1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



81 



Our Homes 



By A. I. Root 



Who forgiveth all thine Iniauitles; who healeth 

 all thy diseases.— Psalm 103 : 3. 



For he knoweth our frame: he reniembereth that 

 we are dust.— Psalm 103 : 14. 



Wherefore let him that thlnketh he standeth take 

 heed lest he fall.— I. Cor. 10 : 12. 



A few days ago my heart was made glad 

 by the sight (oace more) of some of the fa- 

 miliar handwriting of our good friend E. E. 

 Hasty, and here is the letter: 



Brother Hoot: — Yesterday's Gleanings, where you 

 confess to such a bad memory, moves me to write 

 you about the subject. We too easily settle down 

 in the belief that it can't be helped. I feel convinc- 

 ed that to a certain extent it can be helped. You 

 are among the foremost (a la Terry and others) to 

 help the body's disposition to go to the bad. Is the 

 body of so much more value than the mind that it 

 must have all the pi'opping up, while the mind goes 

 completely to pieces with no effort to save it? 



Some three years ago or more my memory got in- 

 to a desperately bad condition [couldn't shut the 

 milk-valve before I strained the milk ini ; utter ina- 

 bility to get along with the daily duties of life seem- 

 ed just ahead; and a solemn feeling that something 

 must be done about it came upon me pretty strong. 

 Not far from the same time I read some remarkable 

 articles in a magazine written by a doctor in Phila- 

 delphia. The gist of the matter was that the failure 

 of the faculties could be halted, and in some meas- 

 ure recovered — yes, better memory and better senses 

 and better thinking be secured by persistent mas- 

 saging of the head and neck. 



Well, I went in pretty strong; have kept it up ever 

 since, with brief intervals. As for results, I must 

 admit that my memory is still pretty bad; but I 

 think it is not so extremely bad as it was three 

 years ago. And surely to have prevented the natu- 

 ral further deterioration for the three years between 

 67 and 70 is doing a good deal. 



The why and wherefore of the thing was not put 

 Into very clear words in that doctor's papers; but I 

 take it to be something like this: A refreshed and 

 aroused condition of living tissues tends to commu- 

 nicate Use.'/ to tissues nearest by: and thus, although 

 we can not massage the brain directly, we can indi- 

 rectly. 



And I take it that this is not a matter of a few 

 days nor even a few weeks, but a matter comparable 

 to the grinding of a pretty big facet on a diamond 

 — those need not begin who have not persistence to 

 keep on awhile. 



The doctor seemed careful not to say one word 

 about the modus operandi. I had to invent all that 

 for myself. 1 think I did fairly well at inventing 

 and learning a modus. 



The time I chose was just before I got up in the 

 morning, while still lying in bed — wouldn't do lor 

 two-in-a-bed arrangements. It is important enough 

 to justify some changes to one-in-a-bed arrange- 

 ments. 



As for me, I use it in company with other mas- 

 sages and motions conducted at the same time, but 

 having different objects in view. All of them, with 

 the desirable intervals between, take about an hour. 

 These which I am now recommending to you take 

 about fifteen or twenty minutes. 



One difficulty that I encountered at first was that 

 the arms, having to work in an unnatural position, 

 and higher that the heart, got bloodless and awful- 

 ly tired too soon. That gradually improved until 

 at present I seldom think of it. I used to make 

 haste to straighten arms down aside, and let the 

 blood flow into them again, while the rocking of my 

 head was in progress; for forcible rocking of the 

 head from side to side is one resource that I think 

 very highly of. 



But my experience with rocking seems to give a 

 hint that it may be dangerous for some persons. 

 My eyeswould get suffused with blood by the burst- 

 lug of little vessels. After the first few weeks there 

 was no more of that — nature evidently strengthened 

 her works to match her mauling. 



This rocking exercise can't very well be done 

 standing up— and that's the main objection to hav- 

 ing the whole performance someother time or place. 

 And if you should happen to take on this I will glad- 

 ly tell you more about it. 



Toledo, O., Dec. 6. E. E. Hasty. 



I don't know how many times I have read 

 the above letter over and over, and every 

 time I read it it takes a mighty hold on me. 

 By all means tell us more about it, friend 

 Hasty. I think it must be about three 

 years ago when I first began to feel I was 

 "going to pieces "in regard to memory. 

 There were certain things I could remember 

 and other things I could not remember. For 

 instance, my great and grievous trouble was 

 (and to a great extent is even yet) to re- 

 member to put my letters in the mail-box 

 when I went after my mail every day. Our 

 postofRce is about a mile away; and every 

 evening when I take up my eggs I go to the 

 office; and as it is troublesome and untidy 

 to tear open letters that have been once 

 sealed, I do not seal any of my letters until 

 I have looked over my mail to see that there 

 is not a postscript to be added to one or 

 more of them. Now, the trouble comes in 

 here; even when young, and through all my 

 life, whenever I give my whole undivided 

 attention to any important matter I become 

 more or less oblivious to all that is going on 

 around me. This is especially true when I 

 have some hard problem to solve; and I often 

 say, "Just let me have this thing all by my- 

 self and I will make it come, you see if I 

 don't." In taking charge of a great busi- 

 ness, as I did for so many years, there were 

 often times when I could not be let alone. 

 A train was due, or a gang of men were idle 

 until I could make a decision. Well, I dis- 

 covered long ago that this pulling me oflf by 

 force, as it were, from one thing to another, 

 was exceedingly wearing on the nerves: and 

 it is not at all strange that I finally broke 

 down and had to call the boys home from 

 college. 



Now let us get back to the postoffice. 

 When I began to open the letters of most 

 importance, and give my mind wholly to 

 the contents, I forgot every thing else; and 

 if there was nothing to be added to any of 

 the letters in my pocket I forgot all about 

 them, and did this thing ove?' and over 

 again. I "turned over a new leaf," made 

 a mighty resolution that I would never be 

 guilty of such a silly trick again, and did 

 all right for perhaps a couple of weeks, and 

 then I was back at the old habit again. I 

 think I had better confess to you that I wor- 

 ried and prayed over this thing (yes, pray- 

 ed) until the sight of the postoffice almost 

 threw me into a nervous chill, and then I 

 went and did that very same thing, in spite 

 of the "nervous chill." Once when I for- 

 got some letters that were very important I 

 went straight back to the office; and, al- 

 though I was mad every foot of the way, I 

 came home with the letters still in my pock- 

 et. There were a few other errands besides 

 the letters, it is true; and by some queer 

 feature of the matter I seemed capable of 

 remembering every thing except to post the 



