328 ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY 



forced to rest, he might continue at his business and com- 

 plete the exhaustion. 



599. Symptoms and the Disease. A distinction should 

 be made between the symptoms and the disease. The 

 symptoms are to warn the patient to allow the curative 

 process to go on, and they should not be combated. If a 

 log fell on a man and he yelled aloud, would it suffice to 

 stuff a handkerchief into his mouth ? No, the important 

 thing would be to remove the log. If you have a head- 

 ache, the quickest way to relief is to take antikamnia, or 

 some of the other poisonous coal-tar compounds, or per- 

 haps morphine. But if you do not wish to cause further 

 injury to the body, drink plenty of water to cleanse the 

 stomach, if the trouble is there, or go out and breathe fresh 

 air and rest the mind, if the trouble is mental. If you had 

 a corn on the toe, would you burn it off with salicylic acid 

 only to have it come back, or would you wear comfortable 

 shoes so that the corn would go away of itself ? If 

 the cause were not promptly removed, the corn might 

 become so deeply rooted that it would be very slow to 

 leave. 



600. Remove the Cause of the disease, and the symptoms 

 usually disappear of themselves. It is said that there 

 are one thousand seven hundred diseases. There are 

 hardly more than half a dozen ways of getting sick; 

 errors in diet and dress, poor ventilation, overwork, under- 

 work, exposure, worry, are the underlying causes of all 

 diseases. The ways of getting well are likewise few. 

 Correct the habits of eating and drinking, avoid poi- 

 sons, work enough but not too much, breathe clean air, 

 keep the body clean and free enough for perfect ease 

 of movement, and keep the mind contented, these arc 

 the first laws of healing. (Read notes 5 and 6, page 332.) 



601. What common drug causes insalivation (uncontrol- 

 lable flow of saliva for a time) with loss of most of the 



