Adeline Knapp

“ Constant spitting is a bad habit in other ways. The saliva is meant to help digest the food. If one gets into the senseless habit of spitting all the time, the saliva is wasted and the digestion hurt. Then, too, it is an uncleanly habit. It makes floors and sidewalks filthy, and people who have been well brought up always have a feeling of disgust when they see any one spit in public places. If one must spit, he should do so in private, where no one need be disgusted by his act. Certainly no one who has regard for decency would ever spit upon the floor of a market. ”

“ None of the alcohol made in this country is refined; therefore it is full of impurities and very poisonous. Those who know the climate agree that the less alcohol of any sort one uses here, the better. Those soldiers and others who let it quite alone are the ones who best withstand the bad effects of the tropics and keep well and strong. Alcohol weakens the brain sooner than it does any other part of the body. A person cannot think clearly when he has had too much; he cannot walk straight, and often a man does things under its influence which he never would do if he had not been drinking it. ”

“ When we are asleep the body is relaxed, the pores of the skin are open, and we are in every way less able to resist chills and the bad effects of impure air. Sleep is a condition of helplessness, and we should protect ourselves in it.
A serious cause of disease, which people are just beginning to understand, is the mosquito. We have only lately come to know that this insect is the direct cause of the malaria which is so common, and so dangerous, here. Malaria is a germ disease. That is, it is a disease caused by germs which get into the blood. ”

“ Now, to each of us is intrusted one of these bodies to take care of, that it may do our work for us. Our work is not just to live for ourselves, but to do something useful in the world; to help it all to be better because we are here. ”

“ If everybody in the world did just what was right excepting one man, both that man and the rest of the world would suffer because of his doing wrong. If all the rest of the world were healthy and clean and he was not, the cleanliness and health of all the others would not save him from being dirty and unhealthy. Each one of us must do all that he can to help the rest of the world to be good and healthy and clean. ”

“ People who live in the tropics need less fat than those in colder countries. Away in the frozen north the Esquimaux eat great quantities of fat meat and oil, and even tallow, from which candles are made. They need much fat to keep them warm. In the tropics, on the other hand, people should eat but little fat. Lean meat is good, especially beef, but pork raised here is very unwholesome. The pigs themselves eat all manner of unclean things. They are the natural scavengers of the country, and the food which they eat makes their flesh unfit for us. ”

“ The heart is an engine. Put your hand over it and you can feel the steady throb of its beat, day and night. It is working all the time, whether you are awake or asleep. The business of the heart is to send blood to all 10parts of the body. It does this by driving the blood through tubes, called arteries and veins, that go all over the body. The arteries are deep down among the muscles, but some of the veins are close to the surface. We can see blue veins at the temples and on the backs of our hands. All the blood goes to every part of the body once in two minutes. ”

“ Children, as well as grown people, should feel in honor bound to take good care of the house and to fight against dirt and disease when these attack it.
The bathroom and water-closet of our house should be kept as clean as can be. They should be swept and washed every day, and no soiled clothing or towels should be allowed to lie about. Our enemies, the mosquitoes, are very fond of hiding about soiled clothing or that which has been worn and is not soiled enough to be sent to the laundry. ”

“ The dirt that gathers in the streets is of many sorts. A great deal is made by the horses and carabaos, mules and oxen, that draw loads about the city. The wheels of the vehicles, too, grind the stone pavement to dust, and this is blown about by the wind. Dead leaves drop from the trees, choke up the gutters, and, left to themselves, will make sodden masses of decayed vegetation in corners. Waste paper blows about, and 87all sorts of unclean things are thrown into the streets by careless people. It takes a small army of laborers to keep the streets in order. ”

“ We taste things with the tongue. Substances which do not dissolve in water have no taste. Even our food would have no taste if it were dry. The saliva must dissolve it before we can taste it. We can hurt the 79sense of taste by eating too fast, or by seasoning our food too strongly with pepper and other hot spices. Chewing the betel nut helps to destroy the sense of taste, and so does much use of alcohol. We need the sense of taste to tell us whether food is good or bad. Food which has a pleasant taste is more easily digested than that which we do not like. ”

“ The germ of malaria is a parasite which lives on the body of the mosquito. We can imagine how tiny it must be when we know that a great many of them find room to live on a single mosquito.
54Now, when the mosquito lights on a person and bites him, these germs often get into the little puncture which the insect makes to draw blood. In this way they get into the blood of the human being, and there they increase in numbers very fast. They poison the blood, the person becomes sick and weak, suffers from headache and other pains, and very often dies at last of malaria. ”

“ The low shoes without fastenings, into which so many Filipinos thrust their feet, give people who wear them an awkward, shuffling walk. A shoe which fits the foot well and is fastened upon it so that it does not flap at the heel is the only one that should be worn out-of-doors, and no shoes should be worn without stockings.
Every boy or girl who wants to be well must take exercise. If we do not use our muscles, they become weak and small. The brain suffers as well. When we exercise we not only strengthen our muscles, but we set the blood in quicker circulation. The heart must work faster ”

“ The roof of our house is a very important part. Most of the roofs in this country are of nipa or bamboo. These make a good protection against the sun’s rays, but they need great care, and should be often renewed, as the wind tears them so that they become leaky. They catch and hold the dust, and are always hatching-places for all sorts of insects. The roof of split bamboo is cheap, beautiful, and easy to make, but it is also easily blown away by a high wind. If we use it, we must fasten it with wire to the rafters and walls. ”

“ We shall learn, a little later, just how the food gets into the blood. We have seen that the heart sends the blood out through vessels, which are called arteries. This blood starts from the heart bright red, full of fresh air and food for the body. As it goes on its journey, each tissue takes from it what is needed to keep that part healthy, and at last the blood has 11given out all the good things with which it was loaded. It no longer carries food and fresh air, but is full of the impurities taken in on its journey. If something were not done to cleanse it, the man would die. ”

“ Here it is made a part of the blood, and is able to nourish all parts of the body.
All the food that cannot be dissolved is indigestible, and the body must get rid of it. Some of it passes off as solid matter, by way of the bowels; some is got rid of through the urine; some goes out with the breath, as we have seen; and a great deal goes off in the perspiration. This is why we need to bathe our bodies and to wash our clothing. The perspiration brings the bad matter to the surface, where it clings to the skin and the clothing until it is removed by washing. ”

“ Do you not see that some one has been chewing betel nut, and has spit close beside them, and the camotes are all spattered with the red stain?
It is a terrible thing that not even our markets can be kept clean from this bad habit of so many people. In some parts of the world the man who spit upon the sidewalk, the floor of a car, or in any public building would be arrested and taken to prison. ”

“ Boys who smoke do not grow so fast or so large as those who do not. Smoking injures the memory and makes people heavy and stupid; it makes them less inclined to take exercise, and so the muscles become weak; it hurts the digestion and makes the stomach weak. Besides these things, it induces the constant spitting so common in this country; and we have seen how hurtful this waste of the saliva is.
Chewing betel nut is even worse than smoking. If all of the betel juice is not spit out, some of it will be swallowed, and this is very bad indeed, as the betel acts like a poison on the system. ”

“ But dryness of the throat is only a sign by which the body makes known its need. Thirst is the cry of the fluids and tissues for water. It means that some part of the body is suffering for the precious fluid. ”

“ Fish caught in the river should not be bought unless they are alive; fresh-water fish spoil so quickly that unless alive when bought, they are not likely to be fit for food. Deep-sea fish may be bought dead, and are 38safe to eat if the gills are bright red and the scales clean and shiny. If the gills look dull and bluish, we should never think of buying the fish; for it has been out of the water too long. Crabs and other shellfish should always be bought alive, unless they are already cooked and frozen, as we see them in the cold storage house. ”

“ The food which a person eats is acted upon by the digestive fluids in the body and is turned over and dissolved until it becomes fluid itself. It is then taken up by the blood and carried to different parts of the body, so that each organ and muscle gets what it needs. ”

“ But under the very best circumstances shellfish should be sparingly used in this country, as they are the cause of much trouble of the digestion.
We will buy some rice to-day, but we must look at it carefully first. Good rice is clean and white. It is free from mold, and there should be no musty smell about it. If it has any such smell, we will not buy it, for it is unfit for food. It ought not to be fed, even to the chickens. Moldy and dirty rice is a common cause of the disease called beri-beri, which is so often fatal in tropical countries. ”

“ If we look at a drop of water under a microscope, which magnifies it many times, we shall see in the water a great number of moving specks which are really little animals. 22The animals are so small that thousands of them can live in a single drop of water as happily as they could in a whole ocean of room. They are called germs. Some of them are wholesome: they help to keep the water bright and sparkling and sweet, and make it pleasant to the taste. But some of them are very harmful: they produce many kinds of disease, most of which cause death. ”

“ If we have a zinc roof, however, we must build a garret between it and the living rooms,—a sort of air chamber for the sake of coolness; for when the sun beats down on the zinc roof, the metal gets very hot. This sort of roof is useful for catching rain water; after the first rain has washed off all the dust and dirt, then we may collect the rain water that falls from the roof into our cisterns, and have a plentiful, pure supply during the rainy season. ”

“ The impurities are breathed out with the air that leaves our lungs, and the blood once more becomes bright red and full of new life. In this way the blood is purified. Then it is sent back to the heart, all ready to start out again through the body. The whole journey is made every two minutes.
The third box, which we call the abdominal cavity, is separated from the chest by a broad, thin muscle, the diaphragm. The abdomen has a hard floor of bone, but the walls are soft, being made up only of the muscles and the lower ribs. ”

“ But while we defend the front door, we must not let enemies creep in at the back. Now, the deadliest enemy of human life in the tropics is dirt. We have to fight hard against dirt of every sort. Let us see, to-day, about building a house and keeping our enemy out of it.
45Every country must have its own particular kind of a house. The house suitable for a cold country would not do at all in the country where we are now. We do not need walls built so as to keep out cold and winds. We have no use for fires to fight off frost and chill. ”

“ But the sewers that run through the streets empty into the open moat that surrounds the walled city! It will become necessary, before many years, to fill this 86moat, to save the people of Manila from being killed by the gases that rise from it.
Damp walls, damp floors, damp rooms close to the ground, make the very best sort of places for dirt to gather. It is not enough that walls should be scraped and floors cleaned once in a while; they must be kept clean all the time. This is why sanitary inspectors go about the city to examine houses and walls and report on their condition. ”

“ We should make sure that all vegetables which we buy are fresh and in good condition. 35Food the least bit decayed should never be eaten. It is very dangerous in this climate, where people are more likely than in colder countries to have trouble of the stomach and bowels. Not even cooking will make decayed vegetables fit to eat. The poison in them irritates the lining of the food canal and makes us sick. Besides, there is very little nourishment in poor vegetables; so that if they are eaten, the blood gets thin and cannot feed the body. ”

“ The sole of the foot is a very delicate surface; a great many nerves and blood vessels center in the instep, and any injury to these may produce the disease called lockjaw, which usually results fatally. Even if nothing so serious as this happens, the foot is often injured by bruising or by other hurts. The feet are susceptible to chill, especially in the rainy season, when they should be kept dry and warm. Disease is often taken through the feet, especially such diseases as the bubonic plague, and the different 70kinds of itch which are known in the tropics. ”

“ So we see how true it is that our bodies are wonderful machines. But they are something besides machines,—they are houses in which the soul dwells, and as such they are worthy of great care and honor. ”

“ There is plenty of poultry in the market to-day,—chickens, ducks and pigeons, all alive, and dealers all anxious to sell. If we buy a chicken, we should get it home as carefully as we can, and it should be allowed to rest and get over its fright before it is killed. Then it should be killed as quietly and quickly as possible, as otherwise the meat will be feverish and bad for food. It should be killed some hours before it is needed for food, so that the flesh may cool. ”