{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40373/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40373","id":"gutenberg_40373","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40373","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Health & Medicine","Category: Nutrition","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Health"],"text":"A GUIDE TO HEALTH\n\n   BY\n\n   MAHATMA GANDHI\n\n   _Translated from the Hindi_\n\n   BY\n\n   A. RAMA IYER, M.A.\n\n   [Illustration]\n\n   1921\n\n   S. GANESAN., PUBLISHER,\n   TRIPLICANE ... MADRAS, S.E.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                         PAGE\n\n  TRANSLATOR'S NOTE                                       vii\n\n  INTRODUCTION                                              1\n\n  PART I: GENERAL\n\n    Chap. I. The Meaning of Health                          9\n\n    Chap. II. The Human Body                               11\n\n    Chap. III. Air                                         14\n\n    Chap. IV. Water                                        25\n\n    Chap. V. Food                                          29\n\n    Chap. VI. How much and how many times should we eat?   55\n\n    Chap. VII. Exercise                                    59\n\n    Chap. VIII. Dress                                      64\n\n    Chap. IX. Sexual Relations                             69\n\n  PART II: SOME SIMPLE TREATMENTS\n\n    Chap. I. Air Treatment                                 83\n\n    Chap. II. Water Cure                                   86\n\n    Chap. III. The Use of Earth                            95\n\n    Chap. IV. Fever and its Cures                          98\n\n    Chap. V. Constipation, Dysentery, etc.                101\n\n    Chap. VI. Contagious Diseases Small-pox               104\n\n    Chap. VII. Other Contagious Diseases                  112\n\n    Chap. VIII. Maternity and Child-Birth                 117\n\n    Chap. IX. Care of Child                               121\n\n    Chap. X. Accidents--Drowning                          127\n\n    Chap. XI.   Do    --Burns and Scalds                  130\n\n    Chap. XII.  Do    --Snake Bite                        132\n\n    Chap. XIII. Do    --Scorpion-sting, etc.              140\n\n    Chap. XIV. Conclusion                                 142\n\n\n\n\nTRANSLATOR'S NOTE\n\n\nIn these days when the name of Mahatma Gandhi is identified with the\nmomentous question of Non-Co-operation, it may come with a shock of\nsurprise to most readers to be told that he is something of an authority\non matters of Health and Disease as well. Very few of us perhaps are\naware that he is the author of quite an original little Health-book in\nGujarati. Those who think of him as a dreamy idealist or an unpractical\nvisionary, with his head always in the clouds, will certainly be\nundeceived when they read this book replete from cover to cover with\n_practical_ observations on the most _practical_ question of Health. His\nviews are of course radically different from the ordinary views that\nfind expression in the pages of such books; in many cases, indeed, his\ndoctrines must be pronounced revolutionary, and will doubtless be\nregarded by a certain class of readers as wholly impracticable. Even the\nmost revolutionary of his doctrines, however, are based, not on the\nshifting quicksands of mere theory, but on the solid foundation of deep\nstudy, backed up by personal experience of nearly thirty years. He\nhimself recognises that many of his views will hardly be accepted by the\nordinary reader, but he has felt himself impelled by a stern sense of\nduty to give publicity to his convictions formed after so much of study\nand experience. Some at least however, of those who read his book cannot\nhelp being profoundly influenced by it. Such, at any rate, has been the\ncase with me; and I have ventured to translate the book into English in\nthe hope that others may also be benefitted likewise.\n\nI should perhaps explain that I am not a student of Gujarati, the\nlanguage of the original. I have used instead one of the two Hindi\nversions of the book. I should also point out that I have not attempted\na literal or close translation, but only _a very free rendering_ into\nEnglish. In some cases, whole passages have been omitted; and\noccasionally only the general sense of a passage has been given. It is\nhoped, however, that, in no single instance has there been a\n_misinterpretation_ of the original words.\n\nI am aware that many errors might have crept in, as the translation had\nto be done in a hurry, and there was hardly anytime for revision. I hope\nto make a thorough revision of the book, in case a second edition is\ncalled for.\n\n   NATIONAL COLLEGE,  }\n     TRICHINOPOLY,    }  A. RAMA IYER.\n      JULY 1921.      }\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nFor more than twenty years past I have been paying special attention to\nthe question of Health. While in England, I had to make my own\narrangements for food and drink, and I can say, therefore, that my\nexperience is quite reliable. I have arrived at certain definite\nconclusions from that experience, and I now set them down for the\nbenefit of my readers.\n\nAs the familiar saying goes, 'Prevention is better than cure.' It is far\neasier and safer to prevent illness by the observance of the laws of\nhealth than to set about curing the illness which has been brought on by\nour own ignorance and carelessness. Hence it is the duty of all\nthoughtful men to understand aright the laws of health, and the object\nof the following pages is to give an account of these laws. We shall\nalso consider the best methods of cure for some of the most common\ndiseases.\n\nAs Milton says, the mind can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell.\nSo heaven is not somewhere above the clouds, and hell somewhere\nunderneath the earth! We have this same idea expressed in the Sanskrit\nsaying, _Mana \u00eava Manushayan\u00e2m K\u00e2ranam Bandha Mokshayoh_--man's captivity\nor freedom is dependant on the state of his mind. From this it follows\nthat whether a man is healthy or unhealthy depends on himself. Illness\nis the result not only of our actions but also of our thoughts. As has\nbeen said by a famous doctor, more people die for fear of diseases like\nsmall-pox, cholera and plague than out of those diseases themselves.\n\nIgnorance is one of the root-causes of disease. Very often we get\nbewildered at the most ordinary diseases out of sheer ignorance, and in\nour anxiety to get better, we simply make matters worse. Our ignorance\nof the most elementary laws of health leads us to adopt wrong remedies\nor drives us into the hands of the veriest quacks. How strange (and yet\nhow true) it is that we know much less about things near at hand than\nthings at a distance. We know hardly anything of our own village, but we\ncan give by rote the names of the rivers and mountains of England! We\ntake so much trouble to learn the names of the stars in the sky, while\nwe hardly think it worth while to know the things that are in our own\nhomes! We never care a jot for the splendid pageantry of Nature before\nour very eyes, while we are so anxious to witness the puerile mummeries\nof the theatre! And in the same way, we are not ashamed to be ignorant\nof the structure of our body, of the way in which the bones and muscles,\ngrow, how the blood circulates and is rendered impure, how we are\naffected by evil thoughts and passions, how our mind travels over\nillimitable spaces and times while the body is at rest, and so on. There\nis nothing so closely connected with us as our body, but there is also\nnothing perhaps of which our ignorance is so profound, or our\nindifference so complete.\n\nIt is the duty of every one of us to get over this indifference.\nEveryone should regard it as his bounden duty to know something of the\nfundamental facts concerning his body. This kind of instruction should\nindeed be made compulsory in our schools. At present, we know not how to\ndeal with the most ordinary scalds and wounds; we are helpless if a\nthorn runs into our foot; we are beside ourselves with fright and dismay\nif we are bitten by an ordinary snake! Indeed, if we consider the depth\nof our ignorance in such matters, we shall have to hang down our heads\nin shame. To assert that the average man cannot be expected to know\nthese things is simply absurd. The following pages are intended for such\nas are willing to learn.\n\nI do not pretend that the facts mentioned by me have not been said\nbefore. But my readers will find here in a nutshell the substance of\nseveral books on the subject. I have arrived at my conclusions after\nstudying these books, and after a series of careful experiments.\nMoreover, those who are new to this subject will also be saved the risk\nof being confounded by the conflicting views held by writers of such\nbooks. One writer says for instance, that hot water is to be used under\ncertain circumstances, while another writer says that, exactly under the\nsame circumstances, cold water is to be used. Conflicting views of this\nkind have been carefully considered by me, so that my readers may rest\nassured of the reliability of my own views.\n\nWe have got into the habit of calling in a doctor for the most trivial\ndiseases. Where there is no regular doctor available, we take the advice\nof mere quacks. We labour under the fatal delusion that no disease can\nbe cured without medicine. This has been responsible for more mischief\nto mankind than any other evil. It is of course, necessary that our\ndiseases should be cured, but they cannot be cured _by medicines_. Not\nonly are medicines merely useless, but at times even positively harmful.\nFor a diseased man to take drugs and medicines would be as foolish as to\ntry to cover up the filth that has accumulated in the inside of the\nhouse. The more we cover up the filth, the more rapidly does\nputrefaction go on. The same is the case with the human body. Illness or\ndisease is only Nature's warning that filth has accumulated in some\nportion or other of the body; and it would surely be the part of wisdom\nto allow Nature to remove the filth, instead of covering it up by the\nhelp of medicines. Those who take medicines are really rendering the\ntask of Nature doubly difficult. It is, on the other hand, quite easy\nfor us to help Nature in her task by remembering certain elementary\nprinciples,--by fasting, for instance, so that the filth may not\naccumulate all the more, and by vigorous exercise in the open air, so\nthat some of the filth may escape in the form of perspiration. And the\none thing that is supremely necessary is to keep our minds strictly\nunder control.\n\nWe find from experience that, when once a bottle of medicine gets itself\nintroduced into a home, it never thinks of going out, but only goes on\ndrawing other bottles in its train. We come across numberless human\nbeings who are afflicted by some disease or other all through their\nlives in spite of their pathetic devotion to medicines. They are to-day\nunder the treatment of this doctor, to-morrow of that. They spend all\ntheir life in a futile search after a doctor who will cure them for\ngood. As the late Justice Stephen (who was for some time in India)\nsaid, it is really astonishing that drugs of which so little is known\nshould be applied by doctors to bodies of which they know still less!\nSome of the greatest doctors of the West themselves have now come to\nhold this view. Sir Astley Cooper, for instance, admits that the\n'science' of medicine is mostly mere guess-work; Dr. Baker and Dr. Frank\nhold that more people die of medicines than of diseases; and Dr.\nMasongood even goes to the extent of saying that more men have fallen\nvictims to medicine than to war, famine and pestilence combined!\n\nIt is also a matter of experience that diseases increase in proportion\nto the increase in the number of doctors in a place. The demand for\ndrugs has become so widespread that even the meanest papers are sure of\ngetting advertisements of quack medicines, if of nothing else. In a\nrecent book on the Patent Medicines we are told that the Fruit-salts\nand syrups, for which we pay from Rs. 2 to Rs. 5, cost to their\nmanufacturers only from a quarter of an anna to one anna! No wonder,\nthen, that their compositions should be so scrupulously kept a secret.\n\nWe will, therefore, assure our readers that there is absolutely no\nnecessity for them to seek the aid of doctors. To those, however, who\nmay not be willing to boycott doctors and medicines altogether, we will\nsay, \"As far as possible, possess your souls in patience, and do not\ntrouble the doctors. In case you are forced at length to call in the aid\nof a doctor, be sure to get a good man; then, follow his directions\nstrictly, and do not call in another doctor, unless by his own advice.\nBut remember, above all, that the curing of your disease does not rest\nultimately in the hands of any doctor.\"\n\n   M. K. GANDHI.\n\n\n\n\nA GUIDE TO HEALTH\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nTHE MEANING OF HEALTH\n\n\nOrdinarily that man is considered healthy who eats well and moves about,\nand does not resort to a doctor. But a little thought will convince us\nthat this idea is wrong. There are many cases of men being diseased, in\nspite of their eating well and freely moving about. They are under the\ndelusion that they are healthy, simply because they are too indifferent\nto _think_ about the matter.\n\nIn fact, perfectly healthy men hardly exist anywhere over this wide\nworld.\n\nAs has been well said, only that man can be said to be really healthy,\nwho has a sound mind in a sound body. The relation between the body and\nthe mind is so intimate that, if either of them got out of order, the\nwhole system would suffer. Let us take the analogy of the rose-flower.\nIts colour stands to its fragrance in the same way as the body to the\nmind or the soul. No one regards an artificial paper-flower as a\nsufficient substitute for the natural flower, for the obvious reason\nthat the fragrance, which forms the essence of the flower, cannot be\nreproduced. So too, we instinctively honour the man of a pure mind and a\nnoble character in preference to the man who is merely physically\nstrong. Of course, the body and the soul are both essential, but the\nlatter is far more important than the former. No man whose character is\nnot pure can be said to be really healthy. The body which contains a\ndiseased mind can never be anything but diseased. Hence it follows that\na pure character is the foundation of health in the real sense of the\nterm; and we may say that all evil thoughts and evil passions are but\ndifferent forms of disease.\n\nThus considered, we may conclude that that man alone is perfectly\nhealthy whose body is well formed, whose teeth as well as eyes and ears\nare in good condition, whose nose is free from dirty matter, whose skin\nexudes perspiration freely and without any bad smell, whose mouth is\nalso free from bad smells, whose hands and legs perform their duty\nproperly, who is neither too fat nor too thin, and whose mind and senses\nare constantly under his control. As has already been said, it is very\nhard to gain such health, but it is harder still to retain it, when\nonce it has been acquired. The chief reason why we are not truly healthy\nis that our parents were not. An eminent writer has said that, if the\nparents are _in perfectly good condition_ their children would certainly\nbe superior to them in all respects. A _perfectly healthy_ man has no\nreason to fear death; our terrible fear of death shows that we are far\nfrom being so healthy. It is, however, the clear duty of all of us to\nstrive for perfect health. We will, therefore, proceed to consider in\nthe following pages how such health can be attained, and how, when once\nattained, it can also be retained for ever.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE HUMAN BODY\n\n\nThe world is compounded of the five elements,--earth, water, air, fire,\nand ether. So too is our body. It is a sort of miniature world. Hence\nthe body stands in need of all the elements in due proportion,--pure\nearth, pure water, pure fire or sunlight, pure air, and open space. When\nany one of these falls short of its due proportion, illness is caused in\nthe body.\n\nThe body is made up of skin and bone, as well as flesh and blood. The\nbones constitute the frame-work of the body; but for them we could not\nstand erect and move about. They protect the softer parts of the body.\nThus the skull gives protection to the brain, while the ribs protect the\nheart and the lungs. Doctors have counted 238 bones in the human body.\nThe outside of the bones is hard, but the inside is soft and hollow.\nWhere there is a joint between two bones, there is a coating of marrow,\nwhich may be regarded as a soft bone. The teeth, too, are to be counted\namong the bones.\n\nWhen we feel the flesh at some points, we find it to be tough and\nelastic. This part of the flesh is known as the muscle. It is the\nmuscles that enable us to fold and unfold our arms, to move our jaws,\nand to close our eyes. It is by means of the muscles, again, that our\norgans of perception do their work.\n\nIt is beyond the province of this book to give a detailed account of the\nstructure of the body; nor has the present writer enough knowledge to\ngive such an account. We will, therefore, content ourselves with just\nas much information as is essential for our present purpose.\n\nThe most important portion of the body is the stomach. If the stomach\nceases to work even for a single moment, the whole body would collapse.\nThe work of the stomach is to digest the food, and so to provide\nnourishment to the body. Its relation to the body is the same as that\nof the steam engine to the Railway train. The gastric juice which is\nproduced in the stomach helps the assimilation of nutritious elements in\nthe food, the refuse being sent out by way of the intestines in the form\nof urine and f\u00e6ces. On the left side of the abdominal cavity is the\nspleen, while to the right of the stomach is the liver, whose function\nis the purification of the blood and the secretion of the bile, which is\nso useful for digestion.\n\nIn the hollow space enclosed by the ribs are situated the heart and the\nlungs. The heart is between the two lungs, but more to the left than the\nright. There are on the whole 24 bones in the chest; the action of the\nheart can be felt between the fifth and the sixth rib. The lungs are\nconnected with the windpipe. The air which we inhale is taken into the\nlungs through the windpipe, and the blood is purified by it. It is of\nthe utmost importance to breathe through the nose, instead of through\nthe mouth.\n\nOn the circulation of the blood depend all activities of the body. It is\nthe blood that provides nourishment to the body. It extracts the\nnutritious elements out of the food, and ejects the refuse through the\nintestines, and so keeps the body warm. The blood is incessantly\ncirculating all over the body, along the veins and the arteries. The\nbeatings of the pulse are due to the circulation of the blood. The pulse\nof a normal adult man beats some 75 times a minute. The pulses of\nchildren beat faster, while those of old men are slower.\n\nThe chief agency for keeping the blood pure is the air. When the blood\nreturns to the lungs after one complete round over the body, it is\nimpure and contains poisonous elements. The oxygen of the air which we\ninhale purifies this blood and is assimilated into it, while the\nnitrogen absorbs the poisonous matter and is breathed out. This process\ngoes on incessantly. As the air has a very important function to perform\nin the body, we shall devote a separate chapter to a detailed\nconsideration of the same.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nAIR\n\n\nOf the three things that are indispensable for the subsistence of\nman,--namely, air, water, and food--the first is the most important. Hence\nit is that God has created it in such large quantities as to make it\navailable to all of us for nothing. Modern civilisation, however, has\nrendered even fresh air somewhat costly, for, in order to breathe fresh\nair, we have to go out of towns, and this means expense. The residents\nof Bombay, for instance, distinctly improve in health in the air of\nMatheran or, still better, of the Malabar Hills; but they cannot go to\nthese places without money. Hence, in these days, it would be hardly\ntrue to say that we get fresh air _gratis_, as we used to in the old\ndays.\n\nBut, whether fresh air is available _gratis_ or not, it is undeniable\nthat we cannot get on without it. We have already seen that the blood\ncirculates over the body, returns to the lungs, and after being\npurified, starts on its round again. We breathe out the impure air, and\ntake in oxygen from the outside, which purifies the blood. This process\nof inspiration and expiration goes on for ever, and on it depends man's\nlife. When drowned in water we die, because, then we are unable to let\nout the impure air in the body and take in pure air from outside. The\ndivers go down into the water in what is known as a diving bell, and\nthey take in fresh air through a tube which leads to the top. Hence it\nis that they are able to remain under water for a long time.\n\nIt has been ascertained by experiments that no man can live without air\nfor as long as five minutes. We often hear of the death of little\nchildren, when they are held so close to the bosom by ignorant mothers\nas to make it impossible for them to breathe.\n\nWe should all be as much against the breathing of impure air as we are\nagainst the drinking of dirty water and the eating of dirty food; but\nthe air we breathe is, as a rule, far more impure than the water we\ndrink or the food we eat. We are all worshippers of concrete objects;\nthose things that can be seen and felt are regarded by us as of far\ngreater importance than those which are invisible and intangible. Since\nair belongs to this latter class of objects, we fail to realise the evil\nwrought by the impure air that we breathe. We would think twice before\neating the leavings of another man's food, or drinking out of a cup\npolluted by another man's lips. Even those who have not the least sense\nof shame or repugnance would never eat another man's vomit, or drink the\nwater which has been spat out by him; even those who are dying of hunger\nand thirst would refuse to do it. But, alas, how few of us realise that\nthe air we inhale is so often the impure and poisonous air which has\nbeen exhaled by others, and which is surely no less objectionable than a\nman's vomit! How strange that men should sit and sleep together for\nhours in closed rooms, and go on inhaling the deadly air exhaled by\nthemselves and their companions! How fortunate for man that air should\nbe so light and diffusive, and capable of penetrating the smallest\nholes! Even when the doors and windows are closed, there is generally\nsome little space between the walls and the roof, through which some air\nfrom outside manages to get in, so that the inmates of the room have not\nto breathe exclusively poisoned air. The air that we exhale mixes with\nthe air outside, and is rendered pure again by an automatic process that\nis always going on in Nature.\n\nNow we are able to understand why so many men and women should be weak\nand diseased. _There can be absolutely no doubt that impure air is the\nroot-cause of disease in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred._ It\nfollows that the best way of avoiding disease is to live and work in the\nopen air. No doctor can compete with fresh air in this matter.\nConsumption is caused by the decay of the lungs, due to the inhaling of\nimpure air, just as a steam engine which is filled with bad coal gets\nout of order. Hence doctors say that the easiest and the most effective\ntreatment for a consumptive patient is to keep him in fresh air for all\nthe 24 hours of the day.\n\nIt is, of course, essential to know how we can keep the air pure. In\nfact, every child should be taught the value of fresh air, as soon as it\nis able to understand anything. If my readers would take the trouble to\nlearn the simple facts about the air and would put their knowledge into\npractice, while teaching their children also to do the same. I shall\nfeel immensely gratified.\n\nOur latrines are perhaps most responsible for rendering the air impure.\nVery few people realise the serious harm done by dirty latrines. Even\ndogs and cats make with their claws something like a pit wherein to\ndeposit their f\u00e6ces, and then cover it up with some earth. Where there\nare no lavatories of the modern approved types, we should also do\nlikewise. There should be kept ashes or dry earth in a tin can or an\nearthen vessel inside the latrine, and whoever goes into the latrine\nshould, on coming out, cover the f\u00e6ces well with the ash or the earth,\nas the case may be. If this is done there would be no bad smell, and the\nflies too will not settle on it and transmit the filth. Anybody whose\nsense of smell has not been wholly blunted, or who has not grown\nthoroughly accustomed to foul smells will know how noxious is the smell\nthat emanates from all filthy matter which is allowed to lie open to the\nweather. Our gorge rises at the very thought of f\u00e6ces being mixed with\nour food, but we go on inhaling the air which has been polluted by such\nfoul smell, forgetting the fact that the one is just as bad as the\nother, except that, while the former is visible, the latter is not. We\nshould see that our latrines are kept thoroughly neat and clean. We\nabhor the idea of our cleaning the latrines ourselves, but what we\nshould really abhor is the idea of making use of dirty latrines. What is\nthe harm in ourselves removing the filth which has been expelled from\ninside our own body, and which we are not ashamed to have removed by\nothers? There is absolutely no reason why we should not ourselves learn\nthe work of scavenging and teach it to our children as well. The filthy\nmatter should be removed, and thrown into a pit two feet deep, and then\ncovered up with a thick layer of earth. If we go to some open place, we\nshould dig a small pit with our hands or feet, and then cover it up,\nafter the bowels have been evacuated.\n\nWe also make the air impure by making water at all places\nindiscriminately. This dirty habit should be given up altogether. If\nthere is no place specially set apart for the purpose, we should go to\nsome dry ground away from the house, and should also cover up the urine\nwith earth.\n\nThe filth should not be cast into very deep pits, for, in that case, it\nwould be beyond the reach of sun's heat, and would also pollute the\nwater flowing underneath the earth.\n\nThe habit of spitting indiscriminately on the verandahs, court yards,\nand such like places is also very bad. The spittle, especially of\nconsumptives, is very dangerous. The poisonous germs in it rise into\nthe air, and, being inhaled by others, lead to a spread of the disease.\nWe should keep a spittoon inside the house, and if we have to spit when\nout on the road we should spit where there is dry dust, so that the\nspittle may be absorbed into the dust and cause no harm. Doctors hold\nthat the consumptive should spit into a spittoon with some disinfectant\nin it: for, even if he spits on dry ground, the germs in his spittle\nmanage to rise and spread into the air along with the dust. But, in any\ncase, there can be no doubt that the habit of spitting wherever we\nplease is dirty as well as dangerous.\n\nSome people throw where they like cooked food and other articles, which\ndecay and render the air impure. If all such rubbish be put underground,\nthe air would not be made impure, and good manure, too could be\nobtained. In fact, no kind of decaying matter should be allowed to lie\nexposed to the air. It is so easy for us to take this necessary\nprecaution, if only we are in earnest about it.\n\nNow we have seen how our own bad habits render the air impure, and what\nwe can do to keep it pure. Next we shall consider how to inhale the air.\n\nAs already mentioned in the last chapter, the air is to be inhaled\nthrough the nose, and not through the mouth. There are, however, very\nfew persons who know how to breathe correctly. Many people are in the\npernicious habit of inhaling through the mouth. If very cold air is\ninhaled through the mouth, we catch cold and sore throat. Further, if we\ninhale through the mouth, the particles of dust in the air go into the\nlungs and cause great mischief. In London, for instance, in November,\nthe smoke which issues from the chimneys of great factories mixes with\nthe dense fog, producing a kind of yellow mixture. This contains tiny\nparticles of soot, which can be detected in the spittle of a man who\ninhales through the mouth. To escape this, many women (who have not\nlearnt to breathe through the nose alone) put on a special kind of veil\nover their faces, which act as sieves. If these veils are closely\nexamined, particles of dust can be detected in them. But God has given\nto all of us a sieve of this kind inside the nose. The air which is\ninhaled through the nostrils is sifted before it reaches the lungs, and\nis also warmed in the process. So all men should learn to breathe\nthrough the nose alone. And this is not at all difficult, if we remember\nto keep our mouth firmly shut at all times, except when we are talking.\nThose who have got into the habit of keeping their mouth open should\nsleep with a bandage round the mouth, which would force them to breathe\nthrough the nose. They should also take some twenty long respirations in\nthe open air, both in the morning and in the evening. In fact, all men\ncan practise this simple exercise and see for themselves how rapidly\ntheir chest deepens. If the chest be measured at the beginning of the\npractice, and again after an interval of two months, it will be seen how\nmuch it has expanded in this short period.\n\nAfter learning how to inhale the air, we should cultivate the habit of\nbreathing fresh air, day in and day out. We are generally in the most\npernicious habit of keeping confined to the house or the office\nthroughout the day, and sleeping in narrow rooms at night, with all\ndoors and windows shut. As far as possible, we should remain in the open\nair at all times. We should at least _sleep_ on the verandah or in the\nopen air. Those who cannot do this should at least keep the doors and\nwindows of the room fully open at all times. The air is our food for all\nthe twenty-four hours of the day. Why, then, should we be afraid of it?\nIt is a most foolish idea that we catch cold by inhaling the cool breeze\nof the morning. Of course, those people who have spoiled their lungs by\nthe evil habit of sleeping within closed doors are likely to catch cold,\nif they change their habit all on a sudden. But even they should not be\nafraid of cold, for this cold can be speedily got rid of. Now-a-days, in\nEurope, the houses for consumptives are being built in such a way that\nthey may get fresh air at all times. We know what terrible havoc is\nwrought in India by epidemics. We should remember that these epidemics\nare due to our habit of defiling the air, and of inhaling this poisonous\nair. We should understand that even the most delicate people will be\nbenefitted by systematically inhaling fresh air. If we cultivate the\nhabit of keeping the air pure and of breathing only fresh air, we can\nsave ourselves from many a terrible disease.\n\nSleeping with the face uncovered is as essential as sleeping in fresh\nair. Many of our people are in the habit of sleeping with the face\ncovered, which means that they have to inhale the poisonous air which\nhas been exhaled by themselves. Fortunately however, some of the air\nfrom outside does find its way through the interstices of the cloth,\nelse they should die of suffocation. But the small quantity of air that\ngains entrance in this way is altogether inadequate. If we are suffering\nfrom cold, we may cover the head with a piece of cloth, or put on a\nnight-cap, but the nose should be kept exposed _under all\ncircumstances_.\n\nAir and light are so intimately connected with each other that it is as\nwell to speak a few words here on the value of light. Light is as\nindispensable to life as air itself. Hence it is that Hell is\nrepresented as completely dark. Where light cannot penetrate, the air\ncan never be pure. If we enter a dark cellar, we can distinctly perceive\nthe smell of the foul air. The fact that we cannot see in the dark shows\nthat God has intended us to live and move in the light. And Nature has\ngiven us just as much darkness as we require in the night. Yet, many\npeople are in the habit of sitting or sleeping in underground cellars,\ndevoid of air and light, even in the hottest summer! Those who thus\ndeprive themselves of air and light are always weak and haggard.\n\nNow-a-days, there are many doctors in Europe who cure their patients by\nmeans of air-bath and sun-bath alone. Thousands of diseased persons have\nbeen cured by mere exposure to the air and to the sunlight. We should\nkeep all doors and windows in our houses always open, in order to allow\nthe free entrance of air and light.\n\nSome readers may ask why, if air and light are so indispensable, those\nwho live and work in cellars are not visibly affected. Those who have\nthought well over the matter would never put this question. Our aim\nshould be to attain the maximum of health by all legitimate means; _we\nshould not be content merely to live anyhow_. It has been indubitably\nestablished that insufficient air and light give rise to disease.\nDwellers in towns are, as a rule, more delicate than those in the\ncountry, for they get less air and light than the latter. Air and light,\nthen, are absolutely indispensable to health, and every one should\nremember all that we have said on the matter, and act up to it to the\nbest of his ability.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nWATER\n\n\nAs has been already pointed out, air is the most indispensable to our\nsubsistence, while water comes next in order. Man cannot live for more\nthan a few minutes without air, but he can live for a few days without\nwater. And in the absence of other food, he can subsist on water alone\nfor many days. There is more than 70% of water in the composition of our\nfood-stuffs, as in that of the human body.\n\nEven though water is so indispensable, we take hardly any pains to keep\nit pure. Epidemics are as much the outcome of our indifference to the\nquality of the water we drink, as of the air we breathe. The drinking of\ndirty water very often produces also the disease of the stone.\n\nWater may be impure in either of two ways,--by issuing from dirty places,\nor by being defiled by us. Where the water issues from dirty places, we\nshould not drink it at all; nor do we generally drink it. But we do not\nshrink from drinking the water which has been defiled by ourselves.\nRiver-water, for instance, is regarded as quite good for drinking,\nalthough we throw into it all sorts of rubbish, and also use it for\nwashing purposes. We should make it a rule never to drink the water in\nwhich people bathe. The upper portion of a river should be set apart for\ndrinking water, the lower being reserved for bathing and washing\npurposes. Where there is no such arrangement, it is a good practice to\ndig in the sand, and take drinking water therefrom. This water is very\npure, since it has been filtered by passage through the sand. It is\ngenerally risky to drink well-water, for unless it is well protected,\nthe dirty water at the top would trickle down into the well, and render\nthe water impure. Further, birds and insects often fall into the water\nand die; sometimes birds build their nests inside the wells; and the\ndirt from the feet of those who draw water from the well is also washed\ndown into the water. For all these reasons, we should be particularly\ncareful in drinking well-water. Water kept in tubs is also very often\nimpure. If it should be pure, the tubs should be washed clean at\nfrequent intervals, and should be kept covered; we should also see that\nthe tank or well from which the water is taken is kept in good\ncondition. Very few people, however, take such precautions to keep the\nwater pure. Hence the best way of removing the impurities of the water\nis to boil it well, and, after cooling it, filter it carefully into\nanother vessel through a thick and clean piece of cloth. Our duty,\nhowever, does not end with this. We should realise that we owe a duty to\nour fellowmen in this matter. We should see to it that we do absolutely\nnothing to defile the water which is used for drinking by the public. We\nshould scrupulously refrain from bathing or washing in the water which\nis reserved for drinking; we should never answer the calls of nature\nnear the banks of a river, nor cremate the dead bodies there and throw\nthe ashes after cremation into the water.\n\nIn spite of all the care that we may take, we find it so difficult to\nkeep water perfectly pure. It may have, for instance, salt dissolved in\nit, or bits of grass and other decaying matter. Rain water is, of\ncourse, the purest, but, before it reaches us, it generally becomes\nimpure by the absorption of the floating matter in the atmosphere.\nPerfectly pure water has a most beneficial effect on the system; hence\ndoctors administer distilled water to their patients. Those who are\nsuffering from constipation are appreciably benefitted by the use of\ndistilled water.\n\nMany people do not know that water is of two kinds, _soft_ and _hard_.\nHard water is water in which some kind of salt has been dissolved.\nHence, soap does not readily lather in it, and food cannot be easily\nboiled in it. Its taste is brackish, while soft water tastes sweet. It\nis much safer to drink soft water, although some people hold that hard\nwater is better by virtue of the presence of nutritious matter dissolved\ntherein. Rain water is the best kind of soft water, and is therefore,\nthe best for drinking purposes. Hard water, if boiled and kept over the\nfire for some half an hour, is rendered soft. Then it may be filtered\nand drunk.\n\nThe question is often asked, \"When should one drink water, and how\nmuch?\" The only safe answer to this is this: one should drink water only\nwhen one feels thirsty, and even then only just enough to quench the\nthirst. There is no harm in drinking water during the meals or\nimmediately afterwards. Of course, we should not wash the food down with\nwater. If the food refuses to go down of itself, it means that either it\nhas not been well prepared or the stomach is not in need of it.\n\nOrdinarily, there is no need to drink water; and indeed, there _should_\nbe none. As already mentioned, there is a large percentage of water in\nour ordinary articles of food, and we also add water in cooking them.\nWhy then should we feel thirsty? Those people whose diet is free from\nsuch articles as chillies and onions which create an artificial thirst,\nhave rarely any need to drink water. Those who feel unaccountably\nthirsty must be suffering from some disease or other.\n\nWe may be tempted to drink any kind of water that we come across, simply\nbecause we see some people doing it with impunity. The reply to this has\nalready been given in connection with air. Our blood has in itself the\npower of destroying many of the poisonous elements that enter into it,\nbut it has to be renewed and purified, just as the sharp edge of a sword\nhas to be mended when it has been once employed in action. Hence, if we\ngo on drinking impure water, we should not be surprised to find our\nblood thoroughly poisoned in the end.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nFOOD\n\n\nIt is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules in the matter of food.\nWhat sort of food should we eat, how much of it should be eaten, and at\nwhat times,--these are questions on which doctors differ a great deal.\nThe ways of men are so diverse, that the very same food shows different\neffects on different individuals.\n\nAlthough, however, it is impossible to say conclusively what sort of\nfood we should eat, it is the clear duty of every individual to bestow\nserious thought on the matter. Needless to say, the body cannot subsist\nwithout food. We undergo all sorts of sufferings and privations for the\nsake of food. But, at the same time, it is indisputable that 99.9% of\nmen and women in the world eat merely to please the palate. They never\npause to think of the after-effects at the time of eating. Many people\ntake purgatives and digestive pills or powders in order to be able to\neat thoroughly well. Then there are some people who, after eating to the\nutmost of their capacity, vomit out all that they have eaten, and\nproceed to eat the same stuffs once more! Some people, indeed, eat so\nsumptuously that, for two or three days together, they do not feel\nhungry at all. In some cases, men have even been known to have died of\nover-eating. I say all this from my own experience. When I think of my\nold days, I am tempted to laugh at many things, and cannot help being\nashamed of some things. In those days I used to have tea in the morning,\nbreakfast two or three hours afterwards, dinner at one o'clock, tea\nagain at 3 p.m., and supper between 6 and 7! My condition at that time\nwas most pitiable. There was a great deal of superfluous fat on my body,\nand bottles of medicine were always at hand. In order to be able to eat\nwell, I used to take purgatives very often, as well as some tonic or\nother. In those days, I had not a _third_ of my present capacity for\nwork, in spite of the fact that I was then in the prime of youth. Such a\nlife is surely pitiable, and if we consider the matter seriously, we\nmust also admit it to be mean, sinful and thoroughly contemptible.\n\nMan is not born to eat, nor should he live to eat. His true function is\nto know and serve his Maker; but, since the body is essential to this\nservice, we have perforce to eat. Even atheists will admit that we\nshould eat merely to preserve our health, and not more than is needed\nfor this purpose.\n\nTurn to the birds and beasts, and what do you find? They never eat\nmerely to please the palate, they never go on eating till their inside\nis full to overflowing. On the other hand, they eat only to appease\ntheir hunger, and even then only just as much as will appease their\nhunger. They take the food provided by Nature, and do not cook their\nfood. Can it be that man alone is created to worship the palate? Can it\nbe that he alone is destined to be eternally suffering from disease?\nThose animals that live a natural life of freedom never once die of\nhunger. Among them there are no distinctions of rich and poor,--of those\nwho eat many times a day, and those who do not get even one meal in the\nday. These abnormalities are found only among us human beings,--and yet\nwe regard ourselves as superior to the animal creation! Surely those who\nspend their days in the worship of their stomach are worse than the\nbirds and beasts.\n\nA calm reflection will show that all sins like lying, cheating and\nstealing are ultimately due to our subjection to the palate. He who is\nable to control the palate, will easily be able to control the other\nsenses. If we tell lies, or commit theft or adultery, we are looked down\nupon by society, but, strangely enough, no odium attaches to those who\nslavishly pander to the palate! It would seem as though this were not a\nquestion of morality at all! The fact is that even the best of us are\nslaves to the palate. No one has yet adequately emphasised the\nnumberless evils that arise from our habit of pandering to the palate.\nAll civilised people would boycott the company of liars, thieves, and\nadulterers; but they go on eating beyond all limits, and never regard it\nas a sin at all. Pandering to the palate is not regarded by us as a sin,\nsince all of us are guilty of it, just as dacoity is not regarded as a\ncrime in a village of dacoits; but what is worse, we pride ourselves on\nit! On occasions of marriage and other festivities, we regard it as a\nsacred duty to worship the palate; even in times of funeral, we are not\nashamed of doing it. Has a guest come? We must gorge him with\nsweetmeats. If, from time to time, we do not give feasts to our friends\nand relations, or do not partake of the feasts given by them, we must\nbecome objects of contempt. If, having invited our friends to eat with\nus, we fail to cram them with rich stuffs, we must be regarded as\nmiserly. On holidays, of course, we must have specially rich food\nprepared! Indeed, what is really a great sin has come to be looked upon\nas a sign of wisdom! We have sedulously cultivated such false notions in\nthe matter of eating that we never realise our slavishness and our\nbeastliness. How can we save ourselves from this terrible state?\n\nLet us view the question from another standpoint. We find it invariably\nthe case in the world that Nature herself has provided for all\ncreatures, whether man or beast, or bird or insect, just enough food for\ntheir sustenance. This is an eternal law of Nature. In the kingdom of\nNature, none goes to sleep, none forgets to do his duty, and none shows\na tendency to laziness. All the work is done to perfection, and\npunctually to the minute. If we remember to order our lives strictly in\naccordance with the immutable and eternal laws of Nature, we shall find\nthat there are no more deaths by starvation anywhere over the wide\nworld. Since Nature always provides just enough food to feed all created\nbeings, it follows that he who takes to himself more than his normal\nshare of food, is depriving another of his legitimate share. Is it not a\nfact, that, in the kitchens of emperors and kings, of all rich men, in\ngeneral, much more food is prepared than is required to feed them and\nall their dependents? That is to say, they snatch so much food from the\nshare of the poor. Is it, then, any wonder that the poor should die of\nstarvation? If this is true (and this fact has been admitted by the most\nthoughtful men) it must necessarily follow that all the food that we eat\nbeyond our immediate need is food filched from the stomachs of the poor.\nAnd to the extent to which we eat merely with a view to pleasing the\npalate must our health necessarily suffer. After this preliminary\ndiscussion, we can proceed to consider what kind of food is best for us.\n\nBefore, however, we decide the question of the ideal food for us, we\nhave to consider what kinds of food are injurious to health, and to be\navoided. Under the term \"food\", we include all the things that are taken\ninto the body through the mouth,--including _wine_, _bhang_ and _opium_,\n_tobacco_, _tea_, _coffee and cocoa_, _spices_ and _condiments_. I am\nconvinced that all these articles have to be completely eschewed, having\nbeen led to this conviction partly from my own experience, and partly\nfrom the experiences of others.\n\nWine, bhang and opium have been condemned by all the religions of the\nworld, although the number of total abstainers is so limited. Drink has\nbrought about the ruin of whole families. The drunkard forfeits his\nsanity; he has even been known to forget the distinction between mother,\nwife and daughter. His life becomes a mere burden to him. Even men of\nsound sense become helpless automatons when they take to drink; even\nwhen not actually under its influence, their minds are too impotent to\ndo any work. Some people say that wine is harmless when used as\nmedicine, but even European doctors have begun to give up this view in\nmany cases. Some partisans of drink argue that, if wine can be used as\nmedicine with impunity, it can also be used as drink. But many poisons\nare employed as medicines; do we ever dream of employing them as food?\nIt is quite possible that, in some diseases, wine may do some good, but\neven then, no sensible, or thoughtful man should consent to use it _even\nas medicine_, under any circumstances. As for opium, it is no less\ninjurious than wine, and is to be equally eschewed. Have we not seen a\nmighty nation like the Chinese falling under the deadly spell of opium,\nand rendering itself incapable of maintaining its independence? Have we\nnot seen the _jagirdars_ of our own land forfeiting their _jagirs_ under\nthe same fatal influence?\n\nSo powerful is the spell that has been woven over the minds of men by\ntobacco that it will take an age to break it. Young and old have equally\ncome under this fatal spell. Even the best men do not shrink from the\nuse of tobacco. Its use, indeed, has become a matter of course with us,\nand is spreading wider and wider every day. Very few people are aware of\nthe many tricks employed by the cigarette-manufacturers to bring us more\nand more under its influence. They sprinkle opium or some perfumed acid\non the tobacco, so that we may find it all the more difficult to\nextricate ourselves from its clutches. They spend thousands of pounds in\nadvertisements. Many European firms dealing in cigars keep their own\npresses, have their own cinemas, institute lotteries, and give away\nprizes, and, in short, spend money like water to achieve their end. Even\nwomen have now begun to smoke. And poems have been composed on tobacco,\nextolling it as the great friend of the poor!\n\nThe evils of smoking are too numerous to mention. The habitual smoker\nbecomes such a bond slave to it that he knows no sense of shame or\ncompunction; he proceeds to emit the foul fumes even in the houses of\nstrangers! It is also a matter of common experience that smokers are\noften tempted to commit all sorts of crimes. Children steal money from\ntheir parents' purses; and even the prisoners in gaols manage to steal\ncigarettes and keep them carefully concealed. The smoker will get on\nwithout food, but he cannot dispense with his smoke! Soldiers on the\nfield of battle have been known to lose all capacity for fighting for\nfailure of the indispensable cigarette at the critical moment.\n\nThe late Count Leo Tolstoi of Russia tells us the following story. A\ncertain man once took it into his head, for some reason, to murder his\nwife. He actually drew the knife and was about to do the deed, when he\nfelt some compunction, and gave it up. Then he sat down to smoke and his\nwits being turned under the influence of tobacco, he rose once more and\nactually committed the murder. Tolstoi held the view that the poison of\ntobacco is more subtle and irresistible, and hence far more dangerous,\nthan that of wine.\n\nThen the money that is spent on cigars and cigarettes by individuals is\nfrightfully large. I have myself come across instances of cigars\nconsuming as much as Rs. 75 a month for one man!\n\nSmoking also leads to an appreciable reduction of digestive powers. The\nsmoker feels no appetite for food, and in order to give it some flavour,\nspices and condiments have to be freely used. His breath stinks, and, in\nsome cases, blisters are formed on his face, and the gums and teeth\nturn black in colour. Many also fall a prey to terrible diseases. The\nfumes of tobacco befoul the air around, and public health suffers in\nconsequence. I cannot understand how those who condemn drink can have\nthe temerity to defend smoking. The man who does not eschew tobacco in\nall its forms can never be perfectly healthy, nor can he be a man of\npure and blameless character.\n\nI must say that tea, coffee and cocoa are equally injurious to health,\nalthough I know that very few are likely to agree with me. There is a\nkind of poison in all of them; and, in the case of tea and coffee, if\nmilk and sugar were not added, there would be absolutely no nutritious\nelement in them. By means of repeated and varied experiments it has been\nestablished that there is nothing at all in these articles which is\ncapable of improving the blood. Until a few years ago, we used to drink\ntea and coffee only on special occasions, but to-day they have become\nuniversally indispensable. Things have come to such a pass that even\nsickly persons often use them as substitutes for nourishing food!\n\nFortunately for us, the costliness of cocoa has prevented its spread to\nthe same extent as tea and coffee, although, in the homes of the rich,\nit is quite liberally used.\n\nThat all these three articles are poisonous can be seen from the fact\nthat those who once take to them can never afterwards get on without\nthem. In the old days, I myself used to feel a distinct sense of\nweariness or langour if I did not get my tea punctually at the usual\nhour. Once some 400 women and children had gathered together at a\ncertain celebration. The executive committee had resolved against\nproviding tea to the visitors. The women, however, that had assembled\nthere, were in the habit of taking tea at 4 o'clock every evening. The\nauthorities were informed that, if these women were not given their\nusual tea, they would be too ill to move about, and, needless to say,\nthey had to cancel their original resolution! But some slight delay in\nthe preparation of the tea led to a regular uproar, and the commotion\nsubsided only after the women had had their cup of tea! I can vouch for\nthe authenticity of this incident. In another instance, a certain woman\nhad lost all her digestive powers under the influence of tea, and had\nbecome a prey to chronic headaches; but from the moment that she gave up\ntea her health began steadily to improve. A doctor of the Battersea\nMunicipality in England has declared, after careful investigation, that\nthe brain-tissues of thousands of women in his district have been\ndiseased from excessive use of tea. I have myself come across many\ninstances of health being ruined by tea.\n\nCoffee does some good against _Kapha_ (phlegm) and _Vatha_ ('wind'), but\nat the same time it weakens the body by destroying the vital fluid, and\nby making the blood as thin as water. To those people who advocate\ncoffee on the ground that it is beneficial against \"phlegm\" and \"wind\",\nwe would recommend the juice of ginger as even better for the purpose.\nAnd, on the other hand, let us remember that the evil effects of coffee\nare too serious to be counter-balanced by its good. When the blood and\nthe vital fluid are poisoned by a stuff, can there be any hesitation in\ngiving it up altogether?\n\nCocoa is fully as harmful as coffee, and it contains a poison which\ndeadens the perceptions of the skin.\n\nThose people who recognise the validity of moral considerations in these\nmatters should remember that tea, coffee and cocoa are prepared mostly\nby labourers under indenture, which is only a fine name for slavery. If\nwe saw with our own eyes the oppressive treatment that is meted out to\nthe labourers in cocoa plantations, we should never again make use of\nthe stuff. Indeed, if we enquire minutely into the methods of\npreparation of all our articles of food, we shall have to give up 90% of\nthem!\n\nA harmless and healthy substitute for coffee (tea or cocoa) can be\nprepared as follows. Even habitual coffee-drinkers will be unable to\nperceive any difference in taste between coffee and this substitute.\nGood and well-sifted wheat is put into a frying-pan over the fire and\nwell fried, until it has turned completely red, and begun to grow dark\nin colour. Then it is powdered just like coffee. A spoon of the powder\nis then put into a cup, and boiling water poured on to it. Preferably\nkeep the thing over the fire for a minute, and add milk and sugar, if\nnecessary, and you get a delicious drink, which is much cheaper and\nhealthier than coffee. Those who want to save themselves the trouble of\npreparing this powder may get their supply from the _Satyagraha Ashram,\nAhmedabad_.\n\nFrom the point of view of diet, the whole mankind may be divided into\n_three_ broad divisions. (1) The first class, which is the largest,\nconsists of those who, whether by preference or out of necessity, live\non an exclusive vegetable diet. Under this division come the best part\nof India, a large portion of Europe, and China and Japan. The staple\ndiet of the Italians is macaroni, of the Irish potato, of the Scotch\noatmeal, and of the Chinese and Japanese rice. (2) The second class\nconsists of those who live on a mixed diet. Under this class come most\nof the people of England, the richer classes of China and Japan, the\nricher Mussalmans of India, as well as those rich Hindus who have no\nreligious scruples about taking meat. (3) To the third class belong the\nuncivilised peoples of the frigid zones, who live on an exclusive meat\ndiet. These are not very numerous, and they also introduce a vegetable\nelement into their diet, wherever they come in contact with the\ncivilised races of Europe. Man, then, can live on three kinds of diet;\nbut it is our duty to consider which of these is the healthiest for us.\n\nAn examination of the structure of the human body leads to the\nconclusion that man is intended by Nature to live on a vegetable diet.\nThere is the closest affinity between the organs of the human body and\nthose of the fruit-eating animals. The monkey, for instance, is so\nsimilar to man in shape and structure, and it is a fruit-eating animal.\nIts teeth and stomach are just like the teeth and stomach of man. From\nthis we may infer that man is intended to live on roots and fruits, and\nnot on meat.\n\nScientists have found out by experiments that fruits have in them all\nthe elements that are required for man's sustenance. The plantain, the\norange, the date, the grape, the apple, the almond, the walnut, the\ngroundnut, the cocoanut,--all these fruits contain a large percentage of\nnutritious elements. These scientists even hold that there is no need\nfor man to cook his food. They argue that he should be able to subsist\nvery well on food cooked by the Sun's warmth, even as all the lower\nanimals are able to do; and they say that the most nutritious elements\nin the food are destroyed in the process of cooking, and that those\nthings that cannot be eaten uncooked could not have been intended for\nour food by Nature.\n\nIf this view be correct, it follows that we are at present wasting a lot\nof our precious time in the cooking of our food. If we could live on\nuncooked food alone, we should be saving so much time and energy, as\nwell as money, all of which may be utilised for more useful purposes.\n\nSome people will doubtless say that it is idle and foolish to speculate\non the possibility of men taking to uncooked food, since there is\nabsolutely no hope of their ever doing it. But we are not considering at\npresent what people will or will not do, but only what they _ought_ to\ndo. It is only when we know what the ideal kind of diet is that we shall\nbe able more and more to approximate our actual to the ideal. When we\nsay that a fruit-diet is the best, we do not, of course, expect all men\nto take to it straightway. We only mean that, _if_ they should take to\nthis diet, it would be the best thing for them.\n\nThere are many men in England who have tried a pure fruit-diet, and who\nhave recorded the results of their experience. They were people who took\nto this diet, not out of religious scruples, but simply out of\nconsiderations of health. A German doctor has written a bulky volume on\nthe subject, and established the value of a fruit-diet by many arguments\nand evidences. He has cured many diseases by a fruit-diet combined with\nopen-air life. He goes so far as to say that the people of any country\ncan find all the elements of nutrition in the fruits of their own land.\n\nIt may not be out of place to record my own experience in this\nconnection. For the last six months I have been living exclusively on\nfruits--rejecting even milk and curd. My present dietary consists of\nplantain, groundnut and olive oil, with some sour fruit like the lime. I\ncannot say that my experiment has been altogether a success, but a\nperiod of six months is all too short to arrive at any definite\nconclusions on such a vital matter as a complete change of diet. This,\nhowever, I can say, that, during this period, I have been able to keep\nwell where others have been attacked by disease, and my physical as well\nas mental powers are now greater than before. I may not be able to lift\nheavy loads, but I can now do hard labour for a much longer time without\nfatigue. I can also do more mental work, and with better persistence\nand resoluteness. I have tried a fruit-diet on many sickly people,\ninvariably with great advantage. I shall describe these experiences in\nthe section on diseases. Here I will only say that my own experience, as\nwell as my study of the subject, has confirmed me in the conviction that\na fruit-diet is the best for us.\n\nAs I have already confessed, I do not think for a moment that people\nwill take to a fruit-diet as soon as they read this. It may even be that\nall that I have written has no effect at all on a single reader, but I\nbelieve it to be my bounden duty to set down what I hold to be the right\nthing to the best of my light.\n\nIf however, anybody does wish to try a fruit-diet, he should proceed\nrather cautiously in order to obtain the best results. He should\ncarefully go through all the chapters of this book, and fully grasp the\nfundamental principles, before he proceeds to do anything in practice.\nMy request to my readers is that they should reserve their final\njudgments until they have read through all that I have got to say.\n\nA vegetable diet is the best after a fruit-diet. Under this term we\ninclude all kinds of pot-herbs and cereals, as well as milk. Vegetables\nare not as nutritious as fruits, since they lose part of their efficacy\nin the process of cooking. We cannot, however, eat uncooked vegetables.\nWe will now proceed to consider which vegetables are the best for us.\n\nWheat is the best of all the cereals. Man can live on wheat alone, for\nin it we have in due proportion all the elements of nutrition. Many\nkinds of edibles can be made of wheat, and they can all be easily\ndigested. The ready-made foods for children that are sold by chemists\nare also made partly of wheat. Millet and maize belong to the same\ngenus, and cakes and loaves can also be made out of them, but they are\ninferior to wheat in their food-value. We will now consider the best\nform in which wheat may be taken. The white \"mill flour\" that is sold in\nour bazars is quite useless; it contains no nutriment at all. An English\ndoctor tells us that a dog which was fed solely on this flour died,\nwhile other dogs which were fed on better flour remained quite healthy.\nThere is a great demand for loaves made of this flour, since men eat\nmerely to satisfy their palate, and are rarely moved by considerations\nof health. These loaves are devoid of taste and nutriment, as well as of\nsoftness. They become so hard that they cannot be broken by the hand.\n_The best form of flour is that which is made of well-sifted wheat in\nthe grind-mill at home._ This flour should be used without further\nsifting. Loaves made of it are quite sweet to the taste, as well as\nquite soft. It also lasts for a longer time than the \"mill flour\", since\nit is far more nutritious, and may be used in smaller quantities.\n\nThe loaf sold in the bazars is thoroughly useless. It may be quite white\nand attractive in appearance, but it is invariably adulterated. The\nworst of it is that it is made by fermentation. Many persons have\ntestified from experience that fermented dough is harmful to health.\nFurther, these loaves being made by besmearing the oven with fat, they\nare objectionable to Hindu as well as Mussalman sentiment. To fill the\nstomach with these bazar loaves instead of preparing good loaves at home\nis at best a sign of indolence.\n\nAnother and an easier way of taking wheat is this. Wheat is ground into\ncoarse grain, which is then well cooked and mixed with milk and sugar.\nThis gives a very delicious and healthy kind of food.\n\nRice is quite useless as a food. Indeed, it is doubtful if men can\nsubsist upon mere rice, to the exclusion of such nutritious articles as\n_dhall_, _ghee_ and milk. This is not the case with wheat, for man can\nretain his strength by living on mere wheat boiled in water.\n\nWe eat the pot-herbs mainly for their taste. As they have laxative\npowers, they help to purify the blood up to a limit. Yet they are but\nvarieties of grass, and very hard to digest. Those who partake too much\nof them have flabby bodies; they suffer very often from indigestion, and\ngo about in search of digestive pills and powders. Hence, if we take\nthem at all, we should do so in moderation.\n\nAll the many varieties of pulse are very heavy, and hard of digestion.\nTheir merit is that those who eat them do not suffer from hunger for a\nlong time; but they also lead to indigestion in most cases. Those who do\nhard labour may be able to digest them, and derive some good out of\nthem. But we who lead a sedentary life should be very chary of eating\nthem.\n\nDr. Haig, a celebrated writer in England, tells us, on the basis of\nrepeated experiments, that the pulses are injurious to health, since\nthey generate a kind of acid in the system, which leads to several\ndiseases, and a premature old age. His arguments need not be given here,\nbut my own experience goes to confirm his view. Those, however, who are\nunable or unwilling to eschew the pulses altogether, should use them\nwith great caution.\n\nAlmost everywhere in India, the spices and condiments are freely used,\nas nowhere else in the whole world. Even the African negroes dislike the\ntaste of our _masala_, and refuse to eat food mixed with it. And if the\nWhites eat _masala_, their stomach gets out of order, and pimples also\nappear on their faces, as I have found from my own experience. The fact\nis that _masala_ is by no means savoury in itself, but we have so long\nbeen accustomed to its use that its flavour appeals to us. But, as has\nbeen already explained, it is wrong to eat anything for its mere taste.\n\nHow comes it, then, that _masala_ is so freely eaten by us? Admittedly,\nin order to help the digestion, and to be able to eat more. Pepper,\nmustard, coriander and other condiments have the power of artificially\nhelping the digestion, and generating a sort of artificial hunger. But\nit would be wrong to to infer from this that all the food has been\nthoroughly digested, and assimilated into the system. Those who take too\nmuch of _masala_ are often found to suffer from anaemia, and even from\ndiarrhea. I know a man who even died in the prime of youth out of too\nmuch eating of pepper. Hence it is quite necessary to eschew all\ncondiments altogether.\n\nWhat has been said of _masala_ applies also to salt. Most people would\nbe scandalised at this suggestion, but it is a fact established by\nexperience. There is a school in England who even hold the view that\nsalt is more harmful than most condiments. As there is enough of salt in\nthe composition of the vegetables we use, we need not put any extra\nsalt into them. Nature herself has provided just as much salt as is\nrequired for the upkeep of our health. All the extra salt that we use is\nquite superfluous; all of it goes out of the body again in the form of\nperspiration, or in other ways, and no portion of it seems to have any\nuseful function to perform in the body. One writer even holds that salt\npoisons the blood. He says that those who use no salt at all have their\nblood so pure that they are not affected even by snake-bite. We do not\nknow if this is a fact or not, but this much we know from experience,\nthat, in several diseases like piles and asthama, the disuse of salt at\nonce produces appreciably beneficial results. And, on the other hand, I\nhave not come across a single instance of a man being any the worse for\nnot using salt. I myself left off the use of salt two years ago, and I\nhave not only not suffered by it, but have even been benefitted in some\nrespects. I have not now to drink as much water as before, and am more\nbrisk and energetic. The reason for my disuse of salt was a very strange\none: for it was occasioned by the illness of somebody else! The person\nwhose illness led to it did not get worse after that, but remained in\nthe same condition; and it is my faith that, if only the diseased person\nhimself had given up the use of salt, he would have recovered\ncompletely.\n\nThose who give up salt will also have to give up vegetables and _dhall_.\nThis is a very hard thing to do, as I have found from many tests. I am\nconvinced that vegetables and _dhall_ cannot be properly digested\nwithout salt. This does not, of course, mean that salt improves the\ndigestion, but it only _appears_ to do so, just as pepper does, although\nultimately it leads to evil consequences. Of course, the man who\nentirely gives up the use of salt may feel out of sorts for a few days;\nbut, if he keeps up his spirits, he is bound to be immensely benefitted\nin the long run.\n\nI make bold to regard even milk as one of the articles to be eschewed!\nThis I do on the strength of my own experience which, however, need not\nbe described here in detail. The popular idea of the value of milk is a\npure superstition, but it is so deep-rooted that it is futile to think\nof removing it. As I have said more than once, I do not cherish the hope\nthat my readers will accept all my views; I do not even believe that all\nthose who accept them in theory will adopt them in practice.\nNevertheless, I think it my duty to speak out what I believe to be the\ntruth, leaving my readers to form their own judgments. Many doctors hold\nthe view that milk gives rise to a kind of fever, and many books have\nbeen written in support of this view. The disease bearing germs that\nlive in the air rapidly gain an entrance into the milk, and render it\npoisonous, so that it is very difficult to keep milk in a state of\nperfect purity. In Africa elaborate rules have been laid down for the\nconduct of the dairies, saying how the milk should be boiled and\npreserved, how the vessels should be kept clean, and so on. When so much\npains have to be taken in this matter, it is certainly to be considered\nhow far it is worth while to employ milk as an article of food.\n\nMoreover, the purity or otherwise of the milk depends upon the cow's\nfood, and the state of its health. Doctors have testified to the fact\nthat those who drink the milk of consumptive cows fall a prey to\nconsumption themselves. It is very rare to come across a cow that is\nperfectly healthy. That is to say, perfectly pure milk is very hard to\nobtain, since it is tainted at its very source. Everybody knows that a\nchild that sucks the breast of its mother contracts any disease that she\nmight be suffering from. And often when a little child is ill, medicine\nis administered to its mother, so that its effect might reach the child\nthrough the milk of her breast. Just in the same way, the health of the\nman who drinks the milk of a cow will be the same as that of the cow\nitself. When the use of milk is fraught with so much danger, would it\nnot be the part of wisdom to eschew it altogether, especially when\nthere are excellent substitutes? Olive oil, for instance serves this\npurpose to some extent; and sweet almond is a most efficient substitute.\nThe almond is first soaked in hot water, and its husk removed. Then it\nis well crushed, and mixed thoroughly well with water. This gives a\ndrink which contains all the good properties of milk, and is at the same\ntime free from its evil effects.\n\nNow let us consider this question from the point of view of Natural law.\nThe calf drinks its mother's milk only until its teeth have grown; and\nit begins to eat as soon as it has its teeth. Clearly, this is also what\nman is intended to do. Nature does not intend us to go on drinking milk\nafter we have ceased to be infants. We should learn to live on fruits\nlike the apple and the almond, or on wheat _roti_, after we have our\nteeth. Although this is not the place to consider the saving in money\nthat might be effected by giving up milk, it is certainly a point to be\nkept in mind. Nor is there any need for any of the articles produced\nfrom milk. The sourness of lime is quite a good substitute for that of\nbuttermilk; and as for _ghee_, thousands of Indians manage with oil even\nnow.\n\nA careful examination of the structure of the human body shows that meat\nis not the natural food of man. Dr. Haig and Dr. Kingsford have very\nclearly demonstrated the evil effects of meat on the body of man. They\nhave shown that meat generates just the same kind of acid in the body as\nthe pulses. It leads to the decay of the teeth, as well as to\nrheumatism; it also gives rise to evil passions like anger, which, as we\nhave already seen, are but forms of disease.\n\nTo sum up, then, we find that those who live on fruits alone are very\nrare, but it is quite easy to live on a combination of fruits, wheat and\nolive oil, and it is also eminently conducive to sound health. The\nplantain comes easy first among the fruits; but the date, the grape, the\nplum and the orange, to name only a few, are all quite nourishing, and\nmay be taken along with the _roti_. The _roti_ does not suffer in taste\nby being besmeared with olive oil. This diet dispenses with salt,\npepper, milk and sugar, and is quite simple and cheap. It is, of course,\nfoolish to eat sugar for its own sake. Too much sweetmeat weakens the\nteeth, and injures the health. Excellent edibles can be made of wheat\nand the fruits, and a combination of health and taste secured.\n\nThe next question to consider is how much food should be taken, and how\nmany times a day. But, as this is a subject of vital importance, we will\ndevote a separate chapter to it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nHOW MUCH AND HOW MANY TIMES SHOULD WE EAT?\n\n\nThere is a great divergence of opinion among doctors as to the quantity\nof food that we should take. One doctor holds that we should eat to the\nutmost of our capacity, and he has calculated the quantities of\ndifferent kinds of food that we can take. Another holds the view that\nthe food of labourers should differ in quantity as well as in quality\nfrom that of persons engaged in mental work, while a third doctor\ncontends that the prince and the peasant should eat exactly the same\nquantity of food. This much, however, will be generally admitted, that\nthe weak cannot eat just as much as the strong. In the same way, a woman\neats less than a man, and children and old men eat less than young men.\nOne writer goes so far as to say that, if only we would masticate our\nfood thoroughly well, so that every particle of it is mixed with the\nsaliva, then we should not have to eat more than five or ten tolas of\nfood. This he says on the basis of numberless experiments, and his book\nhas been sold in thousands. All this shows that it is futile to think of\nprescribing the quantity of food for men.\n\nMost doctors admit that 99% of human beings eat more than is needed.\nIndeed, this is a fact of everyday experience, and does not require to\nbe proclaimed by any doctor. There is no fear at all of men ruining\ntheir health by eating _too little_; and the great need is for a\nreduction in the quantity of food that we generally take.\n\nAs said above, it is of the utmost importance to masticate the food\nthoroughly well. By so doing, we shall be able to extract the maximum of\nnutriment from the minimum of food. Experienced persons point out that\nthe f\u00e6ces of a man whose food is wholesome, and who does not eat too\nmuch, will be small in quantity, quite solid and smooth, dark in colour,\nand free from all foul smell. The man who does not have such f\u00e6ces\nshould understand that he has eaten too much of unwholesome food, and\nhas failed to masticate it well. Also, if a man does not get sleep at\nnight, or if his sleep be troubled by dreams, and if his tongue be dirty\nin the morning, he should know that he has been guilty of excessive\neating. And if he has to get up several times at night to make water, it\nmeans that he has taken too much liquid food at night. By these and\nother tests, every man can arrive at the exact quantity of food that is\nneeded for him. Many men suffer from foul breath, which shows that their\nfood has not been well digested. In many cases, again, too much eating\ngives rise to pimples on the face, and in the nose; and many people\nsuffer from wind in the stomach. The root of all these troubles is, to\nput it plainly, that we have converted our stomach into a latrine, and\nwe carry this latrine about with us. When we consider the matter in a\nsober light, we cannot help feeling an unmixed contempt for ourselves.\nIf we want to avoid the sin of over-eating, we should take a vow never\nto have anything to do with feasts of all kinds. Of course, we should\nfeed those who come to us as guests, but only so as not to violate the\nlaws of health. Do we ever think of inviting our friends to clean their\nteeth with us, or to take a glass of water? Is not eating as strictly a\nmatter of health as these things? Why, then, should we make so much fuss\nabout it? We have become such gluttons by habit that our tongues are\never craving for abnormal sensations. Hence we think it a sacred duty to\ncram our guests with rich food, and we cherish the hope that they will\ndo likewise for us, when their turn comes! If, an hour after eating, we\nask a clean-bodied friend to smell our mouth, and if he should tell us\nhis exact feelings, we should have to hide our heads in utter shame! But\nsome people are so shameless that they take purgatives soon after\neating, that they might be able to eat still more or they even vomit out\nwhat they have eaten in order to sit down again to the feast at once!\n\nSince even the best of us are more or less guilty of over-eating, our\nwise forefathers have prescribed frequent fasts as a religious duty.\nIndeed, merely from the point of view of health, it will be highly\nbeneficial to fast at least once a fortnight. Many pious Hindus take\nonly one meal a day during the rainy season. This is a practice based\nupon the soundest hygienic principles. For, when the air is damp and the\nsky cloudy, the digestive organs are weaker than usual, and hence there\nshould be a reduction in the quantity of food.\n\nAnd now we will consider how may meals we may take in the day.\nNumberless people in India are content with only two meals. Those who do\nhard labour take three meals, but a system of four meals has arisen\nafter the invention of English medicines! Of late, several societies\nhave been formed in England and in America in order to exhort the people\nto take only two meals a day. They say that we should not take a\nbreakfast early in the morning, since our sleep itself serves the\npurpose of the breakfast. As soon as we get up in the morning we should\nprepare to work rather than to eat. We should take our meal only after\nworking for three hours. Those who hold these views take only two meals\na day, and do not even take tea in the interval. An experienced doctor\nby name Deway has written an excellent book on Fasting, in which he has\nshown the benefits of dispensing with the breakfast. I can also say from\nmy experience that there is absolutely no need to eat more than twice,\nfor a man who has passed the period of youth, and whose body has\nattained its fullest growth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nEXERCISE\n\n\nExercise is as much of a vital necessity for man as air, water and food,\nin the sense that no man who does not take exercise regularly, can be\nperfectly healthy. By \"exercise\" we do not mean merely walking, or games\nlike hockey, football, and cricket; we include under the term all\nphysical and mental activity. Exercise, even as food, is as essential to\nthe mind as to the body. The mind is much weakened by want of exercise\nas the body, and a feeble mind is, indeed, a form of disease. An\nathlete, for instance, who is an expert in wrestling, cannot be regarded\nas a really _healthy_ man, unless his mind is equally efficient. As\nalready explained, \"a sound mind in a sound body\" alone constitutes true\nhealth.\n\nWhich, then, are those exercises which keep the body and the mind\nequally efficient? Indeed, Nature has so arranged it that we can be\nengaged in physical as well as mental work at the same time. The vast\nmajority of men on earth live by field-labour. The farmer has to do\nstrenuous bodily exercise at any cost, for he has to work for 8 or 10\nhours, or sometimes even more, in order to earn his bread and clothing.\nAnd efficient labour is impossible unless the mind is also in good\ncondition. He has to attend to all the many details of cultivation; he\nmust have a good knowledge of soils and seasons, and perhaps also of the\nmovements of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Even the ablest men will\nbe beaten by the farmer in these matters. He knows the state of his\nimmediate surroundings thoroughly well, he can find the directions by\nlooking at the stars in the night, and tell a great many things from the\nways of birds and beasts. He knows, for instance, that rain is about to\nfall when a particular class of birds gather together, and begin to make\nnoise. He knows as much of the earth and the sky as is necessary for his\nwork. As he has to bring up his children, he must know something of\n_Dharma Sastra_. Since he lives under the broad open sky, he easily\nrealises the greatness of God.\n\nOf course, all men cannot be farmers, nor is this book written for them.\nWe have however, described the life of the farmer, as we are convinced\nthat it is the _natural life_ for man. To the extent to which we\ndeviate from these natural conditions must we suffer in health. From the\nfarmer's life we learn that we should work for at least 8 hours a day,\nand it should involve mental work as well.\n\nMerchants and others leading a sedentary life have indeed, to do some\nmental work, but their work is too one-sided and too inadequate to be\ncalled _exercise_.\n\nFor such people the wise men of the West have devised games like cricket\nand football, and such minor games as are played at parties and festive\ngatherings. As for mental work the reading of such books as involve no\nmental strain is prescribed. No doubt these games do give exercise to\nthe body, but it is a question if they are equally beneficial to the\nmind. How many of the best players of football and cricket are men of\nsuperior mental powers? What have we seen of the mental equipment of\nthose Indian Princes who have earned a distinction as players? On the\nother hand, how many of the ablest men care to play these games? We can\naffirm from our experience that there are very few players among those\nwho are gifted with great mental powers. The people of England are\nextremely fond of games, but their own poet, Kipling, speaks very\ndisparagingly of the mental capacity of the players.\n\nHere in India, however, we have chosen quite a different path! Our men\ndo arduous mental work, but give little or no exercise to the body.\nTheir bodies are enfeebled by excessive mental strain, and they fall a\nprey to serious diseases; and just when the world expects to benefit by\ntheir work, they bid it eternal farewell! Our work should be neither\nexclusively physical nor exclusively mental, nor such as ministers\nmerely to the pleasure of the moment. The ideal kind of exercise is that\nwhich gives vigour to the body as well as to the mind; only such\nexercise can keep a man truly healthy, and such a man is the farmer.\n\nBut what shall he do who is no farmer? The exercise which games like the\ncricket give is too inadequate, and something else has to be devised.\nThe best thing for ordinary men would be to keep a small garden near the\nhouse, and work in it for a few hours every day. Some may ask, \"What can\nwe do if the house we live in be not our own?\" This is a foolish\nquestion to ask, for, whoever may be the owner of the house, he cannot\nobject to his ground being improved by digging and cultivation. And we\nshall have the satisfaction of feeling that we have helped to keep\nsomebody else's ground neat and clean. Those who do not find time for\nsuch exercise or who may not like it, may resort to walking, which is\nthe next best exercise. Truly has this been described as the Queen of\nall exercises. The main reason why our _Sadhus_ and _Fakirs_ are strong\nas a class is that they go about from one end of the country to the\nother only on foot. Thoreau, the great American writer, has said many\nremarkable things on walking as an exercise. He says that the writings\nof those who keep indoors and never go out into the open air, will be as\nweak as their bodies. Referring to his own experience, he says that all\nhis best works were written when he was walking the most. He was such an\ninveterate walker that four or five hours a day was quite an ordinary\nthing with him! Our passion for exercise should become so strong that we\ncannot bring ourselves to dispense with it on any account. We hardly\nrealise how weak and futile is our mental work when unaccompanied by\nhard physical exercise. Walking gives movement to every portion of the\nbody, and ensures vigorous circulation of the blood; for, when we walk\nfast, fresh air is inhaled into the lungs. Then there is the inestimable\njoy that natural objects give us, the joy that comes from a\ncontemplation of the beauties of nature. It is, of course, useless to\nwalk along lanes and streets, or to take the same path every day. We\nshould go out into the fields and forests where we can have a taste of\nNature. Walking a mile or two is no walking at all; at least ten or\ntwelve miles are necessary for exercise. Those who cannot walk so much\nevery day can at least do so on Sundays. Once a man who was suffering\nfrom indigestion went to the doctor to take medicine. He was advised to\nwalk a little every day, but he pleaded that he was too weak to walk at\nall. Then the doctor took him into his carriage for a drive. On the way\nhe deliberately dropped his whip, and the sick man, out of courtesy, got\ndown to take it. The doctor, however, drove on without waiting for him,\nand the poor man had to trudge behind the carriage. When the doctor was\nsatisfied that he had walked long enough, he took him into the carriage\nagain, and explained that it was a device adopted to make him walk. As\nthe man had begun to feel hungry by this time, he realised the value of\nthe doctor's advice, and forgot the affair of the whip. He then went\nhome and had a hearty meal. Let those who are suffering from indigestion\nand kindred diseases try for themselves, and they will at once realise\nthe value of walking as an exercise.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nDRESS\n\n\nDress is also a matter of health to a certain extent. European ladies,\nfor instance, have such queer notions of beauty that their dress is\ncontrived with a view to straitening the waist and the feet, which, in\nits turn, leads to several diseases. The feet of Chinese women are\ndeliberately straitened to such an extent that they are smaller even\nthan the feet of our little children, and, as a result, their health is\ninjured. These two instances show how the health may be affected by the\nnature of the dress. But the choice of our dress does not rest always in\nour hands, for we have perforce to adopt the manners of our elders. The\nchief object of dress has been forgotten, and it has come to be regarded\nas indicative of a man's religion, country, race and profession. In this\nstate of things, it is very difficult to discuss the question of dress\nstrictly from the point of view of health, but such a discussion must\nnecessarily do us good. Under the term dress, we include all such things\nas boots and shoes, as well as jewellery and the like.\n\nWhat is the chief object of dress? Man in his primitive state had no\ndress at all; he went about naked, and exposing almost the whole body.\nHis skin was firm and strong, he was able to stand sun and shower, and\nnever once suffered from cold and kindred ailments. As has already been\nexplained, we inhale the air not only through the nostrils, but also\nthrough the numberless pores of the skin. So when we cover the body with\nclothing, we are preventing this natural function of the skin. But when\nthe people of the colder countries grew more and more indolent, they\nbegan to feel the need to cover their bodies. They were no longer able\nto stand the cold, and the use of dress came into being, until at length\nit came to be looked upon not merely as a necessity, but as an ornament.\nSubsequently it has also come to be regarded as an indication of\ncountry, race etc.\n\nIn fact, Nature herself has provided an excellent covering for us in our\nskin. The idea that the body looks unseemly in undress is absurd, for\nthe very best pictures are those that display the naked body. When we\ncover up the most ordinary parts of our body, it is as though we felt\nashamed of them in their natural condition, and as though we found fault\nwith Nature's own arrangement. We think it a duty to go on multiplying\nthe trappings and ornaments for our body, as we grow richer and richer.\nWe 'adorn' our body in all sorts of hideous ways, and pride ourselves on\nour handsomeness! If our eyes were not blinded by foolish habit, we\nshould see that the body looks most handsome only in its nakedness, as\nit enjoys its best health only in that condition. Dress, indeed,\ndetracts from the natural beauty of the body. But, not content with\ndress alone, man began to wear jewels also. This is mere madness, for\nit is hard to understand how these jewels can add an iota to the body's\nnatural beauty. But women have gone beyond all bounds of sense or\ndecency in this matter. They are not ashamed to wear anklets which are\nso heavy that they can hardly lift their feet, or to pierce their nose\nand ears hideously for putting on rings, or to stud their wrists and\nfingers with rings and bracelets of several kinds. These ornaments only\nserve to help the accumulation of dirt in the body; there is indeed no\nlimit to the dirt on the nose and ears. We mistake this filthiness for\nbeauty, and throw money away to secure it; and we do not even shrink\nfrom putting our lives at the mercy of thieves. There is no limit to the\npains we take to satisfy the silly notions of vanity that we have so\nsedulously cultivated. Women, indeed, have become so infatuated that\nthey are not prepared to remove the ear-ring even if the ears are\ndiseased; even if the hand is swollen and suffering from frightful pain,\nthey would not remove the bracelets; and they are unwilling to remove\nthe ring from a swollen finger, since they imagine that their beauty\nwould suffer by so doing!\n\nA thorough reform in dress is by no means an easy matter, but it is\nsurely possible for all of us to renounce our jewels and all superfluous\nclothing. We may keep some few things for the sake of convention, and\nthrow off all the rest. Those who are free from the superstition that\ndress is an ornament can surely effect many changes in their dress, and\nkeep themselves in good health.\n\nNow-a-days the notion has gained ground that European dress is necessary\nfor maintaining our decency and prestige! This is not the place to\ndiscuss this question in detail. Here it will be enough to point out\nthat, although the dress of Europeans might be good enough for the cold\ncountries of Europe, it is hopelessly unsuited to India. Indian dress,\nalone, can be good for Indians, whether they be Hindu or Musalman. Our\ndress being loose and open, air is not shut out; and being white for the\nmost part, it does not absorb the heat. Black dress feels hot, since all\nthe sun's rays are absorbed into it, and, in its turn, into the body.\n\nThe practice of covering the head with the turban has become quite\ncommon with us. Nevertheless we should try to keep the head bare as\nfar as possible. To grow the hair, and to dress it by combing and\nbrushing, parting in the middle and so on, is nothing short of\nbarbarous. Dust and dirt, as well as nits and lice, accumulate in the\nhair, and if a boil were to arise on the head, it cannot be properly\ntreated. Especially for those who use a turban, it would be stupid to\ngrow the hair.\n\nThe feet also are common agents of disease. The feet of those who wear\nboots and shoes grow dirty, and begin to exude a lot of stinking\nperspiration. So great is the stink that those who are sensitive to\nsmells will hardly be able to stand by the side of one who is removing\nhis shoes and socks. Our common names for the shoe speak of it as the\n\"protector of the feet\" and the \"enemy of the thorn\" showing that shoes\nshould be worn only when we have to walk along a thorny path, or over\nvery cold or hot ground, and that only the soles should be covered, and\nnot the entire feet. And this purpose is served excellently well by the\n_sandal_. Some people who are accustomed to the use of shoes often\nsuffer from headaches, of pain in the feet, or weakness of the body. Let\nthem try the experiment of walking with bare feet, and then they will at\nonce find out the benefit of keeping the feet bare, and free from sweat\nby exposure to the air.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nSEXUAL RELATIONS\n\n\nI would specially request those who have carefully read through the book\nso far to read through this chapter with even greater care, and ponder\nwell over its subject-matter. There are still several more chapters to\nbe written, and they will, of course, be found useful in their own way.\nBut not one of them is nearly as important as this. As I have already\nsaid, there is not a single matter mentioned in this book which is not\nbased on my personal experience, or which I do not believe to be\nstrictly true.\n\nMany are the keys to health, and they are all quite essential; but the\none thing needful, above all others, is _Brahmacharya_. Of course, pure\nair, pure water, and wholesome food do contribute to health. But how can\nwe be healthy if we expend all the health that we acquire? How can we\nhelp being paupers if we spend all the money that we earn? There can be\nno doubt that men and women can never be virile or strong unless they\nobserve true _Brahmacharya_.\n\nWhat do we mean by _Brahmacharya_? We mean by it that men and women\nshould refrain from enjoying each other. That is to say, they should not\ntouch each other with a carnal thought, they should not think of it even\nin their dreams. Their mutual glances should be free from all suggestion\nof carnality. The hidden strength that God has given us should be\nconserved by rigid self-discipline, and transmitted into energy and\npower,--not merely of body, but also of mind and soul.\n\nBut what is the spectacle that we actually see around us? Men and\nwomen, old and young, without exception, are seen entangled in the coils\nof sensuality. Blinded by lust, they lose all sense of right and wrong.\nI have myself seen even boys and girls behaving like mad men under its\nfatal influence. I too have behaved likewise under similar influences,\nand it could not well be otherwise. For the sake of a momentary\npleasure, we sacrifice in an instant all the stock of vitality that we\nhave accumulated. The infatuation over, we find ourselves in a miserable\ncondition. The next morning, we feel hopelessly weak and tired, and the\nmind refuses to do its work. Then, we try to remedy the mischief by\ntaking all sorts of 'nervine tonics' and put ourselves under the\ndoctor's mercy for repairing the waste, and for recovering the capacity\nfor enjoyment. So the days pass and the years, until at length old age\ncomes upon us, and finds us utterly emasculated in body and in mind.\n\nBut the law of Nature is just the reverse of this. The older we grow,\nthe keener should grow our intellect also; the longer we live, the\ngreater should be our capacity to transmit the fruits of our accumulated\nexperience to our fellowmen. And such is indeed the case with those who\nhave been true _Brahmacharies_. They know no fear of death, and they do\nnot forget good even in the hour of death; nor do they indulge in vain\ncomplaints. They die with a smile on their lips, and boldly face the day\nof judgment. They are the true men and women; and of them alone can it\nbe said that they have conserved their health.\n\nWe hardly realise the fact that incontinence is the root-cause of all\nthe vanity, anger, fear and jealousy in the world. If our mind is not\nunder our control, if we behave once or more every day more foolishly\nthan even little children, what sins may we not commit consciously or\nunconsciously? How can we pause to think of the consequences of our\nactions, however vile or sinful they may be?\n\nBut you may ask, \"Who has ever seen a true _Brahmachary_ in this sense?\nIf all men should turn _Brahmacharies_, would not humanity be extinct,\nand the whole world go to rack and ruin?\" We will leave aside the\nreligious aspect of this question, and discuss it simply from the\nsecular point of view. To my mind, these questions only bespeak our\nweakness and our cowardliness. We have not the strength of will to\nobserve _Brahmacharya_, and, therefore, set about finding pretexts for\nevading our duty. The race of true _Brahmacharies_ is by no means\nextinct; but, if they were to be had merely for the asking, of what\nvalue would _Brahmacharya_ be? Thousands of hardy labourers have to go\nand dig deep into the bowels of the earth in search of diamonds, and at\nlength they get perhaps merely a handful of them out of heaps and heaps\nof rock. How much greater, then, should be the labour involved in the\ndiscovery of the infinitely more precious diamond of a _Brahmachary_? If\nthe observance of _Brahmacharya_ should mean the ruin of the world, why\nshould we regret it? Are we God that we should be so anxious about its\nfuture? He who created it will surely see to its preservation. It is\nnone of our business to enquire if other people practise _Brahmacharya_\nor not. When we turn merchant or lawyer or doctor, do we ever pause to\nconsider what the fate of the world would be if all men were to do\nlikewise? The true _Brahmachary_ will, in the long run, discover for\nhimself answers to such questions.\n\nBut how can men engrossed by the cares of the material world put these\nideas into practice? What shall the married people do? What shall they\ndo who have children? And what shall be done by those people who cannot\ncontrol their lust? The best solution for all such difficulties has\nalready been given. We should keep this ideal constantly before us, and\ntry to approximate to it more and more to the utmost of our capacity.\nWhen little children are taught to write the letters of the alphabet, we\nshow them the perfect shapes of the letters, and they try to reproduce\nthem as best they can. Just in the same way, if we steadily work up to\nthe ideal of _Brahmacharya_, we may ultimately succeed in realising it.\nWhat if we have married already? The law of Nature is that\n_Brahmacharya_ may be broken only when the husband and wife feel a\nstrong desire for a child. Those who, remembering this law, violate\n_Brahmacharya_ once in four or five years cannot be said to be slaves to\nlust, nor can they appreciably lose their stock of vitality. But, alas,\nhow rare are those men and women who yield to the sexual craving merely\nfor the sake of an offspring! The vast majority, who may be numbered in\nthousands, turn to sexual enjoyment merely to satisfy their carnal\npassion, with the result that children are born to them quite against\ntheir will. In the madness of sexual passion, we give no thought to the\nconsequences of our acts. In this respect, men are even more to blame\nthan women. The man is blinded so much by his lust that he never cares\nto remember that his wife is weak and incapable of rearing a child. In\nthe West indeed, people have trespassed even against the claims of\ncommon decency. They indulge in sexual pleasures, and devise measures in\norder to evade the responsibilities of parenthood. Many books have been\nwritten on this subject, and a regular trade is being carried on in\nproviding the means of preventing conception. We are as yet free from\nthis sin, but we do not shrink from imposing the heavy burden of\nmaternity on our women, and we are not concerned even to find that our\nchildren are weak, impotent and imbecile. Every time we get children, we\nbless Providence, and so seek to hide from ourselves the wickedness of\nour acts. Should we not rather deem it a sign of God's anger to have\nchildren who are weak, sensual, crippled and impotent? Is it a matter\nfor joy that mere boys and girls should have children? Is it not rather\na curse of God? We all know that the premature fruit of a too young\nplant weakens the parent, and so we try all means of delaying the\nappearance of fruit. But we sing hymns of praise and thanks-giving to\nGod when a child is born of a boy-father and a girl-mother! Could\nanything be more dreadful? Do we think that the world is going to be\nsaved by the countless swarms of such impotent children endlessly\nmultiplying in India or elsewhere in the world? Verily we are, in this\nrespect, far worse than even the lower animals; for, the bull and the\ncow are brought together solely with the object of having a calf. Man\nand woman should regard it as sacred duty to keep apart from the moment\nof conception up to the time when the child has ceased to suck its\nmother's breast. But we go on in our merry fashion blissfully forgetful\nof this sacred obligation. This incurable disease enfeebles our mind and\nleads us to an early grave, after making us drag a miserable existence\nfor a short while. Married people should understand the true function of\nmarriage, and should not violate the law of _Brahmacharya_ except with a\nview to having a child for the continuation of the race.\n\nBut this is so difficult under our present conditions of life. Our diet,\nour ways of life, our common talk, and our environments are all equally\ncalculated to rouse and keep alive our sensual appetite; and sensuality\nis like a poison, eating into our vitals. Some people may doubt the\npossibility of our being able to free ourselves from this bondage. This\nbook is written not for those who go about with such doubtings of heart,\nbut only for those who are really in earnest, and who have the courage\nto take active steps for their improvement. Those who are quite content\nwith their present abject condition may even be offended to read all\nthis; but I hope this will be of some service to those who are heartily\ndisgusted with their own miserable existence.\n\nFrom all that has been said, it follows that those who are still\nunmarried should try to remain so; but, if they cannot help marrying,\nthey should do so as late as possible. Young men, for instance, should\ntake a vow to remain unmarried till the age of 25 or 30. We shall not\nexplain here all the benefits other than physical that result from this;\nbut those who want to enjoy them can do so for themselves.\n\nMy request to those parents who may read these pages is that they should\nnot tie a mill-stone round the necks of their sons by marrying them in\ntheir teens. They should look also to the welfare of their sons, and not\nonly to their own interests. They should throw aside all silly notions\nof caste-pride or 'respectability', and cease to indulge in such\nheartless practices. Let them, rather, if they are true well-wishers of\ntheir children, look to their physical, mental and moral improvements.\nWhat greater disservice can they do to their sons than compelling them\nto enter upon a married life, with all its tremendous responsibilities\nand cares, even while they are mere boys?\n\nThen again, the true laws of health demand that the man that loses his\nwife, as well as the woman that loses her husband, should remain single\never after. There is a difference of opinion among doctors as to whether\nyoung men and women need ever let their vital fluid escape, some\nanswering the question in the affirmative, others in the negative. But\nthis cannot justify our taking advantage of it for sensual enjoyment. I\ncan affirm, without the slightest hesitation, from my own experience as\nwell as that of others, that sexual enjoyment is not only not necessary\nfor the preservation of health, but is positively detrimental to it. All\nthe strength of body and mind that has taken long to acquire, is lost\naltogether by the escape of the vital fluid, and it takes a long time to\nregain this lost strength, and even then there is no saying that it can\nbe thoroughly recovered. A broken vessel may be made to do its work\nafter mending, but it can never be anything but a broken vessel.\n\nAs has already been pointed out, the preservation of our vitality is\nimpossible without pure air, pure water, pure and wholesome food, as\nwell as pure thoughts. So vital indeed is the relation between our\nhealth and the life that we lead that we can never be perfectly healthy\nunless we lead a clean life. The earnest man who, forgetting the errors\nof the past, begins to live a life of purity will be able to reap the\nfruit of it straightway. Those who have practised true _Brahmacharya_\neven for a short period will have seen how their body and mind improve\nsteadily in strength and power, and they will not, at any cost, be\nwilling to part with this treasure. I have myself been guilty of lapses\neven after having fully understood the value of _Brahmacharya_, and\nhave, of course, paid dearly for it. I am filled with shame and remorse\nwhen I think of the terrible contrast between my condition before and\nafter these lapses. But from the errors of the past I have now learnt to\npreserve this treasure in tact, and I fully hope, with God's grace, to\ncontinue to preserve it in the future; for I have in my own person,\nwitnessed the inestimable benefits of _Brahmacharya_. I was married\nearly in life, and had become the father of children as a mere youth.\nWhen, at length, I awoke to the reality of my situation, I found myself\nsunk in the lowest depths of degradation. I shall consider myself amply\nrewarded for writing these pages if at least a single reader is able to\ntake warning from my failings and experiences, and to profit thereby.\nMany people have told me (and I also believe it) that I am full of\nenergy and enthusiasm, and that my mind is by so means weak; some even\naccuse me of rashness. There is disease in my body as well as in my\nmind; nevertheless, when compared with my friends, I may call myself\nperfectly healthy and strong. If even after twenty years of sensual\nenjoyment, I have been able to reach this state, how much better should\nI have been if only I had kept myself pure during those twenty years as\nwell? It is my full conviction that, if only I had lived a life of\n_Brahmacharya_ all through, my energy and enthusiasm would have been a\nthousandfold greater and I should have been able to devote them all to\nthe furtherance of my country's cause as of my own. If this can be\naffirmed of an ordinary man like myself, how much more wonderful must be\nthe gain in power,--physical, mental, as well as moral--that unbroken\n_Brahmacharya_ can bring to us!\n\nWhen so strict is the law of _Brahmacharya_, what shall we say of those\nguilty of the unpardonable sin of illegitimate sexual enjoyment? The\nevil that arises from adultery and prostitution is a vital question of\nreligion and morality and cannot be fully dealt with in a treatise on\nhealth. Here we are only concerned to point out how thousands who are\nguilty of these sins are afflicted by syphilis and other unmentionable\ndiseases. The inflexible decree of Providence happily condemns these\nwretches to a life of unmitigated suffering. Their short span of life is\nspent in abject bondage to quacks in a futile quest after a remedy that\nwill rid them of their suffering. If there were no adultery at all,\nthere would be no work for at least 50% of doctors. So inextricably\nindeed has venereal disease caught mankind in its clutches that even the\nbest doctors have been forced to admit that, so long as adultery and\nprostitution continue, there is no hope for the human race. The\nmedicines for these diseases are so poisonous that, although they may\nappear to have done some good for the time being, they give rise to\nother and still more terrible diseases which are handed down from\ngeneration to generation.\n\nIn concluding this chapter, we will briefly point out how married people\ncan preserve their _Brahmacharya_ intact. It is not enough to observe\nthe laws of health as regards air, water and food. The man should\naltogether cease to sleep in privacy with his wife. Little reflection is\nneeded to show that the only possible motive for privacy between man and\nwife is the desire for sexual enjoyment. They should sleep apart at\nnight, and be incessantly engaged in good works during the day. They\nshould read such books as fill them with noble thoughts and meditate\nover the lives of great men, and live in the constant realisation of the\nfact that sensual enjoyment is the root of all disease. Whenever they\nfeel a prompting for enjoyment, they should bathe in cold water, so that\nthe heat of passion may be cooled down, and be refined into the energy\nof virtuous activity. This is a hard thing to do, but we have been born\ninto this world that we might wrestle with difficulties and temptations,\nand conquer them; and he who has not the will to do it can never enjoy\nthe supreme blessing of true health.\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\nSOME SIMPLE TREATMENTS\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nAIR-TREATMENT\n\n\nWe have now done with the discussion of the foundations of health, as\nwell as the means of its preservation. If all men and women were to obey\nall the laws of health, and practice strict Brahmacharya, there would be\nno need at all for the chapters which follow, for such men and women\nwould then be free from all ailments, whether of the body or of the\nmind. But where can such men and women be found? Where are they who have\nnot been afflicted by disease? The more strictly, however, we observe\nthe laws which have been explained in this book, the more shall we be\nfree from disease. But when diseases do attack us, it is our duty to\ndeal with them properly, and the following chapters are intended to show\nhow to do it.\n\nPure air, which is so essential to the preservation of health, is also\nessential to the cure of diseases. If, for instance, a man who is\nsuffering from gout is treated with air heated by steam, he perspires\nprofusely, and his joints are eased. This kind of vapour-treatment is\nknown as \"Turkish Bath.\"\n\nIf a man who is suffering from high fever is stripped naked, and made to\nsleep in the open air, there is an immediate fall in the temperature,\nand he feels a distinct relief. And if, when he feels cold, he is\nwrapped in a blanket, he perspires at once, and the fever ceases. But\nwhat we generally do is just the reverse of this. Even if the patient is\nwilling to remain in the open air, we close all the doors and windows of\nthe room in which he lies, and cover his whole body (including the head\nand ears) with blankets, with the result that he is frightened, and is\nrendered still weaker. If the fever is the outcome of too much heat, the\nsort of air-treatment described above is perfectly harmless, and its\neffect can be instantly felt. Of course, care should be taken that the\npatient does not begin to shiver in the open air. If he cannot remain\nnaked, he may well be covered with blankets.\n\nChange of air is an effective remedy for latent fever and other\ndiseases. The common practice of taking a change of air is only an\napplication of the principle of air-treatment. We often change our\nresidence in the belief that a house constantly infested by disease is\nthe resort of evil spirits. This is a mere delusion, for the real \"evil\nspirits\" in such cases are the foul air inside the house. A change of\nresidence ensures a change of air, and with it the cure of the diseases\nbrought on by it. Indeed, so vital is the relation between health and\nair that the good or evil effects of even a slight change are\ninstantaneously felt. For a change of air the rich can afford to go to\ndistant places, but even the poor can go from one village to another, or\nat least from one house to another. Even a change of room in the same\nhouse often brings great relief to a sick man. But, of course, care\nshould be taken to see that the change of air is really for the better.\nThus, for instance, a disease that has been brought on by damp air\ncannot be cured by a change to a damper locality. It is because\nsufficient attention is not paid to simple precautions like this that a\nchange of air is often so ineffectual.\n\nThis chapter has been devoted to some simple instances of the\napplication of air to the treatment of disease, while the chapter on Air\nin Part I of this book contains a general consideration of the value of\npure air to health. Hence I would request my readers to read these two\nchapters side by side.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nWATER-CURE\n\n\nSince air is invisible, we cannot perceive the wonderful way in which it\ndoes its work. But the work of water and its curative effects can be\neasily seen and understood.\n\nAll people know something of the use of steam as a curative agent. We\noften employ it in cases of fever, and very often severe headaches can\nbe cured only by its application. In cases of rheumatic pain in the\njoints, rapid relief is obtained by the use of steam followed by a cold\nbath. Boils and ulcers not cured by simple dressing with ointments can\nbe completely healed by the application of steam.\n\nIn case of extreme fatigue, a steam-bath or a hot-water bath immediately\nfollowed by a cold bath will be found very effective. So too, in cases\nof sleeplessness, instant relief is often obtained by sleeping in the\nopen air after a steam-bath followed by a cold bath.\n\nHot water can always be used as a substitute for steam. When there is\nsevere pain in the stomach, instant relief is obtained by warming with a\nbottle filled with boiling water placed over a thick cloth wrapped round\nthe waist. Whenever there is a desire to vomit, it can be done by\ndrinking plenty of hot water. Those who are suffering from constipation\noften derive great benefit by drinking a glass of hot water either at\nbedtime or soon after rising and cleaning the teeth in the morning. Sir\nGordon Spring attributed his excellent health to the practice of\ndrinking a glass of hot water every day before going to bed and after\ngetting up in the morning. The bowels of many people move only after\ntaking tea in the morning, and they foolishly suppose that it is the tea\nwhich has produced this effect. But, as a matter of fact, tea only does\nharm, and it is really the hot water in the tea that moves the bowels.\n\nA special kind of cot is often used for steam-baths, but it is not quite\nessential. A spirit or kerosine oil stove, or a wood or coal fire,\nshould be kept burning under an ordinary cane chair. Over the fire\nshould be placed a vessel of water with the mouth covered; and over the\nchair a sheet or blanket is so spread that it may hang down in the front\nand protect the patient from the heat of the fire. Then the patient\nshould be seated in the chair and wrapped round with sheets or blankets.\nThen the vessel should be uncovered, so that the patient may be exposed\nto the steam issuing from it. Our common practice of covering the head\nalso of the patient is a needless precaution. The heat of the steam\npresses through the body right up to the head, and gives rise to profuse\nperspiration on the face. If the patient is too weak to sit up, he may\nbe made to lie down on a cot with interstices, taking care to see that\nnone of the steam escapes. Of course, care should also be taken to see\nthat the patient's clothes or the blankets used do not catch fire; and\ndue consideration should be paid to the state of the patient's health,\nas an inconsiderate application of steam is fraught with danger. The\npatient, indeed, feels weak after a steam bath, but this weakness does\nnot last long. Too frequent use of steam, however, enfeebles the\nconstitution, and it is of the highest importance to apply steam with\ndue deliberation. Steam may also be applied to any single part of the\nbody; in cases of headache, for instance, there is no need to expose the\nwhole body to the steam. The head should be held just over a\nnarrow-mouthed jar of boiling water, and wrapped round with a cloth.\nThen the steam should be inhaled through the nose so that it may ascend\ninto the head. If the nasal passage is blocked, it will also be opened\nby this process. Likewise, if there be inflamation in any part of the\nbody, it alone need be exposed to the steam.\n\nVery few realise the curative value of cold water, in spite of the fact\nthat it is even more valuable in this respect than hot water, and can be\nmade use of by even the weakest persons. In fever, small-pox, and\nskin-diseases, the application of a sheet dipped in cold water is very\nbeneficial, and often produces startling results; and anybody may try it\nwithout the least risk. Dizziness or delirium can be instantly relieved\nby tying round the head a cloth dipped in melted ice. People suffering\nfrom constipation often derive great benefit by tying round the stomach\nfor some time a piece of cloth dipped in melted ice. Involuntary seminal\ndischarges can also be often prevented by the same means. Bleeding in\nany part of the body may be stopped by the application of a bandage\ndipped in ice-cold water. Bleeding from the nose is stopped by pouring\ncold water over the head. Nasal diseases, cold and headache, may be\ncured by drawing pure cold water up the nose. The water may be drawn\nthrough one nostril and discharged through the other, or drawn through\nboth nostrils and discharged through the mouth. There is no harm in the\nwater going even into the stomach provided the nostrils are clean. And\nindeed, this is the best way to keep the nostrils clean. Those who are\nunable to draw the water up the nostrils may use a syringe, but after a\nfew attempts, it can be done quite easily. All should learn to do this,\nsince it is very simple, and at the same time a most effective remedy\nagainst headaches, bad smells in the nose, as well as dirty\naccumulations in the nasal passage.\n\nMany people are afraid of taking an enema, and some even think that the\nbody is weakened by it; but such fears are baseless. There is no more\neffective means of producing an instant evacuation of the bowels. It has\nproved effective in many diseases where all other remedies have been\nfutile; it thoroughly cleans the bowels, and prevents the accumulation\nof poisonous matter. If those who suffer from rheumatic complaints or\nindigestion or pains caused by an unhealthy condition of the bowels take\nan enema of 2 lbs. of water, they would see how instantaneous is its\neffect. One writer on this subject says that once he was suffering from\nchronic indigestion and, all remedies proving futile; he had grown\nemaciated, but the application of the enema at once restored him his\nappetite, and altogether cured him of his complaint in a few days. Even\nailments like jaundice can be cured by the application of the enema. If\nthe enema has to be frequently employed, cold water should be used, for\nthe repeated use of hot water is likely to enfeeble the constitution.\n\nDr. Louis Kuhne of Germany has, after repeated experiments, arrived at\nthe conclusion that water-cure is the best for all diseases. His books\non this subject are so popular that they are now available in almost all\nthe languages of the world, including those of India. He contends that\nthe abdomen is the seat of all diseases. When there is too much heat in\nthe abdomen, it manifests itself in the form of fever, rheumatism,\neruptions on the body, and the like. The efficacy of water-cure had,\nindeed, been recognised by several people long before Kuhne, but it was\nhe who, for the first time, pointed out the common origin of all\ndiseases. His views need not be accepted by us in their entirety, but it\nis an undoubted fact that his principles and methods have proved\neffective in many diseases. To give only one instance out of many that\nhave come within my experience, in a bad case of rheumatism, a thorough\ncure was effected by Kuhne's system, after all other remedies had been\ntried, and had proved utterly ineffectual.\n\nDr. Kuhne holds that the heat in the abdomen abates by the application\nof cold water, and has, therefore, prescribed the bathing of the abdomen\nand the surrounding parts with thoroughly cold water. And for the\ngreater convenience of bathing, he has devised a special kind of tin\nbath. This, however, is not quite indispensable; the tin tubs of an oval\nshape and of different sizes to suit people of different heights,\navailable in our bazaars, will do equally well. The tub should be filled\nthree-fourths with cold water, and the patient should seat himself in it\nin such a fashion that his feet and the upper part of the body remain\noutside the water, and the rest of the body up to the hips inside it.\nThe feet may preferably be placed on a low foot-stool. The patient\nshould sit in the water quite naked, but, if he feels cold, the feet and\nthe upper part of the body should be covered with a blanket. If a shirt\nis worn, it should be kept entirely outside the water. The bath should\nbe taken in a room where there is plenty of fresh air and light. The\npatient should then slowly rub (or cause to be rubbed) the abdomen with\na small rough towel from 5 to 30 minutes or more. The effect is\ninstantly felt in most cases. In cases of rheumatism, the wind in the\nstomach escapes in the form of eructations and the like, and in cases of\nfever, the thermometre falls by one or two degrees. The bowels are\nreadily cleaned by this process; fatigue disappears; sleeplessness is\nremoved, and extreme drowsiness gives place to vigour. This contrariness\nof result is more apparent than real; for want of sleep, and the excess\nof it, are both brought on by the same cause. So too, dysentery and\nconstipation, which are both the outcome of indigestion, are cured by\nthis method. Piles of long standing can also be got rid of by this bath,\nwith proper regulation of diet. Those who are troubled by the necessity\nfor constant spitting should at once resort to this treatment for a\ncure. By its means the weak can become strong; and even chronic\nrheumatism has been cured by it. It is also an effective remedy for\nhaemorrhages, headaches, and blood-poisoning. Kuhne prescribes it as an\ninvaluable remedy even for diseases like the cancer. A pregnant woman\nwho takes to it regularly will have an easy child-birth. In short, all\npersons, without distinction of age or sex, can take to it with\nadvantage.\n\nThere is another kind of bath, known as the \"Wet-Sheet-Pack\", which is\nan unfailing remedy for various diseases. This bath is taken in the\nfollowing manner. A table or chair is placed in the open air, big enough\nto allow of the patient lying on it at full length. On it are spread\n(hanging on either side) some four blankets, less or more according to\nthe state of the weather. Over them are spread two white thick sheets\nwell dipped in cold water, and a pillow is placed under the blankets at\none end. Then the patient is stripped naked (with the exception of a\nsmall waist-cloth, if he so wishes), and made to lie down on the sheets,\nwith his hands placed in the arm-pits. Then the sheets and blankets are,\none after another, wrapped round his body, taking care that the parts\nhanging under the feet are well tucked in so as to cover them. If the\npatient is exposed to the sun, a wet cloth is put over his head and\nface, keeping the nose always open. At first the patient will\nexperience some shivering, but this will soon give place to an agreeably\nwarm sensation. He can lie in this position from 5 minutes to an hour or\nmore. After a time he begins to perspire, or at times falls asleep. Soon\nafter coming out of the sheets he should bathe in cold-water. This is an\nexcellent remedy for small-pox and fever, and skin-diseases like the\nitch, the ringworm, and pimples and blotches. Even the worst forms of\nchicken-pox and small-pox are completely cured by this process. People\ncan easily learn to take the \"Wet-Sheet-Pack\" themselves, and to apply\nit to others, and can thus see for themselves its wonderful effect. As\nthe whole dirt of the body sticks to the sheets in the process of taking\nthis bath, they ought not to be used again without being well washed in\nboiling water.\n\nNeedless to say, the full benefit of these baths cannot be derived\nunless the rules already mentioned as to diet, exercise and the like are\nstrictly observed. If a rheumatic patient, for instance, were to take to\nKuhne's bath or to the \"Wet-Sheet-Pack,\" while eating unwholesome food,\nliving in impure air, and neglecting his exercise, how can he possibly\nderive any good out of it? It is only when accompanied by strict\nobservance of all the laws of health that water-cure can be of any\neffect; and when so employed, its effects are sure and immediate.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE USE OF EARTH\n\n\nWe will now proceed to describe the curative properties of earth, which\nare, in some cases, even more remarkable than those of water. That earth\nshould have such properties need not cause us any surprise, for our own\nbody is compounded of the earthly element. Indeed, we do make use of\nearth as a purifying agent. We wash the ground with earth to remove bad\nsmells, we put it over decaying matter to prevent the pollution of the\nair, we wash our hands with it, and even employ it to clean the private\nparts. Yogis besmear their bodies with it; some people use it as a cure\nfor boils and ulcers; and dead bodies are buried in the earth so that\nthey may not vitiate the atmosphere. All this shows that earth has many\nvaluable properties as a purifying and curative agent.\n\nJust as Dr. Kuhne has devoted special attention to the subject of\nwater-cure, another German doctor has made a special study of earth and\nits properties. He goes so far as to say that it can be used with\nsuccess in the treatment of even the most complicated diseases. He says\nthat once in a case of snake-bite, where everybody else had given up\nthe man for dead, he restored him to life by causing him to be covered\nup with earth for some time. There is no reason to doubt the veracity of\nthis report. It is well known that great heat is generated in the body\nby burying it in the earth; and although we cannot explain how exactly\nthe effect is produced, it is undeniable that earth does possess the\nproperty of absorbing the poison. Indeed, every case of snake-bite may\nnot be cured in this way; but it should certainly be tried in every\ncase. And I can say from my own experience that, in cases of\nscorpion-sting and the like, the use of mud is particularly beneficial.\n\nI have myself tried with success the following forms of earth-cure.\nConstipation, dysentery, and chronic stomach-ache have been cured by the\nuse of a mud-poultice over the abdomen for two or three days. Instant\nrelief has been obtained in cases of headache by applying a mud-bandage\nround the head. Sore eye has also been cured by the same method; hurts\nof all kinds, whether accompanied by inflammation or not, have been\nhealed likewise. In the old days I could not keep well without a regular\nuse of Eno's Fruit-salt and the like. But, since 1904, when I learnt the\nvalue of earth-cure, I have had not a single occasion to use them. A\nmud-poultice over the abdomen and the head, gives distinct relief in a\nstate of high fever. Skin-diseases like the itch, the ringworm, and\nboils, have been cured with the use of mud, though no doubt ulcers from\nwhich pus issues are not so easily cured. Burns and scalds are likewise\nhealed by mud, which also prevents inflammation. Piles, too, are cured\nby the same treatment. When the hands and feet become red and swollen\nowing to frost, mud is an unfailing remedy, and pain in the joints is\nalso relieved by it. From these and other experiments in mud-cure, I\nhave come to the conclusion that earth is an invaluable element in the\ndomestic treatment of diseases.\n\nAll kinds of earth are not, of course, equally beneficial. Dry earth dug\nout from a clean spot has been found the most effective. It should not\nbe too sticky. Mud which is midway between sand and clay is the best. It\nshould, of course, be free from cow-dung and other rubbish. It should be\nwell sifted in a fine sieve, and then soaked in cold water to the\nconsistency of well-kneaded dough before use. Then it should be tied up\nin a piece of clean, unstarched cloth, and used in the form of a thick\npoultice. The poultice should be removed before the mud begins to dry\nup; ordinarily it will last from two to three hours. Mud once used\nshould never be used again, but a cloth once used can be used again,\nafter being well washed, provided it is free from blood and other dirty\nmatter. If the poultice has to be applied to the abdomen, it should\nfirst be covered over with a warm cloth. Everybody should keep a tinful\nof earth ready for use, so as not to have to hunt for it whenever an\noccasion arises for its use. Otherwise, much precious time may be wasted\nin cases (as of scorpion-sting) where delay would be dangerous.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nFEVER AND ITS CURE\n\n\nWe now pass on to consider some particular diseases and the means of\ncuring them. And first, fever.\n\nWe generally apply the term \"fever\" to a condition of heat in the body,\nbut English doctors have distinguished many varieties of this disease,\neach with its own system of treatment. But, following the common\npractice and the principles elaborated in these chapters, we may say\nthat all fevers can be cured in one and the same manner. I have tried\nthis single treatment for all varieties from simple fever up to Bubonic\nPlague, with invariably satisfactory results. In 1904, there was a\nsevere outbreak of plague among the Indians in South Africa. It was so\nsevere that, out of 23 persons that were affected, as many as 21 died\nwithin the space of 24 hours; and of the remaining two, who were removed\nto the hospital, only one survived, and that one was the man to whom was\napplied the mud-poultice. We cannot, of course, conclude from this that\nit was the mud-poultice that saved him, but, in any case, it is\nundeniable that it did him no harm. They were both suffering from high\nfever brought on by inflammation of the lungs, and had been rendered\nunconscious. The man on whom was tried the mud-poultice was so bad that\nhe was spitting blood, and I afterwards learnt from the doctor that he\nhad been insufficiently fed on milk alone.\n\nAs most fevers are caused by disorders of the bowels, the very first\nthing to do is to starve the patient. It is a mere superstition that a\nweak man will get weaker by starving. As we have already seen, only that\nportion of our food is really useful which is assimilated into the\nblood, and the remainder only clogs the bowels. In fever the digestive\norgans are very weak, the tongue gets coated, and the lips are hard and\ndry. If any food is given to the patient in this condition, it will\nremain undigested and aid the fever. Starving the patient gives his\ndigestive organs time to perform their work; hence the need to starve\nhim for a day or two. At the same time, he should take at least two\nbaths every day according to the Kuhne's system. If he is too weak or\nill to bathe, a mud-poultice should be applied to his abdomen. If the\nhead aches or feels too hot, a poultice should also be applied to the\nhead. The patient should, as far as possible, be placed in the open air,\nand should be well covered. At meal-time, he should be given the juice\nof lime, well filtered and mixed with cold or boiling water, and if\npossible, without any sugar. This has a very beneficial effect, and\nshould alone be given if the patient's teeth can bear its sourness.\nAfterwards, he may be given a half or the whole of a plantain, well\nmixed with a spoon of olive oil, mixed with a spoon of lime juice. If he\nfeels thirsty, he should be given water boiled and cooled, or the juice\nof lime,--never unboiled water. His clothes should be as few as possible,\nand should be frequently changed. Even persons suffering from typhoid\nand the like diseases have been completely cured by this simple\ntreatment, and are enjoying perfect health at present. A seeming cure\nmay also be effected by quinine, but it really brings other diseases in\nits train. Even in malarial fever, in which quinine is supposed to be\nmost effective, I have rarely seen it bring permanent relief; on the\nother hand, I have actually seen several cases of malarial patients\nbeing permanently cured by the treatment described above.\n\nMany people subsist on milk alone during fever, but my experience is\nthat it really does harm in the initial stages, as it is hard to digest.\nIf milk has to be given, it is best given in the form of\n\"wheat-coffee\",[1] or with a small quantity of rice-flour well boiled in\nwater; but in extreme forms of fever, it ought not to be given at all.\nIn such a condition, the juice of lime may always be given with great\nsuccess. As soon as the tongue gets clean, plantain may be included in\nthe diet, and given in the form described above. If there be\nconstipation, a hot-water enema with borax should be applied in\npreference to purgatives, after which a diet of olive oil will serve to\nkeep the bowels free.\n\n  [1] Part II, chap. IV\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nCONSTIPATION, DYSENTERY, GRIPES AND PILES\n\n\nIt may at first sight appear strange to have four different ailments put\ntogether in this chapter, but, as a matter of fact, they are all so\nclosely connected, and may be cured more or less in the same way. When\nthe stomach gets clogged by undigested matter, it leads to one or other\nof these diseases, according to the varying constitutions of\nindividuals. In some it produces constipation. The bowels do not move,\nor move only partly, and there is great straining at stools, until it\nresults in bleeding, or at times in the discharge of mucus, or piles. In\nothers, it leads to diarrhea, which often ends in dysentery. In others\nagain, it may give rise to gripes, accompanied by pain in the stomach\nand the discharge of mucus.\n\nIn all these cases, the patient loses his appetite, his body gets pale\nand weak, his tongue gets coated, and his breath foul. Many also suffer\nfrom headache and other complaints. Constipation, indeed, is so common\nthat hundreds of pills and powders have been invented to cure it. The\nchief function of such patent medicines as Mother Siegel's Syrup and\nEno's Fruit-salt is to relieve constipation, and hence thousands of\npeople go in for them in the vain hope of being cured for good. Any\n_Vaid_ or _Hakim_ will tell you that constipation and the like are the\nresult of indigestion, and that the best way to cure them is to remove\nthe causes of indigestion; but the more candid among them will confess\nthat they are forced to manufacture pills and powders, since the\npatients are not really prepared to renounce their bad habits, but at\nthe same time want to get cured. Indeed the present-day advertisments of\nsuch medicines go to the extent of promising to those that would buy\nthem that they need observe no directions as to diet and the like, but\nmay eat and drink whatever they like. But my readers need not be told\nthat this is a mere string of lies. All purgatives are invariably\ninjurious to health. Even the mildest of them, even if they relieve the\nconstipation, give rise to other forms of disease. If they should do any\ngood at all, the patient should thoroughly change his ways of life, so\nas not to have to turn to purgatives again; otherwise, there can be no\ndoubt that they must give rise to new diseases, even supposing that they\nserve to get rid of the old.\n\nThe very first thing to do in cases of constipation and the like is to\nreduce the quantity of food, especially such heavy things as ghee, sugar\nand cream of milk. Of course, he should eschew altogether wine, tobacco,\nbhang, tea, coffee, cocoa, and loaves made of \"mill flour.\" The diet\nshould consist for the most part of fresh fruits with olive oil.\n\nThe patient should be made to starve for 36 hours before treatment\nbegins. During this time and after, mud-poultices should be applied to\nthe abdomen during sleep; and, as has been already said, one or two\n\"Kuhne baths\" should also be taken. The patient should be made to walk\nfor at least two hours every day. I have myself seen severe cases of\nconstipation, dysentery, piles and gripes effectively cured by this\nsimple treatment. Piles may not, of course, completely disappear, but\nthey will certainly cease to give trouble. The sufferer from gripes\nshould take special care not to take any food except lime-juice in hot\nwater, so long as there is discharge of blood or mucus. If there is\nexcessive griping pain in the stomach, it can be cured by warming with a\nbottle of hot water or a piece of well-heated brick. Needless to say,\nthe patient should live constantly in the open air.\n\nFruits like the French plum, the raisin, the orange and the grape, are\nparticularly useful in constipation. This does not, of course, mean that\nthese fruits may be eaten even where there is no hunger. They ought not\nto be eaten at all in cases of gripes accompanied by a bad taste in the\nmouth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nCONTAGIOUS DISEASES: SMALL-POX\n\n\nNow we will proceed to deal with the treatment of contagious diseases.\nThey have a common origin, but, since small-pox is by far the most\nimportant of them, we will give a separate chapter to it, dealing with\nthe rest in another chapter. We are all terribly afraid of the\nsmall-pox, and have very crude notions about it. We in India even\nworship it as a deity. In fact it is caused, just like other diseases,\nby the blood getting impure owing to some disorder of the bowels; and\nthe poison that accumulates in the system is expelled in the form of\nsmall-pox. If this view is correct, then there is absolutely no need to\nbe afraid of small-pox. If it were really a contagious disease, everyone\nshould catch it by merely touching the patient; but this is not always\nthe case. Hence there is really no harm in touching the patient,\nprovided we take some essential precautions in doing so. We cannot, of\ncourse, assert that small-pox is never transmitted by touch, for those\nthat are physically in a condition favourable to its transmission will\ncatch it. This is why, in a locality where small-pox has appeared, many\npeople are found attacked by it at the same time. This has given rise to\nthe superstition that it is a contagious disease, and hence to the\nattempt to mislead the people into the belief that vaccination is an\neffective means of preventing it. The process of vaccination consists in\ninjecting into the skin the liquid that is obtained by applying the\ndischarge from the body of a small-pox patient to the udder of a cow.\nThe original theory was that a single vaccination would suffice to keep\na man immune from this disease for life; but, when it was found that\neven vaccinated persons were attacked by the disease, a new theory came\ninto being that the vaccination should be renewed after a certain\nperiod, and to-day it has become the rule for all persons--whether\nalready vaccinated or not--to get themselves vaccinated whenever\nsmall-pox rages as an epidemic in any locality, so that it is no\nuncommon thing to come across people who have been vaccinated five or\nsix times, or even more.\n\nVaccination is a barbarous practice, and it is one of the most fatal of\nall the delusions current in our time, not to be found even among the\nso-called savage races of the world. Its supporters are not content with\nits adoption by those who have no objection to it, but seek to impose it\nwith the aid of penal laws and rigorous punishments on all people alike.\nThe practice of vaccination is not very old, dating as it does only from\n1798 A.D. But, during this comparatively short period that has elapsed,\nmillions have fallen a prey to the delusion that those who get\nthemselves vaccinated are safe from the attack of small-pox. No one can\nsay that small-pox will necessarily attack those who have not been\nvaccinated; for many cases have been observed of unvaccinated people\nbeing free from its attack. From the fact that some people who are not\nvaccinated do get the disease, we cannot, of course, conclude that they\nwould have been immune if only they had got themselves vaccinated.\n\nMoreover, vaccination is a very dirty process, for the serum which is\nintroduced into the human body includes not only that of the cow, but\nalso of the actual small-pox patient. An average man would even vomit at\nthe mere sight of this stuff. If the hand happens to touch it, it is\nalways washed with soap. The mere suggestion of tasting it fills us with\nindignation and disgust. But how few of those who get themselves\nvaccinated realise that they are in effect eating this filthy stuff!\nMost people know that, in several diseases, medicines and liquid food\nare injected into the blood, and that they are assimilated into the\nsystem more rapidly than if they were taken through the mouth. The only\ndifference, in fact, between injection and the ordinary process of\neating through the mouth is that the assimilation in the former case is\ninstantaneous, while that in the latter is slow. And yet we do not\nshrink from getting ourselves vaccinated! As has been well said, cowards\ndie a living death, and our craze for vaccination is solely due to the\nfear of death or disfigurement by small-pox.\n\nI cannot also help feeling that vaccination is a violation of the\ndictates of religion and morality. The drinking of the blood of even\ndead animals is looked upon with horror even by habitual meat-eaters.\nYet, what is vaccination but the taking in of the poisoned blood of an\ninnocent living animal? Better far were it for God-fearing men that they\nshould a thousand times become the victims of small-pox and even die a\nterrible death than that they should be guilty of such an act of\nsacrilege.\n\nSeveral of the most thoughtful men in England have laboriously\ninvestigated the manifold evils of vaccination, and an Anti-Vaccination\nSociety has also been formed there. The members of this society have\ndeclared open war against vaccination, and many have even gone to gaol\nfor this cause. Their objections to vaccination are briefly as follows:\n\n(1) The preparation of the vaccine from the udder of cows or calves\nentails untold suffering on thousands of innocent creatures, and this\ncannot possibly be justified by any gains resulting from vaccination.\n\n(2) Vaccination, instead of doing good, works considerable mischief by\ngiving rise to many new diseases. Even its advocates cannot deny that,\nafter its introduction, many new diseases have come into being.\n\n(3) The vaccine that is prepared from the blood of a small-pox patient\nis likely to contain and transmit the germs of all the several diseases\nthat he may be suffering from.\n\n(4) There is no guarantee that small-pox will not attack the vaccinated.\nDr. Jenner, the inventor of vaccination, originally supposed that\nperfect immunity could be secured by a single injection on a single arm;\nbut when it was found to fail, it was asserted that vaccination on both\nthe arms would serve the purpose; and when even this proved ineffectual,\nit came to be held that both the arms should be vaccinated at more than\none place, and that it should also be renewed once in seven years.\nFinally, the period of immunity has further been reduced to three years!\nAll this clearly shows that doctors themselves have no definite views on\nthe matter. The truth is, as we have already said, that there is no\nsaying that small-pox will not attack the vaccinated, or that all cases\nof immunity must needs be due to vaccination.\n\n(5) The vaccine is a filthy substance, and it is foolish to expect that\none kind of filth can be removed by another.\n\nBy these and similar arguments, this society has already produced a\nlarge volume of public opinion against vaccination. In a certain town,\nfor instance, a large proportion of the people refuse to be vaccinated,\nand yet statistics prove that they are singularly free from disease. The\nfact of the matter is that it is only the self-interest of doctors that\nstands in the way of the abolition of this inhuman practice, for the\nfear of losing the large incomes that they at present derive from this\nsource blinds them to the countless evils which it brings. There are,\nhowever, a few doctors who recognise these evils, and who are determined\nopponents of vaccination.\n\nThose who are conscientious objectors to vaccination should, of course,\nhave the courage to face all penalties or persecutions to which they may\nbe subjected by law, and stand alone, if need be, against the whole\nworld, in defence of their conviction. Those who object to it merely on\nthe grounds of health should acquire a complete mastery of the subject,\nand should be able to convince others of the correctness of their views,\nand convert them into adopting those views in practice. But those who\nhave neither definite views on the subject nor courage enough to stand\nup for their convictions should no doubt obey the laws of the state, and\nshape their conduct in deference to the opinions and practices of the\nworld around them.\n\nThose who object to vaccination should observe all the more strictly the\nlaws of health already explained; for the strict observance of these\nlaws ensures in the system those vital forces which counteract all\ndisease germs, and is, therefore, the best protection against small-pox\nas well as other diseases. If, while objecting to the introduction of\nthe poisonous vaccine into the system, they surrendered themselves to\nthe still more fatal poison of sensuality, they would undoubtedly\nforfeit their right to ask the world to accept their views on the\nmatter.\n\nWhen small-pox has actually appeared, the best treatment is the\n\"Wet-Sheet-Pack\", which should be applied three times a day. It relieves\nthe fever, and the sores heal rapidly. There is no need at all to apply\noils or ointments on the sores. If possible, a mud-poultice should be\napplied in one or two places. The diet should consist of rice, and light\nfresh fruits, all rich fruits like date and almond being avoided.\nNormally the sores should begin to heal under the \"Wet-Sheet-Pack\" in\nless than a week; if they do not, it means that the poison in the system\nhas not been completely expelled. Instead of looking upon small-pox as a\nterrible disease, we should regard it as one of Nature's best expedients\nfor getting rid of the accumulated poison in the body, and the\nrestoration of normal health.\n\nAfter an attack of small-pox, the patient remains weak for sometime, and\nin some cases even suffers from other ailments. But this is due not to\nthe small-pox itself; but to the wrong remedies employed to cure it.\nThus, the use of quinine in fever often results in deafness, and even\nleads to the extreme form of it known as \"quininism\". So too, the\nemployment of mercury in venereal diseases leads to many new forms of\ndisease. Then again, too frequent use of purgatives in constipation\nbrings on ailments like the piles. The only sound system of treatment is\nthat which attempts to remove the root-causes of disease by a strict\nobservance of the fundamental laws of health. Even the costly _Bhasmas_\nwhich are supposed to be unfailing remedies for such diseases are in\neffect highly injurious; for, although they may seem to do some good,\nthey excite the evil passions, and ultimately ruin the health.\n\nAfter the vesicles on the body have given place to scabs, olive oil\nshould be constantly applied, and the patient bathed every day. Then the\nscabs rapidly fall off, and even the pocks soon disappear, the skin\nrecovering its normal colour and freshness.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nOTHER CONTAGIOUS DISEASES\n\n\nWe do not dread chicken-pox so much as its elder sister, since it is not\nso fatal, and does not cause disfigurement and the like. It is, however,\nexactly the same as small-pox in other respects, and should therefore\nbe dealt with in the same way.\n\nBubonic Plague is a terrible disease, and has accounted for the death of\nmillions of our people since the year 1896, when it first made its real\nentry into our land. The doctors, in spite of all their investigations,\nhave not yet been able to invent a sure remedy for it. Now-a-days the\npractice of inoculation has come into vogue, and the belief has gained\nground that an attack of plague may be obviated by it. But inoculation\nfor plague is as bad and as sinful as vaccination for small-pox.\nAlthough no sure remedy has been devised for this disease, we will\nventure to suggest the following treatment to those who have full faith\nin Providence, and who are not afraid of death.\n\n(1) The \"Wet-Sheet-Pack\" should be applied as soon as the first symptoms\nof fever appear.\n\n(2) A thick mud-poultice should be applied to the bubo.\n\n(3) The patient should be completely starved.\n\n(4) If he feels thirsty, he should be given lime-juice in cold water.\n\n(5) He should be made to lie in the open air.\n\n(6) There should not be more than one attendant by the side of the\npatient.\n\nWe can confidently assert that, if plague can be cured by any treatment\nat all, it can be cured by this.\n\nThough the exact origin and causes of plague are yet unknown, it is\nundoubted that rats have something to do with its communication. We\nshould, therefore, take all precautions, in a plague-infected area, to\nprevent the approach of rats in our dwellings; if we cannot get rid of\nthem, we should vacate the house.\n\nThe best remedy to prevent an attack of plague is, of course, to follow\nstrictly the laws of health,--to live in the open air, to eat plain\nwholesome food and in moderation, to take good exercise, to keep the\nhouse neat and clean, to avoid all evil habits, and, in short, lead a\nlife of utter simplicity and purity. Even in normal times our lives\nshould be such, but, in times of plague and other epidemics, we should\nbe doubly careful.\n\nPneumonic Plague is an even more dangerous form of this disease. Its\nattack is sudden and almost invariably fatal. The patient has very high\nfever, feels extreme difficulty in breathing, and in most cases, is\nrendered unconscious. This form of plague broke out in Johannesburg in\n1904, and as has been already said,[2] only one man escaped alive out of\nthe 23 who were attacked. The treatment for this disease is just the\nsame as that for Bubonic Plague, with this difference that the poultice\nshould be applied in this case to both sides of the chest. If there be\nno time to try the \"Wet-Sheet-Pack\", a thin poultice of mud should be\napplied to the head. Needless to say, here as in other cases, prevention\nis better than cure.\n\n  [2] Part I, chap. V\n\nWe are terribly afraid of cholera, as of plague, but in fact, it is much\nless fatal. Here the \"Wet-Sheet-Pack\", however, is of no effect, but the\nmud-poultice should be applied to the stomach, and where there is a\ntingling sensation, the affected part should be warmed with a bottle\nfilled with warm water. The feet should be rubbed with mustard-oil, and\nthe patient should be starved. Care should be taken to see that he does\nnot get alarmed. If the motions are too frequent, the patient should not\nbe repeatedly taken out of bed, but a flat shallow vessel should be\nplaced underneath to receive the stools. If these precautions are taken\nin due time, there is little fear of danger. This disease generally\nbreaks out in the hot season, when we generally eat all sorts of unripe\nand over-ripe fruits in immoderate quantities and in addition to our\nordinary food. The water also that we drink during this season is often\ndirty, as the quantity of it in wells and tanks is small, and we take no\ntrouble to boil or filter it. Then again, the stools of the patients\nbeing allowed to lie exposed, the germs of the disease are communicated\nthrough the air. Indeed, when we consider how little heed we pay to\nthese most elementary facts and principles, we can only wonder that we\nare not more often attacked by these terrible diseases.\n\nDuring the prevalence of cholera, we should eat light food in\nmoderation. We should breathe plenty of fresh air; and the water that we\ndrink should always be thoroughly boiled, and filtered with a thick\nclean piece of cloth. The stools of the patient should be covered up\nwith a thick layer of earth. Indeed, even in normal times, we should\ninvariably cover up the stools with ashes or loose earth. If we do so,\nthere would be much less danger of the spread of disease. Even the lower\nanimals like the cat take this precaution, but we are worse than they in\nthis respect.\n\nIt should also be thoroughly impressed on the minds of persons suffering\nfrom contagious diseases, as well as those around them, that they\nshould, under no circumstances, give way to panic, for fear always\nparalyses the nerves and increases the danger of fatality.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nMATERNITY AND CHILD-BIRTH\n\n\nOur object in the foregoing chapters has been to point out the unity of\norigin and treatment of some of the more common diseases. We are,\nindeed, fully aware that those who are the constant victims of disease,\nand who are constantly oppressed by the fear of death, will still\ncontinue to put themselves at the mercy of doctors, in spite of all that\nwe might say against it. We venture to think, however, that there would\nbe at least a few who are willing to cure themselves of their diseases\nby purely natural processes, so as to save themselves from all further\nattacks; and such persons would surely find it worth while to follow the\nsimple directions we have given. Before concluding this book, we will\nalso give a few hints on maternity and the care of the child, as well as\nsome common accidents.\n\nIn the lower orders of the animal creation, the pangs of child-birth are\naltogether unknown. The same should really be the case with perfectly\nhealthy women. In fact, most women in the country regard child-birth as\nquite an ordinary matter; they continue to do their normal work till\nalmost the last moment, and experience hardly any pain at the time of\ndelivery. Women employed in labour have also been known to be able very\noften to return to work almost immediately after child-birth.\n\nHow comes it, then, that women in towns and cities have to endure so\nmuch pain and suffering at the time of child-birth? And why is it that\nthey have to receive special treatment before and after the delivery?\n\nThe answer is simple and obvious. The women in towns have to lead an\nunnatural life. Their food, their costume, their mode of life, in\ngeneral, offend against the natural laws of healthy living. Further,\nbesides becoming pregnant at a premature age, they are the sad victims\nof men's lust even after pregnancy, as well as immediately after\nchild-birth, so that conception again takes place at too short an\ninterval. This is the state of utter misery and wretchedness in which\nlakhs of our young girls and women find themselves in our country\nto-day. To my mind, life under such conditions is little removed from\nthe tortures of hell. So long as men continue to behave so monstrously,\nthere can be no hope of happiness for our women. Many men put the blame\non the women's shoulders; but it is none of our business here to weigh\nthe relative guilt of man and woman in this matter. We are only\nconcerned to recognise the existence of the evil, and to point out its\ncure. Let all married people realise, once for all, that, so long as\nsexual enjoyment at a premature age, as well as during pregnancy and\nsoon after child-birth, does not cease to exist in our land, an easy and\npainless child-birth must remain a wild dream. Women silently endure the\npangs of child-birth, as well as the subsequent period of confinement,\nunder the wrong notion that they are inevitable, but they fail to see\nhow their own ignorance and weakness of will make their children grow\nweaker and droop from day to day. It is the clear duty of every man and\nwoman to try to avert this calamity at any cost. If even a single man\nand woman should do their duty in this matter, to that extent it would\nmean the elevation of the world. And this is clearly a matter in which\nno man need or should wait for another's example.\n\nIt follows, then, that the very first duty of the husband is wholly to\nabstain from all sexual intercourse with the wife from the moment of\nconception. And great is the responsibility that rests on the wife\nduring the nine months that follow. She should be made to realise that\nthe character of the child to be born will depend entirely on her life\nand conduct during this sacred period. If she fills her mind with love\nfor all things that are good and noble, the child will also manifest the\nsame disposition; if, on the other hand, she gives way to anger and\nother evil passions, her child will necessarily inherit the same. Hence\nin these nine months, she should engage herself constantly in good\nworks, free her mind from all fear and worry, give no room for any evil\nthoughts or feelings, keep out all untruth from her life, and waste not\na moment in idle talk or deed. The child that is born of such a\nmother,--how can it help being noble and strong?\n\nThe pregnant woman should, of course, keep her body as pure as her mind.\nShe should breathe plenty of fresh air, and eat only so much of plain\nand wholesome food as she can easily digest. If she attends to all the\ndirections already given in the matter of diet etc., she would have no\nneed at all to seek the aid of doctors. If she suffers from\nconstipation, the proportion of olive oil in the diet should be\nincreased; and in cases of nausea or vomitting, she should take juice of\nlime in water without sugar. All spices and condiments should be\nscrupulously avoided.\n\nThe yearning for various new things that attends a woman in pregnancy\nmay be restrained by the use of \"Kuhne Baths\". This is also useful in\nincreasing her strength and vitality, and in easing the pangs of\nchild-birth. It is also necessary to steel her mind against such\nyearnings by nipping in the bud each desire as it comes. The parents\nshould be constantly mindful of the welfare of the child in the womb.\n\nIt is also the husband's duty during this period to refrain from all\nwranglings with his wife, and to conduct himself in such a way as to\nmake her cheerful and happy. She should be relieved of the heavier\nduties of household management, and made to walk for some time every day\nin fresh air. And on no account should she be given any drugs or\nmedicines during the period.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nCARE OF THE CHILD\n\n\nWe do not propose in this chapter to describe the duties of a midwife or\nwet nurse, but only to point out how the child should be cared for after\nbirth. Those who have read the foregoing chapters need not be told how\ninjurious it is to keep the mother during the period of confinement in a\ndark and ill-ventilated closet and to make her lie on a dirty bed with a\nfire underneath. These practices, however time-honoured they may be, are\nnevertheless fraught with dangerous consequences. No doubt, during the\ncold season, the mother should be kept warm, but this is best done by\nusing good blankets. If the apartment is too cold and a fire has to be\nkept, it must be lighted outside and only brought in when all the smoke\nhas disappeared, and even then it should not be kept under the cot on\nwhich she lies. Warmth may also be given by keeping bottles of hot water\non the bed. All the clothes and sheets should be thoroughly cleansed\nafter child-birth, and before being used again.\n\nAs the health of the child will depend entirely on that of the mother,\nspecial attention must be paid to her diet and mode of living. If she is\nfed on wheat, with plenty of good fruits like the plantain, and olive\noil she would feel warm and strong, and have plenty of milk. Olive oil\ngives aperient properties to the mother's milk, and thus serves to keep\nthe child free from constipation. If the child is unwell, attention must\nbe turned to the state of the mother's health. Administering drugs to\nthe child is as good as murdering it, for the child with its delicate\nconstitution, easily succumbs to their poisonous effects. Hence the\nmedicine should be administered to the mother, so that its beneficial\nproperties may be transmitted to the child through her milk. If the\nchild suffers, as it often does, from cough or loose bowels, there is no\ncause for alarm; we should wait for a day or so, and try to get at the\nroot of the trouble, and then remove it. Making fuss over it and falling\ninto a panic only makes matters worse.\n\nThe child should invariably be bathed in tepid water. Its clothing\nshould be as little as possible; for a few months it is best to have\nnone at all. The child should be laid on a thin soft white sheet and\ncovered with a warm cloth. This will obviate the need for the use of\nshirts, prevent the clothes from getting dirty, and make the child hardy\nand strong. A fine piece of cloth folded into four should be placed over\nthe navel-string, and kept in position by a band over it. The practice\nof tying a thread to the navel-string and hanging it round the neck is\nhighly injurious. The navel-band should be kept loose. If the part round\nthe navel be moist, fine well-sifted flour may be gently applied over\nit.\n\nAs long as the supply of the mother's milk is sufficient, the child\nshould be fed exclusively on it; but, when it gets insufficient, fried\nwheat well powdered, and mixed with hot water and a little of jaggery,\nmay be used as a substitute with quite good results. Half a plantain\nwell mashed and mixed with half a spoonful of olive oil is also\nparticularly beneficial. If cow's milk has to be given, it should at\nfirst be mixed with water in the proportion of three to one, and then\nheated until it just begins to boil, when a little of pure jaggery\nshould also be added. The use of sugar instead of jaggery is harmful.\nThe child should gradually be accustomed to a fruit-diet, so that its\nblood may be kept pure from the very beginning, and it may grow manly\nand bright. Those mothers who begin to feed their children on things\nlike rice, vegetables and _dhall_, as soon as or even before its teeth\nhave appeared, are doing them infinite harm. Needless to say, coffee and\ntea should be strictly eschewed.\n\nWhen the child has grown big enough to walk, it may be clothed with\n_kurta_ and the like, but its feet should still be kept bare, so that it\nmay be free to roam about at will. The use of shoes prevents the free\ncirculation of blood and the development of hardy feet and legs.\nDressing the child in silk or lace cloths, with cap and coat, and\nornaments, is a barbarous practice. Our attempt to enhance by such\nridiculous means the beauty that Nature has given, only bespeaks our\nvanity and ignorance. We should always remember that the education of\nthe child really begins from its very birth, and is best given by the\nparents themselves. The use of threats and punishments, and the practice\nof gorging the children with food, are an outrage on the principles of\ntrue education. As the old saying has it, \"like parent, like child\";\nhence the example and practice of the parents necessarily shape the\nconduct and character of the children. If they are weaklings, their\nchildren also grow up weak and delicate; if they talk clearly and\ndistinctly, so too will the children; but if they talk with a lisp, the\nchildren will also learn to do so. If they use foul language, or are\naddicted to bad habits, the children necessarily imitate them, and\ndevelop into bad characters. In fact, there is no field of human\nactivity in which the child does not imitate the example of its parents.\n\nWe see, then, how heavy is the responsibility that rests on the\nshoulders of parents. The very first duty of a man is to give such\neducation to his children as will make them honest and truthful, and an\nornament to the society in which they live. In the animal and vegetable\nkingdoms, the offspring invariably takes after the parent. Man alone has\nviolated this law of Nature. It is only among men that we see such\nincongruities as vicious children being born to virtuous parents, or\nsickly ones to the healthy. This is due to the fact that we\nthoughtlessly become parents when we are not mature enough to assume the\nresponsibilities of that position. It is the solemn duty of all virtuous\nparents to train their children in noble ways. This requires that both\nthe father and the mother should themselves have received a sound\neducation. Where the parents lack such education and are aware of their\nimperfections, it is their duty to entrust their children to the care of\nproper guardians. It is foolish to expect that a high character can be\ndeveloped in the children by merely sending them to school. Where the\ntraining given at school is inconsistent with that given at home, there\ncan be no hope of improvement for the child.\n\nAs already pointed out, the true education of the child begins from the\nvery moment of its birth. The rudiments of knowledge are imbibed almost\nin the course of play. This, indeed, was the ancient tradition; the\npractice of sending children to school is a growth of yesterday. If only\nthe parents would do their duty by their children, there would be no\nlimit to the possibilities of their advancement. But, in fact, we make\nplaythings of our children. We deck their persons with fine clothes and\njewels, we gorge them with sweetmeats, and spoil them from their very\ninfancy by fondlings and caresses. We let them go unchecked on their way\nin our false affection for them. Being ourselves miserly, sensuous,\ndishonest, slothful and uncleanly, is it to be wondered at that our\nchildren should follow in our foot steps, and turn out weak and vicious,\nselfish and slothful, sensuous and immoral? Let all thoughtful parents\nponder well over these matters; for on them depends the future of our\nland.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nSOME ACCIDENTS: DROWNING\n\n\nWe will now turn our attention to some of the more common accidents, and\nthe methods of dealing with them. A knowledge of these things is\nessential to everybody, so that timely help may be rendered, and the\nloss of many precious lives averted. Even children should be taught to\ndeal with these cases, as in that way they are the more likely to grow\nup kind and thoughtful citizens.\n\nAnd first we will deal with drowning. As man cannot live without air for\nmore than 5 minutes at the most, little life generally remains in a\ndrowning man taken out of water. Immediate steps should, therefore, be\ntaken to bring him back to life. Two things have specially to be done\nfor these,--artificial respiration, and the application of warmth. We\nshould not forget that very often such 'First aid' has to be rendered by\nthe side of tanks and rivers, where all the needed materials are not\neasily available, and such aid can be most effectual only when there are\nat least two or three men on the spot. The first-aider should also\npossess the qualities of resourcefulness, patience, and briskness; if he\nhimself loses his presence of mind, he can do nothing. So too, if the\nattendants begin to discuss methods, or quarrel over details, there is\nno hope for the man. The best one in the party should lead, and the\nothers should implicitly follow his directions.\n\nAs soon as the man is taken out of water, his wet clothes should be\nremoved, and his body wiped dry. Then he should be made to lie on his\nface, with his hands under the head. Then, with our hand on his chest,\nwe should remove from his mouth the water and dirt that might have got\nin. At this time his tongue would come out of his mouth, when it should\nbe caught hold of with a kerchief, and held till consciousness returns.\nThen he should at once be turned over, with the head and the chest a\nlittle raised above the feet. Then one of the attendants should kneel by\nhis head, and slowly spread out and straighten his arms on either side.\nBy this means his ribs will be raised, and the air outside can enter\ninto his body; then his hands should be quickly brought back and folded\non his chest, so that the chest may contract and the air be expelled. In\naddition to this, hot and cold water should be taken in the hands and\npoured on his chest. If a fire can be lighted or procured, the man\nshould be warmed with it. Then all the available clothes should be\nwrapped round his body, which should be thoroughly rubbed for warmth.\nAll this should be tried for a long time without losing hope. In some\ncases, such methods have to be applied for several hours on end before\nbreathing is restored. As soon as signs of consciousness appear, some\nhot drink should be administered. The juice of lime in hot water, or\ndecoction of cloves, pepper, and the bark of the bay-tree, will be found\nspecially effective. The smell of tobacco may also prove useful. People\nshould not be allowed to crowd round the patient, and obstruct the free\npassage of air.\n\nThe signs of death in such cases are the following. The complete\ncessation of breathing and the beating of heart and lungs, as indicated\nby a piece of peacock-feather held near the nose remaining quite steady,\nor a mirror held near the mouth being undimmed by the moisture in the\nbreath; the eyes remaining fixed and half-open, with heavy eye-lids; the\njaws getting fixed; the fingers getting crooked; the tongue protruding\nbetween the teeth; the mouth getting frothy; nose getting red; the whole\nbody turning pale. If all these signs simultaneously appear, we may\nconclude that the man is dead. In some rare cases, life may still remain\neven when all these signs are present. The only conclusive test of death\nis the setting in of decomposition. Hence the patient should never be\ngiven up for lost, until after a long and patient application of\nremedial measures.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nSOME ACCIDENTS--(_Contd._)\n\nBURNS AND SCALDS\n\n\nVery often when a man's clothes catch fire, we get into a panic, and,\ninstead of helping the injured, make matters worse by our ignorance. It\nis our duty, therefore, to know exactly what to do in such cases.\n\nThe person whose clothes have caught fire should not lose his presence\nof mind. If the fire is only at one edge of the cloth, it should at once\nbe squeezed out with the hands; but if it has spread over the whole\ncloth or a large portion of it, the man should at once lie down and roll\non the floor. If a thick cloth like a carpet be available, it should at\nonce be wrapped round his body; and if water is at hand, it should also\nbe poured over it. As soon as the fire has been put out, we should find\nout if there are burns in any part of the body. The cloth would\ngenerally stick to the body where there are burns, in which case it\nshould not be forcibly torn off, but gently snipped off with a pair of\nscissors, leaving the affected parts undisturbed, and taking care to see\nthat the skin does not come off. Immediately after this, poultices of\npure mud should be applied to all these places, and kept in position by\nbandages. This will instantly relieve the burning, and ease the\npatient's suffering. The poultices may as well be applied over the\nportions of the cloth which stick on to the body. They should be renewed\nas soon as they begin to get dry; there is no reason to fear the touch\nof cold water.\n\nWhere this sort of first aid has not been rendered, the following\ndirections will be found very useful. Fresh plantain leaves well smeared\nwith olive or sweet oil should be applied over the burns. If plantain\nleaves are not available, pieces of cloth may be used. A mixture of\nlinseed oil and lime-water in equal proportions may also be applied with\ngreat advantage. The portions of cloth which adhere to the burns may be\neasily removed by moistening them with a mixture of tepid milk and\nwater. The first bandage of oil should be removed after two days, and\nafterwards fresh bandages applied every day. If blisters have formed on\nthe burnt surface, they should be pricked, but the skin need not\nnecessarily be removed.\n\nIf the skin has simply got red by the burn, there is no more effective\nremedy than the application of a mud poultice. If the fingers have been\nburnt, care should be taken, when the poultice is applied, that they do\nnot touch against one another. This same treatment may be applied in\ncases of acid-burns, and scalds of every description.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nSOME ACCIDENTS--(_Contd._)\n\nSNAKE-BITE\n\n\nThere is no limit to the superstitions current among us in regard to\nsnakes. From time immemorial we have cultivated a terrible fear of the\nsnake; we even dread the very mention of its name. The Hindus worship\nthe serpent, and have set apart a day in the year (_Nagapanchami_) for\nthat purpose. They suppose that the earth is supported by the great\nserpent Sesha. God Vishnu is called _Seshasayee_, as he is supposed to\nsleep on the Serpent-God; and God Siva is supposed to have a garland of\nserpents round his neck! We say that such and such a thing cannot be\ndescribed even by the thousand-tongued Adisesha, implying our belief in\nthe snake's knowledge and discretion. The serpent Karkotaka is said to\nhave bitten King Nala and deformed him, so that he might not suffer any\nharm in the course of his wanderings. Such conceptions are also to be\nmet with among the Christian nations of the West. In English a man is\nvery often described to be as wise and cunning as a serpent. And in the\nBible, Satan is said to have assumed the shape of a serpent in order to\ntempt Eve.\n\nThe real reason for the popular dread of snakes is obvious. If the\nsnake's poison should spread over the whole body, death must\nnecessarily ensue; and since the idea of death is so dreadful to us, we\ndread the very name of a snake. Hence, our worship of the snake is\nreally based on our fear. If the snake were a little creature, it would\nhardly be worshipped by us; but since it is a big creature, and a\nstrangely fascinating one, it has come to be deified and worshipped.\n\nThe Western scientists of to-day hold that the snake is merely a\ncreature of instinct, and it should be destroyed forthwith wherever\nfound. From the official statistics, we gather that not less than 20,000\npersons die every year in India of snake-bite alone. The destruction of\nevery venomous snake is rewarded by the state, but it is really a\nquestion if the country has benefitted by it in any way. We find from\nexperience that a snake never bites wantonly, but only as a retaliatory\nmeasure when it is molested in any way. Does this not bespeak its\ndiscretion, or at the least its innocence? The attempt to rid Hindustan,\nor any portion thereof, of snakes is as ridiculous and futile as trying\nto wrestle with the air. It may be possible to prevent snakes coming to\na particular place by a systematic process of extermination, but this\ncan never be done on a large scale. In a vast country like India, it\nwould be an altogether foolish enterprise to try to avoid snake-bites by\nwholesale destruction of the snakes.\n\nLet us never forget that the serpents have been created by the same God\nwho created us and all other creatures. God's ways are inscrutable, but\nwe may rest assured that He did not create animals like the lion and the\ntiger, the serpent and the scorpion, in order to bring about the\ndestruction of the human race. If the serpents were to meet in council\nand conclude that man has been created by God for their destruction,\nseeing that he generally destroys a snake wherever found, should we\napprove of their conclusion? Surely not. In the same way, we are wrong\nin regarding the serpent as a natural enemy of man.\n\nThe great St. Francis of Asissi, who used to roam about the forests, was\nnot hurt by the serpents or the wild beasts, but they even lived on\nterms of intimacy with him. So too, thousands of _Yogis_ and _Fakirs_\nlive in the forests of Hindustan, amidst lions and tigers and serpents,\nbut we never hear of their meeting death at the hands of these animals.\nIt might, however, be contended that they must certainly be meeting\ntheir death in the forests, but that we do not hear of it, as we live so\nfar away. Granted; but we cannot deny that the number of _Yogis_ that\nlive in the forests is nothing in comparison with that of the serpents\nand wild beasts, so that, if these animals were really the natural\nenemies of man, the whole race of _Yogis_ and other dwellers in the\nforests should become very rapidly extinct, especially since they have\nno weapons with which to defend themselves against their attacks. But\nthey have by no means become extinct, and we may conclude, therefore,\nthat they have been allowed to live unmolested in the forests by the\nserpents and wild beasts. In fact, I have implicit faith in the doctrine\nthat, so long as man is not inimical to the other creatures, they will\nnot be inimical to him. Love is the greatest of the attributes of man.\nWithout it the worship of God would be an empty nothing. It is, in\nshort, the root of all religion whatsoever.\n\nBesides, why should we not regard the cruelty of the serpents and the\nwild beasts as merely the product and reflection of man's own nature?\nAre we any the less murderous than they? Are not our tongues as venomous\nas the serpent's fangs? Do we not prey upon our innocent brethren much\nin the same way as lions and leopards? All scriptures proclaim that,\nwhen man becomes absolutely harmless, all the other animals will begin\nto live on terms of intimacy with him. When feuds and conflicts as\nfierce as that between the lion and the lamb are going on within our own\nbreasts, is it any wonder that such things should go on in the external\nworld? For, we are but the reflection of the world around us; all the\nfeatures of the external world are found reflected in the inner world\nof our mind. When we change our nature, the world around should also\ninevitably change. Do we not find that the world assumes a totally\ndifferent aspect to those individual men and women who change their own\nnature by strenuous self-discipline? This is the great mystery of God's\ncreation as well as the great secret of true happiness. Our happiness or\notherwise rests entirely upon what we are; we have no need to depend on\nother people at all in this matter.\n\nOur excuse for writing at such length on snake-bite is this. Rather than\nmerely prescribe cure for snake-bite, we thought it as well to go a\nlittle more deeply into the matter, and point out the best way of\ngetting rid of our foolish fears. If even a single reader were to adopt\nin practice the principles we have been discussing, we shall consider\nour effort amply rewarded. Moreover, our object in writing these pages\nis not merely to give the generally accepted hygienic principles, but to\ngo to the root of the matter, and deal with the most fundamental\nprinciples of health.\n\nModern investigations have also shown that the man who is perfectly\nhealthy, whose blood has not been tainted by excess of heat, and whose\nfood is wholesome and _Satvic_, is not immediately affected by the\npoison of the snake, but that, on the other hand, its effect is\ninstantaneous as well as fatal on the man whose blood has been tainted\nby drink or unwholesome food. One doctor goes so far as to say that the\nblood of the man who eschews salt and the like, and lives exclusively on\na fruit-diet, remains so pure that no kind of poison can have any effect\non him. I have not had enough experience myself to say how far this is\ntrue. The man whose diet has been free from salt and the like for only\none or two years cannot be said to have attained this stage of perfect\nimmunity, for the blood which has been tainted and poisoned by bad\npractices continued for years cannot be brought back to its normal state\nof purity in the short period of a year or two.\n\nIt has further been scientifically demonstrated that a man under the\ninfluence of fear or anger is much more and much sooner, affected by\npoison than when in the normal condition. Everybody knows how fear and\nanger make the pulse and the heart beat faster than the normal rate, and\nthe quicker the flow of blood in the veins, the greater the heat\ngenerated. But the heat generated by evil passions is not healthy, but\nextremely harmful. Anger is, indeed, nothing but a variety of fever.\nHence the best antidote against snake-bite is to use pure and _Satvic_\nfood in moderation, to rid our minds of all evil passions like anger and\nfear, to refrain from giving way to panic, to retain perfect confidence\nin the saving power of a pure and godly life, and to remain\nself-possessed in the full faith that we are ever in God's hands, and\nthat the span of life which He has allotted to us can on no account be\ncurtailed or exceeded.\n\nDr. Fitz-Seaman, the Director of the Port Elizabeth Museum, who has\ndevoted a large portion of his life to the study of snakes, their\nvarieties and their habits, and who is a great authority on snake-bite\nand its cure, has told us, as a result of his numerous experiments, that\nthe majority of the so-called deaths by snake-bite are really caused by\nfear and the wrong remedies applied by quacks.\n\nWe should remember that all snakes are not venomous, and that even the\nbite of all venomous snakes is not immediately fatal either. Moreover,\nthe snakes do not always get an opportunity of injecting their venom\ninto the body of their victim. We should not, therefore, give way to\npanic even when we are bitten by a venomous serpent, especially since\nvery simple remedies are available, which can be applied by ourselves\nwithout any aid from others.\n\nThe part of the body immediately above the point at which the snake has\nbitten should be tied round with tight bandage, which should be further\nstrengthened by means of strong pencils or pieces of wood, so that the\npoison may not ascend through the veins. Then the wound should be cut\nhalf an inch deep with the fine point of a knife, so that the poisoned\nblood may freely flow, and the hollow should be filled with the dark-red\npowder sold in the bazaars and known as Potassium Permanganate. If this\nis not available, the blood issuing from the wound should be well sucked\nand spat out, by the patient himself or by somebody else, until all the\npoison has been removed. Of course, no man who has a wound on the lips\nor the tongue should be allowed to suck this poisoned blood. This\ntreatment should be applied within 7 minutes of the accident,--that is to\nsay, before the poison has had time to ascend and diffuse through the\nbody. As already mentioned, the German doctor who has specialised in\nmud-cure, claims to have cured snake-bite by burying the patient under\nfresh earth. Although I have not tried the use of mud in snake-bites, I\nhave unbounded faith in its efficacy from my experience in other cases.\nAfter the application of Potassium Permanganate (or the sucking out of\nthe blood, in the alternative,) a poultice of mud half an inch in\nthickness, and big enough to cover the whole region around and above the\naffected part, should be applied. There should be kept in every home a\nquantity of well-sifted and powdered mud in a tin ready for use. It\nshould be so kept as to be exposed to light and air, and free from\ndampness. Suitable bandages of cloth should also be kept so as to be\nwithin reach when needed. These will be found useful not only in\nsnake-bite, but in numberless other cases as well.\n\nIf the patient has lost consciousness, or if respiration seems to have\nceased, the process of artificial respiration already described in\nconnection with drowning should be resorted to. Hot water, or preferably\na decoction of cloves and the bark of the bay-tree, is very useful for\nrecovering consciousness. The patient should be kept in the open air,\nbut if his body seems to have taken cold, bottles of hot water should be\nemployed, or a piece of flannel dipped in hot water and wrung out should\nbe rubbed over the body, to produce warmth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nSOME ACCIDENTS--(_Contd._)\n\nSCORPION-STING\n\n\nOur familiar expression, \"May God never give any man the pain of\nscorpion-sting\", shows how keen that pain is. In fact, this pain is even\nsharper than that of snake-bite, but we do not dread it so much, since\nit is much less fatal. Indeed, as Dr. Moor has said, the man whose\nblood is perfectly pure has little to fear from the sting of a scorpion.\n\nThe treatment for scorpion-sting is very simple. The affected part\nshould be cut into with a sharp-pointed knife, and the blood that issues\nfrom it slightly sucked out. A small bandage tied tightly above this\nportion would prevent the spread of the poison, while a poultice of mud\nwould give immediate relief to the pain.\n\nSome writers advise us to tie a thick bandage of cloth over the affected\npart, wetted with a mixture of vinegar and water in equal proportions,\nor to keep the region around it immersed in salt water. But the poultice\nof mud is certainly the most effective remedy of all, as may be\npersonally tested by those who may have the misfortune to be stung by\nscorpions. The poultice should be as thick as possible; even two seers\nof mud would not be too much for the purpose. If the finger be stung,\nfor instance, the poultice should extend up to the elbow. If the hand be\nkept immersed for sometime in wet mud in a pretty large vessel, it would\ngive instant relief to the pain.\n\nThe stings of the centipede and other animals should be dealt with\nexactly as that of the scorpion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nCONCLUSION\n\n\nI have now said all that I had intended to say on the subject of health.\nAnd now, before finally taking leave of my readers, I will say a word or\ntwo on my object in writing these pages.\n\nOne question which I have asked myself again and again, in the course of\nwriting this book, is why I of all persons should write it. Is there any\njustification at all for one like me, who am no doctor, and whose\nknowledge of the matters dealt with in these pages must be necessarily\nimperfect, attempting to write a book of this kind?\n\nMy defence is this. The \"science\" of medicine is itself based upon\nimperfect knowledge, most of it being mere quackery. But this book, at\nany rate, has been prompted by the purest of motives. The attempt is\nhere made not so much to show how to cure diseases as to point out the\nmeans of preventing them. And a little reflection will show that the\nprevention of disease is a comparatively simple matter, not requiring\nmuch specialist knowledge, although it is by no means an easy thing to\nput these principles into practice. Our object has been to show the\nunity of origin and treatment of all diseases, so that all people may\nlearn to treat their diseases themselves when they do arise, as they\noften do, in spite of great care in the observance of the laws of\nhealth.\n\nBut, after all, why is good health so essential, so anxiously to be\nsought for? Our ordinary conduct would seem to indicate that we attach\nlittle value to health. If health is to be sought for in order that we\nmight indulge in luxury and pleasure, or pride ourselves over our body\nand regard it as an end in itself, then indeed it would be far better\nthat we should have bodies tainted with bad blood, by fat, and the like.\n\nAll religions agree in regarding the human body as an abode of God. Our\nbody has been given to us on the understanding that we should render\ndevoted service to God with its aid. It is our duty to keep it pure and\nunstained from within as well as from without, so as to render it back\nto the Giver, when the time comes for it, in the state of purity in\nwhich we got it. If we fulfil the terms of the contract to God's\nsatisfaction, He will surely reward us, and make us heirs to\nimmortality.\n\nThe bodies of all created beings have been gifted with the same senses,\nand the same capacity for seeing, hearing, smelling and the like; but\nthe human body is supreme among them all, and hence we call it a\n\"_Chintamani_,\" or a giver of all good. Man alone can worship God with\nknowledge and understanding. Where devotion to God is void of\nunderstanding, there can be no true salvation, and without salvation\nthere can be no true happiness. The body can be of real service only\nwhen we realise it to be a temple of God and make use of it for God's\nworship; otherwise it is no better than a filthy vessel of bones, flesh\nand blood, and the air and water issuing from it are worse than poison.\nThe things that come out of the body through the pores and other\npassages are so filthy that we cannot touch them or even think of them\nwithout disgust; and it requires very great effort to keep them\ntolerably clean. Is it not most disgraceful that, for the sake of this\nbody, we should stoop to falsehood and deceit, licentious practices and\neven worse? Is it not equally shameful that, for the sake of these\nvices, we should be so anxious to preserve this fragile frame of ours at\nany cost?\n\nThis is the truth of the matter in regard to our body; for the very\nthings which are the best or the most useful have inherent in them\ncapabilities of a corresponding mischief. Otherwise, we should hardly be\nable to appreciate them at their true worth. The light of the sun, which\nis the source of our life, and without which we cannot live for an hour,\nis also capable of burning all things to ashes. So too, a king may do\ninfinite good to his subjects, or be the source of untold mischief.\nIndeed, the body may be a good servant, but, when it becomes a master,\nits powers of evil are unlimited.\n\nThere is an incessant struggle going on within us between our Soul and\nSatan for the control of our body. If the soul gains the ascendancy, the\nbody becomes a most potent instrument of good; but, if the devil is\nvictorious in the struggle, it becomes a hot-bed of vice. Hell itself\nwould be preferable to the body which is the slave of vice, which is\nconstantly filled with decaying matter and which emits filthy odours,\nwhose hands and feet are employed in unworthy deeds, whose tongue is\nemployed in eating things that ought not to be eaten or in uttering\nlanguage that ought not to be uttered, whose eyes are employed in seeing\nthings that ought not to be seen, whose ears are employed in the hearing\nof things that ought not to be heard, and whose nose is employed in the\nsmelling of things that ought not to be smelt. But, while hell is never\nmistaken for heaven by anybody, our body which is rendered worse than\nhell by ourselves is, strangely enough, regarded by us as almost\nheavenly! So monstrous is our vanity, and so pitiful our pride, in this\nmatter! Those who make use of a palace as a latrine, or vice versa,\nmust certainly reap the fruit of their folly. So too, if, while our body\nis really in the Devil's hands, we should fancy that we are enjoying\ntrue health, we shall have only ourselves to thank for the terrible\nconsequences that are sure to follow.\n\nTo conclude, then our attempt in these pages has been to teach the great\ntruth that perfect health can be attained only by living in obedience to\nthe laws of God, and defying the power of Satan. True happiness is\nimpossible without true health, and true health is impossible without a\nrigid control of the palate. All the other senses will automatically\ncome under our control when the palate has been brought under control.\nAnd he who has conquered his senses has really conquered the whole\nworld, and he becomes a part of God. We cannot realise Rama by reading\nthe Ramayana, or Krishna by reading the Gita, or God by reading the\nKoran, or Christ by reading the Bible; the only means of realising them\nis by developing a pure and noble character. Character is based on\nvirtuous action, and virtuous action is grounded on Truth. Truth, then,\nis the source and foundation of all things that are good and great.\nHence, a fearless and unflinching pursuit of the ideal of Truth and\nRighteousness is the key-note of true health as of all else. And if we\nhave succeeded (in however feeble a measure) in bringing this grand\nfact home to our reader, our object in writing these pages would have\nbeen amply fulfilled.\n\n\n--FINIS--\n\n\n\n\n_ERRATA_\n\n\n   _Page_  _Line_  _For_             _Read_\n\n     2       2     _\u00eavam_             _\u00eava_\n    11       8     beings             being\n    40       3     _Kapah_            _Kapha_\n    41       6     had begun          begun\n    51      16     detial             detail\n    66      21     admire             pride\n    67      26     surley             surely\n    87      14     would              should\n    97       4     fus                pus\n   100       2     according          according to\n   102      16     Sriget             Siegel\n   104      11     wick               brick\n   108      15     vaccinations       vaccination\n   110      22     difference         deference\n   111      25     patients           patient\n   120       1     passion            passions\n   128      28     and                end\n   130      22     piece              pair\n   132       4     superstitious      superstitions\n   134    3, 9     god                God\n   137      25     vareity            a variety\n   138       3     Godly              godly\n   144      10     is                 are\n    33      18     brid               bird\n    79       3     that omit\n    88       2     some               none\n\n\nTHE HUXLEY PRESS, G. T. MADRAS.\n\n\n========================================================================\n\n\n\n\nGanesan's New Publications\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF EUROPEAN CIVILISATION\n\n   By S. E. Stokes with Foreword by C. F. Andrews.      Re. 1-0.\n\nIn this book Mr. Stokes shows how European civilisation by its\nprejudices of colour and race has miserably failed to satisfy the laws\nof true progress and needs of the modern world, and warns India of\ndestroying her unique culture by falling a prey to white imperialism.\n\n\nNATIONAL SELF-REALISATION\n\n   By S. E. Stokes                                      Re. 1-8.\n\nStudents of current Indian politics and workers for Swaraj will find in\nthis publication a very useful discussion of India's ultimate goal and\nthe methods of attaining it. The author though an American is well known\nas a sincere friend of the oppressed and to use the words of Mahatma\nGandhi \"Mr. Stokes is a convinced non-co-operator and a congressman. I\nthink I am right in saying that he has come to it by slow degrees. No\nIndian is giving such battle to the Government as Mr. Stokes. He has\nveritably become the guide, philosopher and friend of the Hillmen\".\n\n\nESSAYS: POLITICAL AND NATIONAL\n\n   By S. E. Stokes                                         Rs. 2.\n\nThis collection of essays is intended to stimulate thought on some of\nthe important problems that India has to solve in the field of\nEducation, religion and other aspects of national life.\n\n\nTHE TRUTH ABOUT INDIA\n\n   By H. M. Hyndman                                      As. 12.\n\nThis small book gives the main facts about India's plight under alien\ndomination in a boldly frank and appealing manner. The pages breathe\nthroughout the true Englishman's inextinguishable fire of freedom and\nrighteous indignation at oppression and exploitation of weak nations.\nThe author exposes the methods by which British domination was\nestablished in India and discusses the political and economic effects of\nsuch rule, uttering grave words of warning against the final nemesis.\nThe book deserves to be widely read and translated in the various\nvernaculars as a very necessary corrective to the distorted version of\nBritish Indian history taught in our schools.\n\n\nPost Box No. 427, Triplicane, Madras S.E.\n\n\n========================================================================\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes: Obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have\nbeen silently corrected. Similarly errors listed in the Errata at the\nend have also been corrected.","title":"A Guide to Health","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":35238}