LIFE EXTENSION 



3415 



LIFE EXTENSION 



Shoes for such feet should be made to order, and 

 have a straight internal edge. All such measures 

 must be supplemented by proper exercise and the 

 correction of faulty position of the feet while 

 standing. 



In sitting: at a desk or table, when reading or 

 working, the common fault is to adopt a sprawl- 

 ing attitude, with the shoulders hunched up, the 

 elbows stretched outward and the body too far 

 away from the desk or table, and the weight 

 resting on the buttocks. Very often the desk or 

 table is too high, thus causing a continuous 

 strain on the structures around the shoulder 

 joints! Pains, erroneously ascribed to rheuma- 

 tism, or sciatica, are often due to this faulty 

 posture. To correct this fault, use if possible a 

 chair with a back that curves forward. Sit well 

 back in the chair, but close to the desk, so that 

 the fleshy inner part of the forearms may rest 

 easily upon its surface without pushing up the 

 shoulders. When it is necessary to lean over a 

 desk, acquire the habit of inclining the body for- 

 ward by bending at the hips and not by distort- 

 ing the thorax or chest. The arms should hang 

 easily from the shoulders, and the elbows should 

 not rest upon the table. The shoulders should 

 be evenly square, as in the correct standing 

 posture. In right-handed people, the light should 

 fall over the left shoulder or directly from above. 

 The body should rest upon the full length of the 

 thighs, not solely on the buttocks, and the feet 

 (not legs) should be crossed and resting lightly 

 on the ground on their outer edges. 



In children faulty posture may mar the future 

 of the individual by causing spinal curvature and 

 physical deformities that interfere with the 

 physical and mental efficiency throughout life, 

 and often lower the resistance to disease. Deep 

 breathing through the nose and setting-up exer- 

 cises are of incalculable importance in such 

 cases. 



12. Do not allow poisons and Infections to 

 enter the body. 



Among the poisons which must be kept out of 

 the body should be mentioned habit-forming 

 drugs, such as opium, morphine, cocaine, heroin, 

 chloral, acetanilid, alcohol, caffein and nicotine. 

 The best rule for those who wish to attain the 

 highest physical and mental efficiency is total 

 abstinence from all substances which contain 

 poisons, including spirits, wine, beer, tobacco, 

 many much-advertised patent drinks served at 

 soda-water fountains, most patent medicines, and 

 even coffee and tea. Many so-called "patent," or 

 proprietary, medicines contain habit-forming 

 drugs, especially morphine, coal-tar preparations, 

 caffein and alcohol, and depend largely for their 

 sale upon the effects of these harmful substances. 

 Harmful preservatives and adulterants in foods, 

 such as saccharin, should also be avoided. 



Scientific experiments have resulted in the in- 

 teresting discovery that the alleged "strength" 

 obtained from beer, ales and all intoxicating 

 beverages is a delusion. The poison simply gives 

 a temporar" feeling of greater strength through 

 paralysis of the sense of fatigue. But the strength 

 does not exist. On the contrary, the user of 

 alcohol in excess is weaker after taking it. 

 Special classes of workmen have been tested as 



to their efficiency under liquor in small amounts 

 and without it entirely, and it was invariably 

 found that the liquor was a handicap, but that, 

 also invariably, the workmen thought they could 

 work harder by its aid. Alcohol numbs the 

 sense of fatigue and so deceives the user. It is 

 not a stimulant, but a narcotic. The habit of 

 taking a cocktail before meals is harmful. 



It is well known that people who indulge in 

 alcoho.l show less resistance to infectious diseases 

 than abstemious individuals. The paralysis of 

 the white blood-corpuscles is one of the strong 

 arguments against the use of alcohol. The ex- 

 perience, of life insurance companies has clearly 

 shown that even the moderate drinker has a 

 shorter life than the man who does not drink at 

 all. Over seventy insurance companies in America 

 have proved that the man who drinks two glasses 

 of beer a day or one glass of whisky is eighteen 

 per cent less desirable a \ risk tnan the total 

 abstainer. 



The evils of toba'cco are not so well under- 

 stood as are those of alcohol, but every athletic 

 trainer observes that the use of tobacco lessens 

 physical fitness. The ordinary smoker is uncon- 

 scious of this, and often denies it. At Yale, at 

 Amherst and at the University of Utah, studies 

 of the condition of smokers and non-smokers 

 have been made which show a great advantage 

 on the side of the non-smokers. 



The infections of common colds are always to 

 be found in the nasal passages, and become active 

 when the individual is subject to fatigue or indi- 

 gestion or both. The liability of catching cold is 

 greater when the mucous lining is injured. Nasal 

 douches are injurious and impair the protective 

 ability of the mucous membrane. They should 

 be used only on prescription. 



The germ of tuberculosis is probably conveyed 

 oftenest through the sputum of consumptives, 

 which has been allowed to dry, has become pul- 

 verized, and is breathed into the system. All 

 sputum should be burned. It is well to avoid 

 rooms occupied by consumptives who are not 

 careful with their sputum. 



Suitable wire netting will guard us from 

 malaria and yellow fever, the infections brought 

 by mosquitoes and flies. "A yard of screen in 

 the window is better than a yard of crepe on the 

 door." The greatest triumph in connection with 

 the building of the Panama Canal was not the 

 engineering but the reduction in the death rate 

 among the workers, which, on account of these 

 insect-borne diseases, had previously prevented 

 the successful execution of the undertaking. 



We take in many diseases through our food 

 and drink. To elude the typhoid germ, we need 

 first of all pure water. When one is in doubt as 

 to the purity of water, it is advisable to boil it. 

 Another measure for avoiding typhoid is to pas- 

 teurize rr.ilk. In protecting the food against all 

 kinds of impurities which injure the body, we 

 must remember that the carrier of typhoid fever, 

 the common house-fly, deposits typhoid germs on 

 the food, through which the germ is taken into 

 the system. The most effective method of fight- 

 ing flies is by preventing their breeding. Their 

 favorite places for this are horse manure, but 

 they will breed in almost any mass of fermenting 

 organic material. Manure piles and stables 



