246 CONDITION OF THE SYSTEM. 



breath is thrown out the abdominal vessels contract, the ribs are 

 depressed, the diaphragm relaxes, and its central parts ascend. These 

 movements cause that raising and lowering of the stomach, liver, 

 etc., which form the natural stimulus of these organs. Of course, 

 these movements cannot take place freely in persons who dress 

 tightly, and the tone and vigor of the digestive organs in those per- 

 sons is consequently impaired. A confined waist will not permit a 

 full and deep inspiration; and thus it is that tight dressing soon 

 enfeebles and destroys the digestive functions. 



Relation of Pure Air to Digestion A keen appetite 

 and strong digestion depend greatly on pure air. Pure blood can- 

 not exist in the system except when we breathe a pure air, and the 

 digestive organs need not only the stimulus of blood, but of pure 

 blood. It has been noticed that the mouth and throat of those per- 

 sons who sleep in small and badly ventilated rooms, are dry and 

 unpleasant in the morning and they have little or no appetite, and 

 this is the reason of it ; impure blood lessens the desire for food and 

 weakens the digestive organs. The following incidents will indicate 

 this. 



It is said of an innkeeper, in London, on no less an authority 

 than that of Dr. Reid, in his work on the " Ventilation of Rooms," 

 that when he spread a public dinner, he always did so in a low and 

 ill-ventilated basement room, and that he assigned, as his reason for 

 this, that his guests consumed only about half as much food and 

 wine as they would have done if more pleasantly situated. 



It was stated before a committee of the British Parliament, by 

 a manufacturer, that he had taken away an arrangement for ventila- 

 ting his factory, because he noticed that his hands ate much more 

 after his mill was ventilated, and in effect that he could not afford 

 to have them breathe pure air. The impure air of the rooms they 

 occupy causes many of the cases of indigestion among clergymen, 

 seamstresses, school-teachers, sedentary mechanics and factory oper- 

 atives, and they may be prevented or cured by attending to ventila- 

 tion. 



Evacuation This is a daily necessity for the preservation of 

 health. There is very frequently an inactive or costive condition of 

 the alimentary canal, in chronic diseases of the digestive organs. 

 This may always be relieved by friction over the abdominal organs, 

 and by making an effort, at some stated period of each day (evening 

 is best), to evacuate the residuum. Regard should be especially had 

 to regularity in this matter in acute diseases, such a's fevers. For 

 those afflicted with piles, the best time for evacuating the bowels is 

 immediately before retiring for the night; for the reason that during 

 the night, while the body is in a recumbent posture, the protruding 

 part returns to its proper place, and the surrounding organs acquire 

 added tone and strength to retain it there. The bladder, as well as 

 the intestinal canal, should be regularly and frequently evacuated 

 Most distressing and incurable complaints are caused by bad habits 



