, but feels more or less sluggish and 
not inclined to work. 
We need sleep just as much as we need food, 
and we can live longer without food than we 
can without sleep. 
There is always going on within our bodies 
a process of wearing out and a process of res- 
toration; in other words there is always going 
on a tearing down and a building-up. 
The tearing down process is so great and rap- 
id during the working or waking hours that 
sleep is absolutely necessary in order that the 
body may rest and build itself and be ready for 
the next day's work. 
During sleep the body not only gets much 
needed rest, but the body also uses this time 
to rid itself of poisonous matter which accumu- 
lates during the waking or working hours. 
So when we fail to get the proper amount of 
sleep, this worn-out and poisonous matter ac- 
cumulates in the body and sometimes does 
great harm. A person who is jaded and worn- 
out for the lack of sleep can easily contract 
52 Sleep, 
53 
different diseases; that is to say, germs that 
would ordinarily be destroyed may gain foot- 
hold when the body is worn-out and tired 
for the lack of sleep. 
The Heart During Sleep. 
The heart gets a great deal of rest during 
sleep. Of course the heart does not stop 
beating altogether, but it beats with less force 
and there is a longer pause between the beats. 
In this way the heart gets a great deal of rest 
and is better prepared to quicken its action 
and do its work the next day. This is one reas- 
on why people should never allow themselves 
to get rest-broken for the lack of sleep. When 
the heart gets weak or diseased, life will be 
short. A man who has a sound heart, has a 
much needed friend especially if such a dis- 
ease as pneumonia overtakes him. 
The Lungs During Sleep. 
The lungs may also profit by sleep; for, dur- 
ing sleep, they have less work to do. The 
breathing is slow and in this way the muscles 
that carry on the breathing get a rest and are 
more fit afterwards to do their work. 
It is the duty of the lungs to supply the 
blood with oxygen and carry off certain waste 
matter. Since the heart beats slower during 
sleep, there is not so much oxygen needed and 
the waste and worn out matter does not form 54 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
as fast and for these reasons the lungs' work is 
lighter and they get a mluch needed rest. 
From what has been said it can easily be 
seen that it is important that we get the proper 
amount of sleep. 
There is not so much waste matter formed 
during sleep and the body can easily free itself 
of this and also get rid of that which accumu- 
lated during working hours. 
It is clear from what has been said; that 
people who work during the day and then keep 
late hours at night, are burning the candle at 
both ends and a candle thus burnt will soon 
burn out. 
Such people cannot resist and kill the dis- 
ease germs like people who get the proper 
amount of good natural, refreshing sleep every 
twenty-four hours. People who do mental work 
need as much or more sleep than people who 
do laborious or muscular work. 
No certain work rule can be fixed that will 
fit every case. Some people need more sleep 
than others just as some people need more 
food than others. Some one has given the fol- 
lowing rule: "Go to bed when you get sleepy 
and get up when you wake up." But this 
rule will not fit every case. For very often 
people will not put themselves in a position to 
get sleepy every time sleep is needed. And 
then too, it is not always wise to get up as 
soon as you wake up. As a rule grown people Sleep 
55 
will do well to rest and sleep seven or eight 
hours out of every twenty-four. If sleep is not 
possible it is good to lie down any way and let 
the body relax, and get as much rest as possi- 
ble. 
For People Who Cannot Sleep. 
People who have trouble to sleep at night, 
should form the habit of eating a very light 
supper and just before going to bed take a 
warm bath. They should go to bed at the 
same time every night in a quiet, comfortable, 
dark room. If these few simple measures fail 
and the person lies awake most all night for 
several nights, a physician should be consulted 
that the cause may be found and removed be- 
fore disease germs take advantage of the run 
down condition of the system. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Do not allow yourself to become rest-broken 
but give the body the proper amount of rest 
every night . 
2 
Good natural sleep is both a health preserver 
and a health restorer, and every person should 
have his share. 
3 
Do not eat heavy meals late at night, it may 
cause a sleepless night. 56 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
4 
Remember that people who are suffering for 
want of sleep will easily contract diseases. 
5 
Strive to get seven or eight hours rest and 
sleep out of every twenty-four hours, and your 
health will be better, your life will be longer 
and more useful to yourself and others. 
6 
Sleep is a great medicine for sick people and 
wall help to prevent sickness in well people. 
7 
Remember that when a person cannot sleep 
well there is something wrong. The cause 
should be located and removed. 
8 
Remember that the body rebuilds itself during 
sleep and gets ready for the next day's work. 
9 
People who do brain work need as much 
sleep and rest as people who do laborious 
work. 
10 
An ounce of prevention is werth a pound of 
cure. Alcohol. 
When we speak of alcohol we mean whiskey, 
brandy, wine, beer, and all drinks that have 
alcohol in them. Pure alcohol is very strong 
and is not used as a drink. 
Whiskey contains about 55 per cent alcohol. 
Brandy contains about 50 per cent alcohol. 
Wine contains about 7 per cent alcohol. 
Beer contains about 3 per cent alcohol. 
Alcohol is a poisonous habit-forming drug. 
At this moment the world is discussing the 
horrors and unspeakable slaughter of human 
beings that is now going on in the great Eu- 
ropean. war, over one million men have been 
killed, yet they are only a handful compared with 
the many millions that have fallen before the 
artillery of King Alcohol. 
King Alcohol has been on the warpath for 
thousands of years and kills more every year 
than he did the year before. So let us mobilize 
our army and declare an eternal war against 
him. 
It is claimed by the soldiers of King Alcohol's 
army that alcohol taken in small quantities is 
not harmful, that is to say, a drink now and 
then without getting drunk, will do a man no 
57 58 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
harm. This is a mistaken idea or to speak 
more frankly it is an excuse for drinking alco- 
holic drinks. It is harmful in that it increases 
the appetite and creates a longing for larger 
quantities, and for this reason alone we should 
never touch alcouol in any iorm. Even in 
sickness there are other stimulants that are 
better and more reliable than whiskey or bran- 
dy. 
Alcohol is harmful to all the vital organs of the 
body especially toe liver, k'dneys, heart and 
stomach. Some people have such strong con- 
stitutions that they can take large quantities of 
alcohol, but they have strong constitutions in 
spite of the alcohol and not because of it. 
There are cases on record where people lived 
to be over one hundred years old and took a 
small amount of alcohol every day, yet this 
does not prove that alcohol contributed to their 
long life. They lived long in spite of the alco- 
hol and not because of it. Nor is there any- 
thing to prove that such persons would not have 
lived even longer without alcohol in any form. 
A Mistaken Idea. 
Thousands of people think that alcohol will 
keep off diseases. Alcohol will do nothing of 
the kind. It has been proven that people who 
drink whiskey will take disease quicker than 
those who do not. Consumption and pneu- Alcohol. 
59 
monia seem to have a special love for people 
who drink whiskey. 
Alcohol will lower your vitality or decrease 
the ability of the body to keep off diseases. 
Any well read physician will witness this fact. 
Another False Idea. 
There are those who think that a person can 
stand more cold by taking a few drinks of 
whiskey. This also is a sad mistake. Whis- 
key stimulates the heart and causes the blood 
to rush to the surface and for a few moments 
only the drinker will have a warm feeling. 
But very soon the effect of the whiskey dies 
out and the blood that has been rushed to the 
surface and which has gotten cold, is returned 
to the internal organs and then the person suffers 
more keenly from the cold than he would have 
had he not touched a drop of alcohol in any form. 
Another False Idea. 
Some people think that after coming home 
from a hard day's work a drink of whiskey 
will do them good. They deceive themselves. 
Alcohol does not remove fatigue but simply con- 
ceals or hides it for the time being. Therefore, 
alcohol in this condition is dangerous. When a 
person is tired, he should have rest; not whis- 
key. Fatigue is the call of nature for rest and 
if we allow our ears to be stopped to such calls- 
(for this alcohol will do)-we are likely to 60 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
overwork our system and not realize the fact 
till much damage is done. 
The Effect of Alcohol on the Human 
Body. 
The human body is a very wonderful thing. 
It is so fixed and composed that it has the abili- 
ty to defend itself against germs that are al- 
ways trying to destroy it. When a person re- 
covers or gets well from a disease like pneu- 
monia, typhoid fever or smallpox, it means 
that there has been a great battle between the 
body and the germs of the disease and the body 
came out victorious. It is everybody's duty to 
keep the body in the very best fighting condi- 
tion, so that when the germs of any disease at- 
tack the body, it will be in a position to defend 
itself successfully against them. In a battle 
of this kind alcohol is always on the side with 
the germs. It undermines the health, bur- 
dens the liver, irritates the kidneys and heart, 
makes the blood vessels hard and causes an in- 
flammation in the stomach and bowels. A per- 
son in this condition is not prepared to stand 
an attack from the germs of pneumonia, ty- 
phoid fever, or any other disease. 
From this one can see that alcohol is no 
friend to man. Yet thousands of people will 
argue all day that alcohol will help to keep off 
disease, will keep them from taking cold, 
clean their system, and 101 other false claims. Alcohol. 
61 
There is more money spent for alcohol than 
for bread, yet bread is the staff of life and al- 
cohol is the curse of life. 
Be not deceived, touch not, taste not, handle 
not alcohol in any form; by so doing you will 
be happier, healthier, and richer. 
Alcohol is a stimulant to the heart; that is, 
it will make the heart do more work. Why 
should we cause our heart to do more work 
than is necessary? When a horse is going at 
the proper gait, just as fast as is necessary, 
why should we lay whip to him and make him 
go at break-neck speed when there is absolute- 
ly no need for it? There is no good reason 
for this foolish action yet that is just what we 
do to our heart when we take a drink of whis- 
key; the heart that has been doing well, all the 
work that is needed to keep the body in a 
strong, healthy condition; yet whiskey or al- 
cohol lays whip to the heart and forces it to do 
a great deal of unnecessary work. 
The result is, the heart and blood vessels 
are scon worn out or so affected that they can- 
not do their work properly. And for this rea- 
son the liver, kidneys and most every part of 
the body suffer. 
When this happens Mr. Whiskey-drinker is 
only a few days from his grave and those are 
full of trouble, aches and pains. 
The Action of alcohol on the Heart. 62 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
The Action of Alcohol on the Kidneys. 
The kidneys are very busy organs, when the 
body is healthy and all the other organs are 
working in harmony, but when the heart is over 
stimulated or depressed by alcohol, their work 
is very much harder. The kidneys of a whis- 
key-drinker have a great deal of extra work to 
do. They not only have to carry off the poi- 
son that naturally forms in the body, but they 
are forced to carry the alcohol and the poison 
formed by the alcohol. This is double work 
and the kidneys will sooner or later become ir- 
ritated and. inflammed. To prove this we have 
only to think of how many whiskey-drinkers 
die with Bright's disease, which is only an in- 
flammation of the kidneys and is very often 
caused directly or indirectly from alcoholic 
drinks. 
Effect of Alcohol on the Liver. 
The liver is another very important organ and 
unless it is doing its work properly the health 
will soon be in a bad shape. Everyone must 
pay a heavy penalty who happens to injure this 
organ. 
The liver helps the body in many different 
ways, all of which we will not take the timh 
and space to discuss. The liver destroys cer- 
tain poisons that find their way into the blood. 
It helps to digest certain foods. Alcohol acts Alcohol. 
63 
on the liver in such a way as to make it hard 
and almost useless. As soon as the alcohol 
leaves the stomach it is carried by blood to the 
the liver. It there reaches the liver in a very 
strong or concentrated condition. It is reasonable 
therefore, that the liver should be very much 
affected. 
Let it be remembered that if we wish to 
live happy useful lives, we must keep alcohol, 
in all forms, out of our bodies. 
Effect of Alcohol on the Stomach. 
We very often hear people say that whiskey 
has burnt out the stomach of a certain whis- 
key-drinker. This is just about right for 
whiskey causes an inflammation in the stomach 
and bowels and this inflammation causes the 
glands of these organs to be destroyed or seri- 
ously injured. The glands are that part of 
the stomach and bowels that make the juices 
or fluids that cause the food to digest. The 
mlake-up of these glands is very complicated, 
also the action of their juices; so neither will 
be discussed here. 
But our food will not digest properly unless 
the glands are active and in a healthy condi- 
tion. The use of whiskey or alcohol will surely 
help to destroy these glands and when once 
destroyed they are gone forever for they can 
never be replaced. 
A person who is in the habit of drinking al- 64 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
cohol in any form, whether whiskey, beer, wine 
or brandy is certainly bringing sickness and dis- 
ease to himself and also shortening his life. 
False Claims for Alcohol. 
One may claim that there are many people 
who drink whiskey and yet seem to be in per- 
fect health. This may be true. It is not 
meant that alcohol will bring about these 
changes in a few days or even a few years. 
The length of time that a person can hold out 
drinking alcohol depends on his system and al- 
so the amount taken. A person may abuse and 
injure the body and the penalty may seem a 
long time coming, dnd yet the ract that it is 
coming should be an inspiration to us to take 
better care of the body. 
As a rule alcohol is injurious in proportion 
to the amount taken, that is to say, a little will 
do a little harm slowly and a large quantity 
will do a great harm faster. But the fact 
that it will do harm at all is sufficient to con- 
demn its use. 
Let us touch not, taste not, handle not the un- 
clean stuff and our lives will be happier, 
Alcohol as a Food. 
It is claimed by some that alcohol to some 
extent is a food, this may be true, but no sane 
person will recommend it to be used for that 
purpose. It has been proven beyond all doubt Alcohol. 
65 
that a man can do more work and better 
work, both mental and muscular, without al- 
cohol than the man with it. In studying the 
action of alcohol it must be remembered that 
at first it is a stimulant but the stimulating 
action soon stops and then the system is depress- 
ed. (We mean by depressed to make more in- 
active or stupid). It is true that alcohol will 
produce body-heat but at the same time it will 
do harm that will over balance the body-heat 
it makes. So when there are other things 
that will make body heat much better and yet 
do no harm, it seems to be a great error to use 
alcohol for that purpose. 
This partly explains why some drinkers are 
so fat. The system uses alcohol to make heat 
for the body and the food that should do this 
is converted into fat. The system gets into the 
habit of making fat and very often makes too 
much, for such fat sometimes takes the place 
of muscle. The heart sometimes becomes too 
fat and that m|eans trouble of a serious nature. 
The liver also sometimes gets too fat and mus- 
cles of various parts of the body are affected 
and give rise to trouble of a serious nature. 
Again, people made fat by alcohol cannot re- 
sist disease germs as well as healthy people, 
for it is almost impossible for such people to 
stand a hard attack of typhoid or pneumonia. 
So it is better by far to touch not, taste not, 
handle not the unclean stuff. 66 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
Effect of alcohol on the Character. 
The chapter on alcohol would be very in- 
complete if this part was left out. It is a safe 
rule to depend on that "whatever degenerates 
or tears down the body will also tear down the 
character. If alcohol was swept out of exist- 
ence, crime would be diminished one-half. 
This is to say that one-half of ail the crimes 
is caused directly or indirectly by alcohol. 
A majority of crimes are committed under 
the influence of alcohol. In many cases crime 
is committed because alcohol has so destroyed 
the will power and the sense of right and 
wrong that crime is committed without care or 
forethought. 
Even small quantities of alcohol have a very 
telling effect on children. In some of the large 
cities, children drink beer; the record of such 
children, both as to scholarship and behavior, 
is very inferior to children who do not drink 
beer or alcohol in any form. 
It has been brought to light that one-half of 
the people in the insane asylums are either 
drunkards or children of drunkards. 
Some people think that there is no danger 
in drinking moderately. But all heavy drinkers 
or drunkards were at first moderate drinkers; 
there is, therefore, more or less danger of a 
moderate drinker becoming a heavy drinker 
and for this reason it is better to taste not, 
touch not, handle not the unclean stuff. Alcohol. 
67 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Do not touch, handle, or taste alcoholic 
drinks. 
2 
Be not deceived by people who tell you that 
one drink will not hurt you. If four drinks 
will make you dead drunk, then one drink 
will make you one-fourth dead drunk. 
3 
Do not pin your faith to whiskey's keeping 
off disease and keeping you from taking cold. 
Better let it alone. 
4 
Don't forget that alcohol will injure your 
stomjach, liver, heart, kidneys and brains. 
5 
Remember that one-half of the people in the 
insane asylums are there because of alcohol 
in some form. 
6 
Remember that about one half of the people 
in the poor-house and other charitable insti- 
tutions have spent enough money for alcohol, 
during their lifetime, to have had a handsome 
little bank account. 
7 
Do not forget that alcohol is the cause of 
many cases of heart disease, Bright's disease, 
liver disease and kidney and bowel trouble. 68 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
8 
.Remember when the body is at war with dis- 
ease germs alcohol always helps the germs to 
destroy the body; it does not help the body to 
destroy the germs. 
9 
If you value your health and desire long life, 
touch not alcohol in any form. 
10 
Remember that alcohol even in moderate 
quantities cannot wisely be recommended, for 
one small drink calls for many big ones and 
many big ones call for the grave. Tea a Eid CJoffee. 
Tea and coffee are two habit forming stimu- 
lants which many writers have pronounced 
poison and recommended that they be cut out 
of the food list altogether. Such a recom- 
mendation will go unheeded, however, even if 
the statement is true. 
It is certain that tea and coffee have very 
slight if any food value at all. That is to say 
that a person would die about as quickly living 
on tea and coffee alone, as he would living on 
water. 
It is claimed by some that tea and coffee are 
good stimulants, that is, they increase the ac- 
tion of such organs as the heart and kidneys. 
Grant this to be true, why then should a 
healthy person use them? If the body is 
healthy the heart and kidneys need no stimu- 
lants for they will do their work properly 
Without being stimulated. 
If, on the other hand, these organs are dis- 
eased, then tea and coffee cannot be depended 
on for their treatment. 
The question now' naturally arises: ''What 
is the good in tea and coffee?" The answer 
is, not much, if any. 
69 70 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
The truth is, tea and coffee could be cut out 
of the food list altogether and no material harm 
would be done, except to those who have already 
formed the habit and even they will have better 
health as soon as the habit is overcome and 
the body has learned to adjust itself without 
a stimulant. 
It is a well known fact, that people who 
have used coffee for years cannot well get 
along without it. This is because their bodies 
have gotten accustomed to a stimulant and 
have learned to depend on it and cannot get 
along well without it, and yet there is reason 
to believe that such people would have been 
healthier had the habit never been formed. 
Young healthy people need no stimulants of 
any kind and especially habit forming ones.* 
The body of a healthy human being is a 
wonderful thing. It can, as a rule, adjust and 
protect itself, if the laws of health are obeyed. 
As a rule, nobody needs stimulants except deli- 
cate, sick people and very old people. 
If tea and coffee must be used, let it be used 
with great moderation, otherwise great harm 
may be done, such as irregular heart, constipa- 
tion, etc. Children should never touch tea or 
coffee; their growing bodies need no stimulating, 
and habit-forming stimulants, such as tea and 
coffee will do great harm,. 
There are many people who are healthy that 
use tea or coffee, but the fact is, they are healthy Tea and Coffee. 
71 
in spite of the tea or coffee and not because of it. 
The biggest thing that these stimulants do is to 
form a habit which is very hard to correct. Even 
when used moderately by healthy people tea or 
coffee contributes nothing to their health. 
In view of the fact that coffee and tea have very 
little if any food value, and that it contributes 
nothing to the health and is capable of doing 
great harm; it should not be used simply to satis- 
fy the appetite. And again, the money spent for 
these things by poor people, who think they can 
not live without them, could be put to a better 
use. The conclusion of the whole matter is this: 
Drinking tea and coffee is simply a habit, similar 
to the tobacco and alcoholic habit. A habit that 
is easy to make and hard to break. It is a habit 
that should be discouraged and absolutely for- 
bidden to children. 
TEN HEALTH POINTERS. 
1 
Remember that tea and coffee are not needed 
to keep healthy people healthy and they will con- 
tribute nothing to the health of sick people. 
2 
Remember that tea is very likely to cause con- 
stipation, especially if not properly made. 
3 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. 72 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
4 
Children should never form the habit of drink- 
ing- tea and coffee. 
5 
Remember that pure water is mudh better than 
tea or coffee as a drink. 
6 
Coffee is very often the cause of heart trouble 
such as palpitation and irregular heating. 
7 
Drink plenty of good milk and water instead 
of coffee and you will enjoy better health and 
longer life. 
8 
If people who use a great deal of coffee and 
tea are healthy, they are healthy in spite of it and 
not because of it. 
9 
Remember the children who drink tea or coffee 
are very seldom healthy. 
10 
It is better to prevent the tea and coffee habit 
than it is to correct it. Tobacco. 
This is a subject about which much has been 
said. Some people claim that tobacco is injuri- 
ous only when used to excess. Others think it is 
injurious in proportion to the amount used. 
That is to say, when a little is used, little harm 
is done, and when much is used, much harm is 
done. The injury that tobacco does depends both 
upon the amount used and the system of the per- 
son using it. Some people can use large quanti- 
ties of tobacco and it will do them less harm 
than a much smaller quantity will do another 
person. If ten cigars will poison a man, then one 
cigar will produce just one-tenth as much poison 
if the cigars are the same and they are smoked 
under the same conditions. And yet because 
one cigar does not cause any unpleasant symp- 
toms, that is, does not contain poison enough to 
make the person sick, it is claimed by some that 
they are absolutely harmless. There is no doubt 
that tobacco has done great harm to many users. 
This harm is brought on by taking very small 
quantities of poison into the body daily for a long 
time. People who are continually taking poison 
into their bodies should feel sure that the good 
73 74 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
they get from it is far in excess of the bad. But 
this is not the case with tobacco. 
No one will dispute that tobacco is a poison. 
It has no food value at all. It cannot be used as 
a medicine, not even for the stomach's sake. It 
is therefore simply a useless, harmful, habit- 
forming plant that the world could soon learn to 
get along without. 
It is a well-known fact that some of the master 
minds of the world are slaves, more or less, to 
the tobacco habit. But this is no reason why 
tobacco should be used. There are reasons to 
believe that even the master minds would be more 
useful and clearer had tobacco never been used. 
If tobacco will greatly injure the mind of a boy, 
then it is reasonable to believe that it will slightly 
injure the mind of a mlan. If tobacco is injuri- 
ous at all it should not be used, for no good can 
possibly come from it. 
BOYS AND CIGARETTES. 
It is a well-known fact that boys who form 
the habit of smoking cigarettes at an early age 
are always dull and backward in life. They al- 
ways show a lack of some of the things that go 
to make success. 
Very often boys who begin the cigarette habit 
early never reach manhood at all, because the 
nicotine from the tobacco so reduces the ability 
of the body to keep off disease, that he will fall Tobacco. 
75 
an easy victim to some disease that should have 
been thrown off. 
Tobacco hinders the development of both the 
body and mind. Cigarettes have caused many 
a boy to be cut off in his "teens," who would 
have become a useful, robust, active man. 
Since no good can come from tobacco in any 
forms, its use should be discouraged In every 
form. Mothers who wish to see their boys de- 
velop into men, strong in body and in mind, 
should see to it that their boys never smoke 
cigarettes or use tobacco in any form.. 
The Tobacco Heart. 
This is a kind of heart disease that is caused 
by using tobacco either in one form or the other. 
The question has been asked, which form of to- 
bacco does the most harm? Cigarettes are 
thought to be the most harmful because they are 
smoked mostly by boys and young men whose 
systems feel the effect of the poison more than 
old men. Cigarettes are harmful also because 
the smoke is inhaled and in that way a great deal 
of the poison can get into the system. Cigars 
are very injurious to some people, others seem to 
stand the effect very well. The snuff and shew- 
ing habit are very filthy and very injurious. 
Tobacco in every form is capable of doing great 
harm to the heart. People may use tobacco for 
years and not see any harm from it but some- 
times when it is too late, they find they have what 76 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
the doctor calls a tobacco heart and they are 
compelled to give up the habit after using it for 
years, thinking it was not hulling them. 
Tobacco sometimes causes the heart to skip 
beats, or it may cause what is called palpitation 
of the heart, that is, it causes the heart to beat 
very rapidly for a few moments, after which the 
beats become more regular and finally normal 
again. These conditions may come from either 
smoking, chewing or using snulf. That goes to 
show that tobacco has a very injurious effect on 
the heart, and if it is injurious to the heart it 
must be injurious to other organs. Everybody 
who desires long life and good health should 
avoid things that injure the heart. 
Tobacco on the Stomach. 
Tobacco has a very bad effect on the stomach. 
Thousands of poeple are suffering with 
what they call dyspepsia, stomach trouble,, indi- 
gestion, and the real trouble is, they are great 
users of tobacco and it has poisoned their sys- 
tems. Most of these cases would be cured if the 
food list were properly regulated and tobacco let 
alone. 
Tobacco on the Eyes. 
It must not be forgotten that tobacco has a very 
injurious effect on the eyes and will sometimes 
cause blindness or eye trouble that will lead to 
blindness. Tobacco then should be avoided for 
the sake of the eyes. Tobacco 
77 
Another trouble caused by tobacco. There are 
many unhealthy conditions that are caused by 
tobacco. The poison in the tobacco that causes 
the trouble is nicotine. Nicotine causes the 
blood vessels to become hard at a very early age 
and this is a sure means of shortening the life. 
THE TOBACCO HABIT. 
Cigarettes are the most injurious form in 
which tobacco can be used, especially when used 
by boys. Cigarettes are poisonous and hinder the 
growth of both the body and mind. It is claimed 
by some that cigarettes increase the appetite for 
whiskey; that is to say that a boy who smokes 
cigarettes is more likely to become a drunkard 
than a boy who does not smoke at all. From 
what has been said it can easily be seen that the 
tobacco habit is a very bad habit and should not 
be taken up by those who desire a long and use- 
ful life. Tobacco shortens the lives of many 
thousands of people every year. Those who have 
already gotten into the tobacco habit should cor- 
rect the habit at once, if possible. And if it is 
not possible to stop it at once, it should be stopped 
gradually, for there are people who cannot stop 
the habit at once without having great trouble. 
But by all means the habit should be corrected. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Do not be a slave to the habit of chewing to- 78 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
bacco and using snuff, for they are very unclean 
habits. 
2 
Let not tobacco injure your heart. The only 
way to do that is not to use the stuff. 
3 
Using tobacco is simply a habit. Do not allow 
yourself to become a slave to such a habit. 
4 
Remember that nicotine is very poisonous and 
should not be taken into the system. 
5 
Remember that nicotine enters the body when 
chewing as well as when smoking. Do not take 
poison into the body, knowing that great harm 
and no good will come from it. 
6 
Remember that the millions of dollars that are 
spent for tobacco every year could be spent more 
wisely. 
7 
Never allow your boys to smoke cigarettes if 
you want them to become strong, both in body 
and in mind. 
8 
The tobacco habit very often starts the whiskey 
haibit, and that is another reason why the tobac- 
co habit should not be taken up. Constipation. 
79 
9 
Tobacco will harden the veins and arteries and 
in this way shorten life. 
10 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. Constipation. 
Too much stress cannot be laid on this condi- 
tion because it paves the way and prepares the 
soil for diseases. Yes, it is a forerunner of a 
great number of diseases. A person is committing 
a grave sin against his own health wiien he goes 
two or three days without having an action of 
the bowels. If a man carries an unnecessary 
load for many days and not be allowed to throw 
it off when he desires to do so, he will soon get 
accustomed to the load. And so it is with the 
bowels. If you do not allow them to throw off 
the unnecessary load when they call your atten- 
tion to it, they will soon get accustomed to it and 
constipation is the result. Therefore one should 
not put off or delay relieving the bowels when 
the desire comes to do so. To delay may mean 
constipation and constipation means disease soon 
or late. 
Regular Time. 
Train the bowels to act at a regular time 
each day. This may sound very strange to 
some people and this is the reason why their 
attention should be called to it. If we get 
ourselves in the habit of letting the bowels act 
80 Constipation. 
81 
at a certain time each day, it will be easy 
for them to act at that time and constipation 
is not so likely to take place. 
We should go at a regular timle each day 
whether or not we feel a desire to do so. Go, not 
only at the regular time but at any time that 
a desire is felt. This is important and 
should be remembered. 
Drinking Water. 
Another cause of constipation is drinking too 
little water. People very often drink so little 
water that the passage of the food through 
the intestines is very difficult because the 
food is too dry. Water is very plentiful 
and free, and people should form the habit of 
drinking more of it. We were taught years 
ago that it was injurious to the digestion to 
drink water at or near meal time. This idea 
has been proven to be incorrect. We may 
drink a moderate quantity of water before 
meals, with meals, or after meals, since we 
do not drink too much or wash the food down 
before it is properly chewed and mixed with 
the saliva. Very few people drink too much 
water but instead a great many drink too 
little. It has been said that of all drinks pure 
wfater is the best. 
Proper Food, 
Eating too much of meat and too little of 
vegetables is the cause of constipation in a 82 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
great many people. We will not go into a de- 
tailed discussion as to the reason that we 
should eat more vegetables. People would live 
longer and have better health if they would eat 
meat only once a day and more fresh vegetables 
and fruit. 
Occupation. 
Certain occupations that call for little exer- 
cise,. very often help to bring on constipation. 
This should be corrected by taking the proper 
kind of exercise, a good walk every day will 
contribute greatly to the health of such people. 
Corsets. 
Nine women out of every ten who wear 
tight corsets are constipated. Their bowels 
are so crowded and jammed out of place that 
they cannot do their duty as they should and 
constipation is the result. The only cure for 
this condition is to remove the cause. 
Run Down Health. 
A general run down condition of the body is 
often the cause of constipation. In this condi- 
tion the bowels are not strong and active enough 
to force the food along as they should and con- 
stipation is the result. 
Over Eating. 
Over eating should not be forgotten as a cause 
of constipation. There are those who wear Constipation. 
83 
their bowels out by eating too much. This 
habit should be corrected. More people die 
from eating too much than from eating too 
little. This should forever be remembered. 
These are the most common causes of consti- 
pation. 
The Result of Constipation. 
The results of constipation are many and 
serious. 
The first that may be mentioned and discussed 
briefly is 'the condition known as auto-intoxi- 
cation (which means "self-poisoning"). 
During the process of digestion the food is 
torn to pieces, as it were, and so changed as to 
render a portion of it fit to be taken up by the 
blood and carried off into the system to form 
strength and the heat of the body. The other 
part of the food that the blood does not take up, 
remains in the bowels to be passed off and the 
sooner it is passed off the better it will be for 
the body. If it is not passed off, it will rot and 
become a poison; this poison will be absorbed 
or taken up by the blood and thereby poison the 
whole system. This will cause headache, dizzi- 
ness, neuralgia and rheumatic pains in the dif- 
ferent parts of the body, pains and gas 
in bowels, palpitation of the heart, slug 
gish feeling, appendicitis and many other 
troubles, bo we see how very important it is 
to keep the bowels open and acting freely. A 
wise old physician used to say: A man has two 84 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
duties to perform in this world; namely: "Fear 
God and keep his bowels open." It is our 
solemn duty and God expects it of us, to obey 
the laws of health and keep our bodies in the 
very best possible condition, and this we can- 
not do with constipated bowels. 
Constipation may give rise to certain forms 
of liver trouble. The liver is a very important 
organ and we should do nothing to impair its 
ability to carry on its work. 
The Liver. 
Kidney. 
The kidneys also very often suffer as a result 
of constipation. The bowels should help the kid- 
neys carry off the poisonous matter that naturally 
forme in the body; but when there is constipa- 
tion extra work is thrown on the kidneys, be- 
cause they have to do their regular work and 
a lot of extra work in throwing off the poison 
that is formed in the constipated bowels and 
finds its way into the blood. This gives 
the kidneys a great deal of extra work and some 
physicians claim that this is one of the causes of 
Bright's disease. The writer is inclined to have 
a similar belief. So let us beware of constipa- 
tion. 
Other Results. 
In constipation there are sometimes hard 
lumps or flakes of waste matter that accumulate Constipation. 
85 
in certain portions of the bowels, which cause 
irritation and sometimes inflammation. Such hard 
lumps of waste matter sometimes cause little 
raw sores on the walls of the bowels and through 
these raw places germs and poison sometimes 
find their way into the blood and there cause 
serious trouble. Thus the importance of having 
at least one full action of the bowels every day. 
To allow the bowels to go three or four days 
without moving will soon or late undermine the 
health. 
Epsom salts and cathartic pills very often do 
more harm than good, if taken regularly; be- 
cause they make the bowels move and then leave 
them constipated worse than before. One should 
not get into the habit of taking epsom salts or 
other cathartics every day, but should try to regu- 
late the bowels by complying with the follow- 
ing rules: 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Drink plenty of water; always taking a glass 
of water as soon as you get up in the morning. 
2 
Eat meat once a day only. Eat plenty of 
coarse vegetables, such as beans, peas, cabbage 
and plenty of coarse bread, fruit and prunes. 
3 
Train the bowels to move at a regular time 
each day. 86 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
4 
Take plenty bodily exercise. 
5 
Don't eat too much. 
6 
If you must use drug's to make your bowels 
move, use a mild laxative, such as cascara or 
rhubarb. 
7 
Do not put off or resist the desire of the 
bowels to act. 
8 
If your constipation is the result of stomach or 
bowel trouble, consult a physician and try to be 
relieved. 
9 
Try to have at least one good action of the 
bowels every day. 
10 
There is always a cause for constipation; try 
to locate the cause and remove it. Colds. 
By colds we mean the common bad cold that is 
common, more or less, in every part of the civil- 
ized world. Yet there are many people who sel- 
dom have a cold. And strange as it may seem 
there are many people who are exposed to all 
kinds of bad weather and yet they never have 
a cold. We see from this that some other cause 
or condition must be present to cause a cold. If 
being exposed to cold weather would alone cause 
a cold, then most everybody would have a cold 
in wintry weather; but this is not the case. The 
condition known as a "bad cold" may be caused 
by more than one thing. Some colds are caused 
by a germ, but this germ can thrive and multi- 
ply and do its work only under certain conditions 
which will be explained later. 
Colds are sometimes caused by uneven or sud- 
den change of temperature. A sudden change 
of weather or a rush from a warm room into 
the cool, damp, out-door air will sometimes cause 
a cold in delicate, sickly people, or in people who 
are not accustomed to the cold. 
Other causes of colds are as follows: 
First: Allowing the body to become suddenly 
chilled from any cause. When the body is warm 
87 88 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
the pores of the skin are open or dilated. If, 
when the body is in this condition, it is suddenly 
chilled, the blood is forced inward and the skin 
becomes cold and almost bloodless. This causes 
the system to become upset and a cold follows. 
Second: For different reasons, people some- 
times fail to change their clothing when the 
weather suddenly becomes cooler. This some- 
times cause a severe cold in people who take cold 
easily. 
Third: Allowing the system to become run 
down and weak is a common cause of a bad cold. 
Fourth: Many people take cold when taking a 
bath when the pores of the skin are dilated or 
opened and become chilled; and in this condition 
they dress vzithout first rubbing the skin and 
bringing the blood back to the surface. 
Fifth: Living in hot, tight rooms, the air of 
which is filled with germs. These are 
only some of the ways by which colds may be 
taken, and by a little care and forethought all 
of these may be avoided. 
The surest way to prevent taking cold is to get 
used to the cold weather as soon as it comes. 
The skin and system should be trained to protect 
themselves against cold by getting them accus- 
tomed to it. This may be done by giving the 
body a daily cool bath, beginning in the summer 
and keeping it up all the winter. The bath 
should not last more than two or three minutes, 
after which the body should be dried oT as fast Colds 
89 
us possible by giving it a fast rapid rubbing with 
a dry rough cloth or towel. Continue this rub- 
bing till the entire body is glowing with 
w'armth. This tones the body up and seems to 
teach the body how to keep off colds. People 
who follow faithfully this simple rule of health 
very often go for years without having a single 
cold. When people once become accustomed to 
the cold bath, they enjoy it to the very highest, 
even in cold weather. People who take cold 
easily should begin the cold bath. It should be 
started in hot weather and kept up regularly as 
the weather becomes cooler. 
People who take the cold bath can do many 
things without taking cold that would give 
other people a severe cold. There are thousands 
of people who work in the cold and are exposed 
to severe cold weather, yet they never have a 
bad cold; this is because their bodies have grad- 
ually become accustomed to the cold. 
Alcohol and Colds. 
The idea that alcohol or whiskey will keep off 
colds is a mistaken one. Whiskey cannot keep 
off colds and should not be used for that pur- 
pose. There are thousands of people who think 
that they can stand more cold by taking a few 
drinks of whiskey, than they can without it. 
This is a great mistake and it should be corrected 
once for always. When a person who is exposed 
to cold takes a drink of whiskey or alcohol, it 90 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
stimulates the heart and the blood is forced to 
the surface or skin, during this time there is a 
sensation of warmth in the body, that is, the 
body is warm; for a little while only. But as 
soon as the whiskey dies out the cold is felt more 
keenly than it would have been had the whisky 
never been touched. Do not be deceived, whis- 
key will not keep off cold. It Will only warm 
.you up for a little while and after that it will 
'cause you to freeze. 
Fresh Air. 
People who live in tight hot rooms need not be 
surprised when they in cold weather contract 
severe colds. In cold weather cool rooms are 
more healthy than hot, tight ones. A man 
should never, not even for a moment, be sepa- 
rated from fresh air, regardless of the weather. 
But it should be remembered that a draft and 
dampness should be avoided. 
Stylish Colds. 
If any class of people deserve catching colds 
and suffering, it is the class who go too lightly 
clad in the winter because of style or 
fashion. There is no reason for this foolish 
habit-endangering the health for the sake of 
style. When style does not agree with the laws 
of health, all wise people will forsake the style 
and cling to health. Colds. 
91 
Removing the Cause. 
People who take cold easily on slight exposure 
should find the cause and remove it. It is a sure 
sign that something is wrong somewhere and 
should be corrected at once before it is too late. 
The death rate of consumption, pneumonia and 
many other diseases would be lowered if this 
instruction were carried out. Colds should not 
be allowed to linger or hang on. The founda- 
tion for consumption may be in formation. 
Have the cold broken up at any cost before it 
breaks you up. 
The Germ. 
The germ that causes so much trouble in 
colds is very often found in the mouth and 
throat of well persons, but they are not able to 
attack the body till they find the system out of 
order and no longer able to protect itself. It is 
then that these germs find the battle easy and 
cause an inflammation of the nose and throat. 
They may go before and prepare the way for 
consumption, pneumonia and many other dis- 
eases. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Do not allow a cold to hang on or last for 
weeks, but cure the cold at any cost. 
2 
Do not allow yourself to be separated from the 92 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
fresh air, not even for a moment. You may 
have to pay dearly for it. 
3 
riot, tight rooms were not intended for human 
dwelling places. Avoid them at all times. 
4 
Get accustomed to cold as soon as possible 
after the cold weather comes in. 
5 
Never be afraid to take a short, quick, daily 
cold bath as directed in this book. But begin 
them in the summer. 
The'above rule does not include very young, 
very old, or sickly people. 
6 
Never forget to do much rubbing after taking 
a cold bath, otherwise a cold is likely to follow. 
7 
Remember that people who breathe pure air 
at all times and take a daily cold bath very sel- 
dom have colds. 
8 
If your system is weak and run down, see a 
physician at once and have the cause located and 
removed. 
9 
Study and apply the laws of this book and you 
will have a better chance at a happy old age. 
10 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. €011 sumption. 
So much has been said and written about this 
disease that it is hardly possible to say anything 
new. No attempt will be made, therefore, at a de- 
tailed description, but simply to call the reader's 
attention to a few well-established facts concern- 
ing the disease. It is called consumption be- 
cause it really is a consuming disease, one that 
will consume, with few exceptions, any part of 
the human body, especially the lungs. 
The Germ. 
Consumption is caused by a germ, so we will 
speak of the germ as C. G., meaning consump- 
tion germ. The C. G. is very active and is hard 
to kill, and under certain conditions will live for 
months. The C. G. is a very small germ, so 
small that many thousands can swim on the 
smallest drops of water that can be seen with the 
naked eye. 
In order that we may make it as unpleasant 
as possible for this intruder, let us study some 
of his likes and dislikes. There are certain con- 
ditions that the C. G. may be said to like very 
much, and under these conditions will thrive and 
live for months. First, darkness. Second, dirt. 
93 94 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
Third, dampness. Fourth, an undermined or 
puny state of health. 
Outside the human body, the C. G. thrives best 
in a damp, dirty, dark place with moderate 
warmth. The kind of human being the C. G. 
likes to attack is one who is already weak and 
whose health is already undermined. Tn this 
respect the C. G. is a dirty coward. Some 
germs, such as pneumonia germ or typhoid fever 
germ, will jump on a strong, healthy man and 
force him to struggle for an existence, but the C. 
G. prefers to jump on a man who is already 
weakened, hence it is important that we keep 
our health in as good condition as possible and 
thereby shield ourselves, as far as possible, 
from all contagious or catching diseases. He 
who undermines his health by disregarding the 
laws of health is simply paving the way for 
consumption and various other diseases. 
Fresh Air in Consumption 
The C. G., like some people, is extremely 
afraid of pure fresh air. Fresh air and sunshine 
have proven to be a deadly enemy to this germ 
and if we wish to make it unpleasant for him, 
submit him to an abundance of fresh air and 
sunshine. It has been proven beyond doubt that 
the C. G. can live only a few hours if exposed 
to the direct rays of the sun; hence we have at 
our disposal a deadly and effective weapon to 
wield against this little death-dealing intruder. Consumption. 
95 
And since this weapon is placed in the reach of 
all, what we have to do is to learn how to use 
it .against him to advantage. 
A person with weak lungs or, consumption 
should spend every moment of his life in the 
fresh air, and as much as possible in the sun- 
shine. A man once took two healthy guinea 
pigs and injected an equal number of C. G. into 
each one. He then put one of the guinea pigs in 
a dark room that had only a limited amount of 
iresh air; the other he put in a room with plenty 
of fresh air and sunshine. The one he placed in 
the dark room soon died with consumption but 
the one that was put in the room with fresh air 
and sunshine soon got well. While there is a 
vast difference between a guinea pig and a 
human being, yet we can learn a valuable lesson 
from that experience; namely, that out in the 
fresh air is the place for people with consump- 
tion and not in tight, hot rooms. Not only 
should people sick with consumption live in the 
fresh air, but everybody should live in the fresh 
air and thereby avoid the disease. 
The Bed-room. 
People spend about one-third of their lives in 
the bed-room. It is here that we lay a founda- 
tion for a long and healthy life or it is here that 
we undermine our health and pave the way to 
youthful graves. The air in our bed-room 
should never at any time, night or day, summer 96 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
or winter, be allowed to become stale and im- 
pure. A window should forever be open but care 
and common sense should be used to begin with 
and not expose the room to a draft of cold, damp 
air. A window should be so arranged that it 
can be lowered two or three inches from the top 
so that the impure air that collects in the top of 
the room can pass out. The same window 
should be raised two or three inches from the 
bottom so that fresh air can come in. The win- 
dow should be kept in this way summer and 
winter. In damp, cold weather the window may 
be raised only one inch from the bottom. 
When we breathe air it becomes laden with 
impurities and poison and it should not be taken 
into the body again. This bad air collects in the 
upper part of the room; so we see why the win- 
dow should be opened at the top. As the fresh 
air comes in at the bottom it forces the bad air 
out at the top, and this is what is called venti- 
lation. Ventilation means, then, letting in 
fresh pure air and letting out stale bad air. Bed- 
rooms, school-rooms, churches and every place 
where a number of people gather should be aired 
as stated above. 
Around the Sick Bed. 
Some people have great fear of a person sick 
with consumption. They have a right to be, un- 
less the sick person is very careful. The first 
and great rule for a person sick with consump- Consumption. 
97 
tion is: Do not spit except as stated in the laws 
of health. If this one rule was carried out, the 
death rate of this disease would soon be cut down 
about one-half. 
The second rule should be: Do not cough ex- 
cept when holding a cloth or paper napkin before 
the mouth and nose. 
Let us study the reason for these two rules: 
First: When a person has consumption of the 
lungs, his throat and lungs are most always full 
of germs, and especially so in the advance stage 
of the disease. Now when he spits, coughs or 
sneezes, he fills the air with thousands of little 
drops of spit from his throat and lungs. And 
these little drops of spit contain many germs 
which are alive and active. The small drop of 
spit soon dries up, but the deadly germs still 
remain and are now in fine condition to begin 
a new case of consumption. As soon as the spit 
dries, a little puff of wind will cause the germs 
to float off in the air in every direction. And 
when another person takes into his lungs the 
air that has these germs in it, we may look for 
trouble, unless the person is healthy and robust. 
If the person is healthy and strong, his blood 
pure and always getting the proper supply of 
oxygen from fresh air, the germ will find it hard 
to multiply and very likely they will be destroyed 
altogether. But if the germs find their way into 
the lungs of a person whose system is weak and 
whose health is undermined by other diseases, 
such as grippe, bronchitis, measles, tonsilitis, 98 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
typhoid fever and drinking alcoholic drinks, 
then there will be a great battle in which the 
germs are likely to get the upper hand. A per- 
son who is losing ground to the germs will be- 
gin to waste away, cough, look pale, lose weight 
and strength, have slight fevers and perhaps 
night sweats and hemorrhages and many other 
signs that mark a person who is bound for a con- 
sumptive grave. 
The best and safest way to spit is to use a 
paper cup which is burned every night and a new 
one supplied. If the paper cup is not at hand, 
the patient should spit on a piece of paper or 
cloth. The paper may be burned and the cloth 
may be burned or boiled for one hour before 
washing. A cloth or paper napkin should al- 
ways be held in front of the mouth and nose 
when coughing or sneezing. This will prevent 
the germs from being scattered around. All the 
spit must be kept away from the flies, for they 
will surely scatter the germs and cause the dis- 
ease to spread. People with consumption should 
never kiss or be kissed. They should use their 
own private drinking cups and their dishes 
should be boiled as soon as they are used, for 
boiling kills the germs. 
It should be understood that every person who 
gets the germs of consumption in his throat and 
lungs will not die with consumption. Many 
people breathe these germs into their lungs and 
How to Spit, Cough and Sneeze. Consumption. 
99 
never know or feel sick from it. The reason is 
this: Their bodies are so strong, their blood is 
so pure that the germs are killed before they can 
multiply and kill the body. Hence, we see the 
importance of keeping our bodies as strong and 
as healthy as possible. People who have had 
their health undermined by drinking whiskey 
or different diseases cannot so easily throw off 
or kill disease germs. So when the germs once 
get into their bodies they multiply and thrive 
very rapidly, and do the body great harm and 
sometimes destroy it. Such diseases as pneu- 
monia, bronchitis, tonsilitis, pleurisy and a long 
list of other diseases will reduce the power of 
the body to destroy the germs. So beware of 
these diseases and never allow them to linger 
and become chronic. 
2 
Remember that it is easier to prevent con- 
sumption than it is to cure it; for an ounce of 
prevention is worth a pound of cure. 
2 
Do not allow the air in the bed room to be- 
come stale and impure, but let pure air in at the 
bottom and bad air out at the top. 
3 
Be not afraid of night air but rather be afraid 
of impure, stale air. 
4 
Do not spit carelessly, neither allow your 
Ten Health Pointers. 100 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
neighbor to do so, if it is in your power to pre- 
vent. 
5 
Never fail to keep your body in the very best 
possible condition by keeping the laws of health 
and the instructions laid down in this little book. 
6 
Never stay around or visit a person with 
consumption unless he is careful about spitting. 
If you ignore this suggestion, you may be sorry 
when it is too late. 
7 
If you are easy to take cold, try to find and 
remove the cause, for a person who is easy to 
take cold is easy to take consumption. 
8 
Never try to wear out such diseases as bron- 
chitis, tonsilitis, catarrh of the nose and throat 
and common colds; they may call consumption to 
their assistance and then wear you out. 
9 
Never drink whiskey or alcohol in any form; 
and never believe that they will prevent you from 
taking cold; it is impossible for whiskey and al- 
chol to do that. 
10 
Remember that an ounce of prevention is 
worth a pound of cure. Typhoid Fever. 
Typhoid Fever is a disease that has slain its 
millions, it is a germ disease and can easily be 
prevented. The germ that causes typhoid fever 
differs from other germs in several particulars 
but we will not consume time and space with a 
detail description. Our object is to study war 
against this enemy to the human family and in- 
form ourselves as to its habits and the conditions 
under which it thrives and multiplies. 
This germ is not easily killed by cold; ice 
made from water having the germ! in it will 
cause the disease and act as a medium for 
spreading it. The germ, thrives best in warm, 
moist and shady places. 
To cause typhoid fever the germ must find its 
way into the bowels, it must be swallowed, as a 
rule, with the food or water. 
The Effect of the Germ on the Human Body. 
The germ is harmless to a human being until 
it finds its way into the bowels. There it lives 
and multiplies and makes much trouble for the 
person attacked. The germs multiply in the 
bowels and there form poison; this poison is ab- 
sorbed or is taken up by the blood and in that 
way poisons the whole system. The germ also 
101 102 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
finds its way into the blood and there makes bad 
matters worse and plays its part in causing the 
fever and the other symptoms that go with the 
disease. The germ also attacks the walls of the 
bowels and there cause ulcers or sores to form. 
The ulcers sometimes eat into the walls of the 
bowels and cause hemorrhage, which sometimes 
kills the patient, or the ulcer may eat all the way 
through the wall of the bowels and this most al- 
ways kills the patient. With these raw bleed- 
ing ulcers in the bowels we can see and under- 
stand the importance of carrying out the phy- 
sicians' instructions as to feeding and keeping 
the patient quiet in bed. 
How the Disease Spreads. 
It is important that we study the mode of 
transportation and thereby be in a better posi- 
tion to hinder the same and check the spread 
of the disease. Unlike the germ of consump- 
tion it very seldom travels through the air di- 
rectly from one person to another; but some- 
body or something must carry the typhoid germ 
wherever it goes. When a person is sick with 
this disease there are millions and millions of 
germs in the bowels and when the bowels move 
or have an action, millions of these germs pass 
in the discharge. The germs that pass in the 
discharge from the bowels are not dead but alive 
and very active and can cause the disease in an- 
other person unless they are killed as shall be 
explained hereafter. Typhoid Fever. 
103 
Let us consider briefly the different ways in 
which the disease spreads. 
First: The water way. Many cases of typhoid 
fever have been traced directly to the water 
supply, the water having come in contact with 
the filth coming from the patient's body, and such 
filth has millions of germs in it which are not 
easily killed, so we can see how the disease 
spreads. A big rain may wash some of the 
germs into the well or the germs may find their 
way into the pump, or the water supply of the 
city may easily get germs into it, if not proper- 
ly filtered. To drink water with germs in, it 
may mean another case of typhoid fever. Hence, 
we see the reason for killing the germs as soon 
as they leave the body. Let us keep in mind 
that these germs are not easily killed and may 
live for many months and when the filth con- 
taining these germs is carelessly thrown out, 
they will find their way into the bowels of an- 
other person and cause another case of typhoid 
fever. 
The Fly Way. 
The common house fly is a great enemy to 
mankind in that it distributes disease germs and 
causes thousands of people to die every year. 
But how can the common house fly carry typhoid 
germs from one person to another? The ex- 
planation is this: when the discharge from the 
patient's bowels is carelessly thrown out around 
the privy, the flies very often visit the privy 104 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
while making the kitchen and dining-room his 
headquarters. The fly, after feeding on the 
filth around the privy, will go directly to the 
kitchen and dining-room to finish out his meal. 
There he will wipe his feet and legs on the 
dishes and food, scattering germs at every step. 
Mot only do they carry germs on their feet and 
legs, but the germs may be found in great num- 
bers in the fly speck or the discharge coming 
from the flies' bowels. So small are these germs 
that many thousands may be in a single fly 
speck. So we can see how very important it is 
to wage a continuous war on flies. Screen 
them out, kill them in every conceivable way, 
and destroy their breeding places. In doing this 
we are doing a great work to check the spread 
of diseases, especially typhoid fever. But the 
best way of all to stop the spread of typhoid 
fever is to destroy the germs as soon as they 
leave the body of the patient, before the flies can 
distribute them to the rest of the family or 
neighbors. 
Let us take a peep into the life and habits 
of the fly. The fly will lay her eggs in almost 
any filth where it is warm and a little moist, such 
as stable manure, rotten fruit, garbage and the 
filth around the privy. In six to twelve hours 
the eggs hatch into maggots or lava. The eggs 
are small, white, oblong in shape or shaped 
somewhat like a hen's egg. For five or six days 
the maggot feeds and wiggles in the filth and Typhoid Fever. 
105 
develops very rapidly. After five or six days he 
is no longer a maggot but what is called a pupa. 
This is known as the resting stage, and after 
five or six days in this stage he turns into a full 
grown fly, that is, he is just as big as he will 
ever be. He is then ready to begin his dirty and 
cursed career of spreading disease germs of 
most every kind. So let us declare an eternal 
war against him and make it as unpleasant for 
him as possible. Give him black flag, set traps 
for him, put fly paper in his path, screen him 
out, break up and destroy his breeding places, 
and in this way we will do ourselves as well as 
our neighbors untold good, and great shall be 
our reward. 
The Milk Way. 
Milk may easily carry the germ of typhoid 
fever, as the germ multiplies very rapidly in 
milk. A fly may wipe his feet on the milk pail, 
or the milk pail m,ay be washed in water with 
germs in it. When a few germs get in the milk 
they multiply very rapidly. To drink such 
milk may mean typhoid fever. Oysters, let- 
tuces, and salads have been known to cause the 
disease, having come in contact with the germs. 
Around the Sick Bed. 
Some people think that doctors have some 
secret way to protect themselves from disease, 
when they are always going into it. The doc- 106 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
tor studies disease germs and knows the con- 
ditions under which they can live; he therefore 
knows how to protect himself. There is no 
secret about it and any person can learn how 
to protect himself against disease germs by read- 
ing books and learning the conditions under 
which they can and cannot live. There is no 
reason to fear to wait on a person with typhoid 
fever if a few simple instructions are carried 
out. 
First: Flies should be kept out of the room 
as much as possible. They will surely spread 
the disease. They will go around the patient 
and feed on all the filth they can find, especially 
in the night glass, and get millions of germs on 
themselves and then go direct to the dining- 
room and kitchen, spreading germs at every 
step. The room should be screened, that is, the 
doors and windows of the room. 
A full supply of disinfectant should also be 
kept on hand and used freely. For the hands, 
bichloride of mercury is best, one tablet to one 
pint of water. This may be kept in the room 
and the hands washed in it as often as anything 
is handled around the patient, and especially be- 
fore eating or putting your hands about your 
face or mouth. These tablets are very poison- 
ous and should be handled with care to prevent 
them from being given for medicine. Carbolic 
acid or better lysol or creolin will kill all the 
germs in the night glass that pass from the Typhoid Fever. 
107 
patient's bowels. Two teaspoonfuls to a half 
pint of water. This may be kept in the room 
the night glass which the patient uses. Chlo- 
ride of lime is a good disinfectant to be used in 
the night glass. After the patient uses the 
night glass, the discharge should be allowed to 
set covered tor at least one hour to allow the 
solution time to kill the germs before carrying 
it out. 
If the patient vomits this also should be al- 
lowed to set mixed with the solution. The 
spit should be treated the same way. It is im- 
portant that we pay strict attention to destroy- 
ing the germs as soon as they leave the patient's 
body, for in this way only can the disease be 
checked. It is important that all lumps or thick 
pieces of filth in the night glass be broken and 
the contents stirred up so that all the germs 
will be exposed to the solution and killed. It 
is recommended by some physicians that the 
contents of the night glass be buried, after the 
solution has had time to kill the germs. This 
will give the solution a chance to act longer in 
case a few germs escaped contact with the so- 
lution. 
All dishes, towels, water glasses and all such 
articles used about the patient should be boiled 
as soon as taken from the sick room!. When 
there is typhoid fever in the neighborhood it is 
best to boil all water that is used for drinking. 
All food should be well cooked and not left 108 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
w'here flies can have access to it. All bed cloth- 
ing should be boiled as soon, as it is removed 
from the bed. These germs are sometimes car- 
ried from place to place in the dust but this is 
not the rule. 
The central lesson to remember is to destroy 
all germs as soon as they leave the patient's 
body. And since these germs can be seen only 
with a very strong microscope, we must obey 
certain rules in order to kill them. And, last 
but not least, people can now be successfully vac- 
cinated against typhoid fever. This is very ef- 
ficient and is almost sure to prevent the dis- 
ease. The vaccination must of course be done 
by a physician, which consists in injecting dead 
germs into the system, which will train the sys- 
tem to kill live germs should any get into the 
body. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Do not needlessly expose yourself to typhoid 
fever by making- frequent or unnecessary visits 
to see persons sick with the disease. 
2 
Read and inform yourself of the nature of 
the disease and thereby learn how to avoid it. 
3 
Teach others how to avoid it. 
4 
Do not allow flies to come within your dwell- Typhoid Fever. 
109 
ing, for they may bring typhoid fever with 
them. 
5 
Co-operate with the physician in trying to 
stop the spread of the disease. 
6 
Follow the advice laid down in this little book 
in connection with the advice of the physician, 
whether or not you see the reason for so doing. 
7 
If typhoid fever is in your neighborhood, do 
not forget to boil all water before drinking it, 
and to screen out every fly from your kitchen and 
dining-room. 
8 
Strive to keep your body in a healthy condi- 
tion at all times. 
9 
When you wait on a typhoid patient or handle 
things that have been used about a person sick 
with typhoid fever, you must surely wash your 
hands with some disinfectant as soon as the 
work is done. 
10 
Never put anything in your mouth that has 
been exposed to flies. Oust. 
Dust is always laden with germs of various 
kinds. The germs of consumption may be car- 
ried a great distance and likewise the germs of 
any other diseases. For this reason fruit, candies 
or vegetables that have been exposed to 
dust on the street should never be eaten without 
being washed, for they may be coated with dust 
in which there may be millions of germs. If 
fruit and candy dealers will not keep their goods 
protected from the dirt and dust, then refuse 
to buy from them. Some meat and vegetable 
dealers keep their goods in the street in front 
of their stores, where all the dust of the street 
collects. This should be prohibited by law. 
Preventing disease is like a chain of many 
links. Every link should be strong and durable. 
That a chain is no stronger than its weakest 
link is a true saying. To avoid dust is one of the 
links in the chain of sanitation and hygiene and 
as much importance should be placed on this 
link as upon some of the more common links. 
The germs that cause the following diseases 
are very often found in street dust: Consump- 
tion, diptheria, pneumonia, smallpox, measles, 
whooping cough and many, many other diseases. 
110 Dust 
111 
In sweeping and cleaning the home care should 
be taken not to stir up dust. If a special prepa- 
ration to keep down dust cannot be had, then 
clean water should be freely sprinkled around. 
Don't Spit. 
The "don't spit" signs should occasionally be 
impressed upon the minds of the public by pun- 
ishing those who insist upon spitting any and 
everywhere. The public pays very little attention 
to the "don't spit" sign, yet it is a very important 
link in the chain of good health. Very often 
deadly disease germs may be in spit, and the 
spit soon dries and the germs are set free to 
float away in the dust and air. So for the sake 
of others "don't spit", and for your own sake 
avoid food that has been exposed to dust. 
Small-pox. 
Small-pox is a much-dreaded disease and is 
very "catching," easy to contract. It is a very 
old disease. It has been killing people ever 
since before Christ was on earth. Small-pox is 
a germ disease and the germs may be carried 
from place to place on books, letters, clothing, 
or they may be blown through the air. The 
germs will live for many months. The germs 
get into the human skin and there cause an in- 
flammation and a sore. When this sore begins to 
get well a scab is formed on it. After a few 
days this scab sheds off and each one has on it 112 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
many thousands of germs. Germs may easily 
be blown or scattered in every direction and get 
on everything around the patient and everything 
that he touches. 
PREVENTION OF SMALL-POX. 
Vaccination is a sure and simple way to pre- 
vent this dreaded disease. Yet so many people 
have been misinformed or have in some way got- 
ten the wrong idea that there is a great deal of 
prejudice against vaccination. This prejudice 
is because of ignorance of the real facts. When 
vaccination is rightly done there is no danger in 
it. People who have so much trouble with their 
arms after being vaccinated have gotten other 
germs in their arms that cause the trouble. Peo- 
ple injure their arms by picking the scab or al- 
lowing the place to be irritated by letting the 
cloth rub against it; these things are what cause 
the trouble and not the vaccination. Vaccina- 
tion, when rightly done and then cared for as it 
should be, will cause only a slight sore and in- 
flammation. Vaccination has been a marvelous 
blessing to mankind. 'Before vaccination came 
into use three thousand people died with small- 
pox in one American city in less than one year 
This today is absolutely impossible for the dis- 
ease would not be allowed to spread and vacci- 
nation is the only means that can hinder the 
spread. 
Some people ask, why is small-pox not so dead- Dust. 
113 
ly now as it used to be? The reason is this, very 
few people these days ever have smallpox and 
those who do have it do not, as a rule, have a 
severe case because vaccination has weakened the 
disease. 
Everybody should be vaccinated from an in- 
fant a few weeks old to the old gray-haired in- 
valid, who is weighted down with cares and years 
of life. If it is done right and the proper care 
is taken, there is no danger of having to cut the 
arm off, as so many people are inclined to think. 
A person who has been successfully vaccinated 
should have very little fear of small-pox, yet a 
needless exposure to smallpox should not be en- 
couraged because persons may act as a medium 
to carry the disease to some unvaccinated person. 
We owe it to ourselves as well as our neighbor 
to be vaccinated, because if we refuse we may 
cause others as well as ourselves to suffer. The 
question has often been asked, how long will vac- 
cination protect against smallpox? No definite 
answer can be given to this question, because the 
time varies in different people. To be on the 
safe side it is well to be vaccinated every two 
years, and more often if smallpox is in your 
neighborhood, or if you are exposed to the dis- 
ease in any way. 
When a person is vaccinated a Weak set of 
germs is put into the arm and the body will prac- 
tice killing these weak germs and will soon get 
so it will be able to kill any small-pox germ. So 114 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
that when a few germs get into the body that 
come from another case of smallpox, the body 
already knows how to kill such germs, and will 
quickly kill them. That is why people who have 
been successfully vaccinated do not have the 
smallpox. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Do not needlessly expose yourself to smallpox, 
even if you have been vaccinated; for you may 
get the germs on your clothing and carry the 
disease to some unvaccinated person. 
2 
Insist on your neighbor being vaccinated. 
3 
When vaccination is being made compulsory, 
you should assist the health officer in carrying 
out his duty and not help to conceal those who 
are too ignorant to be vaccinated of their own 
accord. 
4 
Do not, at any time, do anything to lower your 
vitality by disregarding the laws of health and 
thereby invite disease. 
5 
You can rest assured that vaccination almost 
completely protects from smallpox. 
6 
Be re-vaccinated every two or three years and 
more often if you are exposed to the disease. Dust. 
115 
7 
Remember that you are not likely to take small- 
pox, if your vaccination does not take. 
8 
Do not be afraid to have even infants vacci- 
nated. 
9 
Remember that smallpox germs will live for 
months and are not easily killed. 
10 
Learn the laws of health and teach others the 
same, for an ounce of prevention is worth a pound 
of cure. Oipthenai. 
This is another disease that has been some- 
what robbed of its sting by new medical dis- 
coveries. iDiptheria is a germ disease. The 
germ seems to be a distant relative of the con- 
sumption germ, though it is a different germ 
with different habits. The favorite home or 
breeding place for this germ is in the mouth and 
throat. Here they grow and multiply and make 
their poison very rapidly. This germ very often 
finds its way into the system without causing 
the disease, but if for any reason the germ-killing 
power of the body is not able to overcome the 
germ, then the disease will begin. The germ 
usually finds lodging in the mouth and throat 
and there multiplies very rapidly. 
How the Disease Spreads 
When a patient has diptheria he generally 
spreads and scatters the germs by coughing or 
spitting. When the patient spits on the ground 
the spit soon dries up and the germs are easily 
blown in every direction. Also, when a person 
coughs or spits, little fine particles of spit fly 
off into the air and float awfay in almost every 
direction, and, if we remember the fact that 
116 Diptheria. 
117 
these germs can live for many days outside the 
body, we can easily see how the disease spreads. 
The germs may be found on books, clothing, 
dishes, drinking-cups, toys and most anything 
the patient handles or comes near. These very 
often find their way into milk and there multi- 
ply very rapidly. 
A person who has had the disease may carry 
the germs in his mouth and throat for many 
weeks after he has recovered from the disease. 
These germs make a very powerful poison, this 
poison goes into the blood and poisons the whole 
system, especially the nerves, the kidneys, the 
brain and the heart. This poison often causes 
death. 
Prevention. 
This disease usually attacks children and 
when a child has diptheria, all other children 
should be kept away from it, even out of the 
house, if possible. If a case of diptheria is in your 
home or neighborhood, all children around 
should be given a dose of antitoxin by the fam- 
ily physician. This is to kill the poison of the 
germs that have gotten or may get into the body 
and thereby help the body to defend itself 
against the disease. Antitoxin is used to pre- 
vent as well as cure the disease. Just as water 
will put out fire if the proper amount is applied 
in timje, so will this antitoxin put out diptheria 
and also prevent it, if applied in time. 
Try to keep the children from taking cold and 118 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
from lingering in a half sick condition, as such 
children are likely to take any disease, such as 
diptheria, pneumonia and consumption. 
1 
Don't make unnecessary visits to see people 
sick with diptheria, for it is very catching. 
2 
Remember that the disease attacks mostly 
young children, and special care should be taken 
to prevent them from taking the disease. 
3 
Try to prevent the children from taking cold 
and from going around diptheria. 
4 
When a child complains of his throat hurting, 
has pains when he swallows, high fever, pains 
in the limbs and a whitish-gray coating appears 
in his throat, send for a physician, the child 
may have diptheria. 
5 
Disinfect all clothing, cloths and bed linen 
used about diptheria patients. 
6 
It is best not to allow w*ell children around 
the sick bed, especially when the sick has any 
catching disease. 
7 
Pets, such as cats and dogs, have been known 
to spread the disease. They should be kept out 
of the sick room. 
Ten Health Pointers. Diptheria. 
119 
8 
When one person in the neighborhood is sick 
with diptheria, all other persons in the neigh- 
borhood, and especially the children, should be 
given an injection of antitoxin to prevent the 
disease from spreading. 
9 
Never forget to ask the physician for advice 
as to how to keep the disease from spreading. 
10 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. Measles. 
This is another disease that has carried off 
thousands of children m their first or second 
year. It also is a germ, disease, but the germ 
is not so hard to kill as some others. The dis- 
ease is very catching, so much so that it is very 
difficult to stop when once it gets a start. 
Measles mostly attack children and cause in 
them an inflammation of the nose and throat, 
somewhat as a common cold. In fact, measles gen- 
erally start as a common cold, and for the first 
three of four days the child is thought to have 
taken a fresh cold. The disease is catching even in 
this stage. On about the fourth or fifth day the 
breaking-out appears. One of the main dangers 
in measles is that it decreases the ability of the 
body to keep off other diseases and the child is 
very likely to have pneumonia which is very, very 
dangerous when working with measles. But 
pneumonia is only one of a long list of diseases, 
that are likely to unite with measles to help kill 
the baby. 
A child with measles should be kept away 
from other children for three or four weeks, 
after the breaking out is gone. All handker- 
chiefs, clothing, dishes, etc., should be boiled as 
120 Measles. 
121 
soon as they are taken from the sick room. 
The patient should have a cloth before his face 
when sneezing or coughing and all spit should 
be burned. The child's eyes should be protected 
from strong light and wind. Special care must 
be taken not to let the patient be exposed to a 
draft or dampness, and every care should be 
taken to keep the patient from: taking cold or 
any other disease. People sick with lagrippe, 
colds, or any other catching diseases should not 
go near a patient with measles. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Kemember that measles will weaken the sys- 
tem and make any other disease easy to catch 
and hard to get rid of. 
2 
Children should be protected from measles, 
for it is always a very serious disease. 
3 
When your neighbor's child has measles, let 
not your child go near and when your child has 
measles let not your neighbor's child go near 
him. 
4 
Do not let your children go to school till all 
signs of measles are gone. 
5 
Never forget that measles is a germ disease 
and may be prevented. 122 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
6 
If measles is in your neighborhood, keep your 
children's health in the very best possible con- 
dition. 
7 
Never treat measles as if a slight, harmless 
disease. It is always dangerous. 
8 
Never forget that pneumonia, consumption 
may come in to help kill the child. 
9 
Remember that the younger the child the 
greater the danger measles will bring to it. 
10 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
,rure. Whooping-Cough. 
This is a disease that destroys thousands of 
young lives every year. It is one of those dis- 
eases that will do its best to kill the patient, 
and if not successful, will pave the way for 
some other disease, like pneumonia, to step in 
and put out the young light. 
Whooping-cough prefers to attack young chil- 
dren, especially those who are already weak or 
have a cold or some throat trouble. Whooping- 
cough is a germ disease and the germs may live 
and be very active for weeks when the child is 
running around and perhaps going to school. 
For this reason, a child with this disease should 
be kept away from other children for about six 
weeks after the whooping stops. People who 
do not wish their children to take whooping- 
cough should keep them away from children 
who have the disease for six weeks after the 
whooping stops. 
Children with this disease should be kept in 
fresh air as much as possible, but should not be 
exposed to a draft or dampness, for they will 
easily take pneumonia. 
School teachers should see to it that children 
123 124 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
with whooping-cough be kept out of school for at 
least six weeks from the beginning of the whoop. 
Children, When old enough, should be taught 
to spit in a paper or cloth and the paper should 
be burned; the cloth may be burned or boiled. 
The older a child is when he takes whooping- 
cough the better will be his chance to get well. 
When whooping-cough is in the neighborhood 
people should take special care . to keep their 
children from taking cold and keep their systems 
in as good condition as possible. And should 
the child take whooping-cough after every effort 
has been made to prevent it, treat the disease 
as if it were very serious, for indeed it is seri- 
ous, carrying away thousands of infants every 
year. This disease is always dangerous, and 
the younger the child the closer should it be 
guarded, for the disease is very severe on a child 
less than two years old. 
1 
Remember that whooping-cough often calls in 
pneumonia to help kill the child, and the two 
working together must always succeed. 
2 
Remember that consumption, hemorrhage, 
heart disease, kidney disease may come in to 
help whooping-cough kill the child. 
3 
Let the fresh air come in day and night, it 
Five Health Pointers. Whooping Cough. 
125 
will help, not injure the child. But fresh air 
does not mean exposure to a cold, damp draft. 
4 
A child with whooping-cough should be under 
the care of a physician. 
5 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. Scarlet Fever. 
This is a disease that attacks principally chil- 
dren. It carries with it a breaking out some- 
what like measles, yet there is a great difference 
in the two diseases. This disease seems to be a 
distant relative of small-pox. It seems to spread 
very much like small-pox, and like small-pox is 
very catching. 
Prevention. 
When a physician pronounces a case scarlet 
fever, his instruction as to quarantine should be 
carefully carried out, for in this way only can 
the disease be held in check. No other child 
should be allowed in the same room and not 
even in the same house, if possible. All the 
discharge from the patient's nose and mouth 
should be destroyed. The nurse or person who 
cares for the patient with scarlet fever should 
be very careful to wash the hands in some dis- 
infectant on leaving the room. Some special 
dress or gown should be worn in the room and 
pulled off on leaving the room, otherwise the 
germs may be carried out in the clothing. 
Scarlet fever is a germ disease but very little is 
known about the germ. A person with scarlet 
fever should remain under quarantine for eight 
126 Scarlet Fever. 
127 
or ten weeks and the room should be thorough- 
ly fumigated when the patient leaves. All cloth- 
ing and bed clothing used about the patient 
should be boiled in some strong disinfectant to 
kill the germs; otherwise they will remain ac- 
tive for many weeks. Scarlet fever should al- 
ways be in care of a physician and his instruc- 
tion should be faithfully carried out, otherwise 
deadly complications may set in and kill the 
patient. The top layer of the skin peels off in 
small flakes during scarlet fever and these are 
very dangerous, for they float off in the air and 
carry thousands of germs with them, and in this 
way spread the disease. Scarlet fever carries 
with it many dangers and should be treated and 
dealt with as a serious disease. Mumps>» 
Mumps is classed as a catching disease. It is 
caused by a germ with which we are not so well 
acquainted. The germs seem to select as their 
home the gland that makes the spit, which is sit- 
uated near the angle of the jaw. There is an 
inflammation in the gland, which sometimes gets 
very sore and painful, yet it very seldom forms 
an abcess. 
When a child has mumps he should be kept 
away from school and away from other children 
for at least one week after the swelling and all 
signs of the disease are gone. While mumps is 
not considered a very dangerous disease, yet 
great care should be taken that the patient does 
not leave the bed too soon, for serious relapses 
are sometimes brought on in this way. As a 
rule, the patient should stay in bed till all the 
pain and swelling are gone and especially must 
the staying in bed be insisted upon if the 
weather is damp and cold. 
Prevention. 
128 Chicken-Pox. 
A word may be said about this disease, though 
it is not a very dangerous disease. Yet it may 
and should be prevented. 
Chicken-pox may pave the way for other dis- 
eases such as kidney trouble. The disease it- 
self seldom kills, but other diseases may de- 
velop at the same time and both working to- 
gether may give the patient serious trouble. 
For these reasons chicken-pox should be pre- 
vented when possible. The disease carries with 
it a breaking out so much like small-pox that it 
has been known to deceive physicians in the 
early stage. Chicken-pox is very mild when 
compared with small-pox, and is not so difficult 
to hold in check. Children with chicken-pox 
should be kept away from other children for at 
least one wieek after all signs of the disease have 
disappeared. 
129 Rheumatism. 
There are so many different diseases and 
symptoms of diseases called rheumatism, that 
some writers claim that the word rheumatism 
should be cut out of the language and forgotten 
and the conditions now called rheumatism be 
introduced by their real names. 
Most every pain in the back or limbs, from 
the pain caused by cancer to the pain caused by 
constipation, is commonly called rheumatism. 
So rheumatism has gotten to be no particular 
disease or condition, yet there are certain con- 
ditions that may be discussed under that head 
for the sake of convenience. 
Pain in the Back. 
Pain in the back, in a majority of cases, is 
simply a sign of some diseases. Constipation 
and bowel trouble very often cause pain in the 
back, which will disappear when the condition 
is cured. There are certain forms of kidney 
trouble that cause pain or heaviness in the back, 
but as a rule kidney disease does not cause pain 
in the back. This is a false idea that came from 
almanacs and patent medicine advertisements. 
Pain in the back is very often caused by dif- 
130 Rheumatism 
131 
ferent forms of chronic indigestion which will 
disappear as the condition is improved. 
In women pain in the back is very often caused 
by female troubles. Piles is another condition 
that often causes pain in the back. As a rule, 
when a person suffers with backache, he should 
first think of constipation, piles or some other 
form of stomach or bowel trouble. He may then 
think of a condition commonly known as mus- 
cular rheumatism of the back, sometimes called 
lumbago. This form of rheumatism is very com- 
mon and is often seen in the laboring class of 
people or people who are exposed to wet and 
cold weather; also injuries of the back may give 
rise to such troubles. 
Acute Rheumatism. 
There is another kind of rheumatism known 
as acute rheumatism. It attacks the joints and 
sometimes the muscles and sometimes causes 
them to be very painful and tender. 
Chronic Rheumatism. 
This is the condition that covers so many 
signs of other diseases. Physicians do not 
agree as to the cause of chronic rheumatism but 
what is commonly called chronic rheumatism 
may be caused by many things. It is claimed 
by some that chronic constipation will cause 
rheumatic pains. It is claimed that poisonous 
matter is absorbed from the bowels into the 
system, and this gives rise to the painful con- 132 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
dition. Kidney disorder will cause, in some 
cases, pains similar to those in rheumatism. 
Acute rheumatism is caused by germs. They 
may so damage the joints or other parts of the 
body that they never regain their full useful- 
ness. 
Prevention. 
To prevent rheumatism attention must be paid 
to the general laws of health and the body kept 
in as good condition as possible. Constipation 
must be corrected and cured. The kidneys 
should be kept in good condition and they should 
not be irritated by alcoholic drinks. Too much 
meat and grease should be avoided as they give 
the kidneys an extra amount of work. People 
who are exposed to cold and dampness are espe- 
cially liable to take rheumatism. Thick shoes 
and woolen clothes are necessary for some peo- 
ple to prevent taking cold. People who are ex- 
posed to cold should become accustomed to cold 
baths and fresh air. People who have a tendency 
to rheumatism should take extra precaution not 
to expose themselves to sudden changes of tem- 
perature. And when possible should live In a 
dry climate or dry surroundings, if possible. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
All the general laws of health should be carried 
out and the body kept in the best possible condi- 
tion. Rheumatism. 
133 
2 
The bowels should be kept open, should be 
made to act once or twice a day. 
3 
Great meat eaters very often have rheuma- 
tism. People who have a tendency toward rheu- 
matism should substitute milk for meat. 
4 
Heavy rich food of all kinds should be cut out 
of the food list of people with rheumatism ten- 
dency. 
5 
The best food for rheumatic patients is milk 
and light vegetable diet. 
6 
Exposure to dampness and cold sometimes 
gives rheumatism an opportunity to catch a good 
hold. 
7 
Going too thinly clad in winter may be the 
cause of rheumatism. Avoid this error. 
8 
Pain in the back is more often a form of rheu- 
matism than a form of kidney disease. 
9 
Remember that acute rheumatism very often 
leaves the heart crippled for life. 
10 
An ounce of prevention Is worth a pound of 
cure when it comes to rheumatism. Heari Disease. 
Heart disease is a disease about which we have 
heard much. We never, as a rule, think of pre- 
venting this disease till it is too late. There are 
many habits and diseases that will injure the 
heart and when the heart is once diseased it sel- 
dom if ever can be brought back to a real healthy 
condition. A person who desires a long and use- 
ful life should avoid, as much as possible, those 
things which are known to injure the heart. 
Alcohol on the Heart, 
The heart is the pumping station that keeps 
the blood in motion or circulation. All the 
blood in the body must pass through the heart 
and if poison of any kind gets into the blood, 
such poison is Very likely tp irritate the heart 
when passing through it and cause an inflamma- 
tion or do great harm otherwise. 
Alcoholic drinks have in this way caused heart 
disease in many thousands of people. Alcohol 
sometimes overstimulates the heart and forces 
it to do mtore work than is necessary, and in this 
way does great harm to the heart. When a 
good horse is doing all that nature intended he 
should do, it is unwise, mean and cruel to force 
134 Heart Disease. 
135 
a great deal of extra work on him. This is just 
what alcohol does for the heart, forces on a great 
deal of unnecessary work when it is already do- 
ing its duty. 
Another effect of alcohol on the heart is that 
the heart sometimes becomes too fat under the 
use of alcohol. A fat heart is always a weak 
heart, and a person with a weak heart cannot 
live very long. For the reason just stated alco- 
hol should never be forced upon the heart for 
some day the body will surely be in need of a 
sound, healthy heart, and if the heart has been 
diseased by alcohol it will be too late. 
Rheumatism. 
Acute rheumatism of the joints is a disease 
that leaves the heart more or less affected in 
a majority of cases. 
Both the germ and the poison that is made by 
the germ are responsible for the damage done to 
the heart. An attack of acute rheumatism 
very often leaves the heart crippled for life. 
For this reason, acute rheumatism should be 
treated as a most dangerous disease. A physi- 
cian should be called and his direction followed 
and especially his advice as to staying in bed and 
keeping up the treatment. 
Many cases of heart disease could be pre- 
vented if the patient did not insist on taking 
his own case in hand as soon as the pain stop- 
ped. 136 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
THE KIDNEYS. AND THE HEART. 
There is a peculiar connection between the 
heart and the kidneys. In most all cases of 
heart disease the kidneys soon become affected 
and in most all cases of kidney disease the heart 
soon becomes affected more or less. It is reas- 
onable to believe, therefore, that heart disease 
can bring on kidney trouble and kidney disease 
can bring on heart trouble. Therefore to keep 
the heart in good condition every care must be 
used to keep the kidneys in good condition, for 
the health of one seems to depend on the health 
of the other. 
The instruction given in the chapter on the 
"kidneys" should be read and carried out. 
TOBACCO ON THE HEART. 
In a great many cases tobacco will injure 
the heart sooner or later. Yet it cannot be de- 
nied that a great many people use tobacco for 
years and keep in good health in spite of it. 
But the number that actually suffers from the 
use of tobacco is so large that its use should be 
condemned. 
Palpitation of the heart is very common in 
those who use tobacco very freely in any form. 
Pen Health Pointers. 
1 
Do not offer the heart insult by drinking 
alcoholic drinks. Heart Disease. 
137 
2 
Do not insult the heart by using' tobacco in 
any form. 
3 
Study and read that you may know how to 
keep the heart from becoming diseased. 
4 
Remember that cigarettes are very injurious 
to the heart, and should never be used, especially 
by boys. 
5 
Remember that acute rheumatism often 
leaves the heart crippled for life. 
6 
Remember that alcohol is no friend to the 
heart, be not deceived into drinking it. 
7 
Remember that tobacco in any form is likely 
to injure the heart sooner or later. 
8 
Remember that dissipation of any kind is 
bad on the heart; if you want to enjoy a long 
useful life, give heed to this instruction. 
9 
Remember that excesses of any kind are bad 
on the heart. Avoid them. 
10 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. Kidney and Deiglit^s 
Disease* 
Our kidneys are organs of great importance. 
A person's health to a great extent can be 
measured by his kidneys, that is to say, healthy 
kidneys mean good health and diseased kidneys 
mean poor health. 
There is always a "tearing-down" and a 
"building-up" going on in the body from its 
earliest existence till it is again resolved into 
dust from whence it came. 
As long as there is life in the body, there is 
more or less of waste matter being formed in 
the body and this waste matter must be gotten 
rid of. 'We will not go into a detailed discus- 
sion as to the nature of this waste matter or 
how it is formed but we will dismiss the subject 
with the statement that it is continually being 
formed within the body during body growth 
and body action. 
Some part of the body is forever in action 
and during every action more or less waste mat- 
ter is formed. This waste matter cannot stay 
in the body if life is to remain there, but it must 
be thrown off and gotten rid of, and if not, 
138 Kidney and Bright's Disease. 
139 
sickness and death will soon follow. The lungs, 
kidneys, bowels and skin are the organs that 
the body depends upon to remove this waste 
matter. The part the kidneys play in this work 
is what we are now chiefly concerned with. 
Everybody who has healthy kidneys should feel 
greatly blessed and at no time should the kidneys 
be mistreated or insulted by indulging in fool- 
ish habits or excesses of any kind. 
THE KIDNEYS AND A FOOD LIST THAT CONTAINS 
MUCH MEAT. 
Bright's disease which is simply another 
name for kidney disease, is very common and 
more so than it should be. Bright's disease 
can be prevented and it is somewhat of a re- 
flection on civilization that such a large number 
of useful citizens should be cut off in the prime 
of life by this preventable disease. The num- 
ber of deaths from Bright's disease would be 
reduced to one half if people would stop being 
such meat gluttons. 
When a large quantity of meat and rich 
gravies, which is simply an extract of meat, are 
used as food, there is a great deal of extra work 
thrown on the kidneys. When an organ is 
compelled to do more work than nature intend- 
ed, the life of that organ is short. And so it 
is with the kidneys; nature never intended for 
kidneys to do the amount and class of work 
that is thrown upon them when a large quanti- 140 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
ty of meat is eaten at every meal or when alco- 
hol is taken into the body. 
When a person has kidney disease the physi- 
cian most always recommends that little or no 
meat be used as food. This is because of the 
extra hard work that is thrown upon the kid- 
neys. 
It is not to be understood that meat is not 
to be eaten at all, for the body needs a small 
quantity of meat, but people as a rule eat meat 
far in excess of what is actually needed by the 
body. 
For a young healthy person, meat once a day 
as a rule, is all that is needed. People who eat 
a great deal of meat and rich gravies every 
meal will sooner or later know what it is to 
suffer with kidney and bowel trouble. 
THE ACTION OF SALTS, PEPPERS, MUSTARDS AND 
SPICES ON THE KIDNEYS. 
These things, when taken in large quantities, 
are very injurious to the kidneys. It must be 
remembered that the kidneys are very tender 
and delicate organs and when these things 
pass through them, as they must do when they 
are taken with the food, they may cause an ir- 
ritation and sometimes inflammation. No one 
would think of nutting a large quantity of 
these things in strong solution into the eye, and 
yet they send them to th^ kidneys in large Kidney and Bright's Disease. 
141 
quantities, not knowing that the kidneys are 
just as tender and delicate as the eye. 
Common table salt must not be used too 
freely if you have any regard for your kidneys. 
Large quantities of pepper very often cause 
irritation and inflammation of the kidneys. It 
should be used very sparingly with food, and 
then with plenty of water to dilute it. Some 
physicians recommend that it be cut out of the 
food list altogether, and especially when there 
is the slightest sign of kidney trouble. 
KIDNEYS AND ALCOHOL. 
Large quantities of alcohol in passing through 
the kidneys are sure to do great harm. Whis- 
key drinkers mlost always have bad kidneys soon 
or late. The stronger the drink is with alco- 
hol the greater the damage to the kidneys. If 
alcohol injured no other organ but the kidneys 
it should be avoided on that' account alone. 
Alcohol irritates the kidneys and sometimes 
causes an inflammation in them that will finally 
destroy more or less of the delicate part of the 
kidneys; that is, the main part that is needed 
to do the work of carrying off poisonous and 
and worn-out matter from.' the body. 
People who have good kidneys should value 
them too highly to offer them an insult by 
drinking alcoholic drinks. 
THE KIDNEYS AND OTHER DISEASES. 
Many of the common diseases, such as ty- 142 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
phoid fever, pneumonia, scarlet fever, tonsilitis, 
smallpox and measles are very injurious to the 
kidneys. The germs of these diseases cause a 
poison to be formed in the body. This poison 
and sometimes the germs, in passing through 
the kidneys, do them great harm, very often 
causing an inflammation which may do more 
than the disease toward killing the patient. 
THE SKIN AND BOWELS HELP THE KIDNEYS. 
Both the skin and bowels must be kept in a 
healthy condition, otherwise, extra work will 
be thrown on the kidneys. If the skin is kept 
clean and healthy, a great deal of worn-out 
and poionous matter will pass off through the 
skin that otherwise the kidneys would have to 
carry off through the urine. So the skin should 
be made to do its part in carrying of the worn- 
out matter from the body, so that no extra 
work will be placed on the kidneys. 
THE BOWELS AND THE KIDNEYS. 
Constipated bowels always place extra work 
on the kidneys. Poisonous matter that should 
be carried off by the bowels, gets into the blood 
and the kidneys are compelled to do the work. 
The bowels should do their own work and not 
place extra work on the kidneys. There should 
be one or two free actions of the bowels every 
day. This not only helps to protect the kidneys 
but prevents trouble otherwise. That part of Kidney and Bright's Disease. 
143 
our food that is not digested should not be al- 
lowed to lie in the bowels for three or four days. 
This has a bad effect on the health in general, 
and especially the kidneys. The work of the 
kidneys is hard, and we should try to make 
their work lighter and not allow extra work to 
to be thrust upon them. 
THE KIDNEYS AND WATER' DRINKING. 
People, as a rule, do not drink enough pure 
water. There is a saying that water on the in- 
side has the same effect as water on the out- 
side; that is, it is cleansing. It is said that 
people who go to health resorts and drink a 
great deal of mineral water, are benefitted be- 
cause they simply drink mlore water and not 
so much because of the .mineral it contains. 
People should take better care of their kid- 
neys because when they are once badly damjaged 
they can never again be restored to their former 
condition. Most people forget that they have 
kidneys till they feel a pain in the back, although 
pain in the back is not a sign of kidney disease. 
This is a mistaken idea gotten from; the almanac 
and patent medicine advertisements. 
It was taught years ago that it was injurious 
to drink water near meal time and that it 
should never be taken during the meal. This 
idea has been proven to be incorrect. People 
may drink water before meals, after meals and 
with meals, if they do not wash the food down 144 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
with water before it is properly chewed. Ice 
cold water should not be taken with meals and 
not too freely at any time. 
A plenty of water makes the kidneys act 
more freely and dilutes any poison or irritating 
substance that may be present. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Do not offer the kidneys insult by forcing 
alcohol on them. 
2 
Remember that constipation causes the kid- 
neys to do extra work, and doing a little extra 
work every day for years will surely wear the 
kidneys out. 
3 
Remember that most people who are great 
meat eaters have kidney trouble sooner or later. 
4 
In order to keep the kidneys healthy, eat less 
meat, drink more water and no alcohol at all. 
5 
The best diet to keep the kidneys healthy is 
a diet consisting mostly of vegetables, plenty 
of milk and water but very little meat. 
6 
Avoid large quantities of salt, pepper, mus- 
tard, spices, etc., they may irritate the kidneys 
and bring on Bright's disease. Kidney and Bright's Disease. 
145 
7 
Remember that alcoholic drinks such as 
whiskey, beer, brandy, and wine are very good 
things to destroy the kidneys. 
8 
The skin must be kept clean, active and 
healthy if it is to do its part of the work and not 
make extra work for the kidneys. 
9 
Heavy tobacco users very often die with kid- 
ney disease; for tobacco is very injurious to 
the kidneys. 
10 
Study tne laws of health and learn how to 
care for your kidneys and teach other people 
how to care for theirs. Paralysis. 
Paralysis may be brought on by many dif- 
ferent things. The bursting of a blood vessel 
may be the direct cause of paralysis. The 
severity of the condition depends, to some ex- 
tent, on the size of the vessel affected and the 
location of the vessel in the brain. 
One may ask what causes the blood vessels 
to burst? To answer this question fully calls 
for a long discussion that is not easily under- 
stood by one who is not familiar with the make- 
up of the body and how it is affected by dis- 
ease. 
The blood vessels in a healthy person are 
more or less elastic; that is, they are some- 
what like a rubber tube, they will stretch to 
some extent when a fluid is pumped into 
them. Now there are certain things, like alco- 
holic drinks and tobacco, that will cause the 
blood vessels to lose their elasticity and make 
them hard and easy to break. Yes, it has 
been proven beyond all doubt that alcohol and 
tobacco will cause the blood vessels to become 
hard and easy to break. And if a large size 
blood vessel in a certain part of the brain 
bursts, death will come sure and fast. So we 
146 Paralysis. 
147 
see here a new reason why alcohol and tobacco 
in every form should be avoided by human 
beings. They will not cause the vessels to be- 
come hard in a few days but it will take years 
to bring about the condition. Excesses of any 
kind tends to harden the blood vessels and 
make them more easy to break. To prevent 
having a stroke of paralysis, we may lay down 
the following rule:-AVOID EXCESSES OF 
ALL KINDS AND AVOID ALCOHOL AND 
TOBACCO IN EVERY FORM. 
Eating too much tends to harden the blood 
vessels, and especially eating too much meat. 
Anything that tends to upset the heart and 
kidneys will contribute towards bringing para- 
lysis. Just in proportion as people obey the 
laws of health in general, in that proportion 
will cases of paralysis decrease. 
There are many other diseases that tend to 
bring on paralysis, such diseases as come 
from immoral conduct or dissipation. 
Paralysis is sometimes caused by a blood 
vessel getting stopped up by a small piece of 
matter that is too large to pass through it. 
A blood vessel that has been stopped up cannot 
supply blood to the part of the brain that it is 
supposed to supply, and a lack of blood in the 
brain will surely cause trouble. 
Another cause of paralysis is syphilis, com- 
monly known as pox. This disease sometimes 
causes small tumors to grow in the brain and 148 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
paralysis follows. In short, to prevent paraly- 
sis, avoid excesses of all kinds and never touch 
alcohol or tobacco in any form and live strictly 
in accord with the laws of health. 'Loo iliac lie and Care of 
The Teeth. 
Teeth are very important organs, and more 
so than most people think. It is impossible 
for people with bad teeth to keep perfect 
health. The teeth have certain work to do that 
no other part of the body can do. The feet 
cannot take the place of the hands, nor can 
the stomach take the place of the teeth. The 
stomach cannot do its own work properly, 
when, for some cause, the teeth have not done 
their part. 
If the food is to be digested properly, the di- 
gestive juices must reach part of it and soak 
through and through. Now if the teeth have 
not done their part and the food is swallowed in 
big lumps, you may look for trouble, for it 
will surely come. It is very hard for the di- 
gestive organs to properly digest big, hard lumps 
of food. Chewing all solid food as it should 
be is a very important step in the process of 
digestion. And chewing cannot be done well 
if the teeth are not in good shape. 
Care of the Teeth. 
The teeth cannot be expected to do good work 
149 150 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
if they are not cared for* They should be 
brushed and cleaned with a good tooth powder 
after meals and before breakfast. They should 
be brushed thoroughly for this removes from 
around the teeth small particles of food that 
soon would rot and form acid and cause the 
teeth to decay. Failing to remove these small 
particles of food from between and around the 
teeth is the main cause of rotten or decayed 
teeth. 
There are very few people over thirty years 
who have never had bad teeth. When possible 
the teeth should be examined once a year by a 
dentist to find any little hole or cavity that may 
be slowly and surely destroying the teeth. The ad- 
vice of the dentist should be followed when it 
comes to treatment, but all small holes or cavi- 
ties should be filled and large ones treated as 
recommended by the dentist. 
He who has sound teeth is truly blessed. If 
your natural teeth are so decayed or rotten 
that they can no longer do their work, then they 
should be removed and false or artificial teeth 
put in. 
A good set of false teeth can do much better 
work than a bad set of natural ones. 
All snags or broken parts of decayed teeth 
should be removed for they always do more 
harm than good. 
Toothache in most cases can be prevented by Toothache and Care of the Teeth. 
151 
brushing the teeth after each meal using a 
a good tooth powder. 
This not only largely prevents the decay of 
the teeth but also helps to keep the gums 
healthy and in this way the life of the teeth is 
prolonged. As a rule healthy gums mean 
healthy teeth and healthy teeth do not ache. 
When chewing the food, small pieces of the 
food lodge beween and around the teeth. These 
small pieces of food soon ferment or rot and 
when this is done a kind of acid is formed and 
the acid is what causes the teeth to rot. For 
this reason the teeth should be cleaned after 
every meal and all the small pieces of food 
between and around the teeth removed. 
A dirty mouth that never gets a washing is 
the home of many different disease germs. In 
all kinds of sickness it is a good idea to keep 
the mouth clean by washing it out several 
times every day. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
If you desire perfect and lasting health, see 
to it that your teeth are kept in good condition. 
2 
It is better to pay a small fee to the dentist 
for examination and repair of the teeth, than 
it is to sacrifice health by having bad teeth. 
3 
Obey all the rules and instructions in this 
chapter, if you desire to prevent toothache. 152 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
4 
After eating a meal, never be in too much 
hurry to wash and brush the teeth. 
5 
Remember that bad teeth, sooner or later, 
will mean a bad stomach; a bad stomach means 
bad health and bad health means short life. 
9 
Remember that bad teeth are very often the 
cause of bad breath and bad breath is a nui- 
sance, unless the owner quarantir.es himself and 
does not allow anybody to come near him. 
7 
Remember that a regular tooth brush and 
tooth powder is the best but a good substitute is 
powdered charcoal and the old fashion tooth 
mop. 
8 
Never forget that a dirty mouth is a good 
place to breed disease germs. 
9 
Never fail to wash the mouth soon after ris- 
ing in the morning and after each meal. 
10 
Remember that an ounce of prevention is 
worth a pound of < are. W orsws-® 
The human body very often serves as the 
home of various kinds of worms. They vary 
in size from a very small thread to about the 
size of a lead pencil. They gain access to the 
body or bowels in different ways. They may 
be eaten with the food, or taken with the drink- 
ing water, others may be carried to the mouth 
with dirty hands accidently, and there are still 
others that make their way through the skin 
into the blood and by the way of the blood they 
find their way to the throat and then they are 
swallowed with the food or water. 
All worms have a tendency to weaken the 
body and poison the blood. Some of them 
suck blood from the walls of the bowels, while 
others seem to consume the food that is intend- 
ed for the body. All of these worms lay eggs 
and these eggs are passed from the bowels in 
great numbers when the bowels act. 
These eggs or the small worms that hatch from 
these eggs find their way into the bowels of 
another person. 
People who are badly affected with worms 
have very little power to resist diseases. They 
fall easy prey to consumption, stomach and 
153 154 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
bowel trouble and many other diseases. Worms 
undermine the system, make the blood weak 
and unhealthy and lower the ability to keep off 
diseases. 
All worms should be considered dangerous 
to health and people should read and learn more 
about them, how they are carried from one 
person to another, and thereby be able to 
avoid them. 
The Hookworm. 
This is a small white worm about one-third 
of an inch long. They make their home in the 
bowels and there do great harm, for they are 
great blood suckers. They bore their heads in- 
to the walls of the bowels and help themselves 
to the life blood of their victims. 
These worms lay thousands and thousands of 
eggs and many of them pass front the bowels 
every time the bowels move. Under proper con- 
ditions these eggs hatch into small worms and 
these worms find their way into the bowels. 
Sometimes, of the same person, but more often 
into the bowels of another person. 
HOW THE HOOKWORM GETS INTO THE BOWELS. 
If the eggs that pass from the bowels get in- 
to the ground or soil, as they very often do, they 
will hatch into very small worms if the weath- 
er is warm. This little worm may find its 
way into the well or pump during heavy rains 
or it may get on the skin and bore its way into Worms 
155 
the blood. By the blood they find their way to 
the lungs and from the lungs they go up the 
windpipe to the throat and when once in the 
throat they are easily swallowed with food or 
water into the bowels. When they get into the 
bowels they soon develop into full grown worm^ 
and begin to lay more eggs. 
The eggs do not hatch in the bowels but must 
be out in the air and sunshine. The little new- 
ly hatched worm may get on the hand which is 
thoughtlessly carried to the mouth without wash- 
ing, and in this way the mouth becomes infect- 
ed with worms. 
PREVENTION OF HOOK WORM. 
We have here an example of how much bad 
health can be caused by a disease that can be 
easily prevented. Hookworms that are in the 
body can easily be killed or better still can be 
prevented from getting into the body. 
First: The cause should be removed, that is„ 
the disease should be treated by a physician 
and medicine given that will kill the worm. 
This will stop the eggs, for without eggs no 
more cases will develope. 
Second: The destruction of the eggs. The 
eggs do not hatch in the bowels but must pass 
therefrom and find their way to the soil where 
it is warm and somewhat dry. If the eggs are 
not allowed to get into the soil they will not 
hatch and will be destroyed. The privies or 156 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
water closets should be so made that the soil 
around them cannot get full of worms and eggs. 
This may be done by having a bucket or some 
vessel placed under the seat. Plenty of lime 
should be kept in this bucket and the contents 
should be buried when it is necessary to re- 
move it. It should be buried about two feet 
deep. In this way the eggs and young worms 
will be destroyed and not be allowed to attack 
other people. The bucket under the seat in 
tne privy should always be fly proof. When 
possible children should wear shoes and not be 
allowed to play on the ground near the privy 
The ground around the home or stable should 
not be used as a privy for in this way the disease 
will surely spread. 
The privy should be so located as not to 
drain toward the well or pump but in the op- 
posite direction. 
TAPE WORM. 
This worm is altogether different from other 
worms. People as a rule get tape worm by eat- 
ing half cooked meat. The tape worm sometimes 
gets to be very, very long, twenty or thirty feet. 
To prevent tape worm no raw or half cooked 
meat should be used as food. 
OTHER WORMS. 
There are many other worms that also make 
their home in the human bowels such as round Worms. 
157 
worms, the pin worm and many others. These 
have habits very much like the hookworm and 
should be guarded against in like manner. 
Ten Health Pointers. 
1 
Remember that worms will make the body 
less able to defend itself against disease germs. 
2 
Worms will poison the blood, and make it 
weak and poor. 
3 
Remember that worms sometimes upset the 
nervous system and in this way give rise to 
much trouble. 
4 
Don't forget that worms sometimes cause 
bowel trouble. 
5 
Remember that a person who is badly affect- 
ed with worms is dull, lazy and slow. 
6 
If you live in the country or small town 
never fail to find whether or not you have 
hook worms. 
7 
Always see to it that there is a properly 
built privy at your home if there is no sewer 
connection. 158 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
8 
The privy should be absolutely fly proof and 
plenty of lime kept and used freely. 
9 
Eat no raw or half cooked meat, for in so do- 
ing you may take a tape worm into your bowels. 
10 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure. One Hundred Don'ts 
I. Don't allow your bowels to go two or three 
days without having an action. 
2. Don't forget that the majority of the 
babies that die before they are two years old, 
would have lived had they been properly fed. 
3. Don't keep the children in air-tight 
rooms. 
4. Don't fail to use boric acid solution free 
ly to clean the baby's mouth, eyes, and private 
parts. 
5. Don't forget that the mother's milk is the 
best food on earth for babies. 
6. Don't give the baby catnip tea, sugar 
water, or gruels during the first twenty-four 
or forty-eight hours of its life. 
7. Don't try to follow all the advice that any 
body might give you about the baby, you may 
kill it with goodness. 
8. Don't forget to read some good book on the 
care of babies. 
9. Don't forget that more babies die because 
they are fed wrong than from any other cause. 
10. Don't forget that an ounce of prevention 
is worth a pound of cure. 
11. Don't forget that people who are in the 
159 160 
One Hundred Dont's. 
in the habit of eating large quantities of meat, 
very often have rheumatic pains, constipation, 
gout, liver trouble and Bright's disease. 
12. Don't believe that pain in the back is a 
sign of kidney trouble. 
13. Don't allow flies to come within your 
dwelling, for they may bring disease germs with 
them. 
14. Don't eat or put in your mouth anything 
that has been exposed to flies. 
15. Don't encourage the spread of flies by 
making and maintaining breeding places for 
them, and don't forget that flies leave the privy 
and make the kitchen or dining room their next 
stop, bringing filth and millions of disease 
germs with them. 
16. Don't let an opportunity pass to kill a 
fly; it is a crime. 
17. Don't fail to boil water before drinking 
it, if there is any doubt as to its purity. 
18. Don't fail to follow the physician's ad- 
vice even if you don't see any sense in it. 
19. Don't let the air in your bed-room be- 
come stale and impure, but let the fresh air in 
at the bottom and the bad air out at the top. 
20. Don't be afraid of night air. It is not 
poisonous. 
21. Don't spit carelessly yourself, nor allow 
others to do so if it is in your power to prevent. 
22. Don't stay around nor visit a person One Hundred Dont's. 
161 
with consumption unless he is careful about 
spitting. 
23. Don't try to wear out such troubles as 
colds and coughs, for they may wear you out. 
24. Don't drink whiskey or alcohol in any 
form, believing it will keep you from taking 
cold. 
25. Don't allow stale, stagnant water to 
stand near your dwelling. 
26. Don't forget to wage war on mosquitoes 
by breaking up their breeding place, stagnant 
water. 
27. Don't fail to be vaccinated every three 
years and more often if smallpox is in your 
neighborhood. 
28. Don't believe that vaccination is more 
harmful than smallpox. 
29. Don't be afraid to have even small chil- 
dren vaccinated. 
30. Don't fail to keep children away from 
diptheria and all other catching diseases, when 
possible. 
31. Don't insult the kidneys by drinking 
alcoholic drinks. 
32. Don't forget that extra work is thrown 
on the kidneys if the skin is not kept clean and 
healthy. 
33. Don't forget that big meat eaters will 
sooner or later have kidney trouble. 
34. Don't eat too freely of salt, spices, pep- 162 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
per, and mustard. These things must be left 
off altogether if you have kidney trouble. 
35. Don't forget to drink water freely and 
no alcohol at all if you want to keep well and 
live long. 
36. Don't forget that the millions of dollars 
spent every year for tobacco could be more 
wisely spent. 
37. Don't allow your boys to smoke if you 
want them to become strong in mind and in 
body, for smoking will hinder both. 
38. Don't forget that using tobacco will, in 
many cases, create an appetite for whiskey. 
39. Don't forget that tobacco will harden 
the blood vessels and in this way shorten life. 
40. Don't forget that an ounce of prevention 
is worth a pound of cure. 
41. Don't forget that chewing tobacco and 
using snuff are very filthy and injurious habits. 
42. Don't allow yourself to become a slave 
to the tobacco habit in any form. 
43. Don't forget that the nicotine in the 
tobacco is very poisonous. 
44. Don't forget that sleep is nature's great 
health preserver and restorer. 
45. Don't forget to give the body the proper 
amount of rest every night. ''Fresh air." 
46. Don't forget that the average person 
should get eight hours sleep out of every twen- 
ty-four. 
47. Don't eat heavy meals late at night, it One Hundred Dont's. 
163 
may cause a sleepless night and make ether 
troubles. 
48. Don't forget that the body rebuilds it- 
self during sleep also does a general self-clean- 
ing, getting ready for the next day's work. 
49. Don't forget that excesses of all kinds 
are bad for the heart. 
50. Don't insult the heart by drinking 
whiskey and other alcoholic drinks. 
51. Don't forget that acute rheumatism 
very often leaves the heart crippled for life. 
52. Don't forget that an ounce of prevention 
is worth a pound of cure. 
53. Don't use tobacco in any form it will 
injure the heart. 
54. Don't eat meat more than once a day. 
55. Don't forget that most of the strong- 
cathartic medicines will make the bowels move 
freely for the time being, then make them hard 
to move next time. 
56. Don't fail to train the bowels to move 
at a certain hour each day. 
57. Don't forget to make the bowels move 
every day. 
58. Don't touch alcoholic drinks in any 
form. 
59. Don't depend on whiskey keeping your 
body free of cold and diseases. 
60. Don't forget that a great many people 
in the poor house or county home are there be- 164 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
cause they have spent their earnings for alco- 
hol. 
61. Don't forget that whiskey or any alco- 
holic drink will injure the liver, kidneys, heart 
and brain. 
62. Don't forget that small drinks call for 
big drinks and big drinks call for the grave. 
63. Don't forget that when the body is at 
war with disease germs, alcohol will lessen the 
power of the body to fight the disease. 
64. Don't forget that more people die from 
eating too much than from eating too little. 
65. Don't forget that eating too much meat 
is like burning the candle at both ends. It 
does not pay. 
66. Don't be afraid to drink water with 
meals, after meals or before meals, since you 
don't wash the food down with the water too 
quickly. 
67. Don't worry during meal time. It will 
hinder perfect digestion. 
68. Don't forget to chew your food proper- 
ly, if you have no teeth buy some. 
69. Don't fail to eat simple wholesome 
food. 
70. Don't forget to drink freely of pure 
milk and water, and leave off alcohol altogether. 
71. Don't drink alcohol in any form. 
72. Don't fail to care for your teeth, they 
are your stomach's best friend. 
73. Don't forget that tea and coffee do more 
harm than good. One Hundred Dont's. 
165 
74. Don't waste time and money buying 
patent medicine. 
75. Don't believe that medicine will cure 
consumption, for it cannot. 
76. Don't fail to take a bath every day and 
especially if you think your kidneys are dis- 
eased. 
77. Don't be afraid to drink pure water 
freely. 
78. Don't forget that tobacco in every form 
is a curse to civilization. 
79. Don't work but six days out of seven. 
80. Don't forget that an ounce of prevention 
is worth a pound of cure. 
81. Don't forget to use every precaution 
possible to prevent taking cold. 
82. Don't forget that fresh air and cold 
sponges will prevent taking cold. 
83. Don't try to cure constipation by taking 
epsom salts and castor oil and cathartic pills. 
84. Don't fail to get your bowels in the hab- 
it of moving every day at the same hour. 
85. Don't fail to avoid dust as much as 
possible. 
86. Don't be a glutton. 
87. Don't forget that a majority of people 
eat far in excess of what is necessary to keep 
the body in a healthy condition. 
88. Don't fail to wash your mouth and 
teeth after each meal. 
89. Don't fail to wage an eternal war 166 
An Ounce of Prevention. 
against flies. Set traps and fly paper for them, 
screen them out, break up their breeding 
places and make it hard for them at every 
turn. 
90. Don't eat at a restaurant or any place 
that is full of flies. 
91. Don't forget that flies carry disease 
germs on their feet, legs, body and wings. 
92. Don't fail to protect infants from ex- 
treme heat in the summer. 
93. Don't fail to use your own private 
drinking cup when drinking in public places. 
94. Don't forget that cleanliness is next to 
Godliness. 
95. Don't fail to study the laws of health 
and obey them. 
96. Don't keep your knowledge of hygiene 
to yourself but help your neighbor by giving 
him information. 
97. Don't fail to do your part to enforce the 
local laws and regulations of hygiene. 
98. Don't forget that ignorance of how to 
care for babies causes thousands to die every' 
year. 
99. Don't try to cure yourself with patent 
medicines. Il your health is bad go to a physi- 
cian. 
100. Don't forget that an ounce of preven- 
tion is worth a pound of cure.