Children are not bo7m with transmitted
diseases ; except syphilis, among those of
real constitutional inheritance, and a few of
the contagious affections. They are com-
monly affected with them about the time of
life when their parents were so. Thus
scrofulous disorders of the eyes, ears, skin,
glands, and bones, are apt to show them-
selves in childhood ; coiisiunption of the
buigs, in youth or early maturity ; gout near
middle age ; apoplexy^ 2in^ disease of the heart ^
from fifty to seventy years ; early deafiess^ or
blindness^ at various periods in different
families.
Sometimes the inherited taint is modified
in transmission. Thus the children of a
gouty person may have, not regular gout,
but neuralgia ; and the offspring of one who
is insane may have inflammation of the brain ,
or convulsions, etc. Children of intemper-
ate parents are very likely to have some im-
pairment of their nervous system, and often
die in infancy.
Besides these special transmissions of
tendencies to disease, there is a gradually
degenerating influence in families, and even
whole populations, from ^inhealthy living.
It is most observed in large cities.
Functional Causation.
Over-exertion may produce exhaustion,
which, in a person before feeble, may end
in death. Or, short of this, there may be
brought on a state of weakness slow to be
recovered from. In such a state, moreover,
468
the body is less capable of resisting all
causes of disease than when in full vigor.
Excessive efforts may, at the time, strain
muscles, or even burst the heart, or the
great main artery, the aorta.
Over-excitement of the brain is, in many
cases, when it lasts but for a short time,
followed simply by exhaustion and gradual
return, through repose, to ordinary health.
But long-continued excessive mental excite-
ment may produce either inflammation of the
brain, insanity, or prolonged brain-exhaus-
tion . lyoss of sleep , however induced , endan-
gers such effects. Hardly any one can sur-
vive deprivation of sleep for so long as two
weeks at a time ; a single week would finish
most peoples' lives.
Mechanical Injuries.
Broken limbs, displaced joints, and
wounds, are often causes of disease. Tight-
lacing is also a mechanical cause of inter-
ruption to the right action of the lungs and
heart, crowding these and other organs into
too small a space. Positio7i of the body acts
mechanically, sometimes, in promoting cer-
tain maladies. Whoever is predisposed to
apoplexy, is especially liable to have an
attack while stooping, or lying with the
head low.
Conditional Causes.
By these we mean high heat, great cold,
dampness, sudden changes and partial ex-
posures of the body to either extreme, or
electrical influences ; these last being very
little understood.
Sunstroke is a familiar accident in warm
climates. Cold- stroke is less common, but I
have known it to be almost as sudden as the
opposite. Continued heat predisposes to dis-
orders of the liver, stomach and bozvels. Cold,
with dampness, promotes affections of the
lungs and other organs within the chest.
Page 123
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Children are not born with transmitted diseases ; except syphilis, among those of real constitutional inheritance, and a few of the contagious affections. They are commonly affected with them about the time of life when their parents were so. Thus scrofulous disorders of the eyes, ears, skin, glands, and bones, are apt to show themselves in childhood ; consumption of the buigs, in youth or early maturity ; gout near middle age ; apoplexy^ 2in^ disease of the heart ^ from fifty to seventy years ; early deafiess^ or blindness^ at various periods in different families.
Sometimes the inherited taint is modified in transmission. Thus the children of a gouty person may have, not regular gout, but neuralgia ; and the offspring of one who is insane may have inflammation of the brain , or convulsions, etc. Children of intemperate parents are very likely to have some impairment of their nervous system, and often die in infancy.
Besides these special transmissions of tendencies to disease, there is a gradually degenerating influence in families, and even whole populations, from unhealthy living. It is most observed in large cities.
Functional Causation.
Over-exertion may produce exhaustion, which, in a person before feeble, may end in death. Or, short of this, there may be brought on a state of weakness slow to be recovered from. In such a state, moreover,
the body is less capable of resisting all causes of disease than when in full vigor.
Excessive efforts may, at the time, strain muscles, or even burst the heart, or the great main artery, the aorta.
Over-excitement of the brain is, in many cases, when it lasts but for a short time, followed simply by exhaustion and gradual return, through repose, to ordinary health. But long-continued excessive mental excitement may produce either inflammation of the brain, insanity, or prolonged brain-exhaustion . Loss of sleep , however induced , endangers such effects. Hardly any one can survive deprivation of sleep for so long as two weeks at a time ; a single week would finish most peoples' lives.
Mechanical Injuries.
Broken limbs, displaced joints, and wounds, are often causes of disease. Tightlacing is also a mechanical cause of interruption to the right action of the lungs and heart, crowding these and other organs into too small a space. Position of the body acts mechanically, sometimes, in promoting certain maladies. Whoever is predisposed to apoplexy, is especially liable to have an attack while stooping, or lying with the head low.
Conditional Causes.
By these we mean high heat, great cold, dampness, sudden changes and partial exposures of the body to either extreme, or electrical influences ; these last being very little understood.
Sunstroke is a familiar accident in warm climates. Cold- stroke is less common, but I have known it to be almost as sudden as the opposite. Continued heat predisposes to disorders of the liver, stomach and bowels. Cold, with dampness, promotes affections of the lungs and other organs within the chest.