210 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[CHAP, xvii 



821. Syphilis is most certainly inherited ; I 

 mean that babes are born with the syphilis bac- 

 teria in their system. For this reason parents 

 suffering from the disease should, by law, be 

 prohibited from having children. Consumptives 

 ought not to have children either, but, if they do, 

 the babes should be separated from the parents 

 and brought up in healthy surroundings ; then 

 there will be less likelihood of the weak-chested 

 child developing consumption. 



Dr. Napheys, in his " Physical Life of 

 Woman," expresses himself very strongly on 

 this point when he says, " When there exists any 

 contagious disease, refusals are, of course, valid 

 and often a duty to the unborn." Yes, indeed, a 

 duty to the unborn. 



822. Drink is, of course, the curse of to-day. 

 Drinking is a disease. To ask the real drunkard 

 to stop drinking would be as foolish as to tell 

 a consumptive that he hadn't got the disease. 

 The only cure for such cases is to resort to medi- 

 cinal cure ; many valuable cures are now known 

 to the medical profession. 



Deplorable family miseries result from this 

 curse. Alcohol to the temperate person is 

 most valuable when an emergency demands it, 

 whilst alcohol to the drunkard is worse than 

 useless. I do not believe in teetotalism, because 

 at times I think one benefits by a slight stimu- 

 lant; for instance, anaemic people benefit from 

 wine. Anyone who has a strong will of his own 

 can take such things in moderation ; it is the 

 weak-willed individual who cannot control his 

 desires. The offsprings of drunkards are often 

 insane. 



823. Excessive Smoking Causes the System 

 to be Unable to Fight Disease. Excessive use of 

 tobacco also does much harm. Lungs are put in 

 a good state to receive tuberculosis ; the heart is 

 weakened and often diseased ; the larynx is 

 often chronically inflamed. 



Inhaling tobacco smoke is a poisonous habit 

 and a dangerous one. Moderation in everything 

 and absence of mental worry will tend to pro- 

 duce good health. 



More exercise and an abundance of fresh air, 

 and less stuffy theatres, tea-rooms, and unven- 

 tilated offices, will produce healthier people. 



824. Schools of physical culture should be 

 organised all over the country, and a few years 

 of military training is an excellent thing to make 

 young men physically fit. Discipline will not do 

 anyone any harm. 



If more money were spent on teaching a 

 nation physical work, discipline, honour, etc., 

 there would be less money required for the 

 police, police-courts, lunatic asylums, prisons, 



etc., and a nation's young would grow up honest 

 and healthy. 



825. The importance of washing one's fingers 

 after handling anything that might be infectious 

 cannot be over-estimated. Dr. Helen MacMurchy 

 wrote some very interesting words in the Toronto 

 Sunday World a short time ago on this subject. 

 She said : " Alcohol is not the only enemy we 

 may put into our mouths to steal away our 

 brains and strength. Keep your hands clean, 

 and you will avoid many infections. The hand 

 that writes these things carried the typhoid 

 bacillus to the writer's mouth fifteen years ago. 

 The hand that holds the newspaper in which 

 these words are printed may do the same thing. 

 Children are infected by each other's saliva. 

 They put their fingers to their mouths and noses, 

 and then they kiss each other. Pencils, books, 

 pens and toys are exchanged and carried in 

 the hands after being put in or to the mouth. 

 Disease is thus directly transmitted. Do you 

 ever turn the leaves with a moistened finger? 

 Do you not use these fingers for handling dirty 

 articles? 



" The two classes of people who should be 

 most particular about the care of their hands are 

 those who cook and those who attend the sick. 

 Do everything you can for the sick, and do not 

 be afraid to do anything for the sick, but do not 

 inhale the direct breath of the sick, and always 

 wash your hands after attending the sick. Even 

 touching the bedclothes of an infectious patient 

 means that your hands require to be washed. 

 There are ten sources of infection on every 

 human being ; two thumbs and eight fingers. 

 From hand to mouth, this is the main infection 

 route." 



It is commonly acknowledged now that most 

 diseases are carried by the fingers to the mouth, 

 and only exceptionally by the breath. A close 

 study of bacteriology, and even of the notes at 

 the beginning of this chapter, will convince the 

 reader how easy it is for germs to be transmitted 

 by the fingers from handles, street-car rails, 

 money, dirty books, shaking hands with con- 

 sumptives, etc., to the mouth, and how compara- 

 tively difficult it is, by breathing, for the germ 

 to enter the lungs and cause harm. 



Cancer, according to Dr. Fibiger, of Copen- 

 hagen, is due to a microbe. This microbe is 

 supposed to be transmitted externally by im- 

 proper washing of the face and hands, and by 

 eating raw foods that have not been properly 

 cleansed. Metchnikof says : " Hereditary cancer 

 is a myth ; if cancer finds several victims in the 

 same family, it is because their hygiene is 

 equally bad." 



