The jewel and its casket : an address / delivered by George Black.

  • Black, George
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The jewel and its casket : an address / delivered by George Black. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    their want of knowledge is incalculable. Infants are given tea to drink several times a day ; biscuits and cakes are soaked in it and given them to eat; their nervous system is irritated and excited and brain troubles rendered more frequent and fatal in consequence. Surely the high estate of motherhood entails some obligations on those who have the sacred privilege of entering into it, and one of the first one might imagine was to know how to nourish and bring up children. In reality it is one of the last, and the penalty is paid in the awful sacri- fice of early human life. May I be permitted to direct attention to another subject that is exercising a very harmful influence upon the young ? I refer to tobacco smoking, and to the habit more especially of cigarette smok- ing that has sprung up amongst our chil- dren of late. The mischief that this is doing is terrible and cannot well be estimated at the present time; but a sad harvest of heart troubles, impaired vision, and stunted growth is in store for us in the near future. I trust that those who have any influ- ence with the young will do what they ean to check this pernicious habit and re- move at any rate one source of impaired health and vigour from our midst. I have spoken of the influences, or some of them, that tend to injure both the jewel and its casket, and I have tried to point out how a higher degree of health and strength may be obtained by the avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, flesh-meats, and, at any rate in the case of children, of tea and coffee. There are other hygienic measures which will be found powerful adjuncts in the eradication of morbid tendencies and in the prevention of disease. Of these I need but mention fresh air, sunlight, baths, exercise, and clothing, all of which exert a great influence in building up a healthy body and maintaining it in a state of the highest efficiency. The dread that many people have of fresh air is Surprising, and how the dainty
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