330 ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY 



organs or the limbs be the more warmly clothed if there is any difference 

 between the protection given them ? Suggestions : Distance from heart, 

 delicacy, natural activity of circulation, effect of exercise. (Read note 7, 

 page 332.) 



3. Chronic Rheumatism. Wherever it is located, the general 

 treatment should be about the same. You must improve the general 

 health. You must use the muscles of the entire body, moderately, 

 daily, particularly those in or near the part affected. If you can move a 

 finger, a wrist, an elbow, or any joint affected, in the least without pain, 

 do so, and continue to do so several times daily. You can in due time 

 make the affected parts move more and more freely. You must practi- 

 cally live out of doors, breathing fresh air freely and constantly. Your 

 food must be plain, very moderate in quantity, and thoroughly chewed. 

 These are important. 



Too much food, and improper kinds, particularly meats, and lack of 

 exercise, beyond question, are the chief causes of the condition of the 

 body that allows rheumatism to gain a foothold. Exposure to damp- 

 ness, sitting on the ground, getting chilled when heated from exercise, 

 these may be the immediate inciting causes, and they should always 

 be avoided, but there is an unhealthful condition of the body back of 

 them. To cure, remove this unnatural condition. Unless the trouble 

 has gone too far, and the joints have become solid, nature will remedy 

 the trouble if she has a fair chance. Bathing and brushing and rubbing 

 the skin are important, as they help more impurities to work out through 

 that channel. And do not forget to drink freely, all you have the 

 slightest desire for, of pure, soft water. In most cases it requires years 

 of improper living to cause the condition that makes rheumatism 

 possible. It takes months and perhaps years of care and persistent 

 effort to get entirely rid of it. Most of those who have suffered with 

 chronic rheumatism have no faith in the power of medicine to effect 

 a permanent cure. Nature must do it, and you must help by giving her 

 every chance. 



The great trouble in effecting a cure of this .disease is the long and 

 persistent effort necessary. Many will not stick to it long enough. But 

 perseverance with the treatment described will bring the desired result 

 and it is the only way in which a lasting cure can be made. Medicines 

 may relieve at times, but there is something wrong in the way of living 

 that causes rheumatism, and until that is changed there can be no 

 permanent cure. 



4. Water-drinking. " The body of man is about four fifths water. 

 The teeth, the hardest and densest tissue in the body, contain ten per 

 cent of water ; the bones are thirteen per cent water, the muscles are 



