CHAPTER IV EATING
and cakes are injurious, and if you eat them, do so sparingly. Never ask for a second piece.
Fat meat and butter cause heat and often make the blood gross. Such diet is improper during warm weather and, therefore, we do not crave it. If we lived in the arctic regions, we would soon learn to drink oil like water, and to eat tallow candles as though they were pieces of crisp celery.
Highly seasoned food should not be eaten. It may be salted to suit the taste, but pepper is harmful.
Children, like some grown persons, are apt to eat more food than is good for them. You have heard people say that you ought to leave the table while still hungry, but if that is true, there can be no need of sitting down to eat. The true course is to cease eating, while you still have a relish for food.
Eat very little if the mind is excited, and do not eat at all, if you do not feel hungry. Never coax the appetite. Do not eat heartily within a few hours of bed-time.
If your appetite is poor, it is well to omit the last meal of the day. One of the best medicines in the world is a scant diet of wholesome food. Overeating and fasting are hurtful.
Remember that that which agrees with one may disagree with another. Rice is one of the most easily digested articles of food, and yet some persons cannot retain it on their stomachs. Your own sense will soon tell you what best agrees with you. Follow the advice of your parents, who know what is good for their children.
In what manner should we eat? Why? What bad habit are children likely to form?What should constitute our principal diet? What is said of pies and cake?
What is said of fat meat, butter, and greasy food? How would our tastes change, if we lived in the arctic regions?
What is said of highly seasoned food? What is said of salt and pepper?
Of eating between meals? Of sugar, candy, and sweetmeats? How should nuts be eaten?
What are children apt to do? What is the true course?
What of argument and dispute at the table? What advice is given?
What should be done if the mind is excited, or you do not feel hungry? Should the appetite be coaxed?
Suppose your appetite is poor? What of overloading and fasting?
Is the same kind of food good for everybody? How can you learn what is best to eat? What advice should be followed?
CHAPTER V THE HAIR, EARS, EYES, AND FEET
Never put oil or grease on the hair, for it catches and holds the dirt in the air, soils clothing, clogs the pores at the roots, and tends to produce baldness.
If you will brush your hair vigorously for several minutes every morning, it will soon acquire a gloss and look better than if smeared with pomatum. The odor will be pleasant and the hair will not ruin articles and clothing with which it comes in contact. Now and then it is well to clean the hair with Castile soap, warm water and a strong brush. Shampooing is excellent.
Hair is a non-conductor of heat, that is, very little heat or cold can be made
to pass through it. It serves as a protection to the brain. While a great many men are baldheaded, you very rarely see a woman thus afflicted. This is because they do not wear air-tight coverings for their heads, but the scalp is kept cool and healthy. It is a good thing for children to leave off their hats and caps, except when necessary to protect them out-of-doors.
Do not pick the ears. The wax is placed there by nature for a wise purpose. It keeps out dirt and insects and protects from injury the delicate organs of the true ear within. If the wax becomes too abundant or hard, it can be easily removed with the forefinger. If anything more is required, go to a doctor.
You should never apply water, either warm or cold, to the eyeball. When washing your face, keep your eyes closed, but wash the corners and outer surface. The gummy substance which sometimes collects is thus removed without trouble. It is well sometimes to close the eyes and rub them briskly, just as we feel like doing on awaking from sleep.
In reading or study, do not permit the light to fall on the page from the front. It should pass over the shoulder, the left being preferable. It is well also to wear a shade over the forehead, especially when writing at night, and it is necessary that the light should come from the front, on account of the shadow made by the hands.
When the eyes become weary and the letters or figures begin to dance and flicker, cease work. If a cinder lodges under the lids, do not attempt to remove it by rubbing; that only adds to the irritation. Close the eye and then carefully draw the upper lid over the lower. This will cause a flow of the fluid of the eye which will probably wash away the substance.
If this fails, a friend is not likely to have any trouble in removing the object with the corner of a silk handkerchief. Should he find it impossible to relieve you, go without delay to an oculist.