A Guide to Health

It is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules in the matter of food. What sort of food should we eat, how much of it should be eaten, and at what times,--these are questions...

I would specially request those who have carefully read through the book so far to read through this chapter with even greater care, and ponder well over its subject-matter. The...

Of the three things that are indispensable for the subsistence of man,--namely, air, water, and food--the first is the most important. Hence it is that God has created it in suc...

Since air is invisible, we cannot perceive the wonderful way in which it does its work. But the work of water and its curative effects can be easily seen and understood.

There is no limit to the superstitions current among us in regard to snakes. From time immemorial we have cultivated a terrible fear of the snake; we even dread the very mention...

In these days when the name of Mahatma Gandhi is identified with the momentous question of Non-Co-operation, it may come with a shock of surprise to most readers to be told that...

Now we will proceed to deal with the treatment of contagious diseases. They have a common origin, but, since small-pox is by far the most important of them, we will give a separ...

I have now said all that I had intended to say on the subject of health. And now, before finally taking leave of my readers, I will say a word or two on my object in writing the...

Exercise is as much of a vital necessity for man as air, water and food, in the sense that no man who does not take exercise regularly, can be perfectly healthy. By "exercise" w...

We do not propose in this chapter to describe the duties of a midwife or wet nurse, but only to point out how the child should be cared for after birth. Those who have read the...

Dress is also a matter of health to a certain extent. European ladies, for instance, have such queer notions of beauty that their dress is contrived with a view to straitening t...

There is a great divergence of opinion among doctors as to the quantity of food that we should take. One doctor holds that we should eat to the utmost of our capacity, and he ha...

As has been already pointed out, air is the most indispensable to our subsistence, while water comes next in order. Man cannot live for more than a few minutes without air, but...

Our object in the foregoing chapters has been to point out the unity of origin and treatment of some of the more common diseases. We are, indeed, fully aware that those who are...

We do not dread chicken-pox so much as its elder sister, since it is not so fatal, and does not cause disfigurement and the like. It is, however, exactly the same as small-pox i...

We will now proceed to describe the curative properties of earth, which are, in some cases, even more remarkable than those of water. That earth should have such properties need...

We generally apply the term "fever" to a condition of heat in the body, but English doctors have distinguished many varieties of this disease, each with its own system of treatm...

The world is compounded of the five elements,--earth, water, air, fire, and ether. So too is our body. It is a sort of miniature world. Hence the body stands in need of all the...

We will now turn our attention to some of the more common accidents, and the methods of dealing with them. A knowledge of these things is essential to everybody, so that timely...

It may at first sight appear strange to have four different ailments put together in this chapter, but, as a matter of fact, they are all so closely connected, and may be cured...

We have now done with the discussion of the foundations of health, as well as the means of its preservation. If all men and women were to obey all the laws of health, and practi...

Ordinarily that man is considered healthy who eats well and moves about, and does not resort to a doctor. But a little thought will convince us that this idea is wrong. There ar...

Very often when a man's clothes catch fire, we get into a panic, and, instead of helping the injured, make matters worse by our ignorance. It is our duty, therefore, to know exa...

Our familiar expression, "May God never give any man the pain of scorpion-sting", shows how keen that pain is. In fact, this pain is even sharper than that of snake-bite, but we...