Part 28
The prospective and nursing mother should receive especial consideration. It should be known and recognized that her requirements for wholesome food, and above all wholesome surroundings, are necessary for the normal development of her child and for her own physical safety. How can she,—perhaps already a mother of several children, have the needed rest and time to read or walk in the fresh air, unless the family co-operate with her? It is so easy for the husband to direct the children at these times and at all times, as to the care the mother is deserving. We know a gentleman who, as a judge, has never had his opinion on legal questions reversed, would commonly, after dinner, when there was no help in the house, lead his wife to an easy chair, affectionately express his and the family’s appreciation of the fine dinner that they had all enjoyed and turning to their son, would say: “Come, son, we must wash the dishes; we would not be very appreciative were we to permit mother to work longer today.” Some would say that such work is not in keeping with his august position. Be that as it may, one fact remains: He has taught his children to care for their mother in such a way that there will never arise any questions as to her position or her rights.
COURTESIES DUE THE MOTHER
In this same manner the children can be taught that mother will remain happier and younger if she is given the assurance of their love and thoughtfulness by the occasional remembrance of a desirable gift, a book, or a pretty bouquet of flowers. They may be wild flowers, gathered by your own hands. So much the better. The little gifts of labor are so much the sweeter. Then there is mother’s birthday to be remembered by little offerings of love from the family. They do not remind her of advancing years, but count each year a pearl; each pearl a prize. On her wedding anniversary the husband brings to his sweetheart wife some gift as a lover’s token. So as time passes, each year the vows of their youth are renewed and the bonds between them sustained.
The most practical appreciation of love and worth that a woman may show her husband—the provider of her family—is the careful consideration of the best interest of the family. Eventually the man who receives such sympathy and help will find his life being purified and strengthened.
MOTHER SHOULD BE CONFIDED IN
There is not much that can be achieved in the world without knowing conditions and requirements. So it is with the home. The family cannot enjoy the sympathy of the mother without giving her their confidence. The husband who confides his financial affairs to the wife will seldom fail. Let her know the amount and source of his income; let her feel that she is his partner and that a portion of his income is hers, and there will be little danger of financial failure or domestic unhappiness.
A mother’s success with her family depends upon how much she lives in their lives and experiences; the interest she takes in each day’s effort. Even though she cannot go with them she can enjoy their feelings and live them all over again with them in the home. The habit of telling mother everything which has happened during the day is not only a great safeguard to the children, but the mother may live over her childhood days of dolls and toys, and may enlighten her mind by reading and studying with her bright boy and girl; may even dream the sweet love dreams all over again as with a gentle hand and sympathetic heart she guides her children to a life of safety and happiness.
THE DUTIES OF HUSBAND AND WIFE TO EACH OTHER
The mother’s rights are real and comprehensive. They are something not to be disputed. Hers are the greatest in the family. These rights her children may not in early youth be able to fully realize, but these she must teach to them simply and must insist upon. She has rights, very clearly defined, to be accorded by her husband, and if he hesitates she is most unfortunate and he is most unworthy. Her dues from him are the greatest of all. They are the greatest in the world. If she has borne him children she has done for him the utmost that one human being can do for another. She has, literally, given him herself. Well has it been said that a man’s duty to a faithful wife can never end while life lasts. “When she consented to be his helpmate and to virtually transform every organ in her body that his lineage may not die out, that he may have children, healthy, happy and able, she has done more for him than he can ever repay in a lifetime of service. She has taken the chance gladly and risked her life for him.” Under what more tremendous obligation could she place him? She has established a right which covers all things.
These greatest rights—those of the mother from the husband—are so numerous, so all-comprehending, that they cannot be given in detail. They imply simply that he should look upon her as a part of himself and show it instinctively and as a matter of course. She has the right to claim from him that he should always be to her as he was before marriage, save that the relationship is closer and more familiar. What proportion of husbands remember this? How often does there come a time after marriage when the husband forgets that they are one? How often does he show unmistakably that he thinks his family is a drag upon him, that he is bearing a burden, that he deserves especial credit for bearing it and that what he pays out for family expenses he is “giving?” There would be short work were he to assume such an attitude toward his partner in a business venture, yet he is, literally, in partnership with his wife in the greatest business this life affords and that she put in by far the greater part of the capital in the beginning!
AS TO FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS
If there be anything a wife has a right to be fiercely sensitive about it is absolutely necessary money, according to the standard of living which may have been adopted. What wonder that she should feel grief and resentment when this money is doled out to her as if it were a “gift,” and not infrequently with grudgingness and reluctance and captious words! It is no “gift.” It is no concession. Except when beyond the ordinary requirements of living, within the limit of his means, no man ever “gave” his wife anything. He is simply meeting a wise obligation he has assumed and the manner in which he meets it may be said to afford a fair estimate of the standard of the man. This applies equally to the man of business affairs, to the farmer or to the workman.
To say just how the wife and mother shall assert this right in the matter of money is difficult to say. She should not have to assert it. It is a delicate matter and must ever be between the two, but is referred to here at some length because it is the cause of so much needless unhappiness—this heedless disregard for one of the mother’s rights.
REGARD, PROTECTION AND CONSIDERATION
This matter of being placed under no personal obligation, even implied, is, however, but a specific illustration of one of the rights of a good wife. Her rights are first in all directions. Her rights include the utmost limit of protection and consideration and regard from all about her, and they are granted readily in the household where affection and intelligence prevail. She should not be the one to think of her rights—the good mother rarely is—but those about her—the husband first and all the time—should be the ones to see to it that they are guarded with all jealousy and fairly thrust upon her if she neglects to take them.
It is the mother’s right that what she is doing every day should be appreciated and that she should be assisted in every manner possible. She can never be fully repaid, for hers is the one position requiring constant care and sacrifice, but her burden can be made as easy as possible, and that will more than satisfy her. A wonderful creature is the mother.
MOTHER THE HIGHEST TYPE OF HUMANITY
A broader right of the mother,—and this is one which she may with all propriety assert herself, as she is beginning to do wherever the best and highest thought prevails—is that she is looked upon by the world as being the highest type in example and in fruition of all humanity. She is the extreme of what God has made in human beings of the one who is carrying out, better and better with each age, the wonderful scheme of creation and evolution. She is no longer the mere beaten bearer of her species. She is the keynote; she is the producer and hers is the first guiding hand.
THE FUTURE OF THE CHILD, THE FUTURE OF THE RACE
The future of the child is the future of the race. What the future of the child shall be depends altogether upon the men and women of the present. What thus becomes our vast responsibility is plain to see. It rests, not upon parents alone, but upon the whole community.
There is no greater problem before thinking and aspiring humanity and, certainly, no finer one than that of making the growing generation what it should be and there is, as assuredly, none which appeals to us with such overwhelming force, both with regard to our own welfare and the welfare of those who fill our hearts and in whom our hopes are centered. It is one involved alike in the parental instinct and that of patriotism. Our children must be so reared as to develop into good sons and daughters and good citizens as well. The keynote of all progress and advancement in the good of the world is centered here. Each generation should excel the one preceding it, and can be made to do so if the parents of today and the communities of today are not neglectful. Always today must be determined the nature of tomorrow. Parents and governments have a glorious responsibility bestowed upon them. They determine what all coming history shall be, what shall be the future of any nation and the degree of the world’s happiness.
HOME LIFE A JOYFUL OCCUPATION
In developing the intelligence of the children the home may be made a place of delightful occupation while they are becoming wiser. Every home should be equipped with a little working library of reference books, always accessible, including a Bible, a dictionary, an atlas and a good encyclopedia, if possible. Then there is something to do with. Nothing delights a child or a group of children more and nothing is more profitable to them, than a search for information on some doubtful or disputed point. Rightly used, these times of search, with the father or mother as a guide and assistant, are of infinite value in developing a spirit of investigation and, not only that, but one of comradeship between parent and child. They are chums together in a common study, looking for “the why and wherefore of things.”
The parent, however, as the head of the class, should endeavor to be competent to lead. In fact, it is only by keeping abreast of what is finest in the world’s advance can one become a companion really good enough for one’s children. What a maker of all that is worth having the home is in a thousand ways!
NEED OF CARE AND WATCHFULNESS
No, the work of rearing children as they should be reared is not so difficult, if there be care and watchfulness enough. Therein lies the need. Wishing lovingly and earnestly to do a thing is one matter; knowing how to do it is quite another. Constant, unfailing study and “thinking out” of things by a parent is a necessity. There are no two children in the world whose needs are just alike.
THE WAY TO PERFECT HEALTH The Human Body and How it is Made—How to Take Care of Yourself—Rules for a Long and Happy Life—General Information
If the question were generally asked, “What is the most important factor in the happiness of mankind?” spiritual matters not to be considered in the query, it is safe to say that a tremendous majority of all the intelligent people of the world would reply, “Health.”
Indeed, almost all the other conditions of real importance in life depend more or less on health, and with health as a possession almost all misfortunes can be overcome or borne with patience. Wealth, for instance, is of very little consequence in comparison with health. Without the latter there can be little real enjoyment of the former. Without wealth, however, health can assure true happiness, and it is, indeed, one of the most serviceable factors in enabling one to add wealth to his possessions.
With these facts clearly recognized as they are, it is not strange that intelligent men and women more and more give their attention to the welfare of their bodies. In the most highly civilized countries the advance of scientific surgery and discoveries in medicine are hailed with the greatest applause. In such countries the subjects of sanitation and hygiene are given the closest attention, not only by students and scientists, but by every thoughtful individual. It is being recognized that there is no great and impressive mystery about our physical natures by virtue of which we escape responsibility for guarding our own health in every reasonable way. The thing to do is to keep well if we possibly can, and when we fail, give the best attention possible to repairing the damage.
The one who should neglect the well-known principles of hygiene, because of faith that a good doctor could cure any resulting sickness, would be no less than a fool. The one who gets wet on a stormy day, fails to change his clothes, neglects the cold which follows, contracts pneumonia and dies, is not “removed by an all-wise Providence,” as so many resolutions of sympathy declare, but by his own folly. It is unjust to blame a wise and beneficent Power for such results. The household that suffers from typhoid, when drinking well-water drained from its own cesspool, needs sympathy, indeed, not only for the sickness but for the stupidity that placed the well and the infection side by side.
Thus it is that, in arranging the order of subjects in this book of practical information for everyone, it was readily decided to discuss this subject with considerable detail. Household recipes and suggestions appeal specially to women; stock, farm and orchard come within the province of men; but health, hygiene and the kindred subjects command attention with equal force, from man and woman and child.
Anyone who adopts the policy of “getting all the money he can, and keeping all he can get,” is certain to make himself obnoxious to all about him, and in the end to become very miserable as an embittered, soured and friendless man, a failure in life, however wealthy he may become. But the one who chooses the policy of getting all the health he can and keeping all he gets, will have a very different tale to tell. Regular habits, careful living, sunny disposition, a clear head, a bright eye, a sound mind and a sound body give one a cheerful outlook on the world, enable one to use all his energies to the best advantage, guarantee that he will have real friends, assure happiness, and make of one a genuine success in life, whether with or without the prosperity that is very likely to accompany such qualities.
And what does it involve, this intelligent effort to acquire and retain good health in these bodies of ours?
We have here at our disposal a marvelous and complicated machine, perfect in design, and imperfect only through some inherited fault or weakness of our ancestors. Most of its processes are automatic, though some are deliberate, or voluntary. The automatic processes themselves may fail to operate, however, through some carelessness of our own in details that we must attend to of our own will. When the voluntary processes are continued with great regularity, they become so habitual that they may be considered almost automatic themselves, and in this state of affairs the whole machine is operating to the best advantage, and will receive no injury except from some outside cause.
This wonderful machine must breathe—an involuntary or automatic action—but it must have pure and wholesome air, day and night, which is to be made sure only by our own care and voluntary action. It must be well nourished by proper food, obtained, selected and prepared by our own voluntary effort, but the food then is assimilated into our strength and support by the automatic and involuntary processes of digestion. So it is through a long list of details which might be named, that the machine of our body is kept in running order—in health, as we say—by a combination of voluntary and involuntary processes, the latter depending on the former in high degree for their success. All of these details are simple enough in themselves when studied a little.
In normal and wholesome surroundings, such as, fortunately, most people in this country enjoy, it is an easy matter to avert disease by proper care, and to bring the system into such condition that in the event of sickness the ailment can be thrown off readily by proper attention. Carelessness of habits not only makes the individual more liable to the outbreak of disease, but weakens the power to combat the disease after it has once gained a hold.
This chapter is not primarily a medical work in the general use of that term. That is to say, it does not go into the scientific and technical details of physiology, nor yet the description and treatment of every disease, simple or otherwise. Until all persons are educated in disease and medicine, the very best advice that can be given in the event of serious illness is—Call a competent, progressive, educated physician as promptly as possible, and yield absolute obedience to his instructions and treatment. But these instructions will include details of nursing and diet, general care of the health, and other things which are of great importance in assisting the work of the doctor. He will welcome the evidence of knowledge of such things which can be gained from this practical book. Furthermore, for an intelligent understanding of the human body, how to keep it in health, and how to treat its simple ailments, and the emergencies of all sorts that demand quick attention, this department of the present work is confidently offered to the reader.
THE HUMAN BODY AND ITS CONSTRUCTION
Let us now look briefly at the construction of the human body and the duties which its various parts are intended to perform, after which we will take note of the methods of preserving health in general, and the diseases and injuries which must be guarded against.
First, some explanations of the terms used in these connections: We divide all nature into three classes of objects, those belonging to the Animal, Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms, and all things belong in one or another of these. They are also divided into organic and inorganic bodies. The first are those having organs by which they grow, such as animals and plants. Inorganic bodies are those which are without life of their own, such as air, water, stone and the like. All inorganic bodies are included in the mineral kingdom. Those organic bodies which have no power to feel are included in the vegetable kingdom, and those which have the power to feel form the animal kingdom. There are things in nature which are so close to this dividing line that even scientists disagree as to whether they belong to the vegetable or animal kingdom.
The parts of an organized body, such as the mouth or the foot of an animal, the root or the leaf of a plant, are called the organs, and the work which an organ is intended to perform is called its function. The material out of which any organ is composed is called tissue, and in the human body, for instance, at least six different kinds of tissue are found, forming the various organs. We will speak of the various solids and fluids of the body by name, only in connection with their ailments and their care hereafter. The tissues themselves are composed of fifteen of the sixty-five chemical elements, or simple substances, known to exist in nature.
The various organs of similar structure and common purpose found in the human body, when taken together, are called a system.
These are the Osseous System, the Muscular System, the Digestive System, the Circulatory System, the Respiratory System and the Nervous System. The Osseous System means the skeleton, which gives shape to the body and supports it, enables us to move and extend our limbs, and protects the delicate organs from injury. The Muscular System is the flesh of the body, forming a pad or covering around the bones, and thus also serving as a protection, in addition to producing at will the motions of our limbs and the controllable organs. The Digestive System is composed of those organs which receive, transmit and dispose of our food, separating the waste matter from the useful, and giving the latter to our nourishment and strength. The mouth, the stomach, the intestines, and various other organs are included in this service.
The Circulatory System includes the heart, the arteries, the veins and the capillaries, those organs which transmit and purify the blood, building up all other organs by this essential fluid which is life. The Respiratory System is that which transmits the air and makes use of it in the body for purifying the blood, thus including the lungs, and the passages and valves which lead thither. The Nervous System is that part of the organism by which the different parts of the body are controlled and caused to work together, and through which mind and body are connected. The brain, the spinal cord, the nerves and the ganglia of the nerves are the organs of the Nervous System. They have been compared most appropriately to an intricate telegraph system, of which the brain is the head office or directing intelligence, the spinal cord is the main line, the nerves are the wires running to every station, and the ganglia are the stations themselves.
In addition to these general systems which have been named we must take note also of the skin, which covers the whole exterior of the body; the mucous membrane, which covers the open cavities and lines the organs; the urinary organs, which separate and discharge the liquid waste of the body and thus are akin to the digestive system; and the organs of generation and reproduction by which the race is perpetuated.
PROPER FOOD AND ITS IMPORTANCE
To keep all of these various tissues and organs in health, as has been suggested heretofore, we must be properly nourished by the most suitable food. It is of prime importance, therefore, to know the true value of foods in order that we may select wisely. To a higher degree than is commonly realized, our physical welfare depends on this matter. We are not speaking here of food for the sick, but of food for the well, not of special delicacies, but of the every-day food of the average household the practical subject for the practical man, woman or child. Let us see what we may learn from the researches of the wisest students who have considered the subject. It is not necessary here to go into the chemical analysis which has proved the following facts, for facts they are. They may be accepted absolutely as safe guides, with the assurance that only benefit can result.
The popular division of foods into animal and vegetable is neither scientific nor satisfactory. Not that it is a matter of indifference whether man lives on a purely animal or purely vegetable diet or on one derived from both kingdoms, but the differences depend not on the source whence the foods are obtained, but on the proportions in which the various food elements are combined, and on the digestibility and other special properties of the foods selected. The materials supplied in the form of food, and digested and absorbed by the body, are partly employed for building up growing organs and making good the wear and tear—the loss of substances—which they are constantly undergoing, and partly as fuel for the production of heat and of energy.