The principles of physiology applied to the preservation of health, and to the improvement of physical and mental education / by Andrew Combe.
- Date:
- 1852
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The principles of physiology applied to the preservation of health, and to the improvement of physical and mental education / by Andrew Combe. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
32/376 page 8
![GENERAL ORIGIN OF BAD HEALTH EXPLAINED. though not so soon, as in the other case. Circumstances may more or less retard or modify the result; but tlie tendency of the vitiated air to un- dermine health, although more palpa- ble to our senses in the one case than in the other, is exactly the same in both. It is from giving attention only to tlie more striking cases, and overlooking the operation of the more permanent though slowly acting] influences, that so many persons when in health fail to perceive the effect of external circum- stances and modes of living in disturb- inff the actions of the various animal functions, however easily and deeply the very same persons may be impress- ed by all extraordinarij occurrences affecting them. Thus, when any one is taken ill, his relatives or friends become extremely anxious to have his room properly ventilated, his clothes frequently changed and carefully aired, his food properly regulated in quantity and quality, his skin cleaned and refreshed, his mind amused and tranquillized, his sleep rendered sound and undisturbed, and his body duly exercised ;—and they state as the rea- son for all this care, and most justly, that pure air, cleanliness, attention to diet, cheerfulness, regular exercise, and sound sleep, are all higlily condu- cive to recovery. Yet such is the in- consistency attendant on ignorance, that the patient is no sooner restored than both he and his guardians often become as careless and indifferent in regard to all such acts of obedience to the laws of health, as if their influ- ence had ceased, and their future neglect or observance could in no way affect him I Just as if it were not better, by a rational exercise of judgment, to preserve health when ive have it, than first to lose it, and then pay the penalty in suffering and dan- ger, as an indispensable preliminary to its restoration ! It is from the same prevailing fal- lacy of supposing that, because glaring mischief does not instantly follow ever v neglect of an organic law, no harm has been done—that we hear, for ex- ample, a dyspeptic invalid who seeks to gratify his palate, affirm that vege- tables, or pastry, or puddings, do not disagree with him, as he ate them on such a day and felt no inconvenience from doing so. The same assurance is given us in regard to late hours, heat- ed rooms, insufficient clothing, and all other sources of bad health, every one of which is defended by some I^atient or other, on the ground that he experienced no injury from them on a certain specified occasion. Yet the very same individuals, when the rule is applied, not to themselves, but to others, will often readily admit that such things are, and must be, very hurtful. Happy would it often be for suffer- ing man could he see beforehand the modicum of punishment which his multiplied aberrations from the laws of physiology are sure to bring upon him. But as, in the great majority of instances, the breach of the law is limited in extent, and becomes serious only by the frequency of its repetition, so is the punishment gradual in its infliction, and slow in manifesting its accumulated intensity; and this very gradation, and the distance of time at which the full effect is produced, are the reasons why man in his ignorance so often fails to trace the connection between his conduct in life and his broken health. But the connection subsists although he does not regard it, and the accumulated consequences come upon him when he least expects their appearance. It is precisely in the same way that the debility so generally complained of in spring by invalids and persons of a delicate constitution, and which renders that season of the year so for- midable in prospect and so fatal in reality, seems, in numerous instances, to result more from the accumulated effects of neglect during the preceding winter months, than from any thing inherent in the season itself. At the commencement of winter, such persons feel comparatively strong from the beneficial influences of the open air, light, and exercise, which they have enjoyed during the summer and autum- nal months. But, in proportion as they are deprived of these benefits](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21965353_0032.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
