Chapter 5

HYGIENE IN GENERAL

1. THE FIFTEEN RULES OF HYGIENE 119 2. THE UNITY OF HYGIENE 121 3. THE OBSTACLES TO HYGIENE 126 4. THE POSSIBILITIES OF HYGIENE 135 5. HYGIENE AND CIVILIZATION 143 6. THE FIELDS OF HYGIENE 157

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ON SPECIAL SUBJECTS

1. NOTES ON FOOD 171 2. NOTES ON OVERWEIGHT AND UNDERWEIGHT 212 3. NOTES ON POSTURE 221 4. NOTES ON ALCOHOL 227 5. NOTES ON TOBACCO 250 6. AVOIDING COLDS 272 7. SIGNS OF INCREASE OF THE DEGENERATIVE DISEASES 281 8. COMPARISON OF DEGENERATIVE TENDENCIES AMONG NATIONS 286 9. EUGENICS 293

INDEX 325

HYGIENE REFERENCE BOARD

OF THE LIFE EXTENSION INSTITUTE, Inc.

IRVING FISHER, Chairman

Professor of Political Economy Yale University

#Statistics#

WILLIAM J. HARRIS, Federal Trade Commission, United States Government.

CRESSY L. WILBUR, M.D., Director, Division of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health, State of New York.

WALTER F. WILLCOX, Professor of Economics and Statistics, Cornell University.

#Public Health Administration#

HERMANN M. BIGGS, M.D., Commissioner of Health, State of New York.

RUPERT BLUE, M.D., Surgeon General, U. S. Public Health Service.

H. M. BRACKEN, M.D., Secretary Board of Health, State of Minnesota.

J. B. GREGG CUSTIS, President Board of Medical Supervisors, District of Columbia.

SAMUEL G. DIXON, M.D., Commissioner of Health, State of Pennsylvania.

OSCAR DOWLING, M.D., President Board of Health, State of Louisiana.

JOHN S. FULTON, M.D., Secretary Dept. of Health, State of Maryland.

S. S. GOLDWATER, M.D., Supt., Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York.

WILLIAM C. GORGAS, Major General U. S. Army.

CALVIN W. HENDRICK, Chief Engineer, Sewerage Commission of Baltimore.

J. N. HURTY, M.D., Secretary Board of Health, State of Indiana.

W. S. RANKIN, M.D., Secretary and Treasurer, Board of Health, State of North Carolina.

THEO. B. SACHS, M.D., President The Chicago Tuberculosis Institute.

JOSEPH W. SCHERESCHEWSKY, M.D., U. S. Public Health Service.

GUILFORD H. SUMNER, M.D., Secretary--Executive Officer, Dept. of Health and Medical Examiners, State of Iowa.

GEORGE C. WHIPPLE, Professor Sanitary Engineering, Harvard University.

C. E. A. WINSLOW, Professor of Public Health, Yale Medical School.

#Medicine and Surgery#

LEWELLYS F. BARKER, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University.

GEORGE BLUMER, M.D., Dean Tale Medical School.

GEORGE W. CRILE, M.D., Professor Clinical Surgery, Western Reserve University.

DAVID L. EDSALL, M.D., Professor Clinical Medicine, Harvard University.

HENRY, B. FAVILL, M.D., Professor Clinical Medicine, Rush Medical College.

J. H. KELLOGG, M.D., Superintendent Battle Creek Sanitarium.

S. ADOLPHUS KNOPF, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Department of Phthisiotherapy, New York Post Graduate Medical School.

WILLIAM J. MAYO, M.D., Ex-President American Medical Association.

VICTOR C. VAUGHAN, M.D., Dean, Dept. of Medicine and Surgery, University of Michigan, Ex-President American Medical Association.

HUGH HAMPTON YOUNG, M.D., Assoc. Professor of Urological Surgery, Johns Hopkins University and Hospital.

#Chemistry, Bacteriology, Pathology, Physiology, Biology#

JOHN F. ANDERSON, M.D., Director Hygienic Laboratory, United States Government.

HENRY G. BEYER, M.D., Medical Director, U. S. Navy.

WALTER B. CANNON, M.D., Professor of Physiology, Harvard University.

RUSSELL H. CHITTENDEN, Professor of Physiological Chemistry, Director Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University.

OTTO FOLIN, Professor of Biological Chemistry, Harvard Medical School.

M. E. JAFFA, M.S., Professor of Nutrition, University of California.

LAFAYETTE B. MENDEL, Professor of Physiological Chemistry, Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University.

RICHARD M. PEARCE, M.D., Professor of Research Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

MAZYCK P. RAVENEL, M.D., Director Laboratory of Hygiene, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Bacteriology, University of Missouri.

LEO P. RETTGER, Professor of Bacteriology and Hygiene, Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University.

M. J. ROSENAU, M.D., Professor of Preventive Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

WILLIAM T. SEDGWICK, Professor of Biology and Public Health, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

HENRY C. SHERMAN, Professor of Food Chemistry, Columbia University.

THEOBALD SMITH, M.D., Director Division of Animal Pathology, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

CHARLES W. STILES, M.D., U. S. Public Health Service; Scientific Secretary International Health Commission.

A. E. TAYLOR, M.D., Professor Physiological Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania.

WILLIAM H. WELCH, M.D., Professor of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University; President Board of Health, State of Maryland.

#Eugenics#

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, M.D., Board of Scientific Directors, Eugenics Record Office.

C. B. DAVENPORT, Director Carnegie Station for Experimental Evolution; Director Eugenics Record Office.

DAVID STARR JORDAN, Chancellor Leland Stanford Junior University; Chief Director World Peace Foundation.

ELMER E. SOUTHARD, M.D., Professor of Neuropathology, Harvard Medical School; Pathologist to Massachusetts State Board of Insanity.

#Organized Philanthropy#

MRS. S. S. CROCKETT, Ex-Chairman Committee on Health, General Federation of Women's Clubs.

HENRY W. FARNAM, Professor of Economics, Yale University.

LEE K. FRANKEL, 6th Vice-President and Head of Welfare Department, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

LUTHER H. GULICK, M.D., President Camp Fire Girls of America.

THOMAS N. HEPBURN, M.D., Secretary Connecticut Society for Social Hygiene.

WICKLIFFE ROSE, Director International Health Commission.

WM. JAY SCHIEFFELIN, Chairman Executive Committee, Committee of One Hundred on National Health.

MAJOR LOUIS LIVINGSTON SEAMAN, M.D., President The China Society.

WILLIAM F. SNOW, M.D., General Secretary, The American Social Hygiene Association, Inc.

LAWRENCE VEILLER, Secretary and Director, National Housing Association.

#Educational#

SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS, Author.

W. H. BURNHAM, Professor of Pedagogy and School Hygiene, Clark University.

CHARLES H. CASTLE, M.D., Editor Lancet Clinic.

W. A. EVANS, M.D., Professor Sanitary Science, Northwestern University Medical School; Health Editor, Chicago Tribune.

BURNSIDE FOSTER, M.D., Editor St. Paul Medical Journal.

FREDERICK R. GREEN, M.D., Secretary Council on Health and Public Instruction, American Medical Association.

NORMAN HAPGOOD, Editor Harper's Weekly.

ARTHUR P. KELLOGG, Managing Editor, The Survey.

J. N. McCORMACK, Chief Sanitary Inspector, Board of Health, State of Kentucky.

M. V. O'SHEA, Professor of Education, University of Wisconsin.

HON. WALTER H. PAGE, Ambassador to England.

GEORGE H. SIMMONS, M.D., Editor Journal American Medical Association.

HARVEY W. WILEY, M.D., Director Bureau of Foods, Sanitation and Health, Good Housekeeping Magazine.

HENRY SMITH WILLIAMS, M.D., Author.

#Industrial Hygiene#

JOHN B. ANDREWS, Secretary American Association for Labor Legislation.

THOMAS DARLINGTON, M.D., Secretary American Iron and Steel Institute.

NORMAN E. DITMAN, M.D., Trustee, American Museum of Safety.

GEORGE M. KOBER, M.D., Dean Medical School of Georgetown University.

W. GILMAN THOMPSON, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Cornell University Medical School.

WILLIAM H. TOLMAN, Director The American Museum of Safety.

#Mouth Hygiene#

W. G. EBERSOLE, M.D., D.D.S., Secretary-Treasurer, The National Mouth Hygiene Association.

ALFRED C. FONES, D.D.S., Chairman Dental Committee, Bridgeport Board of Health.

#Physical Training#

WM. G. ANDERSON, M.D., Director Gymnasium, Yale University.

GEORGE J. FISHER, M.D., Secretary International Committee, Y. M. C. A.

R. TAIT MCKENZIE, M.D., Professor of Physical Education and Director of the Department, University of Pennsylvania.

EDWARD A. RUMELY, M.D., President The Interlaken School.

DUDLEY A. SARGENT, M.D., Director Gymnasium, Harvard University.

PROF. ALONZO A. STAGG, Director Gymnasium, University of Chicago.

THOMAS A. STOREY, M.D., Professor of Hygiene, College of the City of New York.

#Foreign Advisory Board#

AUSTRIA

LUDWIG TELEKY, M.D., Department of Social Medicine, Vienna University.

CANADA

JOHN GEORGE ADAMI, M.D., Professor of Pathology and Bacteriology, McGill University, Montreal.

ENGLAND

SIR THOMAS OLIVER, Professor of Physiology, Durham University.

FRANCE

ARMAND GAUTIER, M.D., Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Paris.

GERMANY

PROF. DR. KARL FLUeGGE, Director Hygienic Institute, Berlin.

ITALY

LEONARDO BIANCHI, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Naples.

JAPAN

PROF. DR. S. KITASATO, Chief of the Kitasato Institute for Infectious Diseases, Tokyo.

RUSSIA

IVAN PETROVIC PAVLOV, Prof. of Physiology, Imperial Military Academy of Medicine, Petrograd.

PORTRAITS OF MEMBERS OF THE HYGIENE REFERENCE BOARD

HOW TO LIVE

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the Life Extension Institute embraces the extension of human life, not only as to length, but also, if we may so express it, as to breadth and depth. It endeavors to accomplish this purpose in many ways, but especially through individual hygiene.

Thoroughly carried out, individual hygiene implies high ideals of health, strength, endurance, symmetry, and beauty; it enormously increases our capacity to work, to be happy, and to be useful; it develops, not only the body, but the mind and the heart; it ennobles the man as a whole.

[Sidenote: Medieval Ideals]

We in America inherit, through centuries of European tradition, the medieval indifference to the human body, often amounting to contempt. This attitude was a natural outgrowth of the theological doctrine that the "flesh is in league with the devil" and so is the enemy of the soul. In the Middle Ages saintliness was often associated with sickliness. Artists, in portraying saints, often chose as their models pale and emaciated consumptives.

We are beginning to cut loose from this false tradition and are working toward the establishment of more wholesome ideals. It is probably true, for instance, that the man or the woman who is unhealthy is now handicapped in opportunities for marriage, which may be considered an index to the ideals of society.

[Sidenote: The Present Health Movement]

A great health movement is sweeping over the entire world. Hygiene has repudiated the outworn doctrine that mortality is fatality and must exact year after year a fixed and inevitable sacrifice. It aims instead to set free human life by applying modern science. Science, which has revolutionized every other field of human endeavor, is at last revolutionizing the field of health conservation.

[Sidenote: Medical Practise]

The practise of medicine, which for ages has been known as the "healing art," is undergoing a gradual but radical revolution. This is due to the growing realization that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. As teachers and writers on hygiene, as trainers for college athletes, as advisers for the welfare departments of large industrial plants, and in many other directions, physicians are finding fields for practising preventive medicine. Even the family physician is in some cases being asked by his patients to keep them well instead of curing them after they have fallen sick.

Furthermore, the preventive methods of modern medicine are being applied by the people themselves, as witness the great vogue to-day of sleeping out of doors; the popularity, not always deserved, of health foods and drinks; the demand for uncontaminated water supplies, certified milk, inspected meat and pure foods generally; the world-wide movement against alcohol, and the legislation to correct wrong conditions of labor and to safeguard the laborer.

Labor itself to-day is being held in honor, and idleness in dishonor. Ideals are being shifted from those of "leisure" to those of "service." Work was once considered simply a curse of the poor. The real gentleman was supposed to be one who was able to live without it. The king, who set the styles, was envied because he "did not have to work," but had innumerable people to do work for him. His ability to work, his efficiency, his endurance, were the last things to which he gave consideration. To-day kings, emperors, presidents are trying to find out how they can keep in the fittest condition and accomplish the greatest possible amount of work. Even among society women, some kind of work is now "the thing."

[Sidenote: High Ideals]

One of the most satisfying tasks for any man or woman to-day is to take part in this movement toward truer ideals of perfect manhood and womanhood. Our American ideals, though improving, are far inferior to those, for instance, of Sweden; and these, in turn, are not yet worthy to be compared with those of ancient Greece, still preserved for our admiration in imperishable marble. With our superior scientific knowledge, our health ideals ought, as a matter of fact, to excel those of any other age. They should not stop with the mere negation of disease, degeneracy, delinquency, and dependency. They should be positive and progressive. They should include the love of a perfect muscular development, of integrity of mental and moral fiber.

There should be a keen sense of enjoyment of all life's activities. As William James once said, simply to live, breathe and move should be a delight. The thoroughly healthy person is full of optimism; "he rejoiceth like a strong man to run a race." We seldom see such overflowing vitality except among children. When middle life is reached, or before, our vital surplus has usually been squandered. Yet it is in this vital surplus that the secret of personal magnetism lies. Vital surplus should not only be safeguarded, but accumulated. It is the balance in the savings bank of life. Our health ideals must not stop at the avoidance of invalidism, but should aim at exuberant and exultant health. They should savor not of valetudinarianism, but of athletic development. Our aim should be not to see how much strain our strength can stand, but how great we can make that strength. With such an aim we shall, incidentally and naturally, find ourselves accomplishing more work than if we aimed directly at the work itself. Moreover, when such ideals are attained, work instead of turning into drudgery tends to turn into play, and the hue of life seems to turn from dull gray to the bright tints of well-remembered childhood. In short, our health ideals should rise from the mere wish to keep out of a sick bed to an eagerness to become a well-spring of energy. Only then can we realize the intrinsic wholesomeness and beauty of human life.