DOMESTIC ECONOMY, HYGIENE, DIETETICS. 



373 



and unavoidably impede the egress of the cur- 

 vent perspiration. By cleanliness is merely 

 meant the taking proper means to prevent this 

 or any other matter accumulating on the sur- 

 face, to the production of certain hurtful con- 

 sequences. 



Ablution or washing is the best means of 

 attaining this end ; and accordingly it is well 

 for us to wash or bathe the body very frequently. 

 Many leave by far the greater part of their 

 bodies unwashed, except, perhaps, on rare oc- 

 casions, thinking it enough if the parts ex- 

 posed to common view be in decent trim. If 

 the object of cleaning were solely to preserve 

 fair appearances, this might be sufficient ; but 

 ihe great end, it must be clearly seen, is to 

 keep the skin in a fit state for its peculiar and 

 very important functions. Frequent change 

 of the clothing next to the skin is of course a 

 great aid to cleanliness, and may partly be 

 esteemed as a substitute for bathing, seeing 

 that the clothes absorb much of the impuri- 

 ties, and, when changed, may be said to carry 

 these off. But still this will not serve the end 

 nearly so well as frequent ablution of the 

 whole person. Anyone will be convinced of 

 this, who goes into a bath, and uses the flesh- 

 brush in cleansing his body. The quantity of 

 scurf and impurity which he will then remove, 

 from even a body which has changes of linen 

 once a day, will surprise him. 



EXERCISE. 



Bodily exercise is absolutely essential to the 

 maintenance of good health. The human body 

 may be regarded as a complex machine, the 

 various parts of which are so beautifully 

 adapted to each other, that, if one be dis- 

 turbed, all must suffer. The bones and mus- 

 cles are the portions of the frame on which 

 motion most depends. There are four hun- 

 dred muscles in the body, each of which has 

 certain functions to perform that cannot be 

 disturbed without danger to the whole, and it 

 is a wise provision of nature that the more 

 these muscles are exercised the stronger do 

 they become ; hence it is that laborers are 

 stronger and more muscular than persons whose 

 lives are passed in easy or sedentary occupa- 

 tions. Besides strengthening the limbs, mus- 

 cular exercise has a most beneficial influence 

 on respiration and the circulation of the blood. 

 Says a distinguished medical writer : ' ' Exer- 

 cise tells by inciting both heart and lungs to 

 increased action and energy, and this, done in 

 a pure air, is great gain to the purification of 

 the blood ; but exercise does much more, for 

 not only are the lungs, with their large capac- 

 ity for air, great purifiers, but the skin is little 

 less effective towards the same end. All know 



the palpable effect of exercise upon the skin ; but 

 many are not aware that the sensible perspira- 

 tion is but an increase of an insensible per- 

 spiration which is unceasingly poured out from 

 myriads of little pores the mouths of the 

 sweat glands and the oil glands of the skin. 

 The ordinary insensible perspiration is contin- 

 ually freeing us from a mass of impurity which 

 cannot be retained in our system without in- 

 jury. Convert the insensible perspiration into 

 sensible, by exercise, and produce moderate 

 sweating, and if the clothing be rational, you 

 will give off to the winds the cause of many a 

 headache and gloomy thoughts. Now this in- 

 creased skin secretion must come from some- 

 where ; and so it does, for the increased 

 exertion causes increased wear and tear of 

 system ; every step works up tissue ; and mus- 

 cles, blood vessels, nerves, are all used quicker 

 than when there is no action. Off go these 

 used-up matters, probably the worst first, 

 through lungs and skin, as fast as they can, 

 and the man begins to feel this waste, for from 

 all sides there are telegraphs to the stomach 

 for supplies, and he finds himself getting ex- 

 cessively hungry, the dinner hour very wel- 

 come, and the formerly capricious stomach 

 ready for anything ; and so new supplies go in 

 to supply the place of the old used-up works, 

 and the physical man is greatly renovated 

 taken to pieces, as it were, and built up again. 



1. In order that exercise may be truly ad- 

 vantageous, the parts must be in a state of 

 sufficient health to endure the exertion. In no 

 case must exercise be carried beyond what the 

 parts are capable of bearing with ease ; other- 

 wise a loss of energy, instead of a gain, will 

 be the consequence. 



2. Exercise to be efficacious, even in a 

 healthy subject, must be excited, sustained, 

 and directed by that nervous stimulus which 

 gives the muscles the principal part of their 

 strength, and contributes so much to the nutri- 

 tion of parts in a state of activity. 



3. The waste occasioned by exercise must 

 be duly replaced by food ; as, if there be any 

 deficiency in that important requisite, the blood 

 will soon cease to give that invigoration to the 

 parts upon which increased health and strength 

 depend. 



Kinds of Bodily Exercise. Exercise 

 is usually considered as of two kinds active 

 and passive. The active consists in walking, 

 running, leaping, riding, fencing, rowing, 

 skating, swimming, dancing, and various ex- 

 ercises, such as those with the poles, ropes, 

 etc., prescribed in gymnastic institutions. The 

 passive consists in carriage-riding, sailing, 

 friction, swinging, etc. 



Walking is perhaps the readiest mode of tak- 



