AN evangelist was asked: “What is the most necessary, secret prayer or searching the Scriptures?” He answered by asking another question: “What is the most necessary for a bird, the right wing or the left wing?”
MRS. ADA D. WELLMAN
By Ada D. Wellman
A FALSE conception of God constitutes a false god. Paganism is but a corruption of true religion. Hence how essential that we truly know “the only true God” and the Saviour He has sent, for knowing them implies life eternal.
MRS. ADA D. WELLMAN
GO FORWARD.
By Ellen G. White
I AM commissioned to say that the prosperity of the medical missionary work is in God's order. This work must be done; the truth must be carried into the highways and byways. Ministers and church-members should awake to the necessity of co-operating in this work.
With earnest, untiring energy, those who have felt the burden of the Christian Help work have testified by their works that they are not content to be mere theoretical believers. They have tried to walk in the light. They have put their belief into practice. They have combined faith and works. They have done the very work the Lord has specified should be done, and many souls have been enlightened, and convicted, and helped.
The indifference among our ministers in regard to health reform and the medical missionary work is surprising. Even those who do not profess to be Christians treat the subject with greater respect than do some of our own people, and these are going in advance of us.
Why, I inquire, are some of our ministerial brethren so far behind in proclaiming the exalted theme of temperance? My brethren, the word given to you is, “Take hold of the work of health reform; go forward.” If you think that the medical missionary work is assuming undue proportions, take the men who have been working in these lines with you into your fields of labor, two here, and two there. Receive these medical missionaries as you would receive Christ, and see what work they can do. You will not find them dwarfs in religious experience. See if in this way you cannot bring much of heaven's vital current into the churches. See if there are not some who will grasp the education they so much need, and bear the testimony, “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:4-6. Our great need is unity, perfect oneness in God's work.
The gospel ministry is an organization for the proclamation of the truth to the sick and to the well. It combines the medical missionary work and the ministry of the word. By these combined agencies, opportunities are given to communicate light, and to present the gospel to all classes and all grades of society. God wants the ministers and the church-members to take a decided, active interest in the medical missionary work.
To take people right where they are, whatever their position or condition, and help them in every way possible,—this is gospel ministry. Those who are diseased in body are nearly always diseased in mind, and when the soul is sick, the body also is affected. Ministers should feel it a part of their work to minister to the sick and afflicted whenever opportunity presents itself. The minister of the gospel is to present the message, which must be received if the people are to become sanctified and made ready for the coming of the Lord. This work is to embrace all that was embraced in Christ's ministry.
Those who understand physiology and hygiene will, in their ministerial labor, find it a means whereby they may enlighten others in regard to the proper and intelligent treatment of the physical, mental, and moral powers. Therefore those who are preparing for the ministry should make a diligent study of the human organism, that they may know how to care for the body, not by means of drugs, but from nature's own laboratory. The Lord will bless those who make every effort to keep themselves free from disease, and lead others to regard as sacred the health of the body as well as of the soul.
The ambassadors of Christ, those to whom have been committed the living oracles of God, can be doubly useful if they know how to help the sick. A practical knowledge of health reform will better qualify men and women to proclaim the message of mercy and retribution to the world.
MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THE BIBLE AND HEALTH.
By Alonzo T. Jones
WITHOUT the Bible the true principles of health and temperance can no more be taught than can the true principles of anything else that pertains to man's greatest good.
God has made man that He may be glorified. He made man in His own image. He made him to be immortal, in body as well as in spirit. He has promised that the bodies of those who trust Him shall be brought from the dead, or, if living when He comes in His glory, they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and made immortal, even like the glorious body of the Son of God. “Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” Phil. 3:20, 21.
Christ has bought us bodily. His salvation is a salvation of the whole man. We do not believe in that religion that looks only to the salvation of the soul separated from the body, and even at the expense of the body. In the early monasticism it was thought most meritorious to despise, to neglect, to degrade the body. He who would do this was regarded the greatest saint, because it was evidence of the supremacy of the soul. The hair went uncombed, the nails untrimmed, the body unwashed, made as filthy as possible, and tortured in different ways. All this was the way to saintship, and to the exaltation and salvation of the soul. But such is not the way of the follower of Christ; for He says, “Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
In harmony with this view, another scripture says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” God does not want anybody to be weak and sickly; He does not want any one to be sick, even. No; He wishes “above all things” that we may “be in health.” But above all things, temperance is most conducive to health—not temperance in the generally accepted meaning of the term, not simply abstinence from strong drink. There are thousands of people who might be considered strictly temperate so far as strong drink is concerned, but who at the same time are sadly intemperate in other things. There are thousands of intemperate temperance people. That sort of temperance which is most conducive to health is temperance in all things; and this is the temperance that the Bible demands. The Lord's wish that we may be in health is supported by the Lord's command to be temperate in all things. The Bible doctrine of health goes hand in hand with the Bible doctrine of temperance. We cannot have either without the other.
The Bible is ahead of the world on the subject of health and temperance, as it is on every other subject; and it always will be ahead. Every genuine advance that the science of temperance, hygiene, or medicine shall ever make will only be to approach nearer to the principles of health and temperance laid down in the Bible. We know that some may think this a hard saying, and perhaps may not be prepared to believe it, but it is the truth, whether or not anybody believes it. God made man, and He knows what is best for him; and in the Bible God has told man what is best for him. The closer man conforms to the directions laid down in the Bible, the more nearly he acts in accordance with his own best interests, whether moral, physical, spiritual, or intellectual.
A. T. JONES.
THE TRUE BASIS OF REFORM.
By John Harvey Kellogg
We must recognize with a solemn reality that religion includes the body, and that the laws which govern the healthful performance of the bodily functions are as much the laws of God as are those of the decalogue. So long as a man regards his body as a harp of pleasure to be played upon as long as its strings can be made to vibrate, so long will he continue to travel down the hill of physical decadence and degeneration, in spite of guaranteed laws and the most minute sanitary regulations. But when he recognizes his divine origin and obligations, and himself as the crowning masterpiece of creation, his body a precious thing, to be sacredly preserved, developed, expanded, and purified for service for humanity in this world, and a never-ending opportunity for development and joyous existence in the world to come, then only will he begin to climb toward the heights from which he has fallen, where he may once more stand forth as the crowning glory of creation.
J. H. KELLOGG.
ARE YOU TRANSFORMING YOUR HOME INTO A SANITARIUM?
By David Paulson
If not, why not? It is impossible for all to have the benefit of our regularly organized health institutions. Nevertheless, those deprived of such a privilege have a right to some of the crumbs that fall from our richly furnished tables. God has not been sending this people such splendid rays of light upon the subject of right living, and the care of the sick, all these years simply for us to hoard up for ourselves, or perhaps even worse, discard altogether. These truths were intrusted to us for the benefit of the world, and God will sooner or later demand of us a strict account of our stewardship.
The greatest thing about a sanitarium is not by any means the completeness of its appliances, but the amount of light and truth that it cherishes, and reflects into the hearts and lives of those who are brought in contact with it.
The successful cure of ordinary periodical sick headache requires neither an extensive paraphernalia nor a scientific training. Do you know what kind of diet to recommend in order to clear up a coated tongue? Are you aware that the average attack of biliousness is only an indication of decomposition and fermentation in the stomach? Do you know what a simple thing it is to cure it? If not, why not?
If your own families do not need such information, some one in your immediate vicinity is suffering because of the lack of it. Are you so busily engaged in the commonplace affairs of life that you have no time to give special attention to the subjects which pertain to the health of soul and body? If so, what assurance have you that the angels of God will not be too busy to care for you when a thousand fall on one side and ten thousand on the other? As an excuse, do you say you cannot afford to subscribe for the journals or purchase the literature through which God would convey these truths to the people? If so, have you not wondered how your neighbor who is in the same financial condition as you are, succeeded in meeting the funeral expense of his only child, who might have lived if your home had been the center of light and health that God intended it should be?
The homes of all those who expect soon to meet God should be miniature sanitariums. Then, and not until then, will be fulfilled some of those prophecies in the latter part of the book of Isaiah, relative to the wonderful position that the people of God are to occupy in the world just prior to the close of time.
DAVID PAULSON.
A Revolution in Our Whole System of Life
By Mary Henry Rossiter
BEFORE we can have genuine progress in the temperance or in any other reform, we must have a thoroughgoing revolution in our whole system of life. We must look at life differently; we must think of our bodies differently; we must eat and drink and dress and sleep, we must work, and we must play, with a different conscious, as well as subconscious, purpose. Not that the purpose of living, of eating and dressing and drinking, of working and playing, should occupy an irritating and solemn prominence in all that we do; that it should occupy any prominence; that we should even be aware of its existence. But it should be there, as the heart is in the body, pumping pure blood and imparting true energy to every muscle and every nerve. MARY HENRY ROSSITER.
Ministers and Physical Laws
In their obedience to physical laws they [ministers] are to hold forth the word of life to the people, and lead up higher and still higher in the work of reform.—Mrs. E. G. White.
JUST WHAT IS NEEDED.
By W. W. Prescott
FROM the hearty words of response received from various sources it is evident that many regard the Forward Movement as just what is needed at this time. Writers agree to write and editors agree to print articles dealing with this phase of gospel truth, for all wish the Movement success.
We look for the same kind of response from the people, and believe that this effort will be the basis of a general revival of the true missionary spirit and a new experience in missionary work. An understanding of the principles of health, and a knowledge of the right thing to do in the ordinary diseases which are so common all about us, will break down many a barrier, and open the door to many a heart. These truths were not given to this people for them to use merely for their own benefit. The law of the kingdom is, “Freely ye have received, freely give.” And those who impart what they have, open the way to receive more.
Every Seventh-day Adventist church ought to be a source of light and blessing to the community in which it is located. Every Seventh-day Adventist family ought to be the center of missionary effort. Every one who receives light ought to be a channel of light to others. We hope the Forward Movement may be a help in bringing about this condition of things among us.
The Central Committee wish to express their appreciation of the interest already shown in this work, and still further to commend it to the attention of all the people.
W. W. PRESCOTT,
Chairman.
ACTION OF ALCOHOL ON THE BODY.
By Frederick M. Rossiter
FREDERICK M. ROSSITER, M. D.
(Battle Creek, Mich.)
ON THE BRAIN.
“The effects of alcohol vary greatly in different individuals, and in the same individual at different times. One person is rendered sentimental, another bellicose, while in a third there may be no appearance of excitement, the first distinct symptom being profound slumber. When drinking is indulged in in company, the excitement stage is a very common phenomenon, but if alcohol is taken without the exhilarating accompaniments of bright lights and exciting companionship, it is less frequently seen, and the question has therefore arisen how far the environment produces the excitement in alcoholic intoxication.
“In small quantities it generally produces a feeling of well-being and good fellowship, along with increased confidence in the powers, mental and physical. Larger quantities are followed by a certain amount of excitement, marked by laughter, loquacity, and gesticulation. The face becomes flushed and hot, the eyes brighter and livelier, the pulse is accelerated. Even at this stage the self-control is partially lost, and the will power is weakened. The speech may be brilliant, but it betrays the speaker; the movements are more lively, but they are often undignified. The loss of self-control is often indicated further by furious bursts of anger and unreasonableness, or by the indulgence of maudlin sentimentality and sexual fancies. The sense of responsibility and the power of discrimination between the trivial and the important are lost, and the individual has no regard for the feelings of others or the ordinary conventions of life. If the bout be further continued, the movements become uncertain, the speech becomes difficult and stammering, the walk becomes a stagger, and a torpid slumber follows.” — Cushney on “Action of Drugs,” 1900.
Alcohol produces mental anaesthesia, and slows all mental processes, but it deceives its victim by making him believe that he is thinking more profoundly and more rapidly. Thought is less logical and more superficial. Noted authors, writing under the influence of alcohol, have felt that they were turning out wonderful and beautiful productions, but the next morning they found that their writings would not bear criticism. Alcohol perverts the judgment (Prov. 31:5), blunts the perceptions, holds the self-control in abeyance, and primarily acts as a narcotic and diminishes sensibility. Prov. 23:35 refers to the action of alcohol, and also to the fact that it possesses the power of lessening pain. A man says, “They have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.” He would rather take a beating under the influence of wine than to quit its use, and when he awakens, he will seek it yet again to be ready for the next beating. This shows the anaesthetic action of alcohol upon the body. Very small quantities of alcohol will lessen pain. Men take to drink frequently to “drown their sorrows,” and to blot out the memories of accumulated miseries. It is because of the anaesthetic influence of alcohol that it is so frequently sought. It is a moral anaesthetic. “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish [so that he may perish more easily], and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.” Prov. 31:6, 7. Alcohol depresses the memory; and if constantly used, the memory is permanently injured, for the poison destroys the brain cells by which memory is possible.
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Prov. 20:1. Alcohol makes a man feel rich when he is a beggar, well when he is sick, strong when he is weak, warm when he is freezing, happy when he is miserable, full when he is starving, working fast and hard when he is hardly moving, refreshed when he is exhausted and weary, like an angel when he is a demon.
Sir Lauder Brunton, an eminent English authority on the action of drugs, has the following to say in regard to the action of alcohol on the brain: “The effect of alcohol appears to be, as it were, to shave off the nervous system, layer by layer, attacking first the highest developed faculties, and leaving the lowest to the last, so that we find that a man’s judgment may be lessened, though at the same time some lower faculties, such as the imagination, may appear to be more active than before, just as I told you that in case of other parts of the nervous system, when you remove inhibition (the controlling power), you apparently increase the activity of a center, and that the highest centers have an inhibitory action upon the lower ones. Thus you find that after a man has taken alcohol, his judgment may be diminished, but he may become more loquacious and more jolly than before. Then after a while his faculties become dull; he gets stupid and drowsy. This is the narcotic and anodyne action of alcohol. As a hypnotic it causes sleep, as an anodyne it removes pain, as a narcotic it also disturbs the balance of the faculties, so that the man is no longer able to see and judge things as he did before, but at the same time the man may still be able to walk. Later on it affects the motor centers.”
The spirit of alcohol creates an intense hatred in the mind against the Spirit of God, and holds its victim in such terrible bondage that there is little disposition even to desire the Spirit of God.
Under the influence of alcohol, with the will power gone, the natural character of an individual is revealed. He does things that are perfectly natural to the “carnal mind.” When a man is under the influence of the Spirit of God, the divine character in him is revealed, and then he does that which is unnatural — he denies himself, and reaches down to help the lowest of earth.
ON THE MUSCLES.
Alcohol lessens the contracting power of a muscle, and slows its action, though one feels that he is stronger and quicker. A beer drinker will shovel less dirt than an abstainer. A regiment of soldiers without beer, whisky, or brandy, will march more miles, more quickly and with better maneuvers, with less fatigue the next day, than a regiment supplied with liquor. Different nations have thoroughly demonstrated this fact.
Alcohol destroys the sense of fatigue, and causes a man to work when he is weary and exhausted. Nothing could be more harmful in wearing out the human machine.
ALCOHOL AND HEAT PRODUCTION.
There is a popular notion that alcohol warms the body. Nothing is more deceptive and fallacious. Alcohol is drunk in cold weather in order to keep warm, and in hot weather to keep the head cool! Alcohol dilates the vessels of the skin, and so, by causing more blood to circulate on the surface of the body, the skin is actually warmer. This warming of the skin warms the sensory nerve endings, which in turn convey this sensation to the brain. The brain centers are actually deceived by this sensation, and are made to feel that the body is warm and out of danger, and hence they check the production of heat. As a matter of fact, the skin is warmed at the expense of the internal organs, and the loss of heat from the surface is so great that the internal and vital organs are chilled, endangering life. Hence alcohol is no protection against cold, but renders one more susceptible to it.
Arctic explorers who abstain from liquors endure the extreme northern climate far better than those who drink. In 1786 Prince Paternkin, prime minister of Russia under the Empress Katherine, gave a state dinner to peasants. All ate heartily, and brandy flowed freely. A very cold night set in, many were unprotected, and the next morning sixteen thousand were found frozen to death.
Brunton reports the following case: “A party of engineers were surveying in the Sierra Nevadas. They camped at a great height from the sea level, where the air was very cold. Some of them drank a little whisky, and felt less uncomfortable; some of them drank a lot of whisky, and went to bed feeling very jolly and comfortable indeed. But in the morning the men who had not taken any whisky got up all right; those who had taken a little whisky got up feeling very unhappy; the men who had taken a lot of whisky did not get up at all,—they were simply frozen to death. They had warmed the surface of the body at the expense of their internal organs.”
Alcohol lessens the oxygen-carrying powers of the blood, and prevents it from giving up the oxygen to the tissues; oxidation is diminished, hence heat production is reduced. To increase oxidation is one of the fundamental principles in23the treatment of fever, yet many physicians regard alcohol as almost indispensable in the treatment of fevers. It is true that alcohol lowers fever by increasing loss of heat from the skin, but its injurious effects much more than counterbalance this one action, which may be produced much more effectually with water.
THE SORROWFUL WAY.
By L. D. Santee
ELDER L. D. SANTEE.
My heart is heavy to breaking
As I look on the faces of men;
For they index souls that are aching
Of the toilers with hand and with pen.
And the wrecks that I meet at each turning,
The faces I see every day,
They all reach the end of life's journey,
By the path of the Sorrowful Way.
Oh, the eyes that are faded and sunken,
That I meet in my way everywhere!
Oh, the faces and forms that are shrunken,
That tell of the canker of care!
Hair once like a nimbus of glory
Now mantles the temples with gray.
Each, all, tell their pitiful story
Of the woes in life's Sorrowful Way.
I would comfort the weary ones pining
For peace that the world has not given,
I would tell them that mansions are shining
In the unclouded brightness of heaven.
I would tell them of pleasures unfading,
Of a hope that shall pass not away,
When they leave all the clouds that are shading
Earth's weary and Sorrowful Way.
The eyes that were sunken, to-morrow
May grow bright with their love for the King,
And the lips that were pallid with sorrow
Break forth in their gladness, and sing,
And the hands that were weary with toiling
From morn till the close of the day
Shall be lifted in glad acclamation
At the end of earth's Sorrowful Way.
ARE YOU BEAUTIFUL?
By C. L. Richards
C. L. RICHARDS.
“Are you beautiful?” “Do you desire to become beautiful?” Many times we see these questions printed in large letters at the beginning of an advertisement, and then follows a recital of the many things that some “wonderful discovery” will do for those who will take it,—how it will “beautify the complexion, renew the hair, give new luster to the eye, etc., etc.” Many who are seeking for outward adorning eagerly grasp these things, and carefully follow the directions, with the vain hope that by thus burdening their systems with these health-destroying concoctions, they may “become beautiful.”
But let us see. What is true beauty? Does it consist merely in a beautiful complexion, in long, flowing hair, in fine-cut, regular features, or daintily arched brows? Is it these? or is it the true worth of intellect and soul back of these? Is it not the tender, sympathetic nature, the attentive, courteous manner, the constant forgetfulness of self,—a something in the inner man which so attracts us to certain persons that we cannot help loving them? The features may be irregular and ugly, yet the face may shine with the light of an indwelling goodness. The fruit of the Spirit born from a heart filled with the love of Jesus is the transforming influence. This is true beauty, beauty of soul, of character. This is what God looks at: “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam. 16:7.
You ask, “How can we obtain this beauty? Is there a reliable prescription? can it be recommended to all, small or great, rich or poor?”—Yes; the Word says, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Isa. 55:1. The secret we find in God’s word. “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Ps. 119:130. “For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” Prov. 6:23. Peter, guided by the Spirit, says (1 Peter 3:3, 4), “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price;” and Paul adds (Heb. 12:2), “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” “For we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. 3:18.
These are our prescriptions. They are good for all, and never fail to develop true beauty. Let each one who professes the name of Christ, advertise it in glowing letters printed by the Spirit of God on the countenance, while the heart overflows with that love which “suffereth long, and is kind;” which “envieth not;” which “vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” It “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” That love never fails. Everything else may fail; earthly hopes and joys, ambitions and desires, may perish; but the love of God,—that love that caused Jesus to leave His Father’s home of glory, and come down to this sinful earth and suffer the ignominious death of the cross,—that love in the human heart will beautify the life and point the way heavenward.
THE PHYSICIAN BY THE FIRESIDE.
By Frederick M. Rossiter
CONDUCTED BY FREDERICK M. ROSSITER, M.D.
1–3.— SCRIPTURES ON ALCOHOL — ENEMA IN CHRONIC CONSTIPATION — GLUTEN IN FLOUR.
1. Do not the Scriptures teach in Prov. 31: 6, 7, that it is sometimes necessary to administer alcoholic liquors? If so, why should we abandon their use? 2. For how long a time can one safely employ the daily enema in cases of chronic constipation? 3. Do the lower grades of flour contain more gluten than the high grades? A. H.
ANS.— 1. The words referred to are: “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts [“bitter of soul,” margin]. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.” The writer is aware that there are many Seventh-day Adventists, and even ministers, who believe that this is the divine prescription for strong drink to be given to one who is about to perish,—to be taken “as a last resort.” If this is true, it is evident that there is equal authority for those who “be of heavy hearts” to drink wine in order that they may forget their “poverty,” and “remember” their miseries “no more.” This is exactly what millions of men and women are doing to-day. And as long as they continue to do this, they effectually keep themselves from Him who only is able to comfort those who “be of heavy hearts.” Thousands of men to-day are attempting to “drown their miseries” in the flowing bowl. There is no greater enemy to truth in the world than alcoholic liquors.
Moreover, it is evident that any drug that can cause one to “forget” and “remember no more” would have very little power in drawing upon the forces of the body when one is “ready to perish.” Any drug that causes one to forget, necessarily depresses the brain or exhausts the nerve centers. In verses 4 and 5, princes and kings are commanded not to drink strong drink, “lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment.”
The only way the forces of the body can be aroused to resist disease and death is through the nervous system. Disease and death can only be resisted with life. Alcohol, which is the active principle of any strong drink, is a poison to all forms of life, in the smallest quantities, and is a narcotic to the nervous system of man, when taken even in moderation.
The healing and curing power of the body is God. No man or animal that was ever sick, recovered except by this healing power. This healing power, however, is subject somewhat to man’s control, and may be assisted by proper measures. But it is absolutely inconsistent that He who said, “I am the Lord that healeth thee,” should advise His creatures to resort to an agent of death in order to save “him that is ready to perish.”
There is no proof that alcohol ever saved the life of any being who was “ready to perish.” Alcohol will save a man from pain who is about to perish, and so he may die with more ease and comfort, for it is a narcotic and an anæsthetic.
Alcohol has saved men from unexpected and violent deaths by so depressing their nerve centers beforehand that they were saved from a fatal shock of the nervous system. A man in Scotland, going home drunk, fell from a bridge one hundred feet high into a shallow stream,—the water coming only to the knees. The bottom of the stream being hard, he broke both thigh bones, as well as several other bones, yet he made a good recovery.
It is a recognized fact among physicians that that which will keep a man well and strong will heal him when he is sick. Alcohol weakens the body, is a prolific cause of sickness, and cannot be regarded as a curative power.
2. The long-continued use of the enema is safer than the constant use of cathartics. One thus troubled should seek to overcome the difficulty by a proper regulation of the diet, outdoor exercise, and water treatment.
3. Grain that grows on an impoverished soil will contain less gluten than well-nourished grain. Most of the gluten is directly under the husk, or bran, of the grain. For this reason, whole-wheat flour contains much more gluten than a patent flour in which much of the outer portion of the kernel is removed. In many “high grade” flours much of the gluten has been removed.
4, 5.— BRIGHT’S DISEASE AND PARALYSIS — GERMS.
1. What is the proper treatment of Bright’s disease and paralysis in the aged? 2. Are there more germs to-day than there were one hundred years ago? do they fly in the dust? and how can we get rid of them? W. G. F.
ANS.— 1. The most that can be done for Bright’s disease in the aged is to live upon a light, nourishing diet, drinking milk and buttermilk, and freely of water, keeping the skin active by means of warm baths, followed by moderately cool sponging with friction, taking full warm baths when the skin itches much and sleep is disturbed. A dry, warm climate is best for those who have this disease.
2. Germs have always existed, but were not known as such a century ago. To-day many hundred varieties of germs are known to scientists. Some are disease producing, and many are a benefit in the economy of life. One of the most common ways of spreading the germ that causes consumption is by means of dust. Many germs and molds are present in houses that are damp and poorly ventilated.
The best way to get rid of germs is to keep everything pure and clean, and let the sunlight and the breezes of heaven into the home. Sunlight is the most effective agent in the world as a germ destroyer. The most deadly germs are destroyed in a few hours by the direct rays of the sun.
LENTIL ROAST.
By Mrs. M. H. Dunmead
MRS. M. H. DUNMEAD.(Adams Mills, Ohio.)
1 cup lentils.
1½ cups rolled zweiback or granola.
½ cup cream.
1 large onion, grated.
Salt and sage to taste.
Wash the lentils, and put at once into boiling water. Cook for three hours or until soft, and the water nearly all out; put through a fine colander or sieve, mix with the other ingredients, and brown in the oven. If properly moistened, it will slice nicely, and is good either warm or cold. If preferred, the cream may be omitted, and one quarter cup of rolled walnut meats used instead, moistening with water. One half cup each of lentils and dried peas gives a little different flavor.