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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



DOCTORING WITHOUT MEDICINE. 



Almost all my life I have been troubled more 

 or less with sore feet. I presume one reason 

 is, that during my childhood I had my feet 

 frosted. Since then I have been troubled with 

 chilblains in winter and corns in summer. 

 About a year ago what seemed to be a corn or 

 chilblain, or both together, became very trou- 

 blesome. It started first near my little toe, 

 and finally became so swollen that it not only 

 made me lame, but it affected my whole right 

 side, and made me about sick. I limped up 

 to the doctor's office, and asked him if he 

 would feel imposed upon if I wanted him to 

 doctor ray feet. He replied something like 

 this: 



" Not at all, Mr. Root. On the contrary, I 

 am always glad to do any thing I can to re- 

 lieve any kind of pain or suffering." 



After he had taken a look at the inflamed 

 spot near my tee he said he could fix me out 

 all right, but it would take a little time. First, 

 I was to get an old boot, or, better still, an old 

 shoe, and cut a good-sized hole through, right 

 over the inflamed spot. Then I was to give 

 that part of my foot plenty of air. I ventured 

 to object, on the ground that I could not go 

 to meeting attired in that fashion. 



" Oh ! yes, you can go to meeting. Wear a 

 black stocking — something just as near as pos- 

 sible the color of your boot or shoe, and few 

 if any will notice it ; and just as soon as your 

 foot gets well enough you must give your feet 

 more ventilation. Corns and chilblains are 

 both Nature's cry for more air. Many people 

 suffer greatly because they do not give their 

 feet ventilation enough." 



"Why, doctor, you don't mean to say that 

 my feet want to breathe, do you ? I think I 

 have heard of people going barefoot in order 

 to give their feet a chance to breathe, but I 

 did not know that mine were of that kind." 



" Well, I guess you have got it about right, 

 Mr. Root. Our feet do need to breathe. Few 

 people can stand it to wear rubber boots, be- 

 cause they are so completely impervious. I be- 

 lieve you have betn wearing boots mostly in 

 winter time. You want to get rid of your boots, 

 and buy some shoes that lace very far down, say 

 as near to the toes as possible; and leave the 

 lacing loose enough so the air can get in. 

 With this foot that is so inflamed and feverish 

 you really must have that kind of shoe. Get 

 a bicycle shoe that laces away down. If your 

 feet get cold, wear coarse porous woolen stock- 

 ings; then if your ankles are cold, have some 

 woolen leggins; but let your feet breathe.''' 



"Why, doctor, I am afraid I shall have to 

 take back some of the spiteful things I have 

 said about toothpick-toed shoes. From what 

 you say, that gable-end air-space out in the 

 point of the toe has a method in it, after all." 



Well, I followed the doctor's advice, and, 

 although almost two years have passed, I have 

 not had &PJ ?hilbjaij)s at all, and my corns 



have not troubled me to speak of. I used to 

 imagine that I must have boots in winter to 

 keep my ankles warm; but now I really enjoy 

 wearing my bicycle shoes all winter, protect- 

 ing my ankles with extra woolen covering 

 during severe weather. While visiting with 

 my friend Vankirk, in Washington, Pa., we 

 were talking over this matter, and he said he 

 had read somewhere that Abraham Lincoln 

 was in the habit of slipping off his shoes when 

 he was writing at his desk, giving his feet a 

 breathing-spell. Now, if I remember correct- 

 ly the doctor did not give me any medicine at 

 all ; but I would ever so much rather pay a 

 doctor for giving me sensible advice like the 

 above, than for dosing me with drugs; and his 

 little talk about ventilation for the feet did me 

 so much good I am glad to suggest the matter 

 to others who may be sufferers like myself. 

 For a good many years I used to advise every- 

 body indiscriminately to go barefooted in sum- 

 mer, as a rational cure for troublesome corns r 

 and Mrs. Root used to remonstrate. She ask- 

 ed me if 1 wanted to see her going around 

 barefoot. I told her I would rather see every- 

 body going barefoot than to see them suffer- 

 ing as I suffered from troublesome corns. My 

 favorite way of washing my feet in the sum- 

 mer time is to wade through the lawn when 

 the grass is covered with a heavy dew. You 

 see this gives ventilation, coolness, and a wa- 

 ter bath (of pure soft water) besides. Now,, 

 the doctor suggested to me a way of ventilat- 

 ing the feet without going barefoot. By the 

 way, I have almost all my life objected to 

 shoes that lace up, because it wastes so much 

 valuable time fastening with shoestrings ; but 

 I think now I would rather fuss with shoe- 

 strings than to have my temper spoiled by 

 troublesome corns. Wouldn't you? 



Years ago our good friend Orange Judd, of 

 the American Agriculturist, recommended 

 changing the shoes, and, if necessary, the 

 stockings too, during the day, and taking an- 

 other pair. He said it did the shoes good to 

 give them a rest. My impression is it did 

 good by giving the feet a breathing-spell rath- 

 er than giving the shoes a resting-spell. 



Our Roll of Honor. 



When I made my offer of Gleanings a 

 year free, and a little present besides, to those 

 who had taken it 25 years or more, I made a 

 rough guess that there might be 50 among 

 our present subscribers who commenced with 

 Vol. I. No. 1. But to be on the safe side I 

 told the boys to print 200 cards to send with 

 the little paper-weight. Well, the 200 cards 

 are gone, and still the names come every little 

 while. Why, it almost begins to look as 

 though every one who subscribed during that 

 first year is still a subscriber; and I confess 

 the thought has been to me both encouraging 

 and inspiring. May God bless you, each and 

 all, for standing by your old friend A. I. Root 

 during all these years. 



I think I took Gleanings in 1879. Perhaps it is on 

 your books; but I do know that I have paid mostly 



