ifomia 
 Dnal 
 
 ity
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 niYSICAL EDUCATION 
 
 AND THE 
 
 PRESERVATION OE HEALTH. 
 
 BY JOHN C. jWARREN, M. D. 
 
 PBOFESSOR OF ANATOMY AMD SURGERY IK HARVARD 
 UNIVERSITY. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 \V I L L I A 31 D . T I C K N 11 & C ^M P A N Y 
 
 MDCCC XLVl.
 
 Entered accortiing to Act of Congress, in the yenr 1845, by William 
 D. TicKNon & Co., in the Clerk's office of tlio District Court of 
 the District of Mu^sachusotta. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY 'I'llUKSTON, TUIUIY & CO. 
 31 Devonshire Street.
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This publication was originally a lecture 
 
 .on physical education, delivered before the 
 
 American Institute in 1830. Having been 
 
 informed, that these remarks had an influ- 
 
 Z ence in directing the attention of instructors 
 
 7 and others to this important subject, and 
 
 "^ frequent applications having been made for 
 
 3 copies, I have thought it might be useful 
 
 to republish it. Additions are now made 
 
 to the original text, for the purpose of more 
 
 c fully illustrating some of the most impor- 
 
 J tant means of attaining and preserving a 
 
 o good constitution. 
 
 •>i> 15^.1
 
 ON THE IMPORTANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 Nature has destined that the physical 
 and intellectual education of man should be 
 conducted in very different modes. The 
 culture of the mind requires the early, con- 
 stant and well-directed efforts of an artificial 
 system. That of the physical faculties is 
 fully effected by the powers of nature. All 
 that she asks, is, that we would leave her 
 free and unconstrained. Unhappily, our 
 state of civilization, while it has copiously 
 supplied the means of intellectual improve- 
 ment, has, nearly in the same ratio, raised 
 obstacles to the development of the physi- 
 cal powers ; and if we wished to restore 
 to these their original spring, we should 
 either revert to our primitive condition, or 
 1*
 
 b THE PRESEllVATION 
 
 find substitutes in art for the modes em- 
 ployed by nature. 
 
 Considerations of this description have 
 presented themselves occasionally, as I have 
 been called to observe the evils arising from 
 the prevalent systems of education, and 
 also from too steady an application to liter- 
 ary pursuits in those whose education was 
 completed. At one period, my attention 
 was directed to the unfavorable influence 
 of studious and sedentary habits on health, 
 by the occurrence of alarming indisposition 
 among the members of the sacred profes- 
 sion, a number of whom became its prema- 
 ture and much lamented victims. At an- 
 other, I witnessed the effects of a mistaken 
 system, on the constitution of multitudes 
 of the fairest Avork of creative power. I 
 have had the misfortune to behold, when 
 it was too late to apply a remedy, rmmer- 
 ous instances of decay in the most vigorous 
 constitutions, and of distortion in the best 
 proportioned forms. 
 
 The importance of health to the regular 
 exercise of the faculties of mind, as well
 
 OF HEALTH. 7 
 
 as those of body, is very well understood 
 in theory, and very generally neglected in 
 practice. We are daily seen to accumulate 
 the treasures of science on intellects, where 
 the physical machinery is disordered and 
 made useless by the burden. What is the 
 value of a brilliant genius, or a highly cul- 
 tivated mind, to a weak and laboring frame ? 
 Let us suppose the existence of such a case 
 in cither of the learned professions. If it 
 occur in the minister of religion, the organs 
 of utterance are enfeebled, and the power 
 of instructing his hearers is diminished or 
 destroyed. The thoughts that should 
 speak, remain un embodied in language, 
 and the words that should burn, are extin- 
 guished on his lips. His usefulness is 
 impaired at the moment of its full career ; 
 and even if his days are not cut off at an 
 early period, he finds his mental abilities 
 prematurely chained down by bodily weak- 
 ness. 
 
 If it happen in the interpreter of the law, 
 — the powerful workings of the mind in 
 the investigation of obscure points, and the
 
 8 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 elaboration of profound arguments, break 
 down a sickly and yielding organization, 
 and bring on a train of nervous affections 
 and perverted imaginations, as permanent 
 perhaps as life, and less supportable than 
 death. 
 
 Again, a bad constitution in a professor 
 of the healing art, keeps him at variance 
 with all his duties. How can he heal 
 others, in whom the springs of health act 
 feebly and imperfectly ? A laborious and 
 active course of duty demands a bodily 
 vigor that can endure all kinds of unseason- 
 able labor ; a steadiness of fibre, that can 
 bear without agitation the sufferings of 
 others, while attempting to relieve them ; 
 and a firmness of health, able to resist the 
 attacks of those malignant epidemics, that 
 prostrate a whole community. 
 
 When we regard the influence of a de- 
 bilitated body on the more delicate sex, we 
 find it not less distressing. A young fe- 
 male, at the age of twelve or fourteen, pre- 
 sents a beautiful figure, rosy cheeks, an 
 airy step, and the fulness of life and happi-
 
 OF HEALTH. 
 
 ncss in every movement. As she advances, 
 her vivacity naturally lessens ; but, as if it 
 would not be soon enough extinguished, it 
 nnist be repressed by art. Tiie lively mo- 
 tions of the body and limbs must be check- 
 ed, the spirits must be restrained, and a 
 sort of unnatural hypocrisy made to conceal 
 every ingenuous movement. The activity 
 of disposition is destroyed ; by confniement 
 she loses the inclination for exercise, and 
 passes from her school to a state of listless- 
 ncss at home, or to frivolous and useless 
 amusements, or perhaps to fresh tasks. By 
 this regular repression of the physical pow- 
 ers, their energy is at last broken. Various 
 organs lose then- tone and their healthy 
 action. Even the most solid parts are gra- 
 dually impaired, and, being unable to sup- 
 port their ordinary burden, they sink under 
 its weight, and bring on michangeable de- 
 formity. Perhaps the exterior of health 
 may remain a little longer, although the 
 destroying principle is working in the heart. 
 Should she be called on to be a mother, 
 then comes the trial of her strength. The
 
 10 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 fruit, so fair without, is found decayed 
 within, when scarcely matured. Next, the 
 roses of the countenance wither; the limbs 
 are feeble and tottering ; the vivacity is ex- 
 tinguished ; the whole system undermined, 
 and ready to fall on the first shock. Of 
 what use now are all the finery of accom- 
 plishment, and the rich stores of literature 
 and of science, the fruits of so many years' 
 labor ? They are all wasted, and perish 
 unemployed. 
 
 What I have now stated as the result of 
 the mode of female education in use at 
 present, is not a picture of the imagination ; 
 it is a fair representation of what we are 
 compelled to encounter, in almost daily 
 experience. 
 
 My wish now is, to point out some of 
 the principal ways in which literary pur- 
 suits may be destructive to health ; and 
 also to show what measures might be adopt- 
 ed to prevent these pernicious consequences. 
 
 Action is the object for which organiza- 
 tion was created. If the organs are allowed 
 to remain inactive, the channels of life be-
 
 OF HEALTH. 11 
 
 come clogged ; and the functions and even 
 the structure get impaired. Young animals 
 are filled with the desire of motion, in or- 
 der that the fluids of the body may be 
 forced rapidly throngh their tubes, the 
 solids thus elongated and enlarged, and 
 every part gradually and fully developed. 
 
 The immediate consequences of action 
 on the bodily frame are familiar and visible 
 to daily experience. Observe the sinewy 
 arm of the mechanic. The muscles are 
 large and distinct ; and when put in motion, 
 they become as hard as wood, and as strong 
 as iron. Notice those who are accustomed 
 to carry considerable weights on the head. 
 The joints of the lower limbs are close-set 
 and unyielding ; the frame perfectly erect, 
 and the attitude commanding. In the cul- 
 tivator of the soil, though the form may be 
 vitiated by neglect, you may observe that 
 the appearance of every part is healthful, 
 vigorous, and well fitted for labor. 
 
 While all of us are desirous of possessing 
 the excellent qualities of strength, hardi- 
 ness and beauty, how defective are our
 
 12 THE PKESERVATION 
 
 systems of education in the means of ac- 
 quiring them. In the present state of 
 civilization, a child, soon after it can Avalk, 
 is sent to school ; not so much for the pur- 
 pose of learning, as to relieve its parents 
 of the trouble of superintending its early- 
 movements. As he grows older, the same 
 plan is incessantly pursued and improved 
 on, till a large part of his time is passed in 
 sedentary pursuits and in crowded rooms. 
 In the short intervals of confinement at 
 school, the boy is allowed to follow the bent 
 of his inclinations, and seek in play that 
 exercise which nature imperiously demands. 
 The development of his system, though not 
 what it was destined to be, is attained in a 
 certain way ; and he is exempted from some 
 of the evils, which fall heavily on the 
 other sex. 
 
 The female, at an early age, is discoura- 
 ged from activity, as unbecoming her sex, 
 and is taught to pass her leisure hours in a 
 state of quietude at home. The effects of 
 this habit have been already spoken of in 
 general terms ; and I would now point out 
 some of its results in a specific maimer.
 
 OF HEALTH. 13 
 
 In the course of my observations, I have 
 been able to satisfy myself that about half 
 the young females brought up as they are 
 at present, undergo some visible and obvi- 
 ous change of structure ; and of the remain- 
 der, a large number are the subjects of 
 great and permanent deviations, while not 
 a few entirely lose their health from the 
 manner in which they are reared. The 
 proportion of those who fall under the first 
 description, I have already stated. The 
 amount of the two last, it is impossible to 
 ascertain with precision. I can venture to 
 say, that it is sufficient to constitute a pow- 
 erful claim on the attention of those enga- 
 ged in the management of young persons. 
 
 The nature of all the particular affections 
 and diseases thus induced, it would be im- 
 possible to describe in this place. I shall 
 venture to direct your views to the details 
 of only one of them. 
 
 The weight of the principal part of the 
 
 body or trunk, the weight of the neck, the 
 
 head and the two upper extremities, are 
 
 supported by a single bony column, called 
 
 2
 
 14 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 the spine. This column is about three 
 inches in diameter. It consists of twenty- 
 four pieces of bone placed one on the other ; 
 and between each two is interposed a sub- 
 stance, somewhat resembling caoutchouc 
 or India-rubber, for the purpose of giving 
 it elasticity. This column is hollow, and 
 contains the spinal marrow. Now the 
 spinal marrow is the origin and source of 
 the nerves, that convey the influence ne- 
 cessary to voluntary motion ; and they are 
 sent off in pairs to the various muscles. 
 The bony pieces of the spine are confined 
 together by many small ligaments, by the 
 elastic substance just spoken of, and by 
 numerous muscles, affixed, not only to con- 
 nect and support, but also to move them. 
 
 The bones of the spine, at an early peri- 
 od of life, are themselves in part composed 
 of an elastic, cartilaginous or gristly sub- 
 stance ; and are always of a porous and 
 sponge-like texture. In consequence of 
 this kind of organization, the spinal column 
 possesses much elasticity and flexibility, 
 which enable it to yield and to move in
 
 OF HEALTH. 16 
 
 different directions, and expose it to receive 
 permanent flexures, when there is a deficien- 
 cy of natural strength in its composing parts. 
 
 Causes which affect the health and pro- 
 duce general weakness, operate powerfully 
 on this part, in consequence of the com- 
 plexity of its structure, and the great burden 
 it supports. When weakened, it gradually 
 yields under its weight, becomes bent and 
 distorted, losing its natural curves, and ac- 
 quiring others, in such directions as the 
 operation of external causes tend to give 
 it ; and these curves will be proportioned 
 in their degree and in their permanence, to 
 the producing causes. If the supporting 
 part is removed from its true position, the 
 parts supported necessarily follow, and thus 
 a distortion of the spine effects a distortion 
 of the trunk of the body. 
 
 The change commonly begins at the part 
 which supports the right arm. The column 
 bends towards the right shoulder, forms a 
 convexity on the side Avhere the shoulder 
 rests, and thus elevates the right higher 
 than the other. This elevation, or as it is
 
 16 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 commonly called, growing out of the shoul- 
 der, is the first phenomenon that strikes the 
 friends of the patient. Often when observ- 
 ed, the shoulder has already undergone a 
 considerable change of position ; and the 
 change is not confined to the shoulder, nor 
 to the portion of spine immediately con- 
 nected with it. On examination, it will 
 be discovered that the curvature to the 
 right in the upper part of the column,' is 
 accompanied, as a natural consequence, by 
 a bend of the lower part to the left, and a 
 correspondent projection of the left hip. 
 It is perfectly obvious, that the inclination 
 of the upper part of a flexible stick to one 
 side, will leave the lower part on the other ; 
 and when, by this inclination, the vertical 
 support is lost, a disposition to yield at the 
 curving points will continually increase, 
 until it be counteracted by some other 
 power. Thus it happens, then, that any 
 considerable projection of the right shoul- 
 der v/ill be attended by a correspondent 
 projection of the left hip. 
 
 The rising of the shoulder involves other
 
 OF HEALTH. 17 
 
 changes in the osseous fabric. For, as the 
 spinal bones support the ribs, when these 
 bones project, they necessarily push for- 
 wards the ribs dependent on them. Tliese 
 ribs form the frame of the chest, and of 
 course the right side of the chest is pro- 
 jected forwards, and causes a deformity in 
 the fore-part of the body. Nor do the 
 changes stop here. The posterior ends of 
 the ribs being pushed forwards, and the 
 anterior ends being confined to the sternum 
 or breast-bone, the right edge of the sternum 
 will be drawn forwards, and the left edge 
 consequently turned backwards. The fore- 
 parts of the left ribs will be gradually forced 
 inwards or backwards, and thus the left side 
 of the chest distorted and contracted. 
 
 I am aware how difficult it is to have a 
 distinct notion of these intricate changes in 
 the human machinery, without an exami- 
 nation of the parts concerned in them ; but 
 it is my duty to represent the train of phe- 
 nomena as they exist in nature ; and I 
 think they are sufilcicntly intelligible to 
 
 excite consideration and inquiry. 
 2*
 
 18 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 Perhaps it may be imagined, that the 
 cases I have described are of rare occur- 
 rence, that we have no occasion to alarm 
 ourselves about a few strange distortions, 
 the consequence of peculiar and accidental 
 causes. If such were in fact the truth, I 
 would not have occupied your time with 
 the minute detail of these unpleasant sub- 
 jects. Unhappily they are very common. 
 I feel warranted in the assertion already in- 
 timated, that of the well-educated females 
 within my sphere of experience, about 07ie 
 half are affected with some degree of dis- 
 tortion of the spine. This statement will 
 not be thought exaggerated, when compar- 
 ed with that of one of the latest and most 
 judicious foreign writers. Speaking of the 
 right, lateral curvature of the spine, just 
 described, he tells us, ' It is so common, 
 that out of twenty young girls who have 
 attained the age of fifteen years, there are 
 not two who do not present very manifest 
 traces of it.' * 
 
 *Lachaise, Sur les Courbures de la Coloniie Verte- 
 brale. p. 23.
 
 OF HEALTH, 19 
 
 As the bones serve to contain most of 
 the great organs, any change in their forms 
 will be likely to produce changes in the 
 condition and healthy action of these or- 
 gans. The spine gives lodgment, as has 
 been said, to the spinal marrow ; and this 
 sends out nearly all the nerves that carry 
 the influence of voluntary motion, and 
 many of those that convey energy to the 
 great organs of respiration, circulation and 
 digestion. When the containing part is 
 distorted, the part contained is likely to be 
 disturbed, and this disturbance must pro- 
 duce important efl'ects on the nerves issuing 
 from it, and of course on the organs to 
 which these nerves are distributed. If the 
 compression be slight, the operations of the 
 organs will be partially disturbed. Hence 
 proceed shortness of breath ; palpitation 
 of the heart ; the phenomena of indiges- 
 tion, flatulence, acidity, &c. These again 
 give rise to the uncomfortable feelings call- 
 ed nervous ; though I believe they are 
 sometimes the direct consequence of partial 
 compression of the spinal marrow. AVhen
 
 20 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 this pressure is considerable, the bad con- 
 sequences are more obvious and formidable. 
 In such instances, the muscles supplied 
 with nerves from the part below that com- 
 pressed, lose their activity. The circula- 
 tion in the lower limbs is retarded, and 
 they grow cold and livid, and swell. Some- 
 times even a complete paralysis, or loss of 
 the power of motion, occurs in one or in 
 both of these extremities. 
 
 The ribs and the breast-bone enclose 
 and guard, as we have said, the organs of 
 the chest. Their position being altered by 
 the deviation of the spine, the cavity they 
 form becomes deranged. Its left part, 
 where the heart is placed, being diminished 
 in extent, this organ is embarrassed in its 
 movements, and striving to relieve itself, 
 produces painful and dangerous palpitations, 
 and a general disturbance in the circulatory 
 system. The lungs, for the same reasons, 
 cannot fully expand in the effort of inspi- 
 ration. This function is partially perform- 
 ed, and the blood imperfectly oxygenated 
 — an irregularity of itself sufficient to
 
 OF IIP-ALTir. 21 
 
 bring on a low state of health, and a dis- 
 position to disease. 
 
 The want of conformity between these 
 organs and the bones they are in contact 
 M'ith, causing interference between the 
 parts, an irritable condition of the kings 
 may be engendered, disposing to acute 
 inflammation, or to the slow development 
 of chronic disease. 
 
 Having given some notion of the nature 
 of the affections brought on by mistakes 
 during the time of education, I shall advert 
 now to their causes. 
 
 The general causes of these derange- 
 ments are those things that weaken the 
 constitution. They may be physical or 
 mental. Among the most important phy- 
 sical causes, are want of the exercise proper 
 to develope the powers of the body, the 
 taking of food, improper in quantity or 
 quality, and many other causes of inferior 
 importance. The mental causes may be a 
 too constant occupation of the mind in 
 study ; the influence of feelings or passions 
 of a depressing nature, &c.
 
 22 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 The facts, that show the want of exer- 
 cise to be one of the greatest causes of 
 these affections and of the weakness that 
 induces them, are very numerous. On the 
 one side, we observe that young people 
 brought up to hardy and laborious occupa- 
 tions, whether they are males or females, 
 do not suffer in this way. The sons and 
 daughters of farmers and laborers, for ex- 
 ample, never exhibit the deformities spoken 
 of, except in cases where there is a great 
 scrofulous defect, by inheritance. 
 
 A still more remarkable fact of a general 
 nature may be seen on a comparison in this 
 respect between the two sexes. The lateral 
 distortion of the spine is almost wholly 
 confined to females, and is scarcely ever 
 found existing in the other sex. The pro- 
 portion of the former to the latter is at least 
 nine to one. In truth, I may say that I 
 have rarely witnessed a remarkable distor- 
 tion, of the kind now spoken of, in a boy. 
 What is the cause of the disparity ? They 
 are equally well formed by nature ; or if 
 there be any difference, the symmetry of
 
 OF HEALTH. 23 
 
 all parts is more perfect in the female than 
 in the male. The difference in physical 
 organization rcsnlts from a dillerence of 
 habits depending upon school education. 
 It is not seen till after this process is ad- 
 vanced. The girl, when she goes from 
 school, is, as we have before said, expected 
 to go home and remain, at least a large 
 part of the time, confined to the house. 
 As soon as the boy is released, he begins 
 to run and jump, and frolic in the open air, 
 and continues his sports till hunger draws 
 him to his food. The result is, that in 
 him all the organs get invigorated, and the 
 bones of course become solid ; while a 
 defect exists in the other sex, proportionate 
 to the want of physical motion. 
 
 A question may fairly be asked why 
 these evils are apparently greater now than 
 formerly, when females were equally con- 
 fined ? The answer, in reference to the 
 young females of our country, is, that they 
 then took a considerable share in the labo- 
 rious part of the domestic duties ; now, 
 they are devoted to literary occupations, of
 
 24 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 a nature to confine the body and require 
 considerable efforts of the mind. 
 
 I shall not, in this place, say anything of 
 the second of the physical causes of weak- 
 ness, spoken of, as it will be adverted to 
 hereafter. The next of these causes, which 
 presents itself to our view, is of a moral 
 nature ; — the influence of too great occu- 
 pation of the mind in study, and that of 
 feelings and passions of a depressing nature. 
 
 The operation of mental causes on the 
 bodily frame is not unknown to any of us ; 
 though they may not perhaps have been 
 thought, in regard to education, to be of 
 very great importance. As it is not in my 
 power to enter fully into the subject, I 
 would barely present it for your considera- 
 tion. 
 
 The effect of anxiety, grief, and other 
 feelings, in diminishing strength and wear- 
 ing away health, are quite familiar. The 
 loss of property and of friends, has been 
 known to bring on diseases; and it has 
 sometimes happened, that an agreeable re- 
 verse or a favorable incident has speedily
 
 OF HEALTH. 25 
 
 removed them. Confidence in a physician 
 is a great help towards receiving benefit 
 from his prescriptions ; and many of the 
 cures wrought by empirical or quack medi- 
 cines, are to be attributed rather to the op- 
 eration of the mind, than to the action of 
 the medicines on the disease. 
 
 Tlie production of physical changes in a 
 sudden and sensible way, by the action of 
 moral causes, is comparatively rare, and 
 very dilhcult to comprehend. Yet medical 
 men do sometimes have an opportunity of 
 observing changes effected by this power, 
 which might appear incredible, and almost 
 miraculous, to those not aware of the force 
 of mental operations on the human organs. 
 I could adduce many such cases. Perhaps 
 it will be proper to state one or two in de- 
 tail. 
 
 When, some years ago, the metallic tract- 
 ors were in the height of their reputa- 
 tion for the cure of diseases by external 
 application to the part affected, the follow- 
 ing experiment was performed by Dr. Ilay- 
 garth, of Bath. Two tractors were prepared, 
 3
 
 26 THE PRKSERVATION 
 
 not of metal, but of a substance different 
 from the genuine tractors, and made to 
 resemble them. Thr-se were applied, in 
 a number of instances, with all the good 
 effects of the real tractors. Among other 
 remarkable cures was that of a person with 
 a contraction of the knee joint, from a dis- 
 ease of six months' duration. After a few 
 minutes' application, this man was directed 
 to use his limb, and, to the surprise of all 
 present, he was able to walk about the 
 room. Snch instances are not very unusual. 
 Many empirics succeed by calling into 
 action the same principle. The patient, 
 after a number of manipulations of the 
 part affected, is directed to make use of his 
 limb ; and though this call on his imagina- 
 tion does not infallibly succeed, it is not 
 wonderful that it occasionally does so. 
 
 I will relate another case of this kind. 
 Some time since, a female presented herself 
 to me, with a tumor, or swelling of the sub- 
 maxillary gland of the neck, which had 
 become what is commonly called a wen. 
 It was about the size of an egg, had lasted
 
 OF hi:ai/ii[. 27 
 
 two years, and was so veiy hard, that I 
 considered any attempt to dissipate it by 
 medicine to be vain, and advised its removal 
 by an operation. To this the patient could 
 not bring her mind ; tlierefore, to satisfy her 
 M'ish, I directed some applications of con- 
 siderable activity to be made to the part, 
 and these she pursued a number of weeks, 
 witliout any change. After this, she called 
 on me, and, with some hesitation, begged 
 to know, whether an application recom- 
 mended to her would in my opinion be 
 safe. This consisted in applying the hand 
 of a dead man three times to the diseased 
 part. One of her neighbors now lay dead, 
 and she had an opportunity of trying the 
 experiment, if thought not dangerous. At 
 first, I was disposed to divert her from it ; 
 but, recollecting the power of the imagina- 
 tion, I gravely assured her she might make 
 the trial without apprehension of serious 
 consecpiences. A while after, she presented 
 herself once more, and, with a smiling 
 countenance, informed me she had used 
 this remedy and no other since I saw her ,•
 
 28 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 and, on examining for the tumor, I found 
 it had disappeared. 
 
 The possibility of operating powerfully 
 on the corporeal organization by moral 
 causes being established, it is clear that the 
 long exertion of intellectual efforts, and 
 still more the frequent action of depressing 
 passions, may, and even must, have a great 
 influence on the condition of the body, at 
 the flexible period when education and 
 growth are going on together. — A close 
 and constant occupation of mind, too long 
 continued, lessens the action of the heart ; 
 and a languid circulation, thus being in- 
 duced, prevents the full growth of the body. 
 Depressing passions act more conspicuous- 
 ly. You may possibly have noticed, though 
 the case is rare in this country, the condi- 
 tion of children subjected to a persevering 
 system of harshness at home. They are 
 pale and shrivelled, and their growth is 
 checked. 
 
 In the present modes of education, great 
 pains are taken to excite the imagination 
 by competition. These efforts are attended
 
 OF IIF.AI/ni. 
 
 29 
 
 with but too much success iu susceptible 
 miuds. An anxiety to excel becomes the 
 predominant passion. The health, the 
 sports, and too often the friendships of 
 youth are sacrificed to the desire of surpass- 
 ing those around. When this becomes an 
 all-absorbing passion, the result is most un- 
 friendly to physical organization ; and a 
 multitude of fine constitutions are ruhied 
 by it, in both sexes. 
 
 Whether any proper substitute can be 
 found, in our sex, for competition and rival- 
 ry, I must leave to others to decide. So far 
 as my experience extends, I should give an 
 affirmative answer ; and while 1 do not 
 pretend to be a very competent judge in 
 the case, it is fair to say, that the habit of 
 giving public instructions for more than 
 twenty years, has afforded me some con- 
 clusions of a satisfactory nature. 
 
 The application of the system of rivalry 
 to the softer sex, I speak with submission 
 to greater experience, appears to me fraught 
 with mischief. It inflames the imagination, 
 festers the passions, and poisons the ha})pi- 
 3*
 
 30 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 ness of the brightest days of life ; and 
 since the very highest grade of literary 
 acquirement is not essential to the duties of 
 the sex, it seems as unnecessary as it is 
 pernicious. 
 
 I have just made a question whether 
 there is a substitute, which is sufficiently 
 practical to be of general use. I do not 
 know that there is ; and if none exists, I 
 think the ingenuity and intelligence of in- 
 structors could not be employed on a more 
 important subject, than in devising such 
 substitute. The spirit of improvement has, 
 I imagine, already discovered that the rea- 
 soning process may be generally employed 
 with great success in the instruction of 
 young persons. I know individuals, who 
 use it to a considerable extent, and with 
 the most happy results. They endeavor 
 to enforce on their pupils the doctrine that 
 the path of duty is the most easy, and most 
 for the interest of the individual to pursue. 
 They do this by conversation and by argu- 
 ment ; and the process succeeds with those 
 who are capable of being influenced in any
 
 OF HEALTH. 31 
 
 way, — and why should it not ? Children 
 of the earliest age are capable of feeling 
 the force of reason ; and I believe it will 
 generally be found that they are under the 
 power of their parents, rather in proportion 
 to the employment of this agent, than to 
 that of the rod or any other compulsory 
 means. If they understand reason, at so 
 early a period, surely they cannot lose their 
 susceptibility to it, at one more advanced. 
 There are, I know, minds, on which the 
 powers of language make no impression, 
 and all the weapons of argument fall as if 
 pointless. But these are to be considered 
 as exceptions to general laws — cases in 
 which all the means of severity and kind- 
 ness equally fail. They should not cause 
 discoiu-agement. Patience is the everlast- 
 ins; motto of the instructer. With it he 
 performs wonders — without it he can do 
 nothins:. 
 
 The remarks made above, will give some 
 notion of the most important of what I 
 conceive to be general causes of ill health 
 and imperfect growth, during the educating 
 process.
 
 32 THE PIIKSKRVATION 
 
 It may not be useless to say a few words 
 on some of the immediate causes of spinal 
 distortion, which may be called local, in 
 opposition to the former. 
 
 The most obvious of the local causes are 
 bad postures of the body and limbs. The 
 habit of bending the neck, while writing 
 or drawing, gradually compresses the ver- 
 tebraj, and the intervertebral substance on 
 their anterior part, and causes a permanent 
 change in the form of this part of the spinal 
 column. This distortion is so very com- 
 mon among us, that we are apt to consider 
 it a natural formation. In fact, however, 
 it is entirely artificial in a great number 
 of instances. Sometimes it is the conse- 
 quence of negligence, and not unfrequently 
 of timidity. Whether it tends to impair 
 the health, always, I will not say — that it 
 sometimes does so, I am certain ; and its 
 effect in deforming the shape is even greater 
 than a moderate degree of lateral curve. 
 
 The immediate cause of the lateral curve 
 of the spine to the right, opposite to the 
 right shoulder, is the elevation and action
 
 OF HEALTH. 33 
 
 of the right arm in drawing and writing. 
 Tliis postnrp pulls the part of the spinal 
 column to which the muscles of the right 
 arm are fixed, to the right side. The con- 
 vexity of the spine thus produced keeps the 
 right shoulder elevated, and the left conse- 
 quently depressed. The lower part of the 
 column is thrown to the left side ; and this 
 displacement being favored by the disposi- 
 tion to rest on the left foot, while standing 
 to speak or read, there comes to be a per- 
 manent projection of the left hip. The 
 postures employed in practising on some 
 musical instruments, sometimes bring on 
 these distortions ; as for example, a great 
 use of the harp favors the disposition to 
 lateral curvature, from the constant exten- 
 sion of the right arm.* 
 
 * For many years I have in my anatomical lectures 
 been in tlie habit of recommemling, that children should 
 be taught by their parents to use the left hand equally 
 with the right. Tliis habit will in a great number of in- 
 stances prevent the occurrence of the distortion mentioned 
 in the text, and preserve the lateral symmetry of the body. 
 It would also give a valuable resource in case of those 
 injuries, which in everyone temporarily, and in some per- 
 manently, impair the use of the right arm.
 
 34 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 Having adverted to tlie nature and the 
 causes of some of the defects that arise from 
 want of attention to physical education, I 
 shall now throw out some hints, as to the 
 modes iti which it may be improved. 
 
 Nature, as we have before said, if left to 
 herself, is all-sufficient to the development 
 of physical organization. But we live in 
 an artificial state — a state that continually 
 thwarts the course of the native dispositions 
 of the animal economy ; and as we must 
 abandon the advantages of these, we must 
 seek for substitutes in an artificial process. 
 
 The principles which should form the 
 basis of such a process, will readily be seen, 
 on attending to the nature and the causes 
 of these defects. We shall observe that 
 the remedy, or rather the preventive means, 
 lies in a certain regulation of the sentiments 
 and passions and intellectual operations : 
 in promoting bodily activity; in a salutary 
 regimen, and in some other inferior consid- 
 erations. In regard to the first of these, 
 that is, to what relates to the mind, I have 
 already said all I intend at this time ; and 
 I shall now advert to the others.
 
 OF HEALTH. 35 
 
 Towards a perfect, system of education, 
 it is necessary there should be a balance 
 preserved between physical and intellectual 
 cultivation. When the mind is closely oc- 
 cupied, the body should be carefully guard- 
 ed. If the pursuits of the former are severe 
 and absorbing, those of the latter should be 
 cheerful and relaxing. Instead, then, of 
 abandoning the physical to the intellectual 
 culture, it should be increased in the same 
 ratio, and followed with the same earnest- 
 ness. 
 
 Exercise is so material to physical edu- 
 cation, that it has sometimes been used 
 synonymously, though it really constitutes 
 only a part of it. In ordeK that exercise 
 may have its due operation, it must begin 
 at the earliest period of life, and of course, 
 the parent must, in this, act the part of in- 
 structer. He must take pains to have the 
 infant carried into the air, every day, and 
 in every season ; for, whatever may be the 
 dangers of such a course, they are in the 
 end less than those incident to the acci- 
 dental exposures of a delicate constitution.
 
 36 THE PUESERVATION 
 
 111 the earlier years, the dress should be 
 arranged so as to allow that use of the body 
 and Umbs, to which nature prompts, with 
 freedom, and without impropriety. When 
 children are sent to school, care should be 
 taken that they are not confined too long. 
 Children under fourteen should not be kept 
 in school more than six or seven hours a 
 day ; and this period should be shortened 
 for females. It is expedient that it should 
 be broken into many parts ; so as to avoid 
 a long confinement at one time. Young 
 persons, however well disposed, cannot sup- 
 port a restriction to one place and one pos- 
 ture. Nature resists such restrictions ; and 
 if enforced, they are apt to create disgust 
 with the means and the object. Thus chil- 
 dren learn to hate studies that might be 
 rendered agreeable, and they take an aver- 
 sion to instructers, who would otherwise 
 be interesting to them. 
 
 The postures tliey assume while seated 
 at their studies, are not indifferent. They 
 should be frequently warned against the 
 practice of maintaining the head and neck
 
 OF HEALTH. 37 
 
 long in a stooping position ; and the dispo- 
 sition to it should be lessened by giving a 
 proper elevation and slope to the desk ; and 
 the seat should have a support or back of a 
 few inches, at its edge. The arms must be 
 kept on the same level ; and there should 
 be room to support them equally, or the 
 right will be apt to rise above the left, from 
 its constant use and elevation. A standing 
 posture in writing and studying, is not com- 
 mendable for young persons. The secret 
 of posture consists in avoiding all bad posi- 
 tions, and avoiding all positions long con- 
 tinued. 
 
 The ordinary carriage of the body in 
 walking should be an object of attention to 
 every instructer. How different are the im- 
 pressions made on us by a man, whose 
 attitude is erect and commanding, and by 
 one who walks with his face directed to 
 the earth, as if fearful of encountering the 
 glances of those he meets ! Such attentions 
 are even of great importance to the fairer 
 sex, where we naturally look for attraction 
 in some form or shape. If nature has not 
 given beauty of face to all, she has given 
 4
 
 38 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 the power of acquiring a graceful movement 
 and upright form — qualities more valua- 
 ble and more durable than the other. These 
 qualities are lost or gained at school ; and 
 of course they lie, to some extent, within 
 the control of the instructer. It seems to 
 me it would afford a great addition of satis- 
 faction to the superintendent and guardian 
 of the rising population, to be able to send 
 out to the world his annual recruits, not 
 only well imbued with knowledge and vir- 
 tue, but also endowed with a handsome 
 form and graceful manners. 
 
 The influence of an upright form and 
 open breast on the health, has been, I think, 
 sufhciently explained ; and what may be 
 done to acquire these qualities, is shown by 
 many remarkable facts, one of which I will 
 mention. For a great number of years, it 
 has been the custom in France, to give to 
 young females of the earliest age, the habit 
 of holding back the shoulders, and thus ex- 
 panding the chest. From the observations 
 of anatomists lately made, it appears that 
 the clavicle, or collar bone, is actually longer 
 in females of the French nation than in
 
 OF HEAI.TII. 39 
 
 those of the English, although the latter are 
 the best formed people. As the two nations 
 are of the same race, as there is no other 
 remarkable dillerence in their bones, and 
 this is peculiar to the sex, it must be attrib- 
 uted, as I believe, to the habit abovemen- 
 tioned, which, by the extension of the arms, 
 has gradually produced a national elonga- 
 tion of this bone. Thus we see that habit 
 may be employed to alter and improve the 
 solid bones. The French have succeeded 
 in the development of a part, in a way that 
 adds to health and beauty, and increases a 
 characteristic that distinguishes the human 
 being from the brute. 
 
 As young persons advance in age, and as 
 the disposition to motion naturally dimin- 
 ishes, it becomes important to encourage 
 and provide for it, especially in females, 
 and in young men of studious character. 
 Instead of restraining their movements, and 
 blaming the disposition to frolic, they should 
 be allowed and advised to it, at proper times, 
 and in becoming modes. 
 
 Next to walking in the open air, the best 
 exercise for a young female is dancing.
 
 40 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 This brings into action a large part of the 
 muscles of the body and lower limbs, and 
 gives them grace and power. The mode 
 in which I wish to recommend its use, is 
 not in balls and crowded assemblies, but at 
 home, alone, or with two or three friends, 
 or in the domestic circle. As this practice 
 does not give motion to the upper limbs, 
 and as the exercising them is too apt to be 
 neglected, it is important to provide the 
 means of bringing them into action, as well 
 to develope their own powers, as to enlarge 
 and invigorate the chest, with which they 
 are connected, and which they powerfully 
 influence. The best I know of is the use 
 of the triangle.* This admirably exerts 
 the upper limbs and the muscles of the 
 chest, and, indeed, when adroitly employed, 
 those of the whole body. The plays at ball 
 with both hands, and that of dumb bells, 
 are useful. The parallel bars afford a very 
 
 * The triangle is made of a stick of walnut wood, four 
 feet long, an inch and a half in diameter. To each end 
 is connected a rope, the opposite extremities of which 
 being confined together, are secured to the ceiling of a 
 room, at such height as to allow the motion of swinging by 
 the hands.
 
 OF IIFALTII. 41 
 
 fine exercise for the muscles of the body 
 and upper hmbs. Battledoor I should re- 
 commend to be played with the left hand 
 as well as the right, a habit, like all others, 
 acquired by due practice. While I partic- 
 ularly mention these, I should advise as 
 great a diversity as possible, in exercise and 
 amusement ; so that, wlien the mind or the 
 muscles get fatigued Avith one, they may 
 take up another with fresh ardor. Every 
 seminary of young persons should be pro- 
 vided with the instruments for these exer- 
 cises. They are not expensive, occupy 
 but little room, and are of unspeakable im- 
 portance. 
 
 While active exercises should occupy 
 time sufficient to excite the circulation, and 
 gently to agitate the organs, there must also 
 be an occasional relaxation. At proper in- 
 tervals, the whole muscular apparatus should 
 be allowed to repose. I do not mean that 
 the young lady should sleep during the day ; 
 but I wish to advise a graceful attitude on 
 a couch or sofa, as a necessary alternation 
 to muscular or mental eflort. 
 
 The remarks last made have reference 
 4#
 
 42 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 principally to the exercises of young ladies, 
 who are more likely to suffer in this respect, 
 in our plans of education, than the other 
 sex. 
 
 The necessity of cultivating the physical 
 powers in young men, is sufficiently under- 
 stood. The establishment of gymnasia 
 through the country, promised, at one 
 period, the opening of a new era in physical 
 education. The exercises were pursued 
 with ardor, so long as their novelty lasted ; 
 but, owing to not understanding their im- 
 portance, or some defect in the institutions 
 which adopted them, they have gradually 
 been neglected and forgotten, at least in 
 our vicinity. The benefits which resulted 
 from these institutions, within my personal 
 knowledge and experience, far transcended 
 the most sanguine expectations. I have 
 known many instances of protracted and 
 distressing affections wholly removed ; of 
 weakly organized forms unfolded and in- 
 vigorated, and of the attainment of extraor- 
 dinary degrees of muscular energy and elas- 
 ticity in persons in health. 
 
 The diversions of the gymnasium should
 
 OF HF.ALTII. 43 
 
 constitute a regular part of the duties of all 
 our colleges and seminaries of learning; 
 and, to give them the requisite power of 
 excitement, the system of rewards, so dan- 
 gerous when mismanaged in literary educa- 
 tion, might be introduced without any ill 
 effect.* Our young men may surely find 
 time to cultivate those exercises, which 
 Cicero and Cossar, and some of the most 
 studious among the ancient and modern 
 philosophers, considered necessary, and 
 contrived to prosecute in the midst of their 
 studies and affairs.f 
 
 * I have known many instances of great increase of 
 muscular vigor, and of tiie general health by the regular 
 use of gymnastic exercises, even at an advanced period 
 of life. Among these I might refer to a distinguished 
 member of the legal profession, who first began the 
 practice of gymnastics when nearly seventy years old. 
 He acquired great additional vigor, lived to the age of 
 eighty-four, in habits of constant activity, and died at 
 this period in the most easy and tranquil manner. 
 
 t Cicero is described by Plutarch, as being, at one 
 period of his life, extremely lean and slender, and 
 having such a weakness in his stomach, that he could 
 eat but little, and that not till late in the evening. He 
 travelled to Athens, however, for the recovery of his 
 health, where his body was so strengthened by gym- 
 nastic exercises, as to become firm and robust ; and his
 
 44 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 If the gymnasium is deserted because it 
 calls for too much effort, let me intreat 
 them at least to adopt a regular plan of 
 walking. Two hours a day must be de- 
 voted to this business without relaxation, 
 unless they are willing to carry the mark 
 of disorder in the face while young, and a 
 dyspeptic, nervous, disabled frame through 
 that part of life, which especially requires 
 health and activity. 
 
 I have often been asked, how it is the 
 German literati preserve their health with- 
 out exercise. Some of them are known to 
 pass most of their time in study, and think 
 not of wasting their precious moments in 
 taking care of their bodies. To this I reply ; 
 first, that they are careful to acquire a good 
 
 voice, wliicli had been harsh, was tlioroughly formed, 
 and rendered sweet, full, and sonorous. 
 
 In regard to Julius Cagsar, the same author informs 
 us, that he was originally of a slender habit of body, 
 had a soft and white skin, was troubled with pains in 
 his head, and subject to epilepsy; but, by continual 
 marches, coarse diet, and frequent lodging in the fields, 
 he struggled against these diseases ; and used war, and 
 the exercises and iiardships therewith connected, as 
 the best medicine against these indispositions. — Sir 
 John Sinclair.
 
 OF HEALTH. 
 
 45 
 
 constitution by habits of activity while they 
 are young. The organs are properly de- 
 veloped, and confirmed in healthy action. 
 Secondly, they do not break down their 
 strength by luxurious ways of living, and 
 the free use of stimulant drinks, in early 
 age. Thirdly, which is the great secret, 
 they live most abstemiously. The diges- 
 tive organs are not overburdened with food, 
 and stand not in need of extraordinary ef- 
 forts to relieve them. 
 
 Let those who are compelled to sedentary 
 pursuits, seasonably lay aside one third of 
 their ordinary food ; and they will experi- 
 ence no loss of time in combating the horrors 
 of dyspepsia. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Philadelphia Peni- 
 tentiary, confined to a uniform regimen, 
 which of course limits itself, enjoy uninter- 
 rupted health. Those who were diseased 
 from bad habits before they became its 
 tenants, are effectually cured after a short 
 residence there. 
 
 Regulation of the food is of primary con- 
 sequence towards the formation of a good 
 constitution. The most common error in
 
 46 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 relation to it, consists in the use of too much 
 food. Nature has given us organs of a cer- 
 tain capacity, on the presumption that, being 
 called on to manual labor, we should then 
 require a large quantity of food. Muscular 
 effort exhausts the strength, and requires 
 renovation by nutritious substances ; but 
 when the muscular efforts are small, the 
 quantity of nourishment required is com- 
 paratively trifling ; and if, in consequence 
 of the appetite, a large quantity is taken, 
 the result will be pernicious, directly or 
 indirectly. Parents are uneasy when their 
 children eat bat little, and would encourage 
 them to eat against their inclination. No 
 mistake can be more pernicious to health ; 
 and if persevered in, disease will infallibly 
 result from it. When the child wants ap- 
 petite, instead of being compelled to take 
 food, it must be compelled to take exercise, 
 unless positively ill, and then it must be 
 compelled to take medicine. 
 
 The quantity of liquid given to young 
 persons is decidedly injurious. The prin- 
 cipal agent in the digesting process, is a 
 solvent juice. The more this is diluted
 
 OF HEALTH. 
 
 47 
 
 with fluids, the weaker it is, and the less 
 perfect the digestive action. Animal food 
 should be sparingly taken by young persons 
 who use little exercise ; and children gen- 
 erally do not need it. Bread and milk, and 
 fruit are the best articles for those who do 
 not labor. Wine is highly pernicious to 
 young persons. It is a slow but certain 
 poison. Before the body has attained its 
 full growth, there is an overplus of excita- 
 bility ; and if to this is added the powerful 
 agency of wine, or any other stimulating 
 drink, the constitution cannot fail to be 
 hurt. Females are more injured by stimu- 
 lating drinks than males, because their 
 system is more susceptible of physical ex- 
 citement. The nervous power is more ener- 
 getic ; the pulse and respiration are quicker ; 
 and the developement of animal heat greater. 
 Hence, I suppose, it is, that they require 
 less covering in cold weather ; and sufler 
 more inconvenience from the heat, than the 
 other sex. 
 
 Females are unfortunately compelled by 
 fashion to adopt partial and unequal cover- 
 ings of the body. A part of the chest is
 
 48 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 very much covered, while another part is 
 wholly exposed. The dangers which spring 
 from fashion are more easily pointed ont, 
 than avoided. They serve at least to place 
 in a clearer light the necessity of inuring 
 young females to exposure, and invigorating 
 them by exercise. 
 
 There is one part of female dress, the 
 dangers of which have been made known, 
 but which still, I fear, continues to be 
 practised ; I mean the girting the chest. 
 
 In what notions of beauty this practice 
 took its origin, I am unable to discover. 
 The angular projections formed by a tightly 
 drawn cord, are in direct opposition to the 
 models of Grecian or Roman beauty. In 
 the flowing robes of the Juno, the Vesta 
 and Diana, every part is light and graceful. 
 Nor have I been able to discover, in the 
 representation of the Muses or the Graces, 
 any habiliment which would lead us to 
 believe they wore stays or corsets. The 
 taste of the other sex is uniformly opposed 
 to the wasp-like waist and the boarded 
 chest. Yet, strange as it seems, there is 
 scarcely a young lady of fifteen, who has
 
 OF HEALTH. 49 
 
 not imbibed a disposition for this species of 
 application, and scarcely a well dressed lady 
 of any age, whose chest is not confined in 
 such a manner as to impede the motions of 
 respiration and the free use of the muscles 
 of the upper extremities. It is true, we are 
 constantly told that they are uncomfortable 
 without these appendages ; but this only 
 shows, what great inconveniences we can, 
 by habit, become accustomed to. The 
 Indian nations, who consider the flattened 
 forehead to be a beauty, confine the heads 
 of their infants between two pieces of board 
 corded together, and the child exists under 
 this pressure and may grow up. Yet there 
 can be no doubt that diseases are generated 
 by it ; that some lose their lives and others 
 their intellects. Still the fashion continues 
 from age to age ; for I have now in my pos- 
 session flattened heads, which must have 
 lived some hundreds of years since, and 
 others which have belonged to individuals 
 of the existing generation. 
 
 Nature has so contrived the human chest 
 that there is no superfluous play of the parts 
 composing it. Its movements are just suf- 
 5
 
 50 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 ficicnt to give such an expansion to the 
 kings and such an extent of oxygenation of 
 the blood, as are adequate to the wants of 
 the individual, under different occurrences. 
 In females, the chest is shorter than in 
 males ; and to compensate for this, the 
 motion of the ribs is naturally more exten- 
 sive and more frequent. Whatever limits 
 this motion, is therefore peculiarly injurious 
 to the sex ; especially as they are more dis- 
 posed to consumption, and other chronic 
 affections of the lungs. Now, the ligatures 
 in the fashionable dress are placed precisely 
 on that part, where the motion should be 
 greatest ; that is, below the middle of the 
 chest. It is precisely here, that, in case of 
 fracture of the ribs, when we desire to stop 
 the movements of the chest, we apply a 
 tight bandage ; — though rarely do we ven- 
 ture to make it so tight as the ordinary 
 corsets. The effect of such pressure, begun 
 at an early period of life, will be understood 
 from what has been stated in regard to the 
 spine. The bones must yield to it ; their 
 shape becomes permanently altered; the 
 lower part of the breast contracted ; the
 
 OF HEALTH. 61 
 
 space destined by nature for the heart and 
 hmgs diminished ; and what the fatal re- 
 suhs of all this on these tender and vital 
 organs are, every day's experience shows 
 us. The intluence on the health, though 
 slow, is certain. It may not at once pro- 
 duce consum}>tion ; but it lays the founda- 
 tion for ills it would pain you to hear, and 
 me to describe. I will only say, by way of 
 specification, that, among other diseases of 
 which this is the fruitful germ, I have 
 known three instances of perpetual head- 
 ache, at last bringing on insanity and termi- 
 nating in death. The immediate cause of 
 the disease was the compression of the heart 
 and great blood vessels, and the consequent 
 accumulation of blood in the head. 
 
 As young ladies are disposed to this prac- 
 tice, probably by fancies communicated by 
 their companions, those who have charge 
 of them, should not only prohibit these ap- 
 plications — they should, for themselves, 
 observe whether anything is wrong ; and 
 after the young ladies have reached the age 
 when dress is considered a primary object, 
 they should resolutely oppose every en-
 
 52 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 croachment on the rights of the vital organs, 
 beyond what is required by a decent atten- 
 tion to the prejudices of the day.* 
 
 If I might call your attention to other 
 topics of interest connected with this sub- 
 ject, I should advert to the constant use of 
 cold bathing, especially the shower-bath, as 
 very conducive to invigoration of the body, 
 and to lessening the susceptibility to the 
 injurious effects of cold on the surface of 
 the skin. I would speak of the advantages 
 of regular frictions over the whole surface, 
 and especially the chest and the neck, those 
 parts, which are constantly to be exposed 
 to the air. The judicious use of the voice 
 by reading aloud, I should highly commend. 
 It invigorates the lungs, and gives action to 
 the whole digestive apparatus ; but I should 
 not speak so favorably of singing — a de- 
 lightful accomplishment, indeed, but only 
 
 * Since this was written, the practice of tight lacing 
 has diminished, and we now and tiicn have an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the female form in a dress, which does 
 not conceal its natural symmetry and grace. It would 
 be tliougiit singular, if this pernicious practice^ thus 
 becoming unfasliionuble in the one sex, should have 
 been adopted by the other.
 
 OF HEALTH. 53 
 
 to be pursued by those whose chests are 
 ample, and pulmonary organs vigorous. 
 These subjects I can barely allude to, with- 
 out entering into the details of their par- 
 ticular application, having extended these 
 remarks much beyond my original design. 
 Let me conclude by intreating your at- 
 tention to a revision of the existing plans 
 of education, in what relates to the preser- 
 vation of health. Too much of the time 
 of the better educated part of young persons, 
 is, in my humble opinion, devoted to literary 
 pursuits and sedentary occupations ; and 
 too little to the acquisition of the corporeal 
 powers indispensable to make the former 
 practically useful. If the present system 
 does not undergo some change, 1 much ap- 
 prehend we shall see a degenerate and 
 sinking race, such as came to exist among 
 the higher classes in France, before the 
 revolution, and such as now deforms a large 
 part of the noblest families in Spain ; * but 
 
 * I am inTormed, by a lady who passed a long time 
 at the Spanish court, in a distinguished situation, that 
 tlie Grandees have deteriorated by tiieir iiabits of living, 
 and the restriction of intermarriages to their own rank, 
 
 5*
 
 54 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 if, as I trust it will, the spirit of improve- 
 ment, so happily awakened, continue to 
 animate those concerned in the formation 
 of the young members of society, we shall 
 soon be able, I doubt not, to exhibit an 
 active, beautiful, and wise generation, of 
 which the age may be proud. 
 
 1. DIGESTION. 
 
 The renovation of organized structures is 
 accomplished by the process of digestion. 
 This, whether it take place in vegetables 
 or animals, is effected by the assimilation of 
 external substances constituting the food, 
 which is appropriated to the structure to be 
 repaired. 
 
 The digestive organs are very simple in 
 vegetables. Food is taken from the earth 
 by the radicles of the plant, circulated in its 
 vessels, elaborated or digested in its leaves, 
 and sent to the different parts of the plant 
 for their support and development. In most 
 
 to a race of dwarfs, and, tliough fine persons are some- 
 times seen among lliem, they, when assembled at court, 
 appear to be a group of mannikins.
 
 OF HEALTH. 55 
 
 animals the apparatus of digestion is much 
 more complicated. In the lower classes it 
 is in truth but little more complex than in 
 vegetables, but in the higher animals, and 
 in man, it forms one of the most extensive 
 parts of the animal economy. 
 
 The primary and most essential portion 
 of the digestive apparatus in man is the 
 stomach. Into this cavity articles of food 
 are introduced in great variety, and these 
 in the course of a few hours are gradually 
 dissolved. The power, by which this solu- 
 tion is accomplished, has been ascertained 
 to be a liquid exuded from the coats of 
 the stomach, similar in its aspect to liquid 
 saliva, and which has been denominated 
 the gastric fluid or juice. The experiments 
 of Spalanzani, Stevens, and others, and 
 finally those of Dr. Beaumont on Alexis St. 
 Martin, an individual, who had an aperture 
 in his stomach from an accidental wound, 
 have proved, that when food was introduced 
 into an empty stomach, this exudation was 
 seen to take place, in proportion to the 
 quantity of food received into the organ, 
 within certain limits. The food, brought
 
 56 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 in contact with the interior of the stomach 
 by the action of its muscular coat, and by 
 the movements of respiration, is attacked by 
 this hquid in successive portions, and grad- 
 ually melted into a homogeneous mass. 
 
 In a healthy stomach a moderate meal is 
 digested in four hours, and then the food is 
 pushed by the stomach into the duodenum, 
 a sort of second stomach, in which, and in 
 the tube below, the nutritious liquid is first 
 separated from the solid part of the food, 
 then absorbed, and carried into the blood- 
 vessels, and circulated through every part 
 of the animal body. So that it may be 
 said, that the whole of the drink taken into 
 the stomach, and a considerable part of the 
 solid food, ultimately make their way into 
 the blood-vessels, and are circulated through- 
 out the animal system. 
 
 It has been also observed, that when 
 liquids were taken into the stomach at the 
 same time with solids, the liquids were 
 separated from the solids, and disappeared 
 from the stomach in a short time. Both 
 reasoning and observation have plainly 
 shown, that while any considerable:quantity
 
 OF HEALTH. 57 
 
 of liquid remains in the stomach, the gastric 
 fluid is too much diluted to accomplish the 
 
 solution of the food. 
 
 From the facts above mentioned we con- 
 sider it to be established, that the taking of 
 (|uantities of liquid at the same time with 
 solid food does not promote the digestive 
 process, but interferes with, and suspends it. 
 Hence the swallowing of large quantities 
 of fluid of any description, such as wine, 
 tea, coffee, or even water, is not consistent 
 with a healthy and speedy digestion. The 
 practice of drinking at our meals is so uni- 
 versal a custom as to make it appear like a 
 second nature, but it is in fact contrary to 
 nature. Animals do not drink at the time 
 they eat, but some hours after, and they 
 generally take very small quantities of liquid, 
 compared with that which is used by man. 
 The savage in his native wilds takes his 
 solid food, when he can obtain it, to satiety, 
 reposes afterwards, and then resuming his 
 chase through the forest, stops at the rivulet 
 to allay his thirst. 
 
 The disadvantage of taking a large quan- 
 tity of liquid must be obvious to all those
 
 58 
 
 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 who consider that the digesting liquid is 
 dihited and weakened, in proportion to the 
 quantity of drink. Children especially, are 
 much mismanaged in this particular. We 
 begin at an early period of life to drench 
 the stomach of a child with large quantities 
 of milk and water, of simple water, or of 
 some other liquid. The poor child suffers 
 from the extensive distention of the stomach 
 and complaining frequently, the mother pre- 
 sumes it is affected with worms, and many 
 violent purges are given to destroy these sup- 
 posed invaders. The digestive apparatus 
 is thus weakened still more ; chyle is im- 
 perfectly formed, the blood itself hence be- 
 comes weak and impure, and in this way 
 the seeds of scrofula are developed. 
 
 All kinds of stimulating drinks are of 
 pernicious effect in two ways : 1st, by di- 
 luting the gastric fluid, as above stated ; 2d, 
 by over-stimulating the stomach. When 
 food is taken into the stomach, the inner 
 coat of the organ is excited, and thereupon 
 becomes reddened from an increased flow 
 of blood ; this is a natural excitment of the 
 organ. When stimulants of any kind are
 
 OF HEALTH. 69 
 
 thrown into the stomach, it is over-excited 
 at the time, and, Hke all other over-excited 
 parts, sulfers a proportionate debility after- 
 wards. If then a quantity of alcohol and 
 water, or wine, which is a mixture of alco- 
 hol, water, and some vegetable substance, 
 are taken into the stomach at the same time 
 with the food, the over-excitement must be 
 injurious. It may not indeed produce im- 
 mediate disease, or death, but it lays the 
 foundation for the former, and shortens the 
 road to the latter. A single excess or de- 
 bauch takes off something from life, and 
 when this excess is frequently repeated, 
 even if not carried to habitual intoxication, 
 the effect must be materially to diminish the 
 term of existence. One of the effects of 
 the over-excitement, produced by stimulant 
 licpiid on the inner coat of the stomach, is, a 
 separation of the cuticle or epithelium, 
 which guards its inner coat, and the forma- 
 tion of little canker spots in the interior 
 of this organ. This was often observed 
 by Dr. Beaumont in the stomach of St. 
 Martin. 
 
 All alcoholic drinks have the property of
 
 60 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 preventing the decomposition, and of course 
 the digestion of food. This property it is, 
 that enables us to preserve portions of the 
 flesh of animals, when steeped in alcohol, 
 for a great number of years. 
 
 Some physicians believe, that there is 
 danger in suddenly abandoning the use of 
 stimulant drinks. Most of the great Eng- 
 lish physicians appear to be of this opinion, 
 and they seem to be particularly clear in 
 regard to the ill consequences of the disuse 
 of ardent spirits in those, who have become 
 disordered by their habitual employment. 
 In this country, where more has been said 
 and done on this subject than in any other, 
 a very great mass of experience has been 
 accumulated. The results of this experi- 
 ence are, that persons in health and in dis- 
 ease,' with certain exceptions, may safely 
 break up the habit. We know of hundreds 
 of instances, and there is reason to believe, 
 that thousands exist, of a sudden and total 
 abandonment of the use of ardent spirits, 
 and of all the fermented liquors, without bad 
 consequences. This mode has therefore 
 been adopted generally, wherever the tem-
 
 OK ULALTH. 
 
 61 
 
 perance reform has extended itself, in pref- 
 erence to the gradual abandonment of these 
 drinks. 
 
 This method has been based on a multi- 
 tude of observations, tending to show, that 
 the gradual disuse of habitual stimulants 
 can rarely be accomplished. We therefore 
 always recommend to those in health to 
 break off the practice suddenly ; we also do 
 it generally in cases of disease brought on 
 by the use of these articles ; and by sup- 
 porting the patient with small quantities of 
 'good nutritious food, we succeed in bring- 
 ing him right, without resorting to the dele- 
 terious lluid. The worst cases of this de- 
 scription are those of delirium tremens 
 occurring in drunkards from violent injuries, 
 such as fractures and extensive wounds. 
 In such instances the patient may be saved, 
 if it is possible to save him by any means, 
 by the use of opium. 
 
 Without going into further detail, we feel 
 quite authorized to state as a general rule, 
 that the use of wine and other stimulating 
 liquids may be suddenly relinquished by 
 persons in health, without bringing on dis- 
 6
 
 63 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 ease, and that in the greater number of 
 instances of those disordered by them, there 
 is, on the whole, more safety in abandoning 
 than continuing the practice. 
 
 The quantity of drink required for heaUh 
 and comfort is very small. In cold weather 
 a pint of liquid in twenty-four hours is 
 sufficient : in the hot seasons this quantity 
 may be increased, but this increase is rarely 
 necessary, when a reasonable amount of 
 fruit can be obtained. 
 
 Moreover, the agent in the digestive pro- 
 cess being a fluid, formed in limited quan- 
 tity, it is obvious, that when the amount of 
 solid food taken into stomach is too great 
 in proportion to the quantity of this gastric 
 liquid, the whole of the solid cannot be 
 digested in time to prevent it from under- 
 going the acid or putrefactive fermentation. 
 The fermentation thus generated is pro- 
 ductive of every degree of suffering, espe- 
 cially a burning sensation in the stomach, 
 foul breath, and frequent eructations of 
 offensive gasses. Further, the existence of 
 a putrified mass in the centre of the human 
 body must, if it occur frequently, lay the 
 foundation for a great variety of diseases.
 
 OF HEALTH. G3 
 
 The Autlior of Nature did not destine 
 his offspring to be the victims of compli- 
 cated and protracted diseases. In a state of 
 nature, disease is comparatively rare ; the 
 conveniencies of social life, if rightly em- 
 ployed, would aid us in the prevention of 
 many of those affections, to which the sav- 
 age state is obnoxious. So that, instead of 
 being less healthy than in a state of nature, 
 we might be more so. To attain such a 
 state, however, we should be compelled to 
 alter our habits to a greater extent, than 
 our social organization would admit. This 
 change being impracticable, the next best 
 thing to be done is, to take into view, that 
 all that part of society, who are not called 
 to daily and constant labor, constitute cases 
 exceptional to those laws, which the Author 
 of Nature has been pleased to establish for 
 the whole race. By a due consideration of 
 this exceptional state, as applied to ourselves, 
 and a right accommodation of our habits to 
 this state, we may prolong life, and avoid 
 much suffering. 
 
 The quantity of food, then, is not to be 
 regulated by our appetites, but by our occu-
 
 64 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 pations. A great deal of exercise requires 
 a great deal of food, little exercise will 
 tolerate only a small portion of food : and if 
 we offend against this rule, we must expect 
 to suffer some form of disease sooner or 
 later. In a great number of instances we are 
 able to trace the origin of diseases, at first 
 view not connected with digestion, to de- 
 rangements of this function. In the course 
 of my professional experience, I have had 
 occasion to witness many instances of acute 
 disease originating from a single excess. A 
 person much exposed to cold and wet, is 
 more liable to be dangerously affected after 
 taking an inordinate meal. Some species 
 of typhus undoubtedly begin in disorders 
 of the digestive apparatus ; for it has been 
 established by Louis and others, that de- 
 rangement of the bowels occasionally pre- 
 cedes the attack of fever, even at some 
 distance of time. Gout, though generally 
 produced by combined excess in eating and 
 drinking, is, I have had occasion to notice, 
 often the consequence of excessive eating. 
 Scrofula likewise, though the disposition 
 to it is generally hereditary, may be devel-
 
 OF HEALTH. 65 
 
 oped by an improper use of food.* We 
 could go on, and specify a great number of 
 diseases, which undoubtedly take their ori- 
 gin from disorders of the stomach, liver, 
 and intestines, brought on by the abuse of 
 food, i. e. by a disproportion between the 
 quantity of food and the quantity of exer- 
 cise. Habitual temperance in the use of 
 food is therefore indispensable to the healthy 
 action of the physical powers. 
 
 From the preceding remarks it appears, 
 that persons of different occupations require 
 
 * Sir James Clark, one of the most able physicians of 
 .our times, in his Treatise on Pulmonary Consumption 
 and Scrofulous Diseases, says, " An imperfect supply of 
 food, or food of an innutritions quality, forms a very 
 efficient cause [of Scrofula,] although we have rarely 
 an opportunity of observing the effects of this alone; 
 because when the means of procuring proper nourish- 
 ment are wanting, other causes are generally in action 
 at the same time, such as residence in ill-ventilated and 
 dark apartments, exposure to cold from imperfect cloth- 
 ing, &c. ; all of which arc often combined, and hence 
 more speedily effect the deterioration of the health. 
 But proper food, when taken in excess, or when of too 
 exciting a quality, may also induce tuberculous cachexia 
 in youth, — a circumstance which is not sudiciently at- 
 tended to, — I may say not generally understood, even 
 by medical men ; nevertlielcss I hold it to be a frequent 
 6*
 
 66 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 different quantities of food. The point we 
 wish to ascertain is, what amount of food is 
 necessary for those, who do not live by 
 manual labor. Such persons generally con- 
 sume three or four pounds in a day. That 
 this quantity is too great, there can be no 
 doubt, and of this a distinct proof is found 
 in the following fact. The seamen in the 
 British Navy were formerly allowed to eat 
 as much as they desired ; of late years, 
 
 cause of Scrofula. Tlie adaptation of the food, in quality 
 and quantity, to the age of tlie individual, as well as to 
 the powers of the digestive organs, is too little consid- 
 ered, and the evil consequencesof this neglect are often 
 evinced in the children of the wealthy classes, who are 
 frequently allowed an unrestricted use of the most ex- 
 citing kinds of animal food, tlian which there cannot 
 be a greater error. By a too stimulating diet at this 
 early age, the digestive organs become over excited ; 
 the biliary and other secretions connected with diges- 
 tion are diminished; congestion of the abdominal cir- 
 culation ensues ; and the skin, sympathising with the 
 irritation of the internal surfaces, becomes dry and 
 harsh, and cutaneous eruptions, or copious perspiration 
 are common consequences. The ultimate effect is often 
 tuberculous disease, which is generally attributed to im- 
 perfect nourishment ; and on this erroneous view steel 
 and other tonics and stimulants are often prescribed, by 
 which the evil is increased."
 
 OF HEALTH. 67 
 
 however, the quantity of food has been 
 fixed at about 32 oz., or 2 lb. avoirdupois,* 
 and the result has been, that a smaller num- 
 ber have been found upon the sick list since 
 the introduction of this regulation. If then 
 the laborious British seamen can be kept in 
 the best possible condition by two pounds, 
 or two pounds and a quarter, of solid food, 
 certainly a much less quantity would be 
 proper for a gentleman in England, or in 
 this country. This quantity we might fix 
 perhaps at from one pound to one and a 
 half. It is said, and I apprehend on very 
 good authority, that the soldiers of the 
 •American army are allowed not less than 
 four pounds of solid and four pounds of 
 liquid a day. What a multitude of diseases 
 in our Army might be traced to this boun- 
 tiful supply of food ! 
 
 2. EXERCISE. 
 
 The remarks on exercise are sufllciently 
 extended in the text for the general objects 
 of society, but there is a class, which has 
 risen into existence within a few years, to 
 
 " Vide Carpenter's Human Physiology, p. .'582.
 
 CS THE TRESERVATION 
 
 whose condition I feel myself called on to 
 advert. A large number of persons in this 
 country have lately engaged in the labor of 
 of manufactories. The establishments, in 
 which these labors are carried on, are, it is 
 well known, better regulated than those in 
 the Old World, and the amount of health 
 of the individuals employed in them is un- 
 doubtedly greater. The operatives necessa- 
 rily employ sufficient bodily exercise. 
 
 Notwithstanding these favorable circum- 
 stances, no one, I think, will maintain, 
 that they possess so robust an appearance, 
 and enjoy so high a degree of health, as do 
 the members of families, both male and 
 female, who are occupied in the pursuits of 
 agriculture. The difference in the influ- 
 ence of these occupations is attributable to 
 the difference in the variety of labor, and 
 to that in the atmosphere which is respired 
 by these classes. As to the former of these 
 circumstances, no important changes can be 
 expected, but in the latter much improve- 
 ment may be made. 
 
 The operatives in our manufactories, 
 especially females, ought to form and pur-
 
 OF HEALTH. 60 
 
 sue a regular plan of exercise in the open 
 air during the intervals of labor. This 
 plan, I am aware, will seem to impose on 
 them an additional burden, but the prac- 
 tical etfect wonld, I am confident, be bene- 
 ficial. A walk abroad two or three times 
 in the day, at all seasjons, would bring into 
 action other muscles than those, which are 
 usually exerted in their daily toil, wonld 
 give fresh vigor to the circulation of the 
 blood, and inspire them with new cheerful- 
 ness in their monotonous routine. In this 
 M'-ay it may be hoped that an impending 
 physical degeneration may be avoided in a 
 large and interesting portion of our society.* 
 
 * I deem it right to say, that on making tlie reflec- 
 tions above stated to my friend, William Applcton, Esq. 
 on vviiose experience and power of observation I liave 
 great confidence, lie remarked, that it seemed to him 
 quite impracticable for tiic fatigued operative to take 
 additional exercise of any description. There is much 
 ground for this opinion, no doubt ; still I cannot but 
 hope, that iho plan I have recommended may be prac- 
 tised on in a great number of cases.
 
 70 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 3 MODE OF SLEEPING. 
 
 « 
 
 The manner in which children sleep, will 
 readily be acknowledged to be important, 
 yet very little attention is paid to this mat- 
 ter. Children are crowded together in small 
 and unventilated rooms, often two or three 
 in a bed, and on beds composed of half 
 prepared feathers, from which issues a nox- 
 ious effluvia, infecting the child at a period 
 when he is least able to resist its influence. 
 So that in the morning, instead of feeling 
 the full refreshment and vigor natural to 
 the age, he is pale, languid, and for some 
 time indisposed to active exertion. 
 
 The rooms in which children are brought 
 up, should be well aired, by having a fire- 
 place, which should be kept open the greater 
 part of the year. There never should be 
 more than one in the same bed, and this 
 remark may be applied with equal proprie- 
 ty to adults. The substance on which they 
 lie, should be hair, thoroughly prepared, so 
 that it shall have no bad smell ; in winter 
 it may be of cotton, or of hair and cotton. 
 It would be very desirable, however, when-
 
 OF HEALTH. 71 
 
 ever practicable, to place them in separate 
 apartments, as well as se])arate beds. 
 
 It has been just said, that adults as well 
 as children had better employ single instead 
 of double beds; this remark is intended to 
 apply miiversally. The use of double beds 
 has been very generally adopted in this 
 country, perhaps in ])art as a matter of 
 economy, but this practice is objectionable 
 for more reasons than can be stated here. 
 Two or three may, however, be given. 
 
 1. The interference of one individual 
 with the tranquility of the other. 
 
 2. The inhalation of matters excreted by 
 the breath and by the skin. 
 
 3. The connnunication of cutaneous dis- 
 eases, and even of insects, such as ascarides, 
 and other vermin, from one to the other. 
 
 4. There are moral considerations, of a 
 high order, which are opposed to the com- 
 mon arrangement. 
 
 4 THE EXTERNAL USE OF WATER. 
 
 In this discourse I liave strongly recom- 
 mended the external use of cold water, and 
 especially of the shower bath. Since it was
 
 72 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 delivered, the employment of cold water ex- 
 ternally in this country has been very much 
 extended ; the shower bath especially has 
 been introduced into a great number of fam- 
 ilies. There is room, hoAvever, for a very 
 great extension of this practice, and a sense 
 of its utility leads me to make some further 
 remarks on it. 
 
 The application of cold water to the 
 human body is beneficial principally in two 
 ways ; first, as a purifier ; second, as a tonic ; 
 1st, it purifies the body by removing from 
 its surface those excretions, which are con- 
 tinually poured out. The skin is an outlet, 
 by which are discharged matters necessary 
 to be thrown out of the system, for if re- 
 tained, they would produce disease. These 
 matters cause an incrustation over the sur- 
 face of the skin, and this to a certain extent 
 obstructs the little orifices, through which 
 these exhalations take place. Physicians 
 and surgeons are in the habit of observing 
 deplorable instances of filthy concretions on 
 the skin of poor patients, and this kind of 
 neglect, imfortunately, is not wholly con- 
 fined to the lower classes.
 
 OF HEALTH. 73 
 
 Besides these exhalations, the surface of 
 the skin becomes more or less charged witii 
 cuticular exfoliations, which ought to be 
 daily removed. The linen taken from the 
 body of a poor person is sometimes seen to 
 shed a shower of llakes of separated cu- 
 ticle. The regular removal of these sub- 
 stances not only gives a more free outlet to 
 cutaneous exhalation, but the act by which 
 they are removed, also serves to promote 
 the healthy action of the capillary vessels 
 of this organ. 
 
 2d. The eflect of cold water as a tonic 
 is well known. The refreshing influence 
 of water applied to the face, neck, hands, and 
 arms, is a matter of general experience. 
 The operation of cold water, applied to the 
 whole surface of the body, is to produce an 
 agreeable and refreshing sensation. This 
 is followed by a glow more or less consid- 
 erable, depending partly upon the difference 
 between the temperature of the water and 
 that of the body, and partly on the state of 
 the body itself, to which the application is 
 made. Immersion of the hand, or any other 
 part of the body, in cold weather in tepid 
 7
 
 74 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 water is followed by a sense of chilliness, 
 while immersion of the same part, for a 
 limited time, in iced water is followed by a 
 sensation of positive heat. Immersion of a 
 part, or the whole of the body in cold water 
 causes an increase of vigor. This is par- 
 ticularly obvious in hot weather. When 
 one, who is exhausted with heat and fatigue, 
 plunges into the cold water, or receives the 
 affusion of it over the whole surface of the 
 body, the languid frame is immediately 
 invigorated and prepared for new labors. 
 This change is probably attributable to a 
 uniform contraction of the small vessels, and 
 a more regular flow of blood through the 
 relaxed organs, thus reviving their vigor. 
 
 In the same way congestions, by which 
 the vital actions are impeded, are removed, 
 and this not only in the external or cutane- 
 ous portion of the body, but also by the 
 reflex nervous action of Dr. Marshall Hall, 
 or sympathy as it has been formerly called, 
 in the great central organs, the heart, lungs, 
 stomach and intestines. Thus a great many 
 diseases may be removed in the incipient 
 stage ; for vascular congestions, or accumu-
 
 OF HEALTH, tO 
 
 lations of blood in particular vessels, by 
 which the circulation is obstructed, consti- 
 tute the origin of a great number of diseases. 
 All those who have been in the habit of 
 using cold water know, that an incipient 
 catarrhal affection often disappears on its 
 judicious application to the surface of the 
 body. This disease is a congestion of the 
 blood in the vessels of the membrane lining 
 the nostrils, trachea, and lungs, arising in 
 this instance from the application of cold 
 air to the surface of the body. When cold 
 water is applied to the skin it produces in- 
 creased circulation in this part, and the 
 blood is thus diverted from the internal 
 organs. A similar train of occurrences takes 
 place in the germination of many diseases. 
 The effect of the judicious application of 
 cold water to the surface of the body is, 
 therefore, to relieve temporary languor, re- 
 move incipient disease, and give permanent 
 tone to the animal system. 
 
 It will naturally be asked, what mode is 
 the best for the application of cold Avater ^ 
 Sponging the body over with the coldest 
 water is a very convenient mode, and one
 
 76 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 which may be resorted to with great facihty. 
 Tiie use of the cold hip-bath is valuable for 
 affections of the back, and of the organs in 
 the lower part of the trunk of the body. A 
 sudden plunge of the feet into cold water 
 removes swelling of the veins and absorb- 
 ent vessels, and prevents accumulations in 
 the cellular membrane. 
 
 I am inclined to think, that the most con- 
 venient and efficient mode of producing the 
 beneficial effects of cold water on the whole 
 body is by the shower bath. This was 
 recommended by me in the preceding lec- 
 ture of 1830, and all that I have seen of its 
 effects since that time, has led me to the 
 belief that it has an efficacy superior to that 
 of other modes. The impulse of the water 
 gives a general shock to the system, causes 
 a sensible increase of strength at the mo- 
 ment, and is followed, when the water is 
 sufficiently cold, by a general and delight- 
 ful glow. In hot weather, I personally 
 employ the shower-bath with great free- 
 dom ; I resort to it three or four times a 
 day, and find it to produce great refresh- 
 ment from the debilitating effects of heat. I
 
 OF HEALTH. 77 
 
 am not able to ascertain the extent of the 
 use of cold affusion among our countrymen 
 in the south, but I have no doubt, that re- 
 lief might be obtained from the effects of 
 excessive heat by a frequent judicious resort 
 to this delightful application. 
 
 The use of the douche is worthy of some 
 remark. This is a continuous stream of 
 water poured with a certain degree of force 
 on some one part of the body. It is gene- 
 rally used for medicinal purposes, and is 
 one of the most powerful remedies for the 
 relief of many local diseases. But it may 
 also be employed as a means of invigorat- 
 ing a weak part of the body, and is there- 
 fore particularly useful in weakness of 
 the back and of the limbs, especially the 
 joints, of the eyes, etc. A continuous fine 
 stream of cold water, driven upon the naked 
 eyeball, is submitted to after one trial with- 
 out any reluctance, and is a most efficient 
 application for weakness of the eyes and 
 chronic inflammation. The douche is easily 
 arranged by connecting a flexible tube, with 
 a stop-cock, from ten to twenty feet in 
 
 length with a reservoir placed at that dis- 
 
 7*
 
 78 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 tance above it. This reservoir may be a 
 cask, a cistern, or any other convenient re- 
 ceptacle. I have recommended the douche 
 with a degree of advantage in many inter- 
 nal as well as external weaknesses. 
 
 For children, either the shower-bath, or 
 the sponge-bath is convenient, beginning 
 at the earliest period of life. The infant 
 thus becomes accustomed to have its head 
 wet, and the habit being formed no incon- 
 venience results from the retention of moist- 
 ure in the hair, though this should be re- 
 moved by friction with cloths and brush- 
 es, as soon as practicable. The dipping, 
 although some children bear it well, gene- 
 rally produces alarm and aversion, while 
 the other plans gradually become grateful 
 and desirable to the child. 
 
 Of late years the apprehension of the 
 external use of cold water has greatly di- 
 minished, and this practice, the result of 
 advanced civilization, has very much in- 
 creased. The institution of Preisnitz, at 
 Graeffenburg, has done service, by show- 
 ing to what extent the use of water may be 
 carried without always producing fatal dis-
 
 OF IIEAI.Tn, 7\) 
 
 eases. In the preceding remarks, I do not 
 mean to recommend the use of this vahia- 
 ble agent in the modes proposed by Preisnitz 
 and his followers. I have always advised, 
 and still advise, a very frequent use of cold 
 water, perhaps further experience may justify 
 the use of it to a greater extent than what 
 my observations have hitherto authorized 
 me to recommend.* 
 
 5. FRICTION. 
 
 The external use of cold water almost 
 necessarily involves that of friction, which 
 may also be employed independently. The 
 object of this is to increase the flow of blood 
 to the external parts, and thus to relieve the 
 internal organs of too great an accumulation 
 of the circulating fluid. It has been already 
 stated, when speaking of the use of water, 
 that congestion or inordinate partial accu- 
 
 * Tlie hydropathic practice has unfortunately been 
 combined with horaa3opatliy in iliis part of the coun- 
 try. There is, however, no proper connection between 
 them. Hydropatiiy in a reasonable extent is supported 
 by good sense and exact observation ; homa;opaliiy is 
 in opposition to both.
 
 80 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 mulation of blood is the primary cause of 
 many diseases. An instance may be speci- 
 j&ed in the common pain in the side. This, 
 we know, will, in persons subject to it, be 
 brought on by sitting long in a confined 
 posture, as, for example , in writing for too 
 long a time. It sometimes produces very 
 acute pain, and even may go on to inflamma- 
 tion of the pleura. An individual who is 
 affected in this way , naturally applies his 
 hand to the part, and attempts by friction 
 to dissipate the pain. When this is accom- 
 plished, it is done partly by exciting the 
 action of the congested vessels, and partly 
 by increasing the circulation in other tex- 
 tures near that affected, and thus abstracting 
 the accumulated blood from the latter. 
 Friction over the general surface of the 
 body, by equalizing the circulation, con- 
 tributes to its health and vigor : by exciting 
 a uniform and healthy action in any one 
 part, it serves to give vigor to this part. 
 
 6. TOBACCO. 
 
 While the general means for the preser- 
 vation of health have been materially ad-
 
 OF HEALTH. 81 
 
 vanced in our society by attention to exer- 
 cise, by the external use of cold water, by 
 moderation in food, by the curtailment of 
 dinner parties, and more especially by the 
 fast extension of abstinence from stimulant 
 and intoxicating drinks, there is in one par- 
 ticular a decided and unhappy deterioration 
 of our social habits, I refer to the increased 
 use of tobacco. 
 
 Of the three modes of using tobacco, 
 smokinsc is that which seems to have insin- 
 uated itself most extensively among the 
 young men of our community. Tobacco, 
 employed in this way, being drawn in with 
 the vital breath, conveys its poisonous influ- 
 ence into every part of the lungs. There 
 the noxious fluid is entangled in the minute 
 spongy air-cells, and has time to exert its 
 pernicious influence on the blood, not in 
 vivifying, but in vitiating it. The blood 
 imbibes the stimulant and narcotic princi- 
 ple, and circulates it through the whole 
 system. It produces in consequence a febrile 
 action in most individuals, and especially in 
 those of a delicate habit. Where there is 
 any tendency to phthisis and tubercular de-
 
 82 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 posit in the lungs, the debility of these 
 organs, consequent on the use of tobacco 
 in this way, must favor the deposit of tuber- 
 culous matter, and thus sow the seeds of 
 consumption. This practice impairs the 
 natural taste and relish for food, lessens the 
 appetite, and weakens the powers of the 
 stomach. As to the pleasure produced by 
 it, it is, I believe, a well known fact, that 
 a person smoking in the dark is often unable 
 to determine whether his cigar is lighted, 
 or not. 
 
 Snuff received into the nostrils to some 
 extent enters the cavities opening from them, 
 fills those cavities, and makes a snuff-box of 
 the olfactory apparatus. The voice is con- 
 sequently impaired, sometimes to a remark- 
 able degree. I knew a gentleman of the 
 legal profession, who from the use of snuff 
 occasionally lost the resonance of his voice, 
 and the power of speaking audibly in 
 Court. Moreover, portions of this powder 
 are conveyed into the lungs and stomach, 
 and exert on these organs their deleterious 
 effects. 
 
 The worst form, in which tobacco is
 
 OF HEALTH, 
 
 83 
 
 employed, is in cheiving. This vegetable 
 is one of the most powerful of narcotics ; a 
 very small portion of it, say a couple of 
 drachms, and perhaps less, received into the 
 stomach might prove fatal. When it is 
 taken into the mouth in smaller portions, 
 and there retained sometime, an absorption 
 into the system of part of it takes place, 
 which has a most debilitating effect. If 
 we wished to reduce our physical powers 
 in a slow, yet certain way, we could not 
 adopt a more convenient process than that 
 of chewing tobacco. Who is there among 
 the chewers of tobacco, who has not felt 
 that deadly sickness, which it occasionally 
 produces ? Those who have experienced 
 these effects will not, I think, deny its great 
 power of relaxing the whole animal system. 
 The more limited and local effects are 
 indigestion, fixed pains about the region of 
 the stomach, in some cases looseness of the 
 bowels, torpor of these parts, debility of the 
 back and of the organs in the lower part of 
 the trunk of the body. In regard to this 
 last point much might be said of a striking 
 character. To the consequences already
 
 84 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 mentioned, Ave may add affections of the 
 brain, producing vertigo, (an effect well 
 known to most of those who are in the habit 
 of chewing tobacco,) and also affections 
 of the mouth generating cancer. 
 
 Tobacco is by some persons recommend- 
 ed as beneficial to the teeth, but while it 
 can have no material effect in preserving 
 the bony substance of the teeth, it has a 
 real influence on their vitality, by impair- 
 ing the healthy action of the gums. These, 
 and also the adjacent parts, are very subject 
 to cancer, particularly the tongue and lips. 
 For more than twenty years back I have 
 been in the habit of inquiring of patients, 
 who came to me with cancers of these 
 parts, whether they used tobacco, and if so, 
 whether by chewing or smoking. If they 
 have sometimes answered in the negative 
 as to the first question, I can truly say, that 
 to the best of my knowledge and belief, 
 such cases of exemption are exceptions to a 
 general rule. When, as is usually the case, 
 one side of the tongue is affected with ulcer- 
 ated cancer, the tobacco has been habitually 
 retained in contact with this part. The
 
 OF HEALTH. 
 
 85 
 
 irritation from a cigar, or even from a 
 tobacco-pipe, fretiiiently precedes cancer of 
 the lip. The lower lip is more commonly 
 affected by cancer than the upper, in con- 
 sequence of the irritation produced on this 
 part by acrid substances from the mouth. 
 Among such substances, what is more likely 
 to cause a morbid irritation terminating in 
 disease, than the frequent application of 
 tobacco juice ? 
 
 No one, I suppose, Avill understand, that 
 I intend to say, that tobacco is a specific 
 for the production of cancer. I mean to 
 say, that this substance by its frequent ap- 
 plication irritates and diseases the parts, to 
 which it is applied, in the same way that 
 any other acrid substance would do by very 
 frequent application. The want of atten- 
 tion to cleanliness often connected with 
 this practice, and the consequent lodgement 
 of the particles of tobacco on the surface of 
 the lip has, as already suggested, a great 
 influence in these cases. This leads me 
 naturally to inquire, whether those, who 
 have been in the regular habit of general 
 and exact cleanliness, are so often affected 
 8
 
 86 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 with external cancer as others ? My expe- 
 rience would lead me to believe that they 
 are not so, but I do not feel myself author- 
 ized to enter here into details upon this 
 subject. 
 
 7. CONCLUSION. 
 
 Perhaps it may be useful to add some 
 hints in a condensed form for the preserva- 
 tion of health. 
 
 Children, as soon after birth as practica- 
 ble, should be washed, or rather dashed 
 with a sponge and cold water two or three 
 times a day, and well rubbed afterwards. 
 This practice is to be continued summer 
 and winter, except in case of illness, and 
 even in most cases of febrile disease it may 
 be used with advantage under medical di- 
 rection. 
 
 The food of young infants should be ad- 
 ministered to them at stated periods, and 
 not whenever they cry. Children very fre- 
 quently cry from having taken too much 
 food. A good rule for general use is, to 
 give nourishment to the child once in about 
 three hours. From the time of weaning
 
 OF HEALTH. 
 
 87 
 
 until the first dcutitioii is over, their best 
 food is bread and milk, coarse bread is bet- 
 ter than fine in most cases. After the first 
 dentition a greater variety of food may be 
 employed, but animal food may perhaps 
 be advantageously omitted until after the 
 most critical period of the second den- 
 tition.* 
 
 Daring the time of school education 
 every kind of wholesome food is proper, 
 but it should be so plain as not to encourage 
 the propensity to take a greater quantity 
 than the power of the stomach can control. 
 The disposition to drink should be discour- 
 aged, and when drink is employed, it should 
 be water. Sugar in the liquid and solid 
 form should be avoided in a great degree. 
 The stomach will bear a certain amount of 
 saccharine matter without bad consequen- 
 ces, but when this amount is habitually ex- 
 ceeded, the healthy state of the blood be- 
 
 * The first hint, which I received on this point many 
 years ago, was from my friend , Dr. James Jackson, late 
 Profussor of Theory and Practice of Medicine in Har- 
 vard University, — an aiUhorily in my estimation as higli 
 as that of any living piiysician.
 
 88 
 
 THE PRESERVATION 
 
 comes impaired. Moreover, some of the most 
 dangerous attacks of cramp in the stomach 
 and of colic, which I have seen, have arisen 
 from the too free use of sugar in various 
 forms. The sugar used in tea has often, 
 within my knowledge, been the cause of 
 evils attributed to the injurious influence of 
 the tea, in which it was conveyed.* All 
 stimulants should be avoided. Happy are 
 they, who have never learned the use of 
 them in any way! especially of alcohol 
 in its different forms ! their lives may be 
 
 *" Sugar exists in considerable qnantitj', and but 
 Jittle complicated, in many plants. Moreover, the great- 
 er number of the other saccliarine principles are capable 
 of being converted into crystalized sugar, by artificial 
 processes. Sugar is the only crystallizable product 
 employed in considerable quantity as an aliment, and 
 by the perfectly healthy stomach seems to be readily 
 assimilated. There are, however, certain states of dis- 
 ease in which this organ appears to lose, in a great 
 measure, the power of assimilating this principle, and in 
 such states of disease, sugar consequently is ill adapted 
 as an aliment. Indeed, on the whole, though sugar, 
 as we have said, is capable of being assimilated in large 
 quantity, it is doubtful if mankind have been the gain- 
 ers, except in convenience, by employing it in a form in 
 which it is the furthest possible removed from organi- 
 zation and life." — On the Kature and Treatment of 
 Stomach and Urinary Diseases, etc. ; hy \V. Prout, 
 M. D. F. R. S. London, 1840, p. viii.
 
 OF HEALTH. 89 
 
 insured, and at comparatively a low pre- 
 mium ! 
 
 Exercise during the early period of life 
 should be regularly enforced, or rather the 
 natural disposition to exercise in young 
 children of both sexes, instead of being re- 
 pressed, should be encouraged in every 
 variety of form. Exercise, when practica- 
 ble, should take place in the open air ; even 
 young infants should be carried into the air 
 soon after birth, and should be taken out 
 daily. Every family possessed of a moder- 
 ate competence should have a play-room 
 devoted to the use of their children in bad 
 weather. There should be, during the whole 
 period of their education a balance between 
 the hours of exercise and the hours of study ; 
 the younger the subject, the greater must 
 be the proportion of physical action. 
 
 A great number of young persons, espe- 
 cially of the male sex, lose their health from 
 a vitiated imagination ; the prevention and 
 cure of this should be one of the greatest 
 objects of attention to parents and instruc- 
 tors. 
 
 When, by the combined influence of na- 
 9
 
 90 THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH. 
 
 ture and education, the constitution has 
 become developed in its full power and 
 strength, it depends on the individual to 
 retain health and avoid disease. In other 
 words, it may be considered as a general 
 law, that health may be preserved to a late 
 period of life by the use of those things, 
 which are friendly, and the avoidance of 
 those which are noxious. Most diseases 
 are the consequences of violations of the 
 laws of nature, sometimes the result of ig- 
 norance, more frequently of inattention. 
 Let there be a due balance between the 
 bodily and mental exercise, I speak of the 
 educated division of society, a reasonable 
 regulation of the amount of food and drink, 
 the omission of all extra stimulants, and a re- 
 moval by the means indicated of all noxious 
 agents, such, for example, as a want of per- 
 sonal cleanliness, and we might calculate 
 on avoiding a great number of the diseases 
 which ordinarily harass and shorten our 
 lives ; we might, if we escaped accident, 
 expect to attain a comfortable old age, and 
 a death free from suffering.
 
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