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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40373 ***
+
+   A GUIDE TO HEALTH
+
+   BY
+
+   MAHATMA GANDHI
+
+   _Translated from the Hindi_
+
+   BY
+
+   A. RAMA IYER, M.A.
+
+   [Illustration]
+
+   1921
+
+   S. GANESAN., PUBLISHER,
+   TRIPLICANE ... MADRAS, S.E.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                         PAGE
+
+  TRANSLATOR'S NOTE                                       vii
+
+  INTRODUCTION                                              1
+
+  PART I: GENERAL
+
+    Chap. I. The Meaning of Health                          9
+
+    Chap. II. The Human Body                               11
+
+    Chap. III. Air                                         14
+
+    Chap. IV. Water                                        25
+
+    Chap. V. Food                                          29
+
+    Chap. VI. How much and how many times should we eat?   55
+
+    Chap. VII. Exercise                                    59
+
+    Chap. VIII. Dress                                      64
+
+    Chap. IX. Sexual Relations                             69
+
+  PART II: SOME SIMPLE TREATMENTS
+
+    Chap. I. Air Treatment                                 83
+
+    Chap. II. Water Cure                                   86
+
+    Chap. III. The Use of Earth                            95
+
+    Chap. IV. Fever and its Cures                          98
+
+    Chap. V. Constipation, Dysentery, etc.                101
+
+    Chap. VI. Contagious Diseases Small-pox               104
+
+    Chap. VII. Other Contagious Diseases                  112
+
+    Chap. VIII. Maternity and Child-Birth                 117
+
+    Chap. IX. Care of Child                               121
+
+    Chap. X. Accidents--Drowning                          127
+
+    Chap. XI.   Do    --Burns and Scalds                  130
+
+    Chap. XII.  Do    --Snake Bite                        132
+
+    Chap. XIII. Do    --Scorpion-sting, etc.              140
+
+    Chap. XIV. Conclusion                                 142
+
+
+
+
+TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
+
+
+In these days when the name of Mahatma Gandhi is identified with the
+momentous question of Non-Co-operation, it may come with a shock of
+surprise to most readers to be told that he is something of an authority
+on matters of Health and Disease as well. Very few of us perhaps are
+aware that he is the author of quite an original little Health-book in
+Gujarati. Those who think of him as a dreamy idealist or an unpractical
+visionary, with his head always in the clouds, will certainly be
+undeceived when they read this book replete from cover to cover with
+_practical_ observations on the most _practical_ question of Health. His
+views are of course radically different from the ordinary views that
+find expression in the pages of such books; in many cases, indeed, his
+doctrines must be pronounced revolutionary, and will doubtless be
+regarded by a certain class of readers as wholly impracticable. Even the
+most revolutionary of his doctrines, however, are based, not on the
+shifting quicksands of mere theory, but on the solid foundation of deep
+study, backed up by personal experience of nearly thirty years. He
+himself recognises that many of his views will hardly be accepted by the
+ordinary reader, but he has felt himself impelled by a stern sense of
+duty to give publicity to his convictions formed after so much of study
+and experience. Some at least however, of those who read his book cannot
+help being profoundly influenced by it. Such, at any rate, has been the
+case with me; and I have ventured to translate the book into English in
+the hope that others may also be benefitted likewise.
+
+I should perhaps explain that I am not a student of Gujarati, the
+language of the original. I have used instead one of the two Hindi
+versions of the book. I should also point out that I have not attempted
+a literal or close translation, but only _a very free rendering_ into
+English. In some cases, whole passages have been omitted; and
+occasionally only the general sense of a passage has been given. It is
+hoped, however, that, in no single instance has there been a
+_misinterpretation_ of the original words.
+
+I am aware that many errors might have crept in, as the translation had
+to be done in a hurry, and there was hardly anytime for revision. I hope
+to make a thorough revision of the book, in case a second edition is
+called for.
+
+   NATIONAL COLLEGE,  }
+     TRICHINOPOLY,    }  A. RAMA IYER.
+      JULY 1921.      }
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+For more than twenty years past I have been paying special attention to
+the question of Health. While in England, I had to make my own
+arrangements for food and drink, and I can say, therefore, that my
+experience is quite reliable. I have arrived at certain definite
+conclusions from that experience, and I now set them down for the
+benefit of my readers.
+
+As the familiar saying goes, 'Prevention is better than cure.' It is far
+easier and safer to prevent illness by the observance of the laws of
+health than to set about curing the illness which has been brought on by
+our own ignorance and carelessness. Hence it is the duty of all
+thoughtful men to understand aright the laws of health, and the object
+of the following pages is to give an account of these laws. We shall
+also consider the best methods of cure for some of the most common
+diseases.
+
+As Milton says, the mind can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell.
+So heaven is not somewhere above the clouds, and hell somewhere
+underneath the earth! We have this same idea expressed in the Sanskrit
+saying, _Mana êva Manushayanâm Kâranam Bandha Mokshayoh_--man's captivity
+or freedom is dependant on the state of his mind. From this it follows
+that whether a man is healthy or unhealthy depends on himself. Illness
+is the result not only of our actions but also of our thoughts. As has
+been said by a famous doctor, more people die for fear of diseases like
+small-pox, cholera and plague than out of those diseases themselves.
+
+Ignorance is one of the root-causes of disease. Very often we get
+bewildered at the most ordinary diseases out of sheer ignorance, and in
+our anxiety to get better, we simply make matters worse. Our ignorance
+of the most elementary laws of health leads us to adopt wrong remedies
+or drives us into the hands of the veriest quacks. How strange (and yet
+how true) it is that we know much less about things near at hand than
+things at a distance. We know hardly anything of our own village, but we
+can give by rote the names of the rivers and mountains of England! We
+take so much trouble to learn the names of the stars in the sky, while
+we hardly think it worth while to know the things that are in our own
+homes! We never care a jot for the splendid pageantry of Nature before
+our very eyes, while we are so anxious to witness the puerile mummeries
+of the theatre! And in the same way, we are not ashamed to be ignorant
+of the structure of our body, of the way in which the bones and muscles,
+grow, how the blood circulates and is rendered impure, how we are
+affected by evil thoughts and passions, how our mind travels over
+illimitable spaces and times while the body is at rest, and so on. There
+is nothing so closely connected with us as our body, but there is also
+nothing perhaps of which our ignorance is so profound, or our
+indifference so complete.
+
+It is the duty of every one of us to get over this indifference.
+Everyone should regard it as his bounden duty to know something of the
+fundamental facts concerning his body. This kind of instruction should
+indeed be made compulsory in our schools. At present, we know not how to
+deal with the most ordinary scalds and wounds; we are helpless if a
+thorn runs into our foot; we are beside ourselves with fright and dismay
+if we are bitten by an ordinary snake! Indeed, if we consider the depth
+of our ignorance in such matters, we shall have to hang down our heads
+in shame. To assert that the average man cannot be expected to know
+these things is simply absurd. The following pages are intended for such
+as are willing to learn.
+
+I do not pretend that the facts mentioned by me have not been said
+before. But my readers will find here in a nutshell the substance of
+several books on the subject. I have arrived at my conclusions after
+studying these books, and after a series of careful experiments.
+Moreover, those who are new to this subject will also be saved the risk
+of being confounded by the conflicting views held by writers of such
+books. One writer says for instance, that hot water is to be used under
+certain circumstances, while another writer says that, exactly under the
+same circumstances, cold water is to be used. Conflicting views of this
+kind have been carefully considered by me, so that my readers may rest
+assured of the reliability of my own views.
+
+We have got into the habit of calling in a doctor for the most trivial
+diseases. Where there is no regular doctor available, we take the advice
+of mere quacks. We labour under the fatal delusion that no disease can
+be cured without medicine. This has been responsible for more mischief
+to mankind than any other evil. It is of course, necessary that our
+diseases should be cured, but they cannot be cured _by medicines_. Not
+only are medicines merely useless, but at times even positively harmful.
+For a diseased man to take drugs and medicines would be as foolish as to
+try to cover up the filth that has accumulated in the inside of the
+house. The more we cover up the filth, the more rapidly does
+putrefaction go on. The same is the case with the human body. Illness or
+disease is only Nature's warning that filth has accumulated in some
+portion or other of the body; and it would surely be the part of wisdom
+to allow Nature to remove the filth, instead of covering it up by the
+help of medicines. Those who take medicines are really rendering the
+task of Nature doubly difficult. It is, on the other hand, quite easy
+for us to help Nature in her task by remembering certain elementary
+principles,--by fasting, for instance, so that the filth may not
+accumulate all the more, and by vigorous exercise in the open air, so
+that some of the filth may escape in the form of perspiration. And the
+one thing that is supremely necessary is to keep our minds strictly
+under control.
+
+We find from experience that, when once a bottle of medicine gets itself
+introduced into a home, it never thinks of going out, but only goes on
+drawing other bottles in its train. We come across numberless human
+beings who are afflicted by some disease or other all through their
+lives in spite of their pathetic devotion to medicines. They are to-day
+under the treatment of this doctor, to-morrow of that. They spend all
+their life in a futile search after a doctor who will cure them for
+good. As the late Justice Stephen (who was for some time in India)
+said, it is really astonishing that drugs of which so little is known
+should be applied by doctors to bodies of which they know still less!
+Some of the greatest doctors of the West themselves have now come to
+hold this view. Sir Astley Cooper, for instance, admits that the
+'science' of medicine is mostly mere guess-work; Dr. Baker and Dr. Frank
+hold that more people die of medicines than of diseases; and Dr.
+Masongood even goes to the extent of saying that more men have fallen
+victims to medicine than to war, famine and pestilence combined!
+
+It is also a matter of experience that diseases increase in proportion
+to the increase in the number of doctors in a place. The demand for
+drugs has become so widespread that even the meanest papers are sure of
+getting advertisements of quack medicines, if of nothing else. In a
+recent book on the Patent Medicines we are told that the Fruit-salts
+and syrups, for which we pay from Rs. 2 to Rs. 5, cost to their
+manufacturers only from a quarter of an anna to one anna! No wonder,
+then, that their compositions should be so scrupulously kept a secret.
+
+We will, therefore, assure our readers that there is absolutely no
+necessity for them to seek the aid of doctors. To those, however, who
+may not be willing to boycott doctors and medicines altogether, we will
+say, "As far as possible, possess your souls in patience, and do not
+trouble the doctors. In case you are forced at length to call in the aid
+of a doctor, be sure to get a good man; then, follow his directions
+strictly, and do not call in another doctor, unless by his own advice.
+But remember, above all, that the curing of your disease does not rest
+ultimately in the hands of any doctor."
+
+   M. K. GANDHI.
+
+
+
+
+A GUIDE TO HEALTH
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE MEANING OF HEALTH
+
+
+Ordinarily that man is considered healthy who eats well and moves about,
+and does not resort to a doctor. But a little thought will convince us
+that this idea is wrong. There are many cases of men being diseased, in
+spite of their eating well and freely moving about. They are under the
+delusion that they are healthy, simply because they are too indifferent
+to _think_ about the matter.
+
+In fact, perfectly healthy men hardly exist anywhere over this wide
+world.
+
+As has been well said, only that man can be said to be really healthy,
+who has a sound mind in a sound body. The relation between the body and
+the mind is so intimate that, if either of them got out of order, the
+whole system would suffer. Let us take the analogy of the rose-flower.
+Its colour stands to its fragrance in the same way as the body to the
+mind or the soul. No one regards an artificial paper-flower as a
+sufficient substitute for the natural flower, for the obvious reason
+that the fragrance, which forms the essence of the flower, cannot be
+reproduced. So too, we instinctively honour the man of a pure mind and a
+noble character in preference to the man who is merely physically
+strong. Of course, the body and the soul are both essential, but the
+latter is far more important than the former. No man whose character is
+not pure can be said to be really healthy. The body which contains a
+diseased mind can never be anything but diseased. Hence it follows that
+a pure character is the foundation of health in the real sense of the
+term; and we may say that all evil thoughts and evil passions are but
+different forms of disease.
+
+Thus considered, we may conclude that that man alone is perfectly
+healthy whose body is well formed, whose teeth as well as eyes and ears
+are in good condition, whose nose is free from dirty matter, whose skin
+exudes perspiration freely and without any bad smell, whose mouth is
+also free from bad smells, whose hands and legs perform their duty
+properly, who is neither too fat nor too thin, and whose mind and senses
+are constantly under his control. As has already been said, it is very
+hard to gain such health, but it is harder still to retain it, when
+once it has been acquired. The chief reason why we are not truly healthy
+is that our parents were not. An eminent writer has said that, if the
+parents are _in perfectly good condition_ their children would certainly
+be superior to them in all respects. A _perfectly healthy_ man has no
+reason to fear death; our terrible fear of death shows that we are far
+from being so healthy. It is, however, the clear duty of all of us to
+strive for perfect health. We will, therefore, proceed to consider in
+the following pages how such health can be attained, and how, when once
+attained, it can also be retained for ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE HUMAN BODY
+
+
+The world is compounded of the five elements,--earth, water, air, fire,
+and ether. So too is our body. It is a sort of miniature world. Hence
+the body stands in need of all the elements in due proportion,--pure
+earth, pure water, pure fire or sunlight, pure air, and open space. When
+any one of these falls short of its due proportion, illness is caused in
+the body.
+
+The body is made up of skin and bone, as well as flesh and blood. The
+bones constitute the frame-work of the body; but for them we could not
+stand erect and move about. They protect the softer parts of the body.
+Thus the skull gives protection to the brain, while the ribs protect the
+heart and the lungs. Doctors have counted 238 bones in the human body.
+The outside of the bones is hard, but the inside is soft and hollow.
+Where there is a joint between two bones, there is a coating of marrow,
+which may be regarded as a soft bone. The teeth, too, are to be counted
+among the bones.
+
+When we feel the flesh at some points, we find it to be tough and
+elastic. This part of the flesh is known as the muscle. It is the
+muscles that enable us to fold and unfold our arms, to move our jaws,
+and to close our eyes. It is by means of the muscles, again, that our
+organs of perception do their work.
+
+It is beyond the province of this book to give a detailed account of the
+structure of the body; nor has the present writer enough knowledge to
+give such an account. We will, therefore, content ourselves with just
+as much information as is essential for our present purpose.
+
+The most important portion of the body is the stomach. If the stomach
+ceases to work even for a single moment, the whole body would collapse.
+The work of the stomach is to digest the food, and so to provide
+nourishment to the body. Its relation to the body is the same as that
+of the steam engine to the Railway train. The gastric juice which is
+produced in the stomach helps the assimilation of nutritious elements in
+the food, the refuse being sent out by way of the intestines in the form
+of urine and fæces. On the left side of the abdominal cavity is the
+spleen, while to the right of the stomach is the liver, whose function
+is the purification of the blood and the secretion of the bile, which is
+so useful for digestion.
+
+In the hollow space enclosed by the ribs are situated the heart and the
+lungs. The heart is between the two lungs, but more to the left than the
+right. There are on the whole 24 bones in the chest; the action of the
+heart can be felt between the fifth and the sixth rib. The lungs are
+connected with the windpipe. The air which we inhale is taken into the
+lungs through the windpipe, and the blood is purified by it. It is of
+the utmost importance to breathe through the nose, instead of through
+the mouth.
+
+On the circulation of the blood depend all activities of the body. It is
+the blood that provides nourishment to the body. It extracts the
+nutritious elements out of the food, and ejects the refuse through the
+intestines, and so keeps the body warm. The blood is incessantly
+circulating all over the body, along the veins and the arteries. The
+beatings of the pulse are due to the circulation of the blood. The pulse
+of a normal adult man beats some 75 times a minute. The pulses of
+children beat faster, while those of old men are slower.
+
+The chief agency for keeping the blood pure is the air. When the blood
+returns to the lungs after one complete round over the body, it is
+impure and contains poisonous elements. The oxygen of the air which we
+inhale purifies this blood and is assimilated into it, while the
+nitrogen absorbs the poisonous matter and is breathed out. This process
+goes on incessantly. As the air has a very important function to perform
+in the body, we shall devote a separate chapter to a detailed
+consideration of the same.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+AIR
+
+
+Of the three things that are indispensable for the subsistence of
+man,--namely, air, water, and food--the first is the most important. Hence
+it is that God has created it in such large quantities as to make it
+available to all of us for nothing. Modern civilisation, however, has
+rendered even fresh air somewhat costly, for, in order to breathe fresh
+air, we have to go out of towns, and this means expense. The residents
+of Bombay, for instance, distinctly improve in health in the air of
+Matheran or, still better, of the Malabar Hills; but they cannot go to
+these places without money. Hence, in these days, it would be hardly
+true to say that we get fresh air _gratis_, as we used to in the old
+days.
+
+But, whether fresh air is available _gratis_ or not, it is undeniable
+that we cannot get on without it. We have already seen that the blood
+circulates over the body, returns to the lungs, and after being
+purified, starts on its round again. We breathe out the impure air, and
+take in oxygen from the outside, which purifies the blood. This process
+of inspiration and expiration goes on for ever, and on it depends man's
+life. When drowned in water we die, because, then we are unable to let
+out the impure air in the body and take in pure air from outside. The
+divers go down into the water in what is known as a diving bell, and
+they take in fresh air through a tube which leads to the top. Hence it
+is that they are able to remain under water for a long time.
+
+It has been ascertained by experiments that no man can live without air
+for as long as five minutes. We often hear of the death of little
+children, when they are held so close to the bosom by ignorant mothers
+as to make it impossible for them to breathe.
+
+We should all be as much against the breathing of impure air as we are
+against the drinking of dirty water and the eating of dirty food; but
+the air we breathe is, as a rule, far more impure than the water we
+drink or the food we eat. We are all worshippers of concrete objects;
+those things that can be seen and felt are regarded by us as of far
+greater importance than those which are invisible and intangible. Since
+air belongs to this latter class of objects, we fail to realise the evil
+wrought by the impure air that we breathe. We would think twice before
+eating the leavings of another man's food, or drinking out of a cup
+polluted by another man's lips. Even those who have not the least sense
+of shame or repugnance would never eat another man's vomit, or drink the
+water which has been spat out by him; even those who are dying of hunger
+and thirst would refuse to do it. But, alas, how few of us realise that
+the air we inhale is so often the impure and poisonous air which has
+been exhaled by others, and which is surely no less objectionable than a
+man's vomit! How strange that men should sit and sleep together for
+hours in closed rooms, and go on inhaling the deadly air exhaled by
+themselves and their companions! How fortunate for man that air should
+be so light and diffusive, and capable of penetrating the smallest
+holes! Even when the doors and windows are closed, there is generally
+some little space between the walls and the roof, through which some air
+from outside manages to get in, so that the inmates of the room have not
+to breathe exclusively poisoned air. The air that we exhale mixes with
+the air outside, and is rendered pure again by an automatic process that
+is always going on in Nature.
+
+Now we are able to understand why so many men and women should be weak
+and diseased. _There can be absolutely no doubt that impure air is the
+root-cause of disease in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred._ It
+follows that the best way of avoiding disease is to live and work in the
+open air. No doctor can compete with fresh air in this matter.
+Consumption is caused by the decay of the lungs, due to the inhaling of
+impure air, just as a steam engine which is filled with bad coal gets
+out of order. Hence doctors say that the easiest and the most effective
+treatment for a consumptive patient is to keep him in fresh air for all
+the 24 hours of the day.
+
+It is, of course, essential to know how we can keep the air pure. In
+fact, every child should be taught the value of fresh air, as soon as it
+is able to understand anything. If my readers would take the trouble to
+learn the simple facts about the air and would put their knowledge into
+practice, while teaching their children also to do the same. I shall
+feel immensely gratified.
+
+Our latrines are perhaps most responsible for rendering the air impure.
+Very few people realise the serious harm done by dirty latrines. Even
+dogs and cats make with their claws something like a pit wherein to
+deposit their fæces, and then cover it up with some earth. Where there
+are no lavatories of the modern approved types, we should also do
+likewise. There should be kept ashes or dry earth in a tin can or an
+earthen vessel inside the latrine, and whoever goes into the latrine
+should, on coming out, cover the fæces well with the ash or the earth,
+as the case may be. If this is done there would be no bad smell, and the
+flies too will not settle on it and transmit the filth. Anybody whose
+sense of smell has not been wholly blunted, or who has not grown
+thoroughly accustomed to foul smells will know how noxious is the smell
+that emanates from all filthy matter which is allowed to lie open to the
+weather. Our gorge rises at the very thought of fæces being mixed with
+our food, but we go on inhaling the air which has been polluted by such
+foul smell, forgetting the fact that the one is just as bad as the
+other, except that, while the former is visible, the latter is not. We
+should see that our latrines are kept thoroughly neat and clean. We
+abhor the idea of our cleaning the latrines ourselves, but what we
+should really abhor is the idea of making use of dirty latrines. What is
+the harm in ourselves removing the filth which has been expelled from
+inside our own body, and which we are not ashamed to have removed by
+others? There is absolutely no reason why we should not ourselves learn
+the work of scavenging and teach it to our children as well. The filthy
+matter should be removed, and thrown into a pit two feet deep, and then
+covered up with a thick layer of earth. If we go to some open place, we
+should dig a small pit with our hands or feet, and then cover it up,
+after the bowels have been evacuated.
+
+We also make the air impure by making water at all places
+indiscriminately. This dirty habit should be given up altogether. If
+there is no place specially set apart for the purpose, we should go to
+some dry ground away from the house, and should also cover up the urine
+with earth.
+
+The filth should not be cast into very deep pits, for, in that case, it
+would be beyond the reach of sun's heat, and would also pollute the
+water flowing underneath the earth.
+
+The habit of spitting indiscriminately on the verandahs, court yards,
+and such like places is also very bad. The spittle, especially of
+consumptives, is very dangerous. The poisonous germs in it rise into
+the air, and, being inhaled by others, lead to a spread of the disease.
+We should keep a spittoon inside the house, and if we have to spit when
+out on the road we should spit where there is dry dust, so that the
+spittle may be absorbed into the dust and cause no harm. Doctors hold
+that the consumptive should spit into a spittoon with some disinfectant
+in it: for, even if he spits on dry ground, the germs in his spittle
+manage to rise and spread into the air along with the dust. But, in any
+case, there can be no doubt that the habit of spitting wherever we
+please is dirty as well as dangerous.
+
+Some people throw where they like cooked food and other articles, which
+decay and render the air impure. If all such rubbish be put underground,
+the air would not be made impure, and good manure, too could be
+obtained. In fact, no kind of decaying matter should be allowed to lie
+exposed to the air. It is so easy for us to take this necessary
+precaution, if only we are in earnest about it.
+
+Now we have seen how our own bad habits render the air impure, and what
+we can do to keep it pure. Next we shall consider how to inhale the air.
+
+As already mentioned in the last chapter, the air is to be inhaled
+through the nose, and not through the mouth. There are, however, very
+few persons who know how to breathe correctly. Many people are in the
+pernicious habit of inhaling through the mouth. If very cold air is
+inhaled through the mouth, we catch cold and sore throat. Further, if we
+inhale through the mouth, the particles of dust in the air go into the
+lungs and cause great mischief. In London, for instance, in November,
+the smoke which issues from the chimneys of great factories mixes with
+the dense fog, producing a kind of yellow mixture. This contains tiny
+particles of soot, which can be detected in the spittle of a man who
+inhales through the mouth. To escape this, many women (who have not
+learnt to breathe through the nose alone) put on a special kind of veil
+over their faces, which act as sieves. If these veils are closely
+examined, particles of dust can be detected in them. But God has given
+to all of us a sieve of this kind inside the nose. The air which is
+inhaled through the nostrils is sifted before it reaches the lungs, and
+is also warmed in the process. So all men should learn to breathe
+through the nose alone. And this is not at all difficult, if we remember
+to keep our mouth firmly shut at all times, except when we are talking.
+Those who have got into the habit of keeping their mouth open should
+sleep with a bandage round the mouth, which would force them to breathe
+through the nose. They should also take some twenty long respirations in
+the open air, both in the morning and in the evening. In fact, all men
+can practise this simple exercise and see for themselves how rapidly
+their chest deepens. If the chest be measured at the beginning of the
+practice, and again after an interval of two months, it will be seen how
+much it has expanded in this short period.
+
+After learning how to inhale the air, we should cultivate the habit of
+breathing fresh air, day in and day out. We are generally in the most
+pernicious habit of keeping confined to the house or the office
+throughout the day, and sleeping in narrow rooms at night, with all
+doors and windows shut. As far as possible, we should remain in the open
+air at all times. We should at least _sleep_ on the verandah or in the
+open air. Those who cannot do this should at least keep the doors and
+windows of the room fully open at all times. The air is our food for all
+the twenty-four hours of the day. Why, then, should we be afraid of it?
+It is a most foolish idea that we catch cold by inhaling the cool breeze
+of the morning. Of course, those people who have spoiled their lungs by
+the evil habit of sleeping within closed doors are likely to catch cold,
+if they change their habit all on a sudden. But even they should not be
+afraid of cold, for this cold can be speedily got rid of. Now-a-days, in
+Europe, the houses for consumptives are being built in such a way that
+they may get fresh air at all times. We know what terrible havoc is
+wrought in India by epidemics. We should remember that these epidemics
+are due to our habit of defiling the air, and of inhaling this poisonous
+air. We should understand that even the most delicate people will be
+benefitted by systematically inhaling fresh air. If we cultivate the
+habit of keeping the air pure and of breathing only fresh air, we can
+save ourselves from many a terrible disease.
+
+Sleeping with the face uncovered is as essential as sleeping in fresh
+air. Many of our people are in the habit of sleeping with the face
+covered, which means that they have to inhale the poisonous air which
+has been exhaled by themselves. Fortunately however, some of the air
+from outside does find its way through the interstices of the cloth,
+else they should die of suffocation. But the small quantity of air that
+gains entrance in this way is altogether inadequate. If we are suffering
+from cold, we may cover the head with a piece of cloth, or put on a
+night-cap, but the nose should be kept exposed _under all
+circumstances_.
+
+Air and light are so intimately connected with each other that it is as
+well to speak a few words here on the value of light. Light is as
+indispensable to life as air itself. Hence it is that Hell is
+represented as completely dark. Where light cannot penetrate, the air
+can never be pure. If we enter a dark cellar, we can distinctly perceive
+the smell of the foul air. The fact that we cannot see in the dark shows
+that God has intended us to live and move in the light. And Nature has
+given us just as much darkness as we require in the night. Yet, many
+people are in the habit of sitting or sleeping in underground cellars,
+devoid of air and light, even in the hottest summer! Those who thus
+deprive themselves of air and light are always weak and haggard.
+
+Now-a-days, there are many doctors in Europe who cure their patients by
+means of air-bath and sun-bath alone. Thousands of diseased persons have
+been cured by mere exposure to the air and to the sunlight. We should
+keep all doors and windows in our houses always open, in order to allow
+the free entrance of air and light.
+
+Some readers may ask why, if air and light are so indispensable, those
+who live and work in cellars are not visibly affected. Those who have
+thought well over the matter would never put this question. Our aim
+should be to attain the maximum of health by all legitimate means; _we
+should not be content merely to live anyhow_. It has been indubitably
+established that insufficient air and light give rise to disease.
+Dwellers in towns are, as a rule, more delicate than those in the
+country, for they get less air and light than the latter. Air and light,
+then, are absolutely indispensable to health, and every one should
+remember all that we have said on the matter, and act up to it to the
+best of his ability.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+WATER
+
+
+As has been already pointed out, air is the most indispensable to our
+subsistence, while water comes next in order. Man cannot live for more
+than a few minutes without air, but he can live for a few days without
+water. And in the absence of other food, he can subsist on water alone
+for many days. There is more than 70% of water in the composition of our
+food-stuffs, as in that of the human body.
+
+Even though water is so indispensable, we take hardly any pains to keep
+it pure. Epidemics are as much the outcome of our indifference to the
+quality of the water we drink, as of the air we breathe. The drinking of
+dirty water very often produces also the disease of the stone.
+
+Water may be impure in either of two ways,--by issuing from dirty places,
+or by being defiled by us. Where the water issues from dirty places, we
+should not drink it at all; nor do we generally drink it. But we do not
+shrink from drinking the water which has been defiled by ourselves.
+River-water, for instance, is regarded as quite good for drinking,
+although we throw into it all sorts of rubbish, and also use it for
+washing purposes. We should make it a rule never to drink the water in
+which people bathe. The upper portion of a river should be set apart for
+drinking water, the lower being reserved for bathing and washing
+purposes. Where there is no such arrangement, it is a good practice to
+dig in the sand, and take drinking water therefrom. This water is very
+pure, since it has been filtered by passage through the sand. It is
+generally risky to drink well-water, for unless it is well protected,
+the dirty water at the top would trickle down into the well, and render
+the water impure. Further, birds and insects often fall into the water
+and die; sometimes birds build their nests inside the wells; and the
+dirt from the feet of those who draw water from the well is also washed
+down into the water. For all these reasons, we should be particularly
+careful in drinking well-water. Water kept in tubs is also very often
+impure. If it should be pure, the tubs should be washed clean at
+frequent intervals, and should be kept covered; we should also see that
+the tank or well from which the water is taken is kept in good
+condition. Very few people, however, take such precautions to keep the
+water pure. Hence the best way of removing the impurities of the water
+is to boil it well, and, after cooling it, filter it carefully into
+another vessel through a thick and clean piece of cloth. Our duty,
+however, does not end with this. We should realise that we owe a duty to
+our fellowmen in this matter. We should see to it that we do absolutely
+nothing to defile the water which is used for drinking by the public. We
+should scrupulously refrain from bathing or washing in the water which
+is reserved for drinking; we should never answer the calls of nature
+near the banks of a river, nor cremate the dead bodies there and throw
+the ashes after cremation into the water.
+
+In spite of all the care that we may take, we find it so difficult to
+keep water perfectly pure. It may have, for instance, salt dissolved in
+it, or bits of grass and other decaying matter. Rain water is, of
+course, the purest, but, before it reaches us, it generally becomes
+impure by the absorption of the floating matter in the atmosphere.
+Perfectly pure water has a most beneficial effect on the system; hence
+doctors administer distilled water to their patients. Those who are
+suffering from constipation are appreciably benefitted by the use of
+distilled water.
+
+Many people do not know that water is of two kinds, _soft_ and _hard_.
+Hard water is water in which some kind of salt has been dissolved.
+Hence, soap does not readily lather in it, and food cannot be easily
+boiled in it. Its taste is brackish, while soft water tastes sweet. It
+is much safer to drink soft water, although some people hold that hard
+water is better by virtue of the presence of nutritious matter dissolved
+therein. Rain water is the best kind of soft water, and is therefore,
+the best for drinking purposes. Hard water, if boiled and kept over the
+fire for some half an hour, is rendered soft. Then it may be filtered
+and drunk.
+
+The question is often asked, "When should one drink water, and how
+much?" The only safe answer to this is this: one should drink water only
+when one feels thirsty, and even then only just enough to quench the
+thirst. There is no harm in drinking water during the meals or
+immediately afterwards. Of course, we should not wash the food down with
+water. If the food refuses to go down of itself, it means that either it
+has not been well prepared or the stomach is not in need of it.
+
+Ordinarily, there is no need to drink water; and indeed, there _should_
+be none. As already mentioned, there is a large percentage of water in
+our ordinary articles of food, and we also add water in cooking them.
+Why then should we feel thirsty? Those people whose diet is free from
+such articles as chillies and onions which create an artificial thirst,
+have rarely any need to drink water. Those who feel unaccountably
+thirsty must be suffering from some disease or other.
+
+We may be tempted to drink any kind of water that we come across, simply
+because we see some people doing it with impunity. The reply to this has
+already been given in connection with air. Our blood has in itself the
+power of destroying many of the poisonous elements that enter into it,
+but it has to be renewed and purified, just as the sharp edge of a sword
+has to be mended when it has been once employed in action. Hence, if we
+go on drinking impure water, we should not be surprised to find our
+blood thoroughly poisoned in the end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+FOOD
+
+
+It is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules in the matter of food.
+What sort of food should we eat, how much of it should be eaten, and at
+what times,--these are questions on which doctors differ a great deal.
+The ways of men are so diverse, that the very same food shows different
+effects on different individuals.
+
+Although, however, it is impossible to say conclusively what sort of
+food we should eat, it is the clear duty of every individual to bestow
+serious thought on the matter. Needless to say, the body cannot subsist
+without food. We undergo all sorts of sufferings and privations for the
+sake of food. But, at the same time, it is indisputable that 99.9% of
+men and women in the world eat merely to please the palate. They never
+pause to think of the after-effects at the time of eating. Many people
+take purgatives and digestive pills or powders in order to be able to
+eat thoroughly well. Then there are some people who, after eating to the
+utmost of their capacity, vomit out all that they have eaten, and
+proceed to eat the same stuffs once more! Some people, indeed, eat so
+sumptuously that, for two or three days together, they do not feel
+hungry at all. In some cases, men have even been known to have died of
+over-eating. I say all this from my own experience. When I think of my
+old days, I am tempted to laugh at many things, and cannot help being
+ashamed of some things. In those days I used to have tea in the morning,
+breakfast two or three hours afterwards, dinner at one o'clock, tea
+again at 3 p.m., and supper between 6 and 7! My condition at that time
+was most pitiable. There was a great deal of superfluous fat on my body,
+and bottles of medicine were always at hand. In order to be able to eat
+well, I used to take purgatives very often, as well as some tonic or
+other. In those days, I had not a _third_ of my present capacity for
+work, in spite of the fact that I was then in the prime of youth. Such a
+life is surely pitiable, and if we consider the matter seriously, we
+must also admit it to be mean, sinful and thoroughly contemptible.
+
+Man is not born to eat, nor should he live to eat. His true function is
+to know and serve his Maker; but, since the body is essential to this
+service, we have perforce to eat. Even atheists will admit that we
+should eat merely to preserve our health, and not more than is needed
+for this purpose.
+
+Turn to the birds and beasts, and what do you find? They never eat
+merely to please the palate, they never go on eating till their inside
+is full to overflowing. On the other hand, they eat only to appease
+their hunger, and even then only just as much as will appease their
+hunger. They take the food provided by Nature, and do not cook their
+food. Can it be that man alone is created to worship the palate? Can it
+be that he alone is destined to be eternally suffering from disease?
+Those animals that live a natural life of freedom never once die of
+hunger. Among them there are no distinctions of rich and poor,--of those
+who eat many times a day, and those who do not get even one meal in the
+day. These abnormalities are found only among us human beings,--and yet
+we regard ourselves as superior to the animal creation! Surely those who
+spend their days in the worship of their stomach are worse than the
+birds and beasts.
+
+A calm reflection will show that all sins like lying, cheating and
+stealing are ultimately due to our subjection to the palate. He who is
+able to control the palate, will easily be able to control the other
+senses. If we tell lies, or commit theft or adultery, we are looked down
+upon by society, but, strangely enough, no odium attaches to those who
+slavishly pander to the palate! It would seem as though this were not a
+question of morality at all! The fact is that even the best of us are
+slaves to the palate. No one has yet adequately emphasised the
+numberless evils that arise from our habit of pandering to the palate.
+All civilised people would boycott the company of liars, thieves, and
+adulterers; but they go on eating beyond all limits, and never regard it
+as a sin at all. Pandering to the palate is not regarded by us as a sin,
+since all of us are guilty of it, just as dacoity is not regarded as a
+crime in a village of dacoits; but what is worse, we pride ourselves on
+it! On occasions of marriage and other festivities, we regard it as a
+sacred duty to worship the palate; even in times of funeral, we are not
+ashamed of doing it. Has a guest come? We must gorge him with
+sweetmeats. If, from time to time, we do not give feasts to our friends
+and relations, or do not partake of the feasts given by them, we must
+become objects of contempt. If, having invited our friends to eat with
+us, we fail to cram them with rich stuffs, we must be regarded as
+miserly. On holidays, of course, we must have specially rich food
+prepared! Indeed, what is really a great sin has come to be looked upon
+as a sign of wisdom! We have sedulously cultivated such false notions in
+the matter of eating that we never realise our slavishness and our
+beastliness. How can we save ourselves from this terrible state?
+
+Let us view the question from another standpoint. We find it invariably
+the case in the world that Nature herself has provided for all
+creatures, whether man or beast, or bird or insect, just enough food for
+their sustenance. This is an eternal law of Nature. In the kingdom of
+Nature, none goes to sleep, none forgets to do his duty, and none shows
+a tendency to laziness. All the work is done to perfection, and
+punctually to the minute. If we remember to order our lives strictly in
+accordance with the immutable and eternal laws of Nature, we shall find
+that there are no more deaths by starvation anywhere over the wide
+world. Since Nature always provides just enough food to feed all created
+beings, it follows that he who takes to himself more than his normal
+share of food, is depriving another of his legitimate share. Is it not a
+fact, that, in the kitchens of emperors and kings, of all rich men, in
+general, much more food is prepared than is required to feed them and
+all their dependents? That is to say, they snatch so much food from the
+share of the poor. Is it, then, any wonder that the poor should die of
+starvation? If this is true (and this fact has been admitted by the most
+thoughtful men) it must necessarily follow that all the food that we eat
+beyond our immediate need is food filched from the stomachs of the poor.
+And to the extent to which we eat merely with a view to pleasing the
+palate must our health necessarily suffer. After this preliminary
+discussion, we can proceed to consider what kind of food is best for us.
+
+Before, however, we decide the question of the ideal food for us, we
+have to consider what kinds of food are injurious to health, and to be
+avoided. Under the term "food", we include all the things that are taken
+into the body through the mouth,--including _wine_, _bhang_ and _opium_,
+_tobacco_, _tea_, _coffee and cocoa_, _spices_ and _condiments_. I am
+convinced that all these articles have to be completely eschewed, having
+been led to this conviction partly from my own experience, and partly
+from the experiences of others.
+
+Wine, bhang and opium have been condemned by all the religions of the
+world, although the number of total abstainers is so limited. Drink has
+brought about the ruin of whole families. The drunkard forfeits his
+sanity; he has even been known to forget the distinction between mother,
+wife and daughter. His life becomes a mere burden to him. Even men of
+sound sense become helpless automatons when they take to drink; even
+when not actually under its influence, their minds are too impotent to
+do any work. Some people say that wine is harmless when used as
+medicine, but even European doctors have begun to give up this view in
+many cases. Some partisans of drink argue that, if wine can be used as
+medicine with impunity, it can also be used as drink. But many poisons
+are employed as medicines; do we ever dream of employing them as food?
+It is quite possible that, in some diseases, wine may do some good, but
+even then, no sensible, or thoughtful man should consent to use it _even
+as medicine_, under any circumstances. As for opium, it is no less
+injurious than wine, and is to be equally eschewed. Have we not seen a
+mighty nation like the Chinese falling under the deadly spell of opium,
+and rendering itself incapable of maintaining its independence? Have we
+not seen the _jagirdars_ of our own land forfeiting their _jagirs_ under
+the same fatal influence?
+
+So powerful is the spell that has been woven over the minds of men by
+tobacco that it will take an age to break it. Young and old have equally
+come under this fatal spell. Even the best men do not shrink from the
+use of tobacco. Its use, indeed, has become a matter of course with us,
+and is spreading wider and wider every day. Very few people are aware of
+the many tricks employed by the cigarette-manufacturers to bring us more
+and more under its influence. They sprinkle opium or some perfumed acid
+on the tobacco, so that we may find it all the more difficult to
+extricate ourselves from its clutches. They spend thousands of pounds in
+advertisements. Many European firms dealing in cigars keep their own
+presses, have their own cinemas, institute lotteries, and give away
+prizes, and, in short, spend money like water to achieve their end. Even
+women have now begun to smoke. And poems have been composed on tobacco,
+extolling it as the great friend of the poor!
+
+The evils of smoking are too numerous to mention. The habitual smoker
+becomes such a bond slave to it that he knows no sense of shame or
+compunction; he proceeds to emit the foul fumes even in the houses of
+strangers! It is also a matter of common experience that smokers are
+often tempted to commit all sorts of crimes. Children steal money from
+their parents' purses; and even the prisoners in gaols manage to steal
+cigarettes and keep them carefully concealed. The smoker will get on
+without food, but he cannot dispense with his smoke! Soldiers on the
+field of battle have been known to lose all capacity for fighting for
+failure of the indispensable cigarette at the critical moment.
+
+The late Count Leo Tolstoi of Russia tells us the following story. A
+certain man once took it into his head, for some reason, to murder his
+wife. He actually drew the knife and was about to do the deed, when he
+felt some compunction, and gave it up. Then he sat down to smoke and his
+wits being turned under the influence of tobacco, he rose once more and
+actually committed the murder. Tolstoi held the view that the poison of
+tobacco is more subtle and irresistible, and hence far more dangerous,
+than that of wine.
+
+Then the money that is spent on cigars and cigarettes by individuals is
+frightfully large. I have myself come across instances of cigars
+consuming as much as Rs. 75 a month for one man!
+
+Smoking also leads to an appreciable reduction of digestive powers. The
+smoker feels no appetite for food, and in order to give it some flavour,
+spices and condiments have to be freely used. His breath stinks, and, in
+some cases, blisters are formed on his face, and the gums and teeth
+turn black in colour. Many also fall a prey to terrible diseases. The
+fumes of tobacco befoul the air around, and public health suffers in
+consequence. I cannot understand how those who condemn drink can have
+the temerity to defend smoking. The man who does not eschew tobacco in
+all its forms can never be perfectly healthy, nor can he be a man of
+pure and blameless character.
+
+I must say that tea, coffee and cocoa are equally injurious to health,
+although I know that very few are likely to agree with me. There is a
+kind of poison in all of them; and, in the case of tea and coffee, if
+milk and sugar were not added, there would be absolutely no nutritious
+element in them. By means of repeated and varied experiments it has been
+established that there is nothing at all in these articles which is
+capable of improving the blood. Until a few years ago, we used to drink
+tea and coffee only on special occasions, but to-day they have become
+universally indispensable. Things have come to such a pass that even
+sickly persons often use them as substitutes for nourishing food!
+
+Fortunately for us, the costliness of cocoa has prevented its spread to
+the same extent as tea and coffee, although, in the homes of the rich,
+it is quite liberally used.
+
+That all these three articles are poisonous can be seen from the fact
+that those who once take to them can never afterwards get on without
+them. In the old days, I myself used to feel a distinct sense of
+weariness or langour if I did not get my tea punctually at the usual
+hour. Once some 400 women and children had gathered together at a
+certain celebration. The executive committee had resolved against
+providing tea to the visitors. The women, however, that had assembled
+there, were in the habit of taking tea at 4 o'clock every evening. The
+authorities were informed that, if these women were not given their
+usual tea, they would be too ill to move about, and, needless to say,
+they had to cancel their original resolution! But some slight delay in
+the preparation of the tea led to a regular uproar, and the commotion
+subsided only after the women had had their cup of tea! I can vouch for
+the authenticity of this incident. In another instance, a certain woman
+had lost all her digestive powers under the influence of tea, and had
+become a prey to chronic headaches; but from the moment that she gave up
+tea her health began steadily to improve. A doctor of the Battersea
+Municipality in England has declared, after careful investigation, that
+the brain-tissues of thousands of women in his district have been
+diseased from excessive use of tea. I have myself come across many
+instances of health being ruined by tea.
+
+Coffee does some good against _Kapha_ (phlegm) and _Vatha_ ('wind'), but
+at the same time it weakens the body by destroying the vital fluid, and
+by making the blood as thin as water. To those people who advocate
+coffee on the ground that it is beneficial against "phlegm" and "wind",
+we would recommend the juice of ginger as even better for the purpose.
+And, on the other hand, let us remember that the evil effects of coffee
+are too serious to be counter-balanced by its good. When the blood and
+the vital fluid are poisoned by a stuff, can there be any hesitation in
+giving it up altogether?
+
+Cocoa is fully as harmful as coffee, and it contains a poison which
+deadens the perceptions of the skin.
+
+Those people who recognise the validity of moral considerations in these
+matters should remember that tea, coffee and cocoa are prepared mostly
+by labourers under indenture, which is only a fine name for slavery. If
+we saw with our own eyes the oppressive treatment that is meted out to
+the labourers in cocoa plantations, we should never again make use of
+the stuff. Indeed, if we enquire minutely into the methods of
+preparation of all our articles of food, we shall have to give up 90% of
+them!
+
+A harmless and healthy substitute for coffee (tea or cocoa) can be
+prepared as follows. Even habitual coffee-drinkers will be unable to
+perceive any difference in taste between coffee and this substitute.
+Good and well-sifted wheat is put into a frying-pan over the fire and
+well fried, until it has turned completely red, and begun to grow dark
+in colour. Then it is powdered just like coffee. A spoon of the powder
+is then put into a cup, and boiling water poured on to it. Preferably
+keep the thing over the fire for a minute, and add milk and sugar, if
+necessary, and you get a delicious drink, which is much cheaper and
+healthier than coffee. Those who want to save themselves the trouble of
+preparing this powder may get their supply from the _Satyagraha Ashram,
+Ahmedabad_.
+
+From the point of view of diet, the whole mankind may be divided into
+_three_ broad divisions. (1) The first class, which is the largest,
+consists of those who, whether by preference or out of necessity, live
+on an exclusive vegetable diet. Under this division come the best part
+of India, a large portion of Europe, and China and Japan. The staple
+diet of the Italians is macaroni, of the Irish potato, of the Scotch
+oatmeal, and of the Chinese and Japanese rice. (2) The second class
+consists of those who live on a mixed diet. Under this class come most
+of the people of England, the richer classes of China and Japan, the
+richer Mussalmans of India, as well as those rich Hindus who have no
+religious scruples about taking meat. (3) To the third class belong the
+uncivilised peoples of the frigid zones, who live on an exclusive meat
+diet. These are not very numerous, and they also introduce a vegetable
+element into their diet, wherever they come in contact with the
+civilised races of Europe. Man, then, can live on three kinds of diet;
+but it is our duty to consider which of these is the healthiest for us.
+
+An examination of the structure of the human body leads to the
+conclusion that man is intended by Nature to live on a vegetable diet.
+There is the closest affinity between the organs of the human body and
+those of the fruit-eating animals. The monkey, for instance, is so
+similar to man in shape and structure, and it is a fruit-eating animal.
+Its teeth and stomach are just like the teeth and stomach of man. From
+this we may infer that man is intended to live on roots and fruits, and
+not on meat.
+
+Scientists have found out by experiments that fruits have in them all
+the elements that are required for man's sustenance. The plantain, the
+orange, the date, the grape, the apple, the almond, the walnut, the
+groundnut, the cocoanut,--all these fruits contain a large percentage of
+nutritious elements. These scientists even hold that there is no need
+for man to cook his food. They argue that he should be able to subsist
+very well on food cooked by the Sun's warmth, even as all the lower
+animals are able to do; and they say that the most nutritious elements
+in the food are destroyed in the process of cooking, and that those
+things that cannot be eaten uncooked could not have been intended for
+our food by Nature.
+
+If this view be correct, it follows that we are at present wasting a lot
+of our precious time in the cooking of our food. If we could live on
+uncooked food alone, we should be saving so much time and energy, as
+well as money, all of which may be utilised for more useful purposes.
+
+Some people will doubtless say that it is idle and foolish to speculate
+on the possibility of men taking to uncooked food, since there is
+absolutely no hope of their ever doing it. But we are not considering at
+present what people will or will not do, but only what they _ought_ to
+do. It is only when we know what the ideal kind of diet is that we shall
+be able more and more to approximate our actual to the ideal. When we
+say that a fruit-diet is the best, we do not, of course, expect all men
+to take to it straightway. We only mean that, _if_ they should take to
+this diet, it would be the best thing for them.
+
+There are many men in England who have tried a pure fruit-diet, and who
+have recorded the results of their experience. They were people who took
+to this diet, not out of religious scruples, but simply out of
+considerations of health. A German doctor has written a bulky volume on
+the subject, and established the value of a fruit-diet by many arguments
+and evidences. He has cured many diseases by a fruit-diet combined with
+open-air life. He goes so far as to say that the people of any country
+can find all the elements of nutrition in the fruits of their own land.
+
+It may not be out of place to record my own experience in this
+connection. For the last six months I have been living exclusively on
+fruits--rejecting even milk and curd. My present dietary consists of
+plantain, groundnut and olive oil, with some sour fruit like the lime. I
+cannot say that my experiment has been altogether a success, but a
+period of six months is all too short to arrive at any definite
+conclusions on such a vital matter as a complete change of diet. This,
+however, I can say, that, during this period, I have been able to keep
+well where others have been attacked by disease, and my physical as well
+as mental powers are now greater than before. I may not be able to lift
+heavy loads, but I can now do hard labour for a much longer time without
+fatigue. I can also do more mental work, and with better persistence
+and resoluteness. I have tried a fruit-diet on many sickly people,
+invariably with great advantage. I shall describe these experiences in
+the section on diseases. Here I will only say that my own experience, as
+well as my study of the subject, has confirmed me in the conviction that
+a fruit-diet is the best for us.
+
+As I have already confessed, I do not think for a moment that people
+will take to a fruit-diet as soon as they read this. It may even be that
+all that I have written has no effect at all on a single reader, but I
+believe it to be my bounden duty to set down what I hold to be the right
+thing to the best of my light.
+
+If however, anybody does wish to try a fruit-diet, he should proceed
+rather cautiously in order to obtain the best results. He should
+carefully go through all the chapters of this book, and fully grasp the
+fundamental principles, before he proceeds to do anything in practice.
+My request to my readers is that they should reserve their final
+judgments until they have read through all that I have got to say.
+
+A vegetable diet is the best after a fruit-diet. Under this term we
+include all kinds of pot-herbs and cereals, as well as milk. Vegetables
+are not as nutritious as fruits, since they lose part of their efficacy
+in the process of cooking. We cannot, however, eat uncooked vegetables.
+We will now proceed to consider which vegetables are the best for us.
+
+Wheat is the best of all the cereals. Man can live on wheat alone, for
+in it we have in due proportion all the elements of nutrition. Many
+kinds of edibles can be made of wheat, and they can all be easily
+digested. The ready-made foods for children that are sold by chemists
+are also made partly of wheat. Millet and maize belong to the same
+genus, and cakes and loaves can also be made out of them, but they are
+inferior to wheat in their food-value. We will now consider the best
+form in which wheat may be taken. The white "mill flour" that is sold in
+our bazars is quite useless; it contains no nutriment at all. An English
+doctor tells us that a dog which was fed solely on this flour died,
+while other dogs which were fed on better flour remained quite healthy.
+There is a great demand for loaves made of this flour, since men eat
+merely to satisfy their palate, and are rarely moved by considerations
+of health. These loaves are devoid of taste and nutriment, as well as of
+softness. They become so hard that they cannot be broken by the hand.
+_The best form of flour is that which is made of well-sifted wheat in
+the grind-mill at home._ This flour should be used without further
+sifting. Loaves made of it are quite sweet to the taste, as well as
+quite soft. It also lasts for a longer time than the "mill flour", since
+it is far more nutritious, and may be used in smaller quantities.
+
+The loaf sold in the bazars is thoroughly useless. It may be quite white
+and attractive in appearance, but it is invariably adulterated. The
+worst of it is that it is made by fermentation. Many persons have
+testified from experience that fermented dough is harmful to health.
+Further, these loaves being made by besmearing the oven with fat, they
+are objectionable to Hindu as well as Mussalman sentiment. To fill the
+stomach with these bazar loaves instead of preparing good loaves at home
+is at best a sign of indolence.
+
+Another and an easier way of taking wheat is this. Wheat is ground into
+coarse grain, which is then well cooked and mixed with milk and sugar.
+This gives a very delicious and healthy kind of food.
+
+Rice is quite useless as a food. Indeed, it is doubtful if men can
+subsist upon mere rice, to the exclusion of such nutritious articles as
+_dhall_, _ghee_ and milk. This is not the case with wheat, for man can
+retain his strength by living on mere wheat boiled in water.
+
+We eat the pot-herbs mainly for their taste. As they have laxative
+powers, they help to purify the blood up to a limit. Yet they are but
+varieties of grass, and very hard to digest. Those who partake too much
+of them have flabby bodies; they suffer very often from indigestion, and
+go about in search of digestive pills and powders. Hence, if we take
+them at all, we should do so in moderation.
+
+All the many varieties of pulse are very heavy, and hard of digestion.
+Their merit is that those who eat them do not suffer from hunger for a
+long time; but they also lead to indigestion in most cases. Those who do
+hard labour may be able to digest them, and derive some good out of
+them. But we who lead a sedentary life should be very chary of eating
+them.
+
+Dr. Haig, a celebrated writer in England, tells us, on the basis of
+repeated experiments, that the pulses are injurious to health, since
+they generate a kind of acid in the system, which leads to several
+diseases, and a premature old age. His arguments need not be given here,
+but my own experience goes to confirm his view. Those, however, who are
+unable or unwilling to eschew the pulses altogether, should use them
+with great caution.
+
+Almost everywhere in India, the spices and condiments are freely used,
+as nowhere else in the whole world. Even the African negroes dislike the
+taste of our _masala_, and refuse to eat food mixed with it. And if the
+Whites eat _masala_, their stomach gets out of order, and pimples also
+appear on their faces, as I have found from my own experience. The fact
+is that _masala_ is by no means savoury in itself, but we have so long
+been accustomed to its use that its flavour appeals to us. But, as has
+been already explained, it is wrong to eat anything for its mere taste.
+
+How comes it, then, that _masala_ is so freely eaten by us? Admittedly,
+in order to help the digestion, and to be able to eat more. Pepper,
+mustard, coriander and other condiments have the power of artificially
+helping the digestion, and generating a sort of artificial hunger. But
+it would be wrong to to infer from this that all the food has been
+thoroughly digested, and assimilated into the system. Those who take too
+much of _masala_ are often found to suffer from anaemia, and even from
+diarrhea. I know a man who even died in the prime of youth out of too
+much eating of pepper. Hence it is quite necessary to eschew all
+condiments altogether.
+
+What has been said of _masala_ applies also to salt. Most people would
+be scandalised at this suggestion, but it is a fact established by
+experience. There is a school in England who even hold the view that
+salt is more harmful than most condiments. As there is enough of salt in
+the composition of the vegetables we use, we need not put any extra
+salt into them. Nature herself has provided just as much salt as is
+required for the upkeep of our health. All the extra salt that we use is
+quite superfluous; all of it goes out of the body again in the form of
+perspiration, or in other ways, and no portion of it seems to have any
+useful function to perform in the body. One writer even holds that salt
+poisons the blood. He says that those who use no salt at all have their
+blood so pure that they are not affected even by snake-bite. We do not
+know if this is a fact or not, but this much we know from experience,
+that, in several diseases like piles and asthama, the disuse of salt at
+once produces appreciably beneficial results. And, on the other hand, I
+have not come across a single instance of a man being any the worse for
+not using salt. I myself left off the use of salt two years ago, and I
+have not only not suffered by it, but have even been benefitted in some
+respects. I have not now to drink as much water as before, and am more
+brisk and energetic. The reason for my disuse of salt was a very strange
+one: for it was occasioned by the illness of somebody else! The person
+whose illness led to it did not get worse after that, but remained in
+the same condition; and it is my faith that, if only the diseased person
+himself had given up the use of salt, he would have recovered
+completely.
+
+Those who give up salt will also have to give up vegetables and _dhall_.
+This is a very hard thing to do, as I have found from many tests. I am
+convinced that vegetables and _dhall_ cannot be properly digested
+without salt. This does not, of course, mean that salt improves the
+digestion, but it only _appears_ to do so, just as pepper does, although
+ultimately it leads to evil consequences. Of course, the man who
+entirely gives up the use of salt may feel out of sorts for a few days;
+but, if he keeps up his spirits, he is bound to be immensely benefitted
+in the long run.
+
+I make bold to regard even milk as one of the articles to be eschewed!
+This I do on the strength of my own experience which, however, need not
+be described here in detail. The popular idea of the value of milk is a
+pure superstition, but it is so deep-rooted that it is futile to think
+of removing it. As I have said more than once, I do not cherish the hope
+that my readers will accept all my views; I do not even believe that all
+those who accept them in theory will adopt them in practice.
+Nevertheless, I think it my duty to speak out what I believe to be the
+truth, leaving my readers to form their own judgments. Many doctors hold
+the view that milk gives rise to a kind of fever, and many books have
+been written in support of this view. The disease bearing germs that
+live in the air rapidly gain an entrance into the milk, and render it
+poisonous, so that it is very difficult to keep milk in a state of
+perfect purity. In Africa elaborate rules have been laid down for the
+conduct of the dairies, saying how the milk should be boiled and
+preserved, how the vessels should be kept clean, and so on. When so much
+pains have to be taken in this matter, it is certainly to be considered
+how far it is worth while to employ milk as an article of food.
+
+Moreover, the purity or otherwise of the milk depends upon the cow's
+food, and the state of its health. Doctors have testified to the fact
+that those who drink the milk of consumptive cows fall a prey to
+consumption themselves. It is very rare to come across a cow that is
+perfectly healthy. That is to say, perfectly pure milk is very hard to
+obtain, since it is tainted at its very source. Everybody knows that a
+child that sucks the breast of its mother contracts any disease that she
+might be suffering from. And often when a little child is ill, medicine
+is administered to its mother, so that its effect might reach the child
+through the milk of her breast. Just in the same way, the health of the
+man who drinks the milk of a cow will be the same as that of the cow
+itself. When the use of milk is fraught with so much danger, would it
+not be the part of wisdom to eschew it altogether, especially when
+there are excellent substitutes? Olive oil, for instance serves this
+purpose to some extent; and sweet almond is a most efficient substitute.
+The almond is first soaked in hot water, and its husk removed. Then it
+is well crushed, and mixed thoroughly well with water. This gives a
+drink which contains all the good properties of milk, and is at the same
+time free from its evil effects.
+
+Now let us consider this question from the point of view of Natural law.
+The calf drinks its mother's milk only until its teeth have grown; and
+it begins to eat as soon as it has its teeth. Clearly, this is also what
+man is intended to do. Nature does not intend us to go on drinking milk
+after we have ceased to be infants. We should learn to live on fruits
+like the apple and the almond, or on wheat _roti_, after we have our
+teeth. Although this is not the place to consider the saving in money
+that might be effected by giving up milk, it is certainly a point to be
+kept in mind. Nor is there any need for any of the articles produced
+from milk. The sourness of lime is quite a good substitute for that of
+buttermilk; and as for _ghee_, thousands of Indians manage with oil even
+now.
+
+A careful examination of the structure of the human body shows that meat
+is not the natural food of man. Dr. Haig and Dr. Kingsford have very
+clearly demonstrated the evil effects of meat on the body of man. They
+have shown that meat generates just the same kind of acid in the body as
+the pulses. It leads to the decay of the teeth, as well as to
+rheumatism; it also gives rise to evil passions like anger, which, as we
+have already seen, are but forms of disease.
+
+To sum up, then, we find that those who live on fruits alone are very
+rare, but it is quite easy to live on a combination of fruits, wheat and
+olive oil, and it is also eminently conducive to sound health. The
+plantain comes easy first among the fruits; but the date, the grape, the
+plum and the orange, to name only a few, are all quite nourishing, and
+may be taken along with the _roti_. The _roti_ does not suffer in taste
+by being besmeared with olive oil. This diet dispenses with salt,
+pepper, milk and sugar, and is quite simple and cheap. It is, of course,
+foolish to eat sugar for its own sake. Too much sweetmeat weakens the
+teeth, and injures the health. Excellent edibles can be made of wheat
+and the fruits, and a combination of health and taste secured.
+
+The next question to consider is how much food should be taken, and how
+many times a day. But, as this is a subject of vital importance, we will
+devote a separate chapter to it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+HOW MUCH AND HOW MANY TIMES SHOULD WE EAT?
+
+
+There is a great divergence of opinion among doctors as to the quantity
+of food that we should take. One doctor holds that we should eat to the
+utmost of our capacity, and he has calculated the quantities of
+different kinds of food that we can take. Another holds the view that
+the food of labourers should differ in quantity as well as in quality
+from that of persons engaged in mental work, while a third doctor
+contends that the prince and the peasant should eat exactly the same
+quantity of food. This much, however, will be generally admitted, that
+the weak cannot eat just as much as the strong. In the same way, a woman
+eats less than a man, and children and old men eat less than young men.
+One writer goes so far as to say that, if only we would masticate our
+food thoroughly well, so that every particle of it is mixed with the
+saliva, then we should not have to eat more than five or ten tolas of
+food. This he says on the basis of numberless experiments, and his book
+has been sold in thousands. All this shows that it is futile to think of
+prescribing the quantity of food for men.
+
+Most doctors admit that 99% of human beings eat more than is needed.
+Indeed, this is a fact of everyday experience, and does not require to
+be proclaimed by any doctor. There is no fear at all of men ruining
+their health by eating _too little_; and the great need is for a
+reduction in the quantity of food that we generally take.
+
+As said above, it is of the utmost importance to masticate the food
+thoroughly well. By so doing, we shall be able to extract the maximum of
+nutriment from the minimum of food. Experienced persons point out that
+the fæces of a man whose food is wholesome, and who does not eat too
+much, will be small in quantity, quite solid and smooth, dark in colour,
+and free from all foul smell. The man who does not have such fæces
+should understand that he has eaten too much of unwholesome food, and
+has failed to masticate it well. Also, if a man does not get sleep at
+night, or if his sleep be troubled by dreams, and if his tongue be dirty
+in the morning, he should know that he has been guilty of excessive
+eating. And if he has to get up several times at night to make water, it
+means that he has taken too much liquid food at night. By these and
+other tests, every man can arrive at the exact quantity of food that is
+needed for him. Many men suffer from foul breath, which shows that their
+food has not been well digested. In many cases, again, too much eating
+gives rise to pimples on the face, and in the nose; and many people
+suffer from wind in the stomach. The root of all these troubles is, to
+put it plainly, that we have converted our stomach into a latrine, and
+we carry this latrine about with us. When we consider the matter in a
+sober light, we cannot help feeling an unmixed contempt for ourselves.
+If we want to avoid the sin of over-eating, we should take a vow never
+to have anything to do with feasts of all kinds. Of course, we should
+feed those who come to us as guests, but only so as not to violate the
+laws of health. Do we ever think of inviting our friends to clean their
+teeth with us, or to take a glass of water? Is not eating as strictly a
+matter of health as these things? Why, then, should we make so much fuss
+about it? We have become such gluttons by habit that our tongues are
+ever craving for abnormal sensations. Hence we think it a sacred duty to
+cram our guests with rich food, and we cherish the hope that they will
+do likewise for us, when their turn comes! If, an hour after eating, we
+ask a clean-bodied friend to smell our mouth, and if he should tell us
+his exact feelings, we should have to hide our heads in utter shame! But
+some people are so shameless that they take purgatives soon after
+eating, that they might be able to eat still more or they even vomit out
+what they have eaten in order to sit down again to the feast at once!
+
+Since even the best of us are more or less guilty of over-eating, our
+wise forefathers have prescribed frequent fasts as a religious duty.
+Indeed, merely from the point of view of health, it will be highly
+beneficial to fast at least once a fortnight. Many pious Hindus take
+only one meal a day during the rainy season. This is a practice based
+upon the soundest hygienic principles. For, when the air is damp and the
+sky cloudy, the digestive organs are weaker than usual, and hence there
+should be a reduction in the quantity of food.
+
+And now we will consider how may meals we may take in the day.
+Numberless people in India are content with only two meals. Those who do
+hard labour take three meals, but a system of four meals has arisen
+after the invention of English medicines! Of late, several societies
+have been formed in England and in America in order to exhort the people
+to take only two meals a day. They say that we should not take a
+breakfast early in the morning, since our sleep itself serves the
+purpose of the breakfast. As soon as we get up in the morning we should
+prepare to work rather than to eat. We should take our meal only after
+working for three hours. Those who hold these views take only two meals
+a day, and do not even take tea in the interval. An experienced doctor
+by name Deway has written an excellent book on Fasting, in which he has
+shown the benefits of dispensing with the breakfast. I can also say from
+my experience that there is absolutely no need to eat more than twice,
+for a man who has passed the period of youth, and whose body has
+attained its fullest growth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+EXERCISE
+
+
+Exercise is as much of a vital necessity for man as air, water and food,
+in the sense that no man who does not take exercise regularly, can be
+perfectly healthy. By "exercise" we do not mean merely walking, or games
+like hockey, football, and cricket; we include under the term all
+physical and mental activity. Exercise, even as food, is as essential to
+the mind as to the body. The mind is much weakened by want of exercise
+as the body, and a feeble mind is, indeed, a form of disease. An
+athlete, for instance, who is an expert in wrestling, cannot be regarded
+as a really _healthy_ man, unless his mind is equally efficient. As
+already explained, "a sound mind in a sound body" alone constitutes true
+health.
+
+Which, then, are those exercises which keep the body and the mind
+equally efficient? Indeed, Nature has so arranged it that we can be
+engaged in physical as well as mental work at the same time. The vast
+majority of men on earth live by field-labour. The farmer has to do
+strenuous bodily exercise at any cost, for he has to work for 8 or 10
+hours, or sometimes even more, in order to earn his bread and clothing.
+And efficient labour is impossible unless the mind is also in good
+condition. He has to attend to all the many details of cultivation; he
+must have a good knowledge of soils and seasons, and perhaps also of the
+movements of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Even the ablest men will
+be beaten by the farmer in these matters. He knows the state of his
+immediate surroundings thoroughly well, he can find the directions by
+looking at the stars in the night, and tell a great many things from the
+ways of birds and beasts. He knows, for instance, that rain is about to
+fall when a particular class of birds gather together, and begin to make
+noise. He knows as much of the earth and the sky as is necessary for his
+work. As he has to bring up his children, he must know something of
+_Dharma Sastra_. Since he lives under the broad open sky, he easily
+realises the greatness of God.
+
+Of course, all men cannot be farmers, nor is this book written for them.
+We have however, described the life of the farmer, as we are convinced
+that it is the _natural life_ for man. To the extent to which we
+deviate from these natural conditions must we suffer in health. From the
+farmer's life we learn that we should work for at least 8 hours a day,
+and it should involve mental work as well.
+
+Merchants and others leading a sedentary life have indeed, to do some
+mental work, but their work is too one-sided and too inadequate to be
+called _exercise_.
+
+For such people the wise men of the West have devised games like cricket
+and football, and such minor games as are played at parties and festive
+gatherings. As for mental work the reading of such books as involve no
+mental strain is prescribed. No doubt these games do give exercise to
+the body, but it is a question if they are equally beneficial to the
+mind. How many of the best players of football and cricket are men of
+superior mental powers? What have we seen of the mental equipment of
+those Indian Princes who have earned a distinction as players? On the
+other hand, how many of the ablest men care to play these games? We can
+affirm from our experience that there are very few players among those
+who are gifted with great mental powers. The people of England are
+extremely fond of games, but their own poet, Kipling, speaks very
+disparagingly of the mental capacity of the players.
+
+Here in India, however, we have chosen quite a different path! Our men
+do arduous mental work, but give little or no exercise to the body.
+Their bodies are enfeebled by excessive mental strain, and they fall a
+prey to serious diseases; and just when the world expects to benefit by
+their work, they bid it eternal farewell! Our work should be neither
+exclusively physical nor exclusively mental, nor such as ministers
+merely to the pleasure of the moment. The ideal kind of exercise is that
+which gives vigour to the body as well as to the mind; only such
+exercise can keep a man truly healthy, and such a man is the farmer.
+
+But what shall he do who is no farmer? The exercise which games like the
+cricket give is too inadequate, and something else has to be devised.
+The best thing for ordinary men would be to keep a small garden near the
+house, and work in it for a few hours every day. Some may ask, "What can
+we do if the house we live in be not our own?" This is a foolish
+question to ask, for, whoever may be the owner of the house, he cannot
+object to his ground being improved by digging and cultivation. And we
+shall have the satisfaction of feeling that we have helped to keep
+somebody else's ground neat and clean. Those who do not find time for
+such exercise or who may not like it, may resort to walking, which is
+the next best exercise. Truly has this been described as the Queen of
+all exercises. The main reason why our _Sadhus_ and _Fakirs_ are strong
+as a class is that they go about from one end of the country to the
+other only on foot. Thoreau, the great American writer, has said many
+remarkable things on walking as an exercise. He says that the writings
+of those who keep indoors and never go out into the open air, will be as
+weak as their bodies. Referring to his own experience, he says that all
+his best works were written when he was walking the most. He was such an
+inveterate walker that four or five hours a day was quite an ordinary
+thing with him! Our passion for exercise should become so strong that we
+cannot bring ourselves to dispense with it on any account. We hardly
+realise how weak and futile is our mental work when unaccompanied by
+hard physical exercise. Walking gives movement to every portion of the
+body, and ensures vigorous circulation of the blood; for, when we walk
+fast, fresh air is inhaled into the lungs. Then there is the inestimable
+joy that natural objects give us, the joy that comes from a
+contemplation of the beauties of nature. It is, of course, useless to
+walk along lanes and streets, or to take the same path every day. We
+should go out into the fields and forests where we can have a taste of
+Nature. Walking a mile or two is no walking at all; at least ten or
+twelve miles are necessary for exercise. Those who cannot walk so much
+every day can at least do so on Sundays. Once a man who was suffering
+from indigestion went to the doctor to take medicine. He was advised to
+walk a little every day, but he pleaded that he was too weak to walk at
+all. Then the doctor took him into his carriage for a drive. On the way
+he deliberately dropped his whip, and the sick man, out of courtesy, got
+down to take it. The doctor, however, drove on without waiting for him,
+and the poor man had to trudge behind the carriage. When the doctor was
+satisfied that he had walked long enough, he took him into the carriage
+again, and explained that it was a device adopted to make him walk. As
+the man had begun to feel hungry by this time, he realised the value of
+the doctor's advice, and forgot the affair of the whip. He then went
+home and had a hearty meal. Let those who are suffering from indigestion
+and kindred diseases try for themselves, and they will at once realise
+the value of walking as an exercise.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+DRESS
+
+
+Dress is also a matter of health to a certain extent. European ladies,
+for instance, have such queer notions of beauty that their dress is
+contrived with a view to straitening the waist and the feet, which, in
+its turn, leads to several diseases. The feet of Chinese women are
+deliberately straitened to such an extent that they are smaller even
+than the feet of our little children, and, as a result, their health is
+injured. These two instances show how the health may be affected by the
+nature of the dress. But the choice of our dress does not rest always in
+our hands, for we have perforce to adopt the manners of our elders. The
+chief object of dress has been forgotten, and it has come to be regarded
+as indicative of a man's religion, country, race and profession. In this
+state of things, it is very difficult to discuss the question of dress
+strictly from the point of view of health, but such a discussion must
+necessarily do us good. Under the term dress, we include all such things
+as boots and shoes, as well as jewellery and the like.
+
+What is the chief object of dress? Man in his primitive state had no
+dress at all; he went about naked, and exposing almost the whole body.
+His skin was firm and strong, he was able to stand sun and shower, and
+never once suffered from cold and kindred ailments. As has already been
+explained, we inhale the air not only through the nostrils, but also
+through the numberless pores of the skin. So when we cover the body with
+clothing, we are preventing this natural function of the skin. But when
+the people of the colder countries grew more and more indolent, they
+began to feel the need to cover their bodies. They were no longer able
+to stand the cold, and the use of dress came into being, until at length
+it came to be looked upon not merely as a necessity, but as an ornament.
+Subsequently it has also come to be regarded as an indication of
+country, race etc.
+
+In fact, Nature herself has provided an excellent covering for us in our
+skin. The idea that the body looks unseemly in undress is absurd, for
+the very best pictures are those that display the naked body. When we
+cover up the most ordinary parts of our body, it is as though we felt
+ashamed of them in their natural condition, and as though we found fault
+with Nature's own arrangement. We think it a duty to go on multiplying
+the trappings and ornaments for our body, as we grow richer and richer.
+We 'adorn' our body in all sorts of hideous ways, and pride ourselves on
+our handsomeness! If our eyes were not blinded by foolish habit, we
+should see that the body looks most handsome only in its nakedness, as
+it enjoys its best health only in that condition. Dress, indeed,
+detracts from the natural beauty of the body. But, not content with
+dress alone, man began to wear jewels also. This is mere madness, for
+it is hard to understand how these jewels can add an iota to the body's
+natural beauty. But women have gone beyond all bounds of sense or
+decency in this matter. They are not ashamed to wear anklets which are
+so heavy that they can hardly lift their feet, or to pierce their nose
+and ears hideously for putting on rings, or to stud their wrists and
+fingers with rings and bracelets of several kinds. These ornaments only
+serve to help the accumulation of dirt in the body; there is indeed no
+limit to the dirt on the nose and ears. We mistake this filthiness for
+beauty, and throw money away to secure it; and we do not even shrink
+from putting our lives at the mercy of thieves. There is no limit to the
+pains we take to satisfy the silly notions of vanity that we have so
+sedulously cultivated. Women, indeed, have become so infatuated that
+they are not prepared to remove the ear-ring even if the ears are
+diseased; even if the hand is swollen and suffering from frightful pain,
+they would not remove the bracelets; and they are unwilling to remove
+the ring from a swollen finger, since they imagine that their beauty
+would suffer by so doing!
+
+A thorough reform in dress is by no means an easy matter, but it is
+surely possible for all of us to renounce our jewels and all superfluous
+clothing. We may keep some few things for the sake of convention, and
+throw off all the rest. Those who are free from the superstition that
+dress is an ornament can surely effect many changes in their dress, and
+keep themselves in good health.
+
+Now-a-days the notion has gained ground that European dress is necessary
+for maintaining our decency and prestige! This is not the place to
+discuss this question in detail. Here it will be enough to point out
+that, although the dress of Europeans might be good enough for the cold
+countries of Europe, it is hopelessly unsuited to India. Indian dress,
+alone, can be good for Indians, whether they be Hindu or Musalman. Our
+dress being loose and open, air is not shut out; and being white for the
+most part, it does not absorb the heat. Black dress feels hot, since all
+the sun's rays are absorbed into it, and, in its turn, into the body.
+
+The practice of covering the head with the turban has become quite
+common with us. Nevertheless we should try to keep the head bare as
+far as possible. To grow the hair, and to dress it by combing and
+brushing, parting in the middle and so on, is nothing short of
+barbarous. Dust and dirt, as well as nits and lice, accumulate in the
+hair, and if a boil were to arise on the head, it cannot be properly
+treated. Especially for those who use a turban, it would be stupid to
+grow the hair.
+
+The feet also are common agents of disease. The feet of those who wear
+boots and shoes grow dirty, and begin to exude a lot of stinking
+perspiration. So great is the stink that those who are sensitive to
+smells will hardly be able to stand by the side of one who is removing
+his shoes and socks. Our common names for the shoe speak of it as the
+"protector of the feet" and the "enemy of the thorn" showing that shoes
+should be worn only when we have to walk along a thorny path, or over
+very cold or hot ground, and that only the soles should be covered, and
+not the entire feet. And this purpose is served excellently well by the
+_sandal_. Some people who are accustomed to the use of shoes often
+suffer from headaches, of pain in the feet, or weakness of the body. Let
+them try the experiment of walking with bare feet, and then they will at
+once find out the benefit of keeping the feet bare, and free from sweat
+by exposure to the air.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+SEXUAL RELATIONS
+
+
+I would specially request those who have carefully read through the book
+so far to read through this chapter with even greater care, and ponder
+well over its subject-matter. There are still several more chapters to
+be written, and they will, of course, be found useful in their own way.
+But not one of them is nearly as important as this. As I have already
+said, there is not a single matter mentioned in this book which is not
+based on my personal experience, or which I do not believe to be
+strictly true.
+
+Many are the keys to health, and they are all quite essential; but the
+one thing needful, above all others, is _Brahmacharya_. Of course, pure
+air, pure water, and wholesome food do contribute to health. But how can
+we be healthy if we expend all the health that we acquire? How can we
+help being paupers if we spend all the money that we earn? There can be
+no doubt that men and women can never be virile or strong unless they
+observe true _Brahmacharya_.
+
+What do we mean by _Brahmacharya_? We mean by it that men and women
+should refrain from enjoying each other. That is to say, they should not
+touch each other with a carnal thought, they should not think of it even
+in their dreams. Their mutual glances should be free from all suggestion
+of carnality. The hidden strength that God has given us should be
+conserved by rigid self-discipline, and transmitted into energy and
+power,--not merely of body, but also of mind and soul.
+
+But what is the spectacle that we actually see around us? Men and
+women, old and young, without exception, are seen entangled in the coils
+of sensuality. Blinded by lust, they lose all sense of right and wrong.
+I have myself seen even boys and girls behaving like mad men under its
+fatal influence. I too have behaved likewise under similar influences,
+and it could not well be otherwise. For the sake of a momentary
+pleasure, we sacrifice in an instant all the stock of vitality that we
+have accumulated. The infatuation over, we find ourselves in a miserable
+condition. The next morning, we feel hopelessly weak and tired, and the
+mind refuses to do its work. Then, we try to remedy the mischief by
+taking all sorts of 'nervine tonics' and put ourselves under the
+doctor's mercy for repairing the waste, and for recovering the capacity
+for enjoyment. So the days pass and the years, until at length old age
+comes upon us, and finds us utterly emasculated in body and in mind.
+
+But the law of Nature is just the reverse of this. The older we grow,
+the keener should grow our intellect also; the longer we live, the
+greater should be our capacity to transmit the fruits of our accumulated
+experience to our fellowmen. And such is indeed the case with those who
+have been true _Brahmacharies_. They know no fear of death, and they do
+not forget good even in the hour of death; nor do they indulge in vain
+complaints. They die with a smile on their lips, and boldly face the day
+of judgment. They are the true men and women; and of them alone can it
+be said that they have conserved their health.
+
+We hardly realise the fact that incontinence is the root-cause of all
+the vanity, anger, fear and jealousy in the world. If our mind is not
+under our control, if we behave once or more every day more foolishly
+than even little children, what sins may we not commit consciously or
+unconsciously? How can we pause to think of the consequences of our
+actions, however vile or sinful they may be?
+
+But you may ask, "Who has ever seen a true _Brahmachary_ in this sense?
+If all men should turn _Brahmacharies_, would not humanity be extinct,
+and the whole world go to rack and ruin?" We will leave aside the
+religious aspect of this question, and discuss it simply from the
+secular point of view. To my mind, these questions only bespeak our
+weakness and our cowardliness. We have not the strength of will to
+observe _Brahmacharya_, and, therefore, set about finding pretexts for
+evading our duty. The race of true _Brahmacharies_ is by no means
+extinct; but, if they were to be had merely for the asking, of what
+value would _Brahmacharya_ be? Thousands of hardy labourers have to go
+and dig deep into the bowels of the earth in search of diamonds, and at
+length they get perhaps merely a handful of them out of heaps and heaps
+of rock. How much greater, then, should be the labour involved in the
+discovery of the infinitely more precious diamond of a _Brahmachary_? If
+the observance of _Brahmacharya_ should mean the ruin of the world, why
+should we regret it? Are we God that we should be so anxious about its
+future? He who created it will surely see to its preservation. It is
+none of our business to enquire if other people practise _Brahmacharya_
+or not. When we turn merchant or lawyer or doctor, do we ever pause to
+consider what the fate of the world would be if all men were to do
+likewise? The true _Brahmachary_ will, in the long run, discover for
+himself answers to such questions.
+
+But how can men engrossed by the cares of the material world put these
+ideas into practice? What shall the married people do? What shall they
+do who have children? And what shall be done by those people who cannot
+control their lust? The best solution for all such difficulties has
+already been given. We should keep this ideal constantly before us, and
+try to approximate to it more and more to the utmost of our capacity.
+When little children are taught to write the letters of the alphabet, we
+show them the perfect shapes of the letters, and they try to reproduce
+them as best they can. Just in the same way, if we steadily work up to
+the ideal of _Brahmacharya_, we may ultimately succeed in realising it.
+What if we have married already? The law of Nature is that
+_Brahmacharya_ may be broken only when the husband and wife feel a
+strong desire for a child. Those who, remembering this law, violate
+_Brahmacharya_ once in four or five years cannot be said to be slaves to
+lust, nor can they appreciably lose their stock of vitality. But, alas,
+how rare are those men and women who yield to the sexual craving merely
+for the sake of an offspring! The vast majority, who may be numbered in
+thousands, turn to sexual enjoyment merely to satisfy their carnal
+passion, with the result that children are born to them quite against
+their will. In the madness of sexual passion, we give no thought to the
+consequences of our acts. In this respect, men are even more to blame
+than women. The man is blinded so much by his lust that he never cares
+to remember that his wife is weak and incapable of rearing a child. In
+the West indeed, people have trespassed even against the claims of
+common decency. They indulge in sexual pleasures, and devise measures in
+order to evade the responsibilities of parenthood. Many books have been
+written on this subject, and a regular trade is being carried on in
+providing the means of preventing conception. We are as yet free from
+this sin, but we do not shrink from imposing the heavy burden of
+maternity on our women, and we are not concerned even to find that our
+children are weak, impotent and imbecile. Every time we get children, we
+bless Providence, and so seek to hide from ourselves the wickedness of
+our acts. Should we not rather deem it a sign of God's anger to have
+children who are weak, sensual, crippled and impotent? Is it a matter
+for joy that mere boys and girls should have children? Is it not rather
+a curse of God? We all know that the premature fruit of a too young
+plant weakens the parent, and so we try all means of delaying the
+appearance of fruit. But we sing hymns of praise and thanks-giving to
+God when a child is born of a boy-father and a girl-mother! Could
+anything be more dreadful? Do we think that the world is going to be
+saved by the countless swarms of such impotent children endlessly
+multiplying in India or elsewhere in the world? Verily we are, in this
+respect, far worse than even the lower animals; for, the bull and the
+cow are brought together solely with the object of having a calf. Man
+and woman should regard it as sacred duty to keep apart from the moment
+of conception up to the time when the child has ceased to suck its
+mother's breast. But we go on in our merry fashion blissfully forgetful
+of this sacred obligation. This incurable disease enfeebles our mind and
+leads us to an early grave, after making us drag a miserable existence
+for a short while. Married people should understand the true function of
+marriage, and should not violate the law of _Brahmacharya_ except with a
+view to having a child for the continuation of the race.
+
+But this is so difficult under our present conditions of life. Our diet,
+our ways of life, our common talk, and our environments are all equally
+calculated to rouse and keep alive our sensual appetite; and sensuality
+is like a poison, eating into our vitals. Some people may doubt the
+possibility of our being able to free ourselves from this bondage. This
+book is written not for those who go about with such doubtings of heart,
+but only for those who are really in earnest, and who have the courage
+to take active steps for their improvement. Those who are quite content
+with their present abject condition may even be offended to read all
+this; but I hope this will be of some service to those who are heartily
+disgusted with their own miserable existence.
+
+From all that has been said, it follows that those who are still
+unmarried should try to remain so; but, if they cannot help marrying,
+they should do so as late as possible. Young men, for instance, should
+take a vow to remain unmarried till the age of 25 or 30. We shall not
+explain here all the benefits other than physical that result from this;
+but those who want to enjoy them can do so for themselves.
+
+My request to those parents who may read these pages is that they should
+not tie a mill-stone round the necks of their sons by marrying them in
+their teens. They should look also to the welfare of their sons, and not
+only to their own interests. They should throw aside all silly notions
+of caste-pride or 'respectability', and cease to indulge in such
+heartless practices. Let them, rather, if they are true well-wishers of
+their children, look to their physical, mental and moral improvements.
+What greater disservice can they do to their sons than compelling them
+to enter upon a married life, with all its tremendous responsibilities
+and cares, even while they are mere boys?
+
+Then again, the true laws of health demand that the man that loses his
+wife, as well as the woman that loses her husband, should remain single
+ever after. There is a difference of opinion among doctors as to whether
+young men and women need ever let their vital fluid escape, some
+answering the question in the affirmative, others in the negative. But
+this cannot justify our taking advantage of it for sensual enjoyment. I
+can affirm, without the slightest hesitation, from my own experience as
+well as that of others, that sexual enjoyment is not only not necessary
+for the preservation of health, but is positively detrimental to it. All
+the strength of body and mind that has taken long to acquire, is lost
+altogether by the escape of the vital fluid, and it takes a long time to
+regain this lost strength, and even then there is no saying that it can
+be thoroughly recovered. A broken vessel may be made to do its work
+after mending, but it can never be anything but a broken vessel.
+
+As has already been pointed out, the preservation of our vitality is
+impossible without pure air, pure water, pure and wholesome food, as
+well as pure thoughts. So vital indeed is the relation between our
+health and the life that we lead that we can never be perfectly healthy
+unless we lead a clean life. The earnest man who, forgetting the errors
+of the past, begins to live a life of purity will be able to reap the
+fruit of it straightway. Those who have practised true _Brahmacharya_
+even for a short period will have seen how their body and mind improve
+steadily in strength and power, and they will not, at any cost, be
+willing to part with this treasure. I have myself been guilty of lapses
+even after having fully understood the value of _Brahmacharya_, and
+have, of course, paid dearly for it. I am filled with shame and remorse
+when I think of the terrible contrast between my condition before and
+after these lapses. But from the errors of the past I have now learnt to
+preserve this treasure in tact, and I fully hope, with God's grace, to
+continue to preserve it in the future; for I have in my own person,
+witnessed the inestimable benefits of _Brahmacharya_. I was married
+early in life, and had become the father of children as a mere youth.
+When, at length, I awoke to the reality of my situation, I found myself
+sunk in the lowest depths of degradation. I shall consider myself amply
+rewarded for writing these pages if at least a single reader is able to
+take warning from my failings and experiences, and to profit thereby.
+Many people have told me (and I also believe it) that I am full of
+energy and enthusiasm, and that my mind is by so means weak; some even
+accuse me of rashness. There is disease in my body as well as in my
+mind; nevertheless, when compared with my friends, I may call myself
+perfectly healthy and strong. If even after twenty years of sensual
+enjoyment, I have been able to reach this state, how much better should
+I have been if only I had kept myself pure during those twenty years as
+well? It is my full conviction that, if only I had lived a life of
+_Brahmacharya_ all through, my energy and enthusiasm would have been a
+thousandfold greater and I should have been able to devote them all to
+the furtherance of my country's cause as of my own. If this can be
+affirmed of an ordinary man like myself, how much more wonderful must be
+the gain in power,--physical, mental, as well as moral--that unbroken
+_Brahmacharya_ can bring to us!
+
+When so strict is the law of _Brahmacharya_, what shall we say of those
+guilty of the unpardonable sin of illegitimate sexual enjoyment? The
+evil that arises from adultery and prostitution is a vital question of
+religion and morality and cannot be fully dealt with in a treatise on
+health. Here we are only concerned to point out how thousands who are
+guilty of these sins are afflicted by syphilis and other unmentionable
+diseases. The inflexible decree of Providence happily condemns these
+wretches to a life of unmitigated suffering. Their short span of life is
+spent in abject bondage to quacks in a futile quest after a remedy that
+will rid them of their suffering. If there were no adultery at all,
+there would be no work for at least 50% of doctors. So inextricably
+indeed has venereal disease caught mankind in its clutches that even the
+best doctors have been forced to admit that, so long as adultery and
+prostitution continue, there is no hope for the human race. The
+medicines for these diseases are so poisonous that, although they may
+appear to have done some good for the time being, they give rise to
+other and still more terrible diseases which are handed down from
+generation to generation.
+
+In concluding this chapter, we will briefly point out how married people
+can preserve their _Brahmacharya_ intact. It is not enough to observe
+the laws of health as regards air, water and food. The man should
+altogether cease to sleep in privacy with his wife. Little reflection is
+needed to show that the only possible motive for privacy between man and
+wife is the desire for sexual enjoyment. They should sleep apart at
+night, and be incessantly engaged in good works during the day. They
+should read such books as fill them with noble thoughts and meditate
+over the lives of great men, and live in the constant realisation of the
+fact that sensual enjoyment is the root of all disease. Whenever they
+feel a prompting for enjoyment, they should bathe in cold water, so that
+the heat of passion may be cooled down, and be refined into the energy
+of virtuous activity. This is a hard thing to do, but we have been born
+into this world that we might wrestle with difficulties and temptations,
+and conquer them; and he who has not the will to do it can never enjoy
+the supreme blessing of true health.
+
+
+
+
+PART II
+
+SOME SIMPLE TREATMENTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+AIR-TREATMENT
+
+
+We have now done with the discussion of the foundations of health, as
+well as the means of its preservation. If all men and women were to obey
+all the laws of health, and practice strict Brahmacharya, there would be
+no need at all for the chapters which follow, for such men and women
+would then be free from all ailments, whether of the body or of the
+mind. But where can such men and women be found? Where are they who have
+not been afflicted by disease? The more strictly, however, we observe
+the laws which have been explained in this book, the more shall we be
+free from disease. But when diseases do attack us, it is our duty to
+deal with them properly, and the following chapters are intended to show
+how to do it.
+
+Pure air, which is so essential to the preservation of health, is also
+essential to the cure of diseases. If, for instance, a man who is
+suffering from gout is treated with air heated by steam, he perspires
+profusely, and his joints are eased. This kind of vapour-treatment is
+known as "Turkish Bath."
+
+If a man who is suffering from high fever is stripped naked, and made to
+sleep in the open air, there is an immediate fall in the temperature,
+and he feels a distinct relief. And if, when he feels cold, he is
+wrapped in a blanket, he perspires at once, and the fever ceases. But
+what we generally do is just the reverse of this. Even if the patient is
+willing to remain in the open air, we close all the doors and windows of
+the room in which he lies, and cover his whole body (including the head
+and ears) with blankets, with the result that he is frightened, and is
+rendered still weaker. If the fever is the outcome of too much heat, the
+sort of air-treatment described above is perfectly harmless, and its
+effect can be instantly felt. Of course, care should be taken that the
+patient does not begin to shiver in the open air. If he cannot remain
+naked, he may well be covered with blankets.
+
+Change of air is an effective remedy for latent fever and other
+diseases. The common practice of taking a change of air is only an
+application of the principle of air-treatment. We often change our
+residence in the belief that a house constantly infested by disease is
+the resort of evil spirits. This is a mere delusion, for the real "evil
+spirits" in such cases are the foul air inside the house. A change of
+residence ensures a change of air, and with it the cure of the diseases
+brought on by it. Indeed, so vital is the relation between health and
+air that the good or evil effects of even a slight change are
+instantaneously felt. For a change of air the rich can afford to go to
+distant places, but even the poor can go from one village to another, or
+at least from one house to another. Even a change of room in the same
+house often brings great relief to a sick man. But, of course, care
+should be taken to see that the change of air is really for the better.
+Thus, for instance, a disease that has been brought on by damp air
+cannot be cured by a change to a damper locality. It is because
+sufficient attention is not paid to simple precautions like this that a
+change of air is often so ineffectual.
+
+This chapter has been devoted to some simple instances of the
+application of air to the treatment of disease, while the chapter on Air
+in Part I of this book contains a general consideration of the value of
+pure air to health. Hence I would request my readers to read these two
+chapters side by side.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WATER-CURE
+
+
+Since air is invisible, we cannot perceive the wonderful way in which it
+does its work. But the work of water and its curative effects can be
+easily seen and understood.
+
+All people know something of the use of steam as a curative agent. We
+often employ it in cases of fever, and very often severe headaches can
+be cured only by its application. In cases of rheumatic pain in the
+joints, rapid relief is obtained by the use of steam followed by a cold
+bath. Boils and ulcers not cured by simple dressing with ointments can
+be completely healed by the application of steam.
+
+In case of extreme fatigue, a steam-bath or a hot-water bath immediately
+followed by a cold bath will be found very effective. So too, in cases
+of sleeplessness, instant relief is often obtained by sleeping in the
+open air after a steam-bath followed by a cold bath.
+
+Hot water can always be used as a substitute for steam. When there is
+severe pain in the stomach, instant relief is obtained by warming with a
+bottle filled with boiling water placed over a thick cloth wrapped round
+the waist. Whenever there is a desire to vomit, it can be done by
+drinking plenty of hot water. Those who are suffering from constipation
+often derive great benefit by drinking a glass of hot water either at
+bedtime or soon after rising and cleaning the teeth in the morning. Sir
+Gordon Spring attributed his excellent health to the practice of
+drinking a glass of hot water every day before going to bed and after
+getting up in the morning. The bowels of many people move only after
+taking tea in the morning, and they foolishly suppose that it is the tea
+which has produced this effect. But, as a matter of fact, tea only does
+harm, and it is really the hot water in the tea that moves the bowels.
+
+A special kind of cot is often used for steam-baths, but it is not quite
+essential. A spirit or kerosine oil stove, or a wood or coal fire,
+should be kept burning under an ordinary cane chair. Over the fire
+should be placed a vessel of water with the mouth covered; and over the
+chair a sheet or blanket is so spread that it may hang down in the front
+and protect the patient from the heat of the fire. Then the patient
+should be seated in the chair and wrapped round with sheets or blankets.
+Then the vessel should be uncovered, so that the patient may be exposed
+to the steam issuing from it. Our common practice of covering the head
+also of the patient is a needless precaution. The heat of the steam
+presses through the body right up to the head, and gives rise to profuse
+perspiration on the face. If the patient is too weak to sit up, he may
+be made to lie down on a cot with interstices, taking care to see that
+none of the steam escapes. Of course, care should also be taken to see
+that the patient's clothes or the blankets used do not catch fire; and
+due consideration should be paid to the state of the patient's health,
+as an inconsiderate application of steam is fraught with danger. The
+patient, indeed, feels weak after a steam bath, but this weakness does
+not last long. Too frequent use of steam, however, enfeebles the
+constitution, and it is of the highest importance to apply steam with
+due deliberation. Steam may also be applied to any single part of the
+body; in cases of headache, for instance, there is no need to expose the
+whole body to the steam. The head should be held just over a
+narrow-mouthed jar of boiling water, and wrapped round with a cloth.
+Then the steam should be inhaled through the nose so that it may ascend
+into the head. If the nasal passage is blocked, it will also be opened
+by this process. Likewise, if there be inflamation in any part of the
+body, it alone need be exposed to the steam.
+
+Very few realise the curative value of cold water, in spite of the fact
+that it is even more valuable in this respect than hot water, and can be
+made use of by even the weakest persons. In fever, small-pox, and
+skin-diseases, the application of a sheet dipped in cold water is very
+beneficial, and often produces startling results; and anybody may try it
+without the least risk. Dizziness or delirium can be instantly relieved
+by tying round the head a cloth dipped in melted ice. People suffering
+from constipation often derive great benefit by tying round the stomach
+for some time a piece of cloth dipped in melted ice. Involuntary seminal
+discharges can also be often prevented by the same means. Bleeding in
+any part of the body may be stopped by the application of a bandage
+dipped in ice-cold water. Bleeding from the nose is stopped by pouring
+cold water over the head. Nasal diseases, cold and headache, may be
+cured by drawing pure cold water up the nose. The water may be drawn
+through one nostril and discharged through the other, or drawn through
+both nostrils and discharged through the mouth. There is no harm in the
+water going even into the stomach provided the nostrils are clean. And
+indeed, this is the best way to keep the nostrils clean. Those who are
+unable to draw the water up the nostrils may use a syringe, but after a
+few attempts, it can be done quite easily. All should learn to do this,
+since it is very simple, and at the same time a most effective remedy
+against headaches, bad smells in the nose, as well as dirty
+accumulations in the nasal passage.
+
+Many people are afraid of taking an enema, and some even think that the
+body is weakened by it; but such fears are baseless. There is no more
+effective means of producing an instant evacuation of the bowels. It has
+proved effective in many diseases where all other remedies have been
+futile; it thoroughly cleans the bowels, and prevents the accumulation
+of poisonous matter. If those who suffer from rheumatic complaints or
+indigestion or pains caused by an unhealthy condition of the bowels take
+an enema of 2 lbs. of water, they would see how instantaneous is its
+effect. One writer on this subject says that once he was suffering from
+chronic indigestion and, all remedies proving futile; he had grown
+emaciated, but the application of the enema at once restored him his
+appetite, and altogether cured him of his complaint in a few days. Even
+ailments like jaundice can be cured by the application of the enema. If
+the enema has to be frequently employed, cold water should be used, for
+the repeated use of hot water is likely to enfeeble the constitution.
+
+Dr. Louis Kuhne of Germany has, after repeated experiments, arrived at
+the conclusion that water-cure is the best for all diseases. His books
+on this subject are so popular that they are now available in almost all
+the languages of the world, including those of India. He contends that
+the abdomen is the seat of all diseases. When there is too much heat in
+the abdomen, it manifests itself in the form of fever, rheumatism,
+eruptions on the body, and the like. The efficacy of water-cure had,
+indeed, been recognised by several people long before Kuhne, but it was
+he who, for the first time, pointed out the common origin of all
+diseases. His views need not be accepted by us in their entirety, but it
+is an undoubted fact that his principles and methods have proved
+effective in many diseases. To give only one instance out of many that
+have come within my experience, in a bad case of rheumatism, a thorough
+cure was effected by Kuhne's system, after all other remedies had been
+tried, and had proved utterly ineffectual.
+
+Dr. Kuhne holds that the heat in the abdomen abates by the application
+of cold water, and has, therefore, prescribed the bathing of the abdomen
+and the surrounding parts with thoroughly cold water. And for the
+greater convenience of bathing, he has devised a special kind of tin
+bath. This, however, is not quite indispensable; the tin tubs of an oval
+shape and of different sizes to suit people of different heights,
+available in our bazaars, will do equally well. The tub should be filled
+three-fourths with cold water, and the patient should seat himself in it
+in such a fashion that his feet and the upper part of the body remain
+outside the water, and the rest of the body up to the hips inside it.
+The feet may preferably be placed on a low foot-stool. The patient
+should sit in the water quite naked, but, if he feels cold, the feet and
+the upper part of the body should be covered with a blanket. If a shirt
+is worn, it should be kept entirely outside the water. The bath should
+be taken in a room where there is plenty of fresh air and light. The
+patient should then slowly rub (or cause to be rubbed) the abdomen with
+a small rough towel from 5 to 30 minutes or more. The effect is
+instantly felt in most cases. In cases of rheumatism, the wind in the
+stomach escapes in the form of eructations and the like, and in cases of
+fever, the thermometre falls by one or two degrees. The bowels are
+readily cleaned by this process; fatigue disappears; sleeplessness is
+removed, and extreme drowsiness gives place to vigour. This contrariness
+of result is more apparent than real; for want of sleep, and the excess
+of it, are both brought on by the same cause. So too, dysentery and
+constipation, which are both the outcome of indigestion, are cured by
+this method. Piles of long standing can also be got rid of by this bath,
+with proper regulation of diet. Those who are troubled by the necessity
+for constant spitting should at once resort to this treatment for a
+cure. By its means the weak can become strong; and even chronic
+rheumatism has been cured by it. It is also an effective remedy for
+haemorrhages, headaches, and blood-poisoning. Kuhne prescribes it as an
+invaluable remedy even for diseases like the cancer. A pregnant woman
+who takes to it regularly will have an easy child-birth. In short, all
+persons, without distinction of age or sex, can take to it with
+advantage.
+
+There is another kind of bath, known as the "Wet-Sheet-Pack", which is
+an unfailing remedy for various diseases. This bath is taken in the
+following manner. A table or chair is placed in the open air, big enough
+to allow of the patient lying on it at full length. On it are spread
+(hanging on either side) some four blankets, less or more according to
+the state of the weather. Over them are spread two white thick sheets
+well dipped in cold water, and a pillow is placed under the blankets at
+one end. Then the patient is stripped naked (with the exception of a
+small waist-cloth, if he so wishes), and made to lie down on the sheets,
+with his hands placed in the arm-pits. Then the sheets and blankets are,
+one after another, wrapped round his body, taking care that the parts
+hanging under the feet are well tucked in so as to cover them. If the
+patient is exposed to the sun, a wet cloth is put over his head and
+face, keeping the nose always open. At first the patient will
+experience some shivering, but this will soon give place to an agreeably
+warm sensation. He can lie in this position from 5 minutes to an hour or
+more. After a time he begins to perspire, or at times falls asleep. Soon
+after coming out of the sheets he should bathe in cold-water. This is an
+excellent remedy for small-pox and fever, and skin-diseases like the
+itch, the ringworm, and pimples and blotches. Even the worst forms of
+chicken-pox and small-pox are completely cured by this process. People
+can easily learn to take the "Wet-Sheet-Pack" themselves, and to apply
+it to others, and can thus see for themselves its wonderful effect. As
+the whole dirt of the body sticks to the sheets in the process of taking
+this bath, they ought not to be used again without being well washed in
+boiling water.
+
+Needless to say, the full benefit of these baths cannot be derived
+unless the rules already mentioned as to diet, exercise and the like are
+strictly observed. If a rheumatic patient, for instance, were to take to
+Kuhne's bath or to the "Wet-Sheet-Pack," while eating unwholesome food,
+living in impure air, and neglecting his exercise, how can he possibly
+derive any good out of it? It is only when accompanied by strict
+observance of all the laws of health that water-cure can be of any
+effect; and when so employed, its effects are sure and immediate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE USE OF EARTH
+
+
+We will now proceed to describe the curative properties of earth, which
+are, in some cases, even more remarkable than those of water. That earth
+should have such properties need not cause us any surprise, for our own
+body is compounded of the earthly element. Indeed, we do make use of
+earth as a purifying agent. We wash the ground with earth to remove bad
+smells, we put it over decaying matter to prevent the pollution of the
+air, we wash our hands with it, and even employ it to clean the private
+parts. Yogis besmear their bodies with it; some people use it as a cure
+for boils and ulcers; and dead bodies are buried in the earth so that
+they may not vitiate the atmosphere. All this shows that earth has many
+valuable properties as a purifying and curative agent.
+
+Just as Dr. Kuhne has devoted special attention to the subject of
+water-cure, another German doctor has made a special study of earth and
+its properties. He goes so far as to say that it can be used with
+success in the treatment of even the most complicated diseases. He says
+that once in a case of snake-bite, where everybody else had given up
+the man for dead, he restored him to life by causing him to be covered
+up with earth for some time. There is no reason to doubt the veracity of
+this report. It is well known that great heat is generated in the body
+by burying it in the earth; and although we cannot explain how exactly
+the effect is produced, it is undeniable that earth does possess the
+property of absorbing the poison. Indeed, every case of snake-bite may
+not be cured in this way; but it should certainly be tried in every
+case. And I can say from my own experience that, in cases of
+scorpion-sting and the like, the use of mud is particularly beneficial.
+
+I have myself tried with success the following forms of earth-cure.
+Constipation, dysentery, and chronic stomach-ache have been cured by the
+use of a mud-poultice over the abdomen for two or three days. Instant
+relief has been obtained in cases of headache by applying a mud-bandage
+round the head. Sore eye has also been cured by the same method; hurts
+of all kinds, whether accompanied by inflammation or not, have been
+healed likewise. In the old days I could not keep well without a regular
+use of Eno's Fruit-salt and the like. But, since 1904, when I learnt the
+value of earth-cure, I have had not a single occasion to use them. A
+mud-poultice over the abdomen and the head, gives distinct relief in a
+state of high fever. Skin-diseases like the itch, the ringworm, and
+boils, have been cured with the use of mud, though no doubt ulcers from
+which pus issues are not so easily cured. Burns and scalds are likewise
+healed by mud, which also prevents inflammation. Piles, too, are cured
+by the same treatment. When the hands and feet become red and swollen
+owing to frost, mud is an unfailing remedy, and pain in the joints is
+also relieved by it. From these and other experiments in mud-cure, I
+have come to the conclusion that earth is an invaluable element in the
+domestic treatment of diseases.
+
+All kinds of earth are not, of course, equally beneficial. Dry earth dug
+out from a clean spot has been found the most effective. It should not
+be too sticky. Mud which is midway between sand and clay is the best. It
+should, of course, be free from cow-dung and other rubbish. It should be
+well sifted in a fine sieve, and then soaked in cold water to the
+consistency of well-kneaded dough before use. Then it should be tied up
+in a piece of clean, unstarched cloth, and used in the form of a thick
+poultice. The poultice should be removed before the mud begins to dry
+up; ordinarily it will last from two to three hours. Mud once used
+should never be used again, but a cloth once used can be used again,
+after being well washed, provided it is free from blood and other dirty
+matter. If the poultice has to be applied to the abdomen, it should
+first be covered over with a warm cloth. Everybody should keep a tinful
+of earth ready for use, so as not to have to hunt for it whenever an
+occasion arises for its use. Otherwise, much precious time may be wasted
+in cases (as of scorpion-sting) where delay would be dangerous.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+FEVER AND ITS CURE
+
+
+We now pass on to consider some particular diseases and the means of
+curing them. And first, fever.
+
+We generally apply the term "fever" to a condition of heat in the body,
+but English doctors have distinguished many varieties of this disease,
+each with its own system of treatment. But, following the common
+practice and the principles elaborated in these chapters, we may say
+that all fevers can be cured in one and the same manner. I have tried
+this single treatment for all varieties from simple fever up to Bubonic
+Plague, with invariably satisfactory results. In 1904, there was a
+severe outbreak of plague among the Indians in South Africa. It was so
+severe that, out of 23 persons that were affected, as many as 21 died
+within the space of 24 hours; and of the remaining two, who were removed
+to the hospital, only one survived, and that one was the man to whom was
+applied the mud-poultice. We cannot, of course, conclude from this that
+it was the mud-poultice that saved him, but, in any case, it is
+undeniable that it did him no harm. They were both suffering from high
+fever brought on by inflammation of the lungs, and had been rendered
+unconscious. The man on whom was tried the mud-poultice was so bad that
+he was spitting blood, and I afterwards learnt from the doctor that he
+had been insufficiently fed on milk alone.
+
+As most fevers are caused by disorders of the bowels, the very first
+thing to do is to starve the patient. It is a mere superstition that a
+weak man will get weaker by starving. As we have already seen, only that
+portion of our food is really useful which is assimilated into the
+blood, and the remainder only clogs the bowels. In fever the digestive
+organs are very weak, the tongue gets coated, and the lips are hard and
+dry. If any food is given to the patient in this condition, it will
+remain undigested and aid the fever. Starving the patient gives his
+digestive organs time to perform their work; hence the need to starve
+him for a day or two. At the same time, he should take at least two
+baths every day according to the Kuhne's system. If he is too weak or
+ill to bathe, a mud-poultice should be applied to his abdomen. If the
+head aches or feels too hot, a poultice should also be applied to the
+head. The patient should, as far as possible, be placed in the open air,
+and should be well covered. At meal-time, he should be given the juice
+of lime, well filtered and mixed with cold or boiling water, and if
+possible, without any sugar. This has a very beneficial effect, and
+should alone be given if the patient's teeth can bear its sourness.
+Afterwards, he may be given a half or the whole of a plantain, well
+mixed with a spoon of olive oil, mixed with a spoon of lime juice. If he
+feels thirsty, he should be given water boiled and cooled, or the juice
+of lime,--never unboiled water. His clothes should be as few as possible,
+and should be frequently changed. Even persons suffering from typhoid
+and the like diseases have been completely cured by this simple
+treatment, and are enjoying perfect health at present. A seeming cure
+may also be effected by quinine, but it really brings other diseases in
+its train. Even in malarial fever, in which quinine is supposed to be
+most effective, I have rarely seen it bring permanent relief; on the
+other hand, I have actually seen several cases of malarial patients
+being permanently cured by the treatment described above.
+
+Many people subsist on milk alone during fever, but my experience is
+that it really does harm in the initial stages, as it is hard to digest.
+If milk has to be given, it is best given in the form of
+"wheat-coffee",[1] or with a small quantity of rice-flour well boiled in
+water; but in extreme forms of fever, it ought not to be given at all.
+In such a condition, the juice of lime may always be given with great
+success. As soon as the tongue gets clean, plantain may be included in
+the diet, and given in the form described above. If there be
+constipation, a hot-water enema with borax should be applied in
+preference to purgatives, after which a diet of olive oil will serve to
+keep the bowels free.
+
+  [1] Part II, chap. IV
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+CONSTIPATION, DYSENTERY, GRIPES AND PILES
+
+
+It may at first sight appear strange to have four different ailments put
+together in this chapter, but, as a matter of fact, they are all so
+closely connected, and may be cured more or less in the same way. When
+the stomach gets clogged by undigested matter, it leads to one or other
+of these diseases, according to the varying constitutions of
+individuals. In some it produces constipation. The bowels do not move,
+or move only partly, and there is great straining at stools, until it
+results in bleeding, or at times in the discharge of mucus, or piles. In
+others, it leads to diarrhea, which often ends in dysentery. In others
+again, it may give rise to gripes, accompanied by pain in the stomach
+and the discharge of mucus.
+
+In all these cases, the patient loses his appetite, his body gets pale
+and weak, his tongue gets coated, and his breath foul. Many also suffer
+from headache and other complaints. Constipation, indeed, is so common
+that hundreds of pills and powders have been invented to cure it. The
+chief function of such patent medicines as Mother Siegel's Syrup and
+Eno's Fruit-salt is to relieve constipation, and hence thousands of
+people go in for them in the vain hope of being cured for good. Any
+_Vaid_ or _Hakim_ will tell you that constipation and the like are the
+result of indigestion, and that the best way to cure them is to remove
+the causes of indigestion; but the more candid among them will confess
+that they are forced to manufacture pills and powders, since the
+patients are not really prepared to renounce their bad habits, but at
+the same time want to get cured. Indeed the present-day advertisments of
+such medicines go to the extent of promising to those that would buy
+them that they need observe no directions as to diet and the like, but
+may eat and drink whatever they like. But my readers need not be told
+that this is a mere string of lies. All purgatives are invariably
+injurious to health. Even the mildest of them, even if they relieve the
+constipation, give rise to other forms of disease. If they should do any
+good at all, the patient should thoroughly change his ways of life, so
+as not to have to turn to purgatives again; otherwise, there can be no
+doubt that they must give rise to new diseases, even supposing that they
+serve to get rid of the old.
+
+The very first thing to do in cases of constipation and the like is to
+reduce the quantity of food, especially such heavy things as ghee, sugar
+and cream of milk. Of course, he should eschew altogether wine, tobacco,
+bhang, tea, coffee, cocoa, and loaves made of "mill flour." The diet
+should consist for the most part of fresh fruits with olive oil.
+
+The patient should be made to starve for 36 hours before treatment
+begins. During this time and after, mud-poultices should be applied to
+the abdomen during sleep; and, as has been already said, one or two
+"Kuhne baths" should also be taken. The patient should be made to walk
+for at least two hours every day. I have myself seen severe cases of
+constipation, dysentery, piles and gripes effectively cured by this
+simple treatment. Piles may not, of course, completely disappear, but
+they will certainly cease to give trouble. The sufferer from gripes
+should take special care not to take any food except lime-juice in hot
+water, so long as there is discharge of blood or mucus. If there is
+excessive griping pain in the stomach, it can be cured by warming with a
+bottle of hot water or a piece of well-heated brick. Needless to say,
+the patient should live constantly in the open air.
+
+Fruits like the French plum, the raisin, the orange and the grape, are
+particularly useful in constipation. This does not, of course, mean that
+these fruits may be eaten even where there is no hunger. They ought not
+to be eaten at all in cases of gripes accompanied by a bad taste in the
+mouth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+CONTAGIOUS DISEASES: SMALL-POX
+
+
+Now we will proceed to deal with the treatment of contagious diseases.
+They have a common origin, but, since small-pox is by far the most
+important of them, we will give a separate chapter to it, dealing with
+the rest in another chapter. We are all terribly afraid of the
+small-pox, and have very crude notions about it. We in India even
+worship it as a deity. In fact it is caused, just like other diseases,
+by the blood getting impure owing to some disorder of the bowels; and
+the poison that accumulates in the system is expelled in the form of
+small-pox. If this view is correct, then there is absolutely no need to
+be afraid of small-pox. If it were really a contagious disease, everyone
+should catch it by merely touching the patient; but this is not always
+the case. Hence there is really no harm in touching the patient,
+provided we take some essential precautions in doing so. We cannot, of
+course, assert that small-pox is never transmitted by touch, for those
+that are physically in a condition favourable to its transmission will
+catch it. This is why, in a locality where small-pox has appeared, many
+people are found attacked by it at the same time. This has given rise to
+the superstition that it is a contagious disease, and hence to the
+attempt to mislead the people into the belief that vaccination is an
+effective means of preventing it. The process of vaccination consists in
+injecting into the skin the liquid that is obtained by applying the
+discharge from the body of a small-pox patient to the udder of a cow.
+The original theory was that a single vaccination would suffice to keep
+a man immune from this disease for life; but, when it was found that
+even vaccinated persons were attacked by the disease, a new theory came
+into being that the vaccination should be renewed after a certain
+period, and to-day it has become the rule for all persons--whether
+already vaccinated or not--to get themselves vaccinated whenever
+small-pox rages as an epidemic in any locality, so that it is no
+uncommon thing to come across people who have been vaccinated five or
+six times, or even more.
+
+Vaccination is a barbarous practice, and it is one of the most fatal of
+all the delusions current in our time, not to be found even among the
+so-called savage races of the world. Its supporters are not content with
+its adoption by those who have no objection to it, but seek to impose it
+with the aid of penal laws and rigorous punishments on all people alike.
+The practice of vaccination is not very old, dating as it does only from
+1798 A.D. But, during this comparatively short period that has elapsed,
+millions have fallen a prey to the delusion that those who get
+themselves vaccinated are safe from the attack of small-pox. No one can
+say that small-pox will necessarily attack those who have not been
+vaccinated; for many cases have been observed of unvaccinated people
+being free from its attack. From the fact that some people who are not
+vaccinated do get the disease, we cannot, of course, conclude that they
+would have been immune if only they had got themselves vaccinated.
+
+Moreover, vaccination is a very dirty process, for the serum which is
+introduced into the human body includes not only that of the cow, but
+also of the actual small-pox patient. An average man would even vomit at
+the mere sight of this stuff. If the hand happens to touch it, it is
+always washed with soap. The mere suggestion of tasting it fills us with
+indignation and disgust. But how few of those who get themselves
+vaccinated realise that they are in effect eating this filthy stuff!
+Most people know that, in several diseases, medicines and liquid food
+are injected into the blood, and that they are assimilated into the
+system more rapidly than if they were taken through the mouth. The only
+difference, in fact, between injection and the ordinary process of
+eating through the mouth is that the assimilation in the former case is
+instantaneous, while that in the latter is slow. And yet we do not
+shrink from getting ourselves vaccinated! As has been well said, cowards
+die a living death, and our craze for vaccination is solely due to the
+fear of death or disfigurement by small-pox.
+
+I cannot also help feeling that vaccination is a violation of the
+dictates of religion and morality. The drinking of the blood of even
+dead animals is looked upon with horror even by habitual meat-eaters.
+Yet, what is vaccination but the taking in of the poisoned blood of an
+innocent living animal? Better far were it for God-fearing men that they
+should a thousand times become the victims of small-pox and even die a
+terrible death than that they should be guilty of such an act of
+sacrilege.
+
+Several of the most thoughtful men in England have laboriously
+investigated the manifold evils of vaccination, and an Anti-Vaccination
+Society has also been formed there. The members of this society have
+declared open war against vaccination, and many have even gone to gaol
+for this cause. Their objections to vaccination are briefly as follows:
+
+(1) The preparation of the vaccine from the udder of cows or calves
+entails untold suffering on thousands of innocent creatures, and this
+cannot possibly be justified by any gains resulting from vaccination.
+
+(2) Vaccination, instead of doing good, works considerable mischief by
+giving rise to many new diseases. Even its advocates cannot deny that,
+after its introduction, many new diseases have come into being.
+
+(3) The vaccine that is prepared from the blood of a small-pox patient
+is likely to contain and transmit the germs of all the several diseases
+that he may be suffering from.
+
+(4) There is no guarantee that small-pox will not attack the vaccinated.
+Dr. Jenner, the inventor of vaccination, originally supposed that
+perfect immunity could be secured by a single injection on a single arm;
+but when it was found to fail, it was asserted that vaccination on both
+the arms would serve the purpose; and when even this proved ineffectual,
+it came to be held that both the arms should be vaccinated at more than
+one place, and that it should also be renewed once in seven years.
+Finally, the period of immunity has further been reduced to three years!
+All this clearly shows that doctors themselves have no definite views on
+the matter. The truth is, as we have already said, that there is no
+saying that small-pox will not attack the vaccinated, or that all cases
+of immunity must needs be due to vaccination.
+
+(5) The vaccine is a filthy substance, and it is foolish to expect that
+one kind of filth can be removed by another.
+
+By these and similar arguments, this society has already produced a
+large volume of public opinion against vaccination. In a certain town,
+for instance, a large proportion of the people refuse to be vaccinated,
+and yet statistics prove that they are singularly free from disease. The
+fact of the matter is that it is only the self-interest of doctors that
+stands in the way of the abolition of this inhuman practice, for the
+fear of losing the large incomes that they at present derive from this
+source blinds them to the countless evils which it brings. There are,
+however, a few doctors who recognise these evils, and who are determined
+opponents of vaccination.
+
+Those who are conscientious objectors to vaccination should, of course,
+have the courage to face all penalties or persecutions to which they may
+be subjected by law, and stand alone, if need be, against the whole
+world, in defence of their conviction. Those who object to it merely on
+the grounds of health should acquire a complete mastery of the subject,
+and should be able to convince others of the correctness of their views,
+and convert them into adopting those views in practice. But those who
+have neither definite views on the subject nor courage enough to stand
+up for their convictions should no doubt obey the laws of the state, and
+shape their conduct in deference to the opinions and practices of the
+world around them.
+
+Those who object to vaccination should observe all the more strictly the
+laws of health already explained; for the strict observance of these
+laws ensures in the system those vital forces which counteract all
+disease germs, and is, therefore, the best protection against small-pox
+as well as other diseases. If, while objecting to the introduction of
+the poisonous vaccine into the system, they surrendered themselves to
+the still more fatal poison of sensuality, they would undoubtedly
+forfeit their right to ask the world to accept their views on the
+matter.
+
+When small-pox has actually appeared, the best treatment is the
+"Wet-Sheet-Pack", which should be applied three times a day. It relieves
+the fever, and the sores heal rapidly. There is no need at all to apply
+oils or ointments on the sores. If possible, a mud-poultice should be
+applied in one or two places. The diet should consist of rice, and light
+fresh fruits, all rich fruits like date and almond being avoided.
+Normally the sores should begin to heal under the "Wet-Sheet-Pack" in
+less than a week; if they do not, it means that the poison in the system
+has not been completely expelled. Instead of looking upon small-pox as a
+terrible disease, we should regard it as one of Nature's best expedients
+for getting rid of the accumulated poison in the body, and the
+restoration of normal health.
+
+After an attack of small-pox, the patient remains weak for sometime, and
+in some cases even suffers from other ailments. But this is due not to
+the small-pox itself; but to the wrong remedies employed to cure it.
+Thus, the use of quinine in fever often results in deafness, and even
+leads to the extreme form of it known as "quininism". So too, the
+employment of mercury in venereal diseases leads to many new forms of
+disease. Then again, too frequent use of purgatives in constipation
+brings on ailments like the piles. The only sound system of treatment is
+that which attempts to remove the root-causes of disease by a strict
+observance of the fundamental laws of health. Even the costly _Bhasmas_
+which are supposed to be unfailing remedies for such diseases are in
+effect highly injurious; for, although they may seem to do some good,
+they excite the evil passions, and ultimately ruin the health.
+
+After the vesicles on the body have given place to scabs, olive oil
+should be constantly applied, and the patient bathed every day. Then the
+scabs rapidly fall off, and even the pocks soon disappear, the skin
+recovering its normal colour and freshness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OTHER CONTAGIOUS DISEASES
+
+
+We do not dread chicken-pox so much as its elder sister, since it is not
+so fatal, and does not cause disfigurement and the like. It is, however,
+exactly the same as small-pox in other respects, and should therefore
+be dealt with in the same way.
+
+Bubonic Plague is a terrible disease, and has accounted for the death of
+millions of our people since the year 1896, when it first made its real
+entry into our land. The doctors, in spite of all their investigations,
+have not yet been able to invent a sure remedy for it. Now-a-days the
+practice of inoculation has come into vogue, and the belief has gained
+ground that an attack of plague may be obviated by it. But inoculation
+for plague is as bad and as sinful as vaccination for small-pox.
+Although no sure remedy has been devised for this disease, we will
+venture to suggest the following treatment to those who have full faith
+in Providence, and who are not afraid of death.
+
+(1) The "Wet-Sheet-Pack" should be applied as soon as the first symptoms
+of fever appear.
+
+(2) A thick mud-poultice should be applied to the bubo.
+
+(3) The patient should be completely starved.
+
+(4) If he feels thirsty, he should be given lime-juice in cold water.
+
+(5) He should be made to lie in the open air.
+
+(6) There should not be more than one attendant by the side of the
+patient.
+
+We can confidently assert that, if plague can be cured by any treatment
+at all, it can be cured by this.
+
+Though the exact origin and causes of plague are yet unknown, it is
+undoubted that rats have something to do with its communication. We
+should, therefore, take all precautions, in a plague-infected area, to
+prevent the approach of rats in our dwellings; if we cannot get rid of
+them, we should vacate the house.
+
+The best remedy to prevent an attack of plague is, of course, to follow
+strictly the laws of health,--to live in the open air, to eat plain
+wholesome food and in moderation, to take good exercise, to keep the
+house neat and clean, to avoid all evil habits, and, in short, lead a
+life of utter simplicity and purity. Even in normal times our lives
+should be such, but, in times of plague and other epidemics, we should
+be doubly careful.
+
+Pneumonic Plague is an even more dangerous form of this disease. Its
+attack is sudden and almost invariably fatal. The patient has very high
+fever, feels extreme difficulty in breathing, and in most cases, is
+rendered unconscious. This form of plague broke out in Johannesburg in
+1904, and as has been already said,[2] only one man escaped alive out of
+the 23 who were attacked. The treatment for this disease is just the
+same as that for Bubonic Plague, with this difference that the poultice
+should be applied in this case to both sides of the chest. If there be
+no time to try the "Wet-Sheet-Pack", a thin poultice of mud should be
+applied to the head. Needless to say, here as in other cases, prevention
+is better than cure.
+
+  [2] Part I, chap. V
+
+We are terribly afraid of cholera, as of plague, but in fact, it is much
+less fatal. Here the "Wet-Sheet-Pack", however, is of no effect, but the
+mud-poultice should be applied to the stomach, and where there is a
+tingling sensation, the affected part should be warmed with a bottle
+filled with warm water. The feet should be rubbed with mustard-oil, and
+the patient should be starved. Care should be taken to see that he does
+not get alarmed. If the motions are too frequent, the patient should not
+be repeatedly taken out of bed, but a flat shallow vessel should be
+placed underneath to receive the stools. If these precautions are taken
+in due time, there is little fear of danger. This disease generally
+breaks out in the hot season, when we generally eat all sorts of unripe
+and over-ripe fruits in immoderate quantities and in addition to our
+ordinary food. The water also that we drink during this season is often
+dirty, as the quantity of it in wells and tanks is small, and we take no
+trouble to boil or filter it. Then again, the stools of the patients
+being allowed to lie exposed, the germs of the disease are communicated
+through the air. Indeed, when we consider how little heed we pay to
+these most elementary facts and principles, we can only wonder that we
+are not more often attacked by these terrible diseases.
+
+During the prevalence of cholera, we should eat light food in
+moderation. We should breathe plenty of fresh air; and the water that we
+drink should always be thoroughly boiled, and filtered with a thick
+clean piece of cloth. The stools of the patient should be covered up
+with a thick layer of earth. Indeed, even in normal times, we should
+invariably cover up the stools with ashes or loose earth. If we do so,
+there would be much less danger of the spread of disease. Even the lower
+animals like the cat take this precaution, but we are worse than they in
+this respect.
+
+It should also be thoroughly impressed on the minds of persons suffering
+from contagious diseases, as well as those around them, that they
+should, under no circumstances, give way to panic, for fear always
+paralyses the nerves and increases the danger of fatality.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+MATERNITY AND CHILD-BIRTH
+
+
+Our object in the foregoing chapters has been to point out the unity of
+origin and treatment of some of the more common diseases. We are,
+indeed, fully aware that those who are the constant victims of disease,
+and who are constantly oppressed by the fear of death, will still
+continue to put themselves at the mercy of doctors, in spite of all that
+we might say against it. We venture to think, however, that there would
+be at least a few who are willing to cure themselves of their diseases
+by purely natural processes, so as to save themselves from all further
+attacks; and such persons would surely find it worth while to follow the
+simple directions we have given. Before concluding this book, we will
+also give a few hints on maternity and the care of the child, as well as
+some common accidents.
+
+In the lower orders of the animal creation, the pangs of child-birth are
+altogether unknown. The same should really be the case with perfectly
+healthy women. In fact, most women in the country regard child-birth as
+quite an ordinary matter; they continue to do their normal work till
+almost the last moment, and experience hardly any pain at the time of
+delivery. Women employed in labour have also been known to be able very
+often to return to work almost immediately after child-birth.
+
+How comes it, then, that women in towns and cities have to endure so
+much pain and suffering at the time of child-birth? And why is it that
+they have to receive special treatment before and after the delivery?
+
+The answer is simple and obvious. The women in towns have to lead an
+unnatural life. Their food, their costume, their mode of life, in
+general, offend against the natural laws of healthy living. Further,
+besides becoming pregnant at a premature age, they are the sad victims
+of men's lust even after pregnancy, as well as immediately after
+child-birth, so that conception again takes place at too short an
+interval. This is the state of utter misery and wretchedness in which
+lakhs of our young girls and women find themselves in our country
+to-day. To my mind, life under such conditions is little removed from
+the tortures of hell. So long as men continue to behave so monstrously,
+there can be no hope of happiness for our women. Many men put the blame
+on the women's shoulders; but it is none of our business here to weigh
+the relative guilt of man and woman in this matter. We are only
+concerned to recognise the existence of the evil, and to point out its
+cure. Let all married people realise, once for all, that, so long as
+sexual enjoyment at a premature age, as well as during pregnancy and
+soon after child-birth, does not cease to exist in our land, an easy and
+painless child-birth must remain a wild dream. Women silently endure the
+pangs of child-birth, as well as the subsequent period of confinement,
+under the wrong notion that they are inevitable, but they fail to see
+how their own ignorance and weakness of will make their children grow
+weaker and droop from day to day. It is the clear duty of every man and
+woman to try to avert this calamity at any cost. If even a single man
+and woman should do their duty in this matter, to that extent it would
+mean the elevation of the world. And this is clearly a matter in which
+no man need or should wait for another's example.
+
+It follows, then, that the very first duty of the husband is wholly to
+abstain from all sexual intercourse with the wife from the moment of
+conception. And great is the responsibility that rests on the wife
+during the nine months that follow. She should be made to realise that
+the character of the child to be born will depend entirely on her life
+and conduct during this sacred period. If she fills her mind with love
+for all things that are good and noble, the child will also manifest the
+same disposition; if, on the other hand, she gives way to anger and
+other evil passions, her child will necessarily inherit the same. Hence
+in these nine months, she should engage herself constantly in good
+works, free her mind from all fear and worry, give no room for any evil
+thoughts or feelings, keep out all untruth from her life, and waste not
+a moment in idle talk or deed. The child that is born of such a
+mother,--how can it help being noble and strong?
+
+The pregnant woman should, of course, keep her body as pure as her mind.
+She should breathe plenty of fresh air, and eat only so much of plain
+and wholesome food as she can easily digest. If she attends to all the
+directions already given in the matter of diet etc., she would have no
+need at all to seek the aid of doctors. If she suffers from
+constipation, the proportion of olive oil in the diet should be
+increased; and in cases of nausea or vomitting, she should take juice of
+lime in water without sugar. All spices and condiments should be
+scrupulously avoided.
+
+The yearning for various new things that attends a woman in pregnancy
+may be restrained by the use of "Kuhne Baths". This is also useful in
+increasing her strength and vitality, and in easing the pangs of
+child-birth. It is also necessary to steel her mind against such
+yearnings by nipping in the bud each desire as it comes. The parents
+should be constantly mindful of the welfare of the child in the womb.
+
+It is also the husband's duty during this period to refrain from all
+wranglings with his wife, and to conduct himself in such a way as to
+make her cheerful and happy. She should be relieved of the heavier
+duties of household management, and made to walk for some time every day
+in fresh air. And on no account should she be given any drugs or
+medicines during the period.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CARE OF THE CHILD
+
+
+We do not propose in this chapter to describe the duties of a midwife or
+wet nurse, but only to point out how the child should be cared for after
+birth. Those who have read the foregoing chapters need not be told how
+injurious it is to keep the mother during the period of confinement in a
+dark and ill-ventilated closet and to make her lie on a dirty bed with a
+fire underneath. These practices, however time-honoured they may be, are
+nevertheless fraught with dangerous consequences. No doubt, during the
+cold season, the mother should be kept warm, but this is best done by
+using good blankets. If the apartment is too cold and a fire has to be
+kept, it must be lighted outside and only brought in when all the smoke
+has disappeared, and even then it should not be kept under the cot on
+which she lies. Warmth may also be given by keeping bottles of hot water
+on the bed. All the clothes and sheets should be thoroughly cleansed
+after child-birth, and before being used again.
+
+As the health of the child will depend entirely on that of the mother,
+special attention must be paid to her diet and mode of living. If she is
+fed on wheat, with plenty of good fruits like the plantain, and olive
+oil she would feel warm and strong, and have plenty of milk. Olive oil
+gives aperient properties to the mother's milk, and thus serves to keep
+the child free from constipation. If the child is unwell, attention must
+be turned to the state of the mother's health. Administering drugs to
+the child is as good as murdering it, for the child with its delicate
+constitution, easily succumbs to their poisonous effects. Hence the
+medicine should be administered to the mother, so that its beneficial
+properties may be transmitted to the child through her milk. If the
+child suffers, as it often does, from cough or loose bowels, there is no
+cause for alarm; we should wait for a day or so, and try to get at the
+root of the trouble, and then remove it. Making fuss over it and falling
+into a panic only makes matters worse.
+
+The child should invariably be bathed in tepid water. Its clothing
+should be as little as possible; for a few months it is best to have
+none at all. The child should be laid on a thin soft white sheet and
+covered with a warm cloth. This will obviate the need for the use of
+shirts, prevent the clothes from getting dirty, and make the child hardy
+and strong. A fine piece of cloth folded into four should be placed over
+the navel-string, and kept in position by a band over it. The practice
+of tying a thread to the navel-string and hanging it round the neck is
+highly injurious. The navel-band should be kept loose. If the part round
+the navel be moist, fine well-sifted flour may be gently applied over
+it.
+
+As long as the supply of the mother's milk is sufficient, the child
+should be fed exclusively on it; but, when it gets insufficient, fried
+wheat well powdered, and mixed with hot water and a little of jaggery,
+may be used as a substitute with quite good results. Half a plantain
+well mashed and mixed with half a spoonful of olive oil is also
+particularly beneficial. If cow's milk has to be given, it should at
+first be mixed with water in the proportion of three to one, and then
+heated until it just begins to boil, when a little of pure jaggery
+should also be added. The use of sugar instead of jaggery is harmful.
+The child should gradually be accustomed to a fruit-diet, so that its
+blood may be kept pure from the very beginning, and it may grow manly
+and bright. Those mothers who begin to feed their children on things
+like rice, vegetables and _dhall_, as soon as or even before its teeth
+have appeared, are doing them infinite harm. Needless to say, coffee and
+tea should be strictly eschewed.
+
+When the child has grown big enough to walk, it may be clothed with
+_kurta_ and the like, but its feet should still be kept bare, so that it
+may be free to roam about at will. The use of shoes prevents the free
+circulation of blood and the development of hardy feet and legs.
+Dressing the child in silk or lace cloths, with cap and coat, and
+ornaments, is a barbarous practice. Our attempt to enhance by such
+ridiculous means the beauty that Nature has given, only bespeaks our
+vanity and ignorance. We should always remember that the education of
+the child really begins from its very birth, and is best given by the
+parents themselves. The use of threats and punishments, and the practice
+of gorging the children with food, are an outrage on the principles of
+true education. As the old saying has it, "like parent, like child";
+hence the example and practice of the parents necessarily shape the
+conduct and character of the children. If they are weaklings, their
+children also grow up weak and delicate; if they talk clearly and
+distinctly, so too will the children; but if they talk with a lisp, the
+children will also learn to do so. If they use foul language, or are
+addicted to bad habits, the children necessarily imitate them, and
+develop into bad characters. In fact, there is no field of human
+activity in which the child does not imitate the example of its parents.
+
+We see, then, how heavy is the responsibility that rests on the
+shoulders of parents. The very first duty of a man is to give such
+education to his children as will make them honest and truthful, and an
+ornament to the society in which they live. In the animal and vegetable
+kingdoms, the offspring invariably takes after the parent. Man alone has
+violated this law of Nature. It is only among men that we see such
+incongruities as vicious children being born to virtuous parents, or
+sickly ones to the healthy. This is due to the fact that we
+thoughtlessly become parents when we are not mature enough to assume the
+responsibilities of that position. It is the solemn duty of all virtuous
+parents to train their children in noble ways. This requires that both
+the father and the mother should themselves have received a sound
+education. Where the parents lack such education and are aware of their
+imperfections, it is their duty to entrust their children to the care of
+proper guardians. It is foolish to expect that a high character can be
+developed in the children by merely sending them to school. Where the
+training given at school is inconsistent with that given at home, there
+can be no hope of improvement for the child.
+
+As already pointed out, the true education of the child begins from the
+very moment of its birth. The rudiments of knowledge are imbibed almost
+in the course of play. This, indeed, was the ancient tradition; the
+practice of sending children to school is a growth of yesterday. If only
+the parents would do their duty by their children, there would be no
+limit to the possibilities of their advancement. But, in fact, we make
+playthings of our children. We deck their persons with fine clothes and
+jewels, we gorge them with sweetmeats, and spoil them from their very
+infancy by fondlings and caresses. We let them go unchecked on their way
+in our false affection for them. Being ourselves miserly, sensuous,
+dishonest, slothful and uncleanly, is it to be wondered at that our
+children should follow in our foot steps, and turn out weak and vicious,
+selfish and slothful, sensuous and immoral? Let all thoughtful parents
+ponder well over these matters; for on them depends the future of our
+land.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+SOME ACCIDENTS: DROWNING
+
+
+We will now turn our attention to some of the more common accidents, and
+the methods of dealing with them. A knowledge of these things is
+essential to everybody, so that timely help may be rendered, and the
+loss of many precious lives averted. Even children should be taught to
+deal with these cases, as in that way they are the more likely to grow
+up kind and thoughtful citizens.
+
+And first we will deal with drowning. As man cannot live without air for
+more than 5 minutes at the most, little life generally remains in a
+drowning man taken out of water. Immediate steps should, therefore, be
+taken to bring him back to life. Two things have specially to be done
+for these,--artificial respiration, and the application of warmth. We
+should not forget that very often such 'First aid' has to be rendered by
+the side of tanks and rivers, where all the needed materials are not
+easily available, and such aid can be most effectual only when there are
+at least two or three men on the spot. The first-aider should also
+possess the qualities of resourcefulness, patience, and briskness; if he
+himself loses his presence of mind, he can do nothing. So too, if the
+attendants begin to discuss methods, or quarrel over details, there is
+no hope for the man. The best one in the party should lead, and the
+others should implicitly follow his directions.
+
+As soon as the man is taken out of water, his wet clothes should be
+removed, and his body wiped dry. Then he should be made to lie on his
+face, with his hands under the head. Then, with our hand on his chest,
+we should remove from his mouth the water and dirt that might have got
+in. At this time his tongue would come out of his mouth, when it should
+be caught hold of with a kerchief, and held till consciousness returns.
+Then he should at once be turned over, with the head and the chest a
+little raised above the feet. Then one of the attendants should kneel by
+his head, and slowly spread out and straighten his arms on either side.
+By this means his ribs will be raised, and the air outside can enter
+into his body; then his hands should be quickly brought back and folded
+on his chest, so that the chest may contract and the air be expelled. In
+addition to this, hot and cold water should be taken in the hands and
+poured on his chest. If a fire can be lighted or procured, the man
+should be warmed with it. Then all the available clothes should be
+wrapped round his body, which should be thoroughly rubbed for warmth.
+All this should be tried for a long time without losing hope. In some
+cases, such methods have to be applied for several hours on end before
+breathing is restored. As soon as signs of consciousness appear, some
+hot drink should be administered. The juice of lime in hot water, or
+decoction of cloves, pepper, and the bark of the bay-tree, will be found
+specially effective. The smell of tobacco may also prove useful. People
+should not be allowed to crowd round the patient, and obstruct the free
+passage of air.
+
+The signs of death in such cases are the following. The complete
+cessation of breathing and the beating of heart and lungs, as indicated
+by a piece of peacock-feather held near the nose remaining quite steady,
+or a mirror held near the mouth being undimmed by the moisture in the
+breath; the eyes remaining fixed and half-open, with heavy eye-lids; the
+jaws getting fixed; the fingers getting crooked; the tongue protruding
+between the teeth; the mouth getting frothy; nose getting red; the whole
+body turning pale. If all these signs simultaneously appear, we may
+conclude that the man is dead. In some rare cases, life may still remain
+even when all these signs are present. The only conclusive test of death
+is the setting in of decomposition. Hence the patient should never be
+given up for lost, until after a long and patient application of
+remedial measures.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SOME ACCIDENTS--(_Contd._)
+
+BURNS AND SCALDS
+
+
+Very often when a man's clothes catch fire, we get into a panic, and,
+instead of helping the injured, make matters worse by our ignorance. It
+is our duty, therefore, to know exactly what to do in such cases.
+
+The person whose clothes have caught fire should not lose his presence
+of mind. If the fire is only at one edge of the cloth, it should at once
+be squeezed out with the hands; but if it has spread over the whole
+cloth or a large portion of it, the man should at once lie down and roll
+on the floor. If a thick cloth like a carpet be available, it should at
+once be wrapped round his body; and if water is at hand, it should also
+be poured over it. As soon as the fire has been put out, we should find
+out if there are burns in any part of the body. The cloth would
+generally stick to the body where there are burns, in which case it
+should not be forcibly torn off, but gently snipped off with a pair of
+scissors, leaving the affected parts undisturbed, and taking care to see
+that the skin does not come off. Immediately after this, poultices of
+pure mud should be applied to all these places, and kept in position by
+bandages. This will instantly relieve the burning, and ease the
+patient's suffering. The poultices may as well be applied over the
+portions of the cloth which stick on to the body. They should be renewed
+as soon as they begin to get dry; there is no reason to fear the touch
+of cold water.
+
+Where this sort of first aid has not been rendered, the following
+directions will be found very useful. Fresh plantain leaves well smeared
+with olive or sweet oil should be applied over the burns. If plantain
+leaves are not available, pieces of cloth may be used. A mixture of
+linseed oil and lime-water in equal proportions may also be applied with
+great advantage. The portions of cloth which adhere to the burns may be
+easily removed by moistening them with a mixture of tepid milk and
+water. The first bandage of oil should be removed after two days, and
+afterwards fresh bandages applied every day. If blisters have formed on
+the burnt surface, they should be pricked, but the skin need not
+necessarily be removed.
+
+If the skin has simply got red by the burn, there is no more effective
+remedy than the application of a mud poultice. If the fingers have been
+burnt, care should be taken, when the poultice is applied, that they do
+not touch against one another. This same treatment may be applied in
+cases of acid-burns, and scalds of every description.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+SOME ACCIDENTS--(_Contd._)
+
+SNAKE-BITE
+
+
+There is no limit to the superstitions current among us in regard to
+snakes. From time immemorial we have cultivated a terrible fear of the
+snake; we even dread the very mention of its name. The Hindus worship
+the serpent, and have set apart a day in the year (_Nagapanchami_) for
+that purpose. They suppose that the earth is supported by the great
+serpent Sesha. God Vishnu is called _Seshasayee_, as he is supposed to
+sleep on the Serpent-God; and God Siva is supposed to have a garland of
+serpents round his neck! We say that such and such a thing cannot be
+described even by the thousand-tongued Adisesha, implying our belief in
+the snake's knowledge and discretion. The serpent Karkotaka is said to
+have bitten King Nala and deformed him, so that he might not suffer any
+harm in the course of his wanderings. Such conceptions are also to be
+met with among the Christian nations of the West. In English a man is
+very often described to be as wise and cunning as a serpent. And in the
+Bible, Satan is said to have assumed the shape of a serpent in order to
+tempt Eve.
+
+The real reason for the popular dread of snakes is obvious. If the
+snake's poison should spread over the whole body, death must
+necessarily ensue; and since the idea of death is so dreadful to us, we
+dread the very name of a snake. Hence, our worship of the snake is
+really based on our fear. If the snake were a little creature, it would
+hardly be worshipped by us; but since it is a big creature, and a
+strangely fascinating one, it has come to be deified and worshipped.
+
+The Western scientists of to-day hold that the snake is merely a
+creature of instinct, and it should be destroyed forthwith wherever
+found. From the official statistics, we gather that not less than 20,000
+persons die every year in India of snake-bite alone. The destruction of
+every venomous snake is rewarded by the state, but it is really a
+question if the country has benefitted by it in any way. We find from
+experience that a snake never bites wantonly, but only as a retaliatory
+measure when it is molested in any way. Does this not bespeak its
+discretion, or at the least its innocence? The attempt to rid Hindustan,
+or any portion thereof, of snakes is as ridiculous and futile as trying
+to wrestle with the air. It may be possible to prevent snakes coming to
+a particular place by a systematic process of extermination, but this
+can never be done on a large scale. In a vast country like India, it
+would be an altogether foolish enterprise to try to avoid snake-bites by
+wholesale destruction of the snakes.
+
+Let us never forget that the serpents have been created by the same God
+who created us and all other creatures. God's ways are inscrutable, but
+we may rest assured that He did not create animals like the lion and the
+tiger, the serpent and the scorpion, in order to bring about the
+destruction of the human race. If the serpents were to meet in council
+and conclude that man has been created by God for their destruction,
+seeing that he generally destroys a snake wherever found, should we
+approve of their conclusion? Surely not. In the same way, we are wrong
+in regarding the serpent as a natural enemy of man.
+
+The great St. Francis of Asissi, who used to roam about the forests, was
+not hurt by the serpents or the wild beasts, but they even lived on
+terms of intimacy with him. So too, thousands of _Yogis_ and _Fakirs_
+live in the forests of Hindustan, amidst lions and tigers and serpents,
+but we never hear of their meeting death at the hands of these animals.
+It might, however, be contended that they must certainly be meeting
+their death in the forests, but that we do not hear of it, as we live so
+far away. Granted; but we cannot deny that the number of _Yogis_ that
+live in the forests is nothing in comparison with that of the serpents
+and wild beasts, so that, if these animals were really the natural
+enemies of man, the whole race of _Yogis_ and other dwellers in the
+forests should become very rapidly extinct, especially since they have
+no weapons with which to defend themselves against their attacks. But
+they have by no means become extinct, and we may conclude, therefore,
+that they have been allowed to live unmolested in the forests by the
+serpents and wild beasts. In fact, I have implicit faith in the doctrine
+that, so long as man is not inimical to the other creatures, they will
+not be inimical to him. Love is the greatest of the attributes of man.
+Without it the worship of God would be an empty nothing. It is, in
+short, the root of all religion whatsoever.
+
+Besides, why should we not regard the cruelty of the serpents and the
+wild beasts as merely the product and reflection of man's own nature?
+Are we any the less murderous than they? Are not our tongues as venomous
+as the serpent's fangs? Do we not prey upon our innocent brethren much
+in the same way as lions and leopards? All scriptures proclaim that,
+when man becomes absolutely harmless, all the other animals will begin
+to live on terms of intimacy with him. When feuds and conflicts as
+fierce as that between the lion and the lamb are going on within our own
+breasts, is it any wonder that such things should go on in the external
+world? For, we are but the reflection of the world around us; all the
+features of the external world are found reflected in the inner world
+of our mind. When we change our nature, the world around should also
+inevitably change. Do we not find that the world assumes a totally
+different aspect to those individual men and women who change their own
+nature by strenuous self-discipline? This is the great mystery of God's
+creation as well as the great secret of true happiness. Our happiness or
+otherwise rests entirely upon what we are; we have no need to depend on
+other people at all in this matter.
+
+Our excuse for writing at such length on snake-bite is this. Rather than
+merely prescribe cure for snake-bite, we thought it as well to go a
+little more deeply into the matter, and point out the best way of
+getting rid of our foolish fears. If even a single reader were to adopt
+in practice the principles we have been discussing, we shall consider
+our effort amply rewarded. Moreover, our object in writing these pages
+is not merely to give the generally accepted hygienic principles, but to
+go to the root of the matter, and deal with the most fundamental
+principles of health.
+
+Modern investigations have also shown that the man who is perfectly
+healthy, whose blood has not been tainted by excess of heat, and whose
+food is wholesome and _Satvic_, is not immediately affected by the
+poison of the snake, but that, on the other hand, its effect is
+instantaneous as well as fatal on the man whose blood has been tainted
+by drink or unwholesome food. One doctor goes so far as to say that the
+blood of the man who eschews salt and the like, and lives exclusively on
+a fruit-diet, remains so pure that no kind of poison can have any effect
+on him. I have not had enough experience myself to say how far this is
+true. The man whose diet has been free from salt and the like for only
+one or two years cannot be said to have attained this stage of perfect
+immunity, for the blood which has been tainted and poisoned by bad
+practices continued for years cannot be brought back to its normal state
+of purity in the short period of a year or two.
+
+It has further been scientifically demonstrated that a man under the
+influence of fear or anger is much more and much sooner, affected by
+poison than when in the normal condition. Everybody knows how fear and
+anger make the pulse and the heart beat faster than the normal rate, and
+the quicker the flow of blood in the veins, the greater the heat
+generated. But the heat generated by evil passions is not healthy, but
+extremely harmful. Anger is, indeed, nothing but a variety of fever.
+Hence the best antidote against snake-bite is to use pure and _Satvic_
+food in moderation, to rid our minds of all evil passions like anger and
+fear, to refrain from giving way to panic, to retain perfect confidence
+in the saving power of a pure and godly life, and to remain
+self-possessed in the full faith that we are ever in God's hands, and
+that the span of life which He has allotted to us can on no account be
+curtailed or exceeded.
+
+Dr. Fitz-Seaman, the Director of the Port Elizabeth Museum, who has
+devoted a large portion of his life to the study of snakes, their
+varieties and their habits, and who is a great authority on snake-bite
+and its cure, has told us, as a result of his numerous experiments, that
+the majority of the so-called deaths by snake-bite are really caused by
+fear and the wrong remedies applied by quacks.
+
+We should remember that all snakes are not venomous, and that even the
+bite of all venomous snakes is not immediately fatal either. Moreover,
+the snakes do not always get an opportunity of injecting their venom
+into the body of their victim. We should not, therefore, give way to
+panic even when we are bitten by a venomous serpent, especially since
+very simple remedies are available, which can be applied by ourselves
+without any aid from others.
+
+The part of the body immediately above the point at which the snake has
+bitten should be tied round with tight bandage, which should be further
+strengthened by means of strong pencils or pieces of wood, so that the
+poison may not ascend through the veins. Then the wound should be cut
+half an inch deep with the fine point of a knife, so that the poisoned
+blood may freely flow, and the hollow should be filled with the dark-red
+powder sold in the bazaars and known as Potassium Permanganate. If this
+is not available, the blood issuing from the wound should be well sucked
+and spat out, by the patient himself or by somebody else, until all the
+poison has been removed. Of course, no man who has a wound on the lips
+or the tongue should be allowed to suck this poisoned blood. This
+treatment should be applied within 7 minutes of the accident,--that is to
+say, before the poison has had time to ascend and diffuse through the
+body. As already mentioned, the German doctor who has specialised in
+mud-cure, claims to have cured snake-bite by burying the patient under
+fresh earth. Although I have not tried the use of mud in snake-bites, I
+have unbounded faith in its efficacy from my experience in other cases.
+After the application of Potassium Permanganate (or the sucking out of
+the blood, in the alternative,) a poultice of mud half an inch in
+thickness, and big enough to cover the whole region around and above the
+affected part, should be applied. There should be kept in every home a
+quantity of well-sifted and powdered mud in a tin ready for use. It
+should be so kept as to be exposed to light and air, and free from
+dampness. Suitable bandages of cloth should also be kept so as to be
+within reach when needed. These will be found useful not only in
+snake-bite, but in numberless other cases as well.
+
+If the patient has lost consciousness, or if respiration seems to have
+ceased, the process of artificial respiration already described in
+connection with drowning should be resorted to. Hot water, or preferably
+a decoction of cloves and the bark of the bay-tree, is very useful for
+recovering consciousness. The patient should be kept in the open air,
+but if his body seems to have taken cold, bottles of hot water should be
+employed, or a piece of flannel dipped in hot water and wrung out should
+be rubbed over the body, to produce warmth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+SOME ACCIDENTS--(_Contd._)
+
+SCORPION-STING
+
+
+Our familiar expression, "May God never give any man the pain of
+scorpion-sting", shows how keen that pain is. In fact, this pain is even
+sharper than that of snake-bite, but we do not dread it so much, since
+it is much less fatal. Indeed, as Dr. Moor has said, the man whose
+blood is perfectly pure has little to fear from the sting of a scorpion.
+
+The treatment for scorpion-sting is very simple. The affected part
+should be cut into with a sharp-pointed knife, and the blood that issues
+from it slightly sucked out. A small bandage tied tightly above this
+portion would prevent the spread of the poison, while a poultice of mud
+would give immediate relief to the pain.
+
+Some writers advise us to tie a thick bandage of cloth over the affected
+part, wetted with a mixture of vinegar and water in equal proportions,
+or to keep the region around it immersed in salt water. But the poultice
+of mud is certainly the most effective remedy of all, as may be
+personally tested by those who may have the misfortune to be stung by
+scorpions. The poultice should be as thick as possible; even two seers
+of mud would not be too much for the purpose. If the finger be stung,
+for instance, the poultice should extend up to the elbow. If the hand be
+kept immersed for sometime in wet mud in a pretty large vessel, it would
+give instant relief to the pain.
+
+The stings of the centipede and other animals should be dealt with
+exactly as that of the scorpion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+I have now said all that I had intended to say on the subject of health.
+And now, before finally taking leave of my readers, I will say a word or
+two on my object in writing these pages.
+
+One question which I have asked myself again and again, in the course of
+writing this book, is why I of all persons should write it. Is there any
+justification at all for one like me, who am no doctor, and whose
+knowledge of the matters dealt with in these pages must be necessarily
+imperfect, attempting to write a book of this kind?
+
+My defence is this. The "science" of medicine is itself based upon
+imperfect knowledge, most of it being mere quackery. But this book, at
+any rate, has been prompted by the purest of motives. The attempt is
+here made not so much to show how to cure diseases as to point out the
+means of preventing them. And a little reflection will show that the
+prevention of disease is a comparatively simple matter, not requiring
+much specialist knowledge, although it is by no means an easy thing to
+put these principles into practice. Our object has been to show the
+unity of origin and treatment of all diseases, so that all people may
+learn to treat their diseases themselves when they do arise, as they
+often do, in spite of great care in the observance of the laws of
+health.
+
+But, after all, why is good health so essential, so anxiously to be
+sought for? Our ordinary conduct would seem to indicate that we attach
+little value to health. If health is to be sought for in order that we
+might indulge in luxury and pleasure, or pride ourselves over our body
+and regard it as an end in itself, then indeed it would be far better
+that we should have bodies tainted with bad blood, by fat, and the like.
+
+All religions agree in regarding the human body as an abode of God. Our
+body has been given to us on the understanding that we should render
+devoted service to God with its aid. It is our duty to keep it pure and
+unstained from within as well as from without, so as to render it back
+to the Giver, when the time comes for it, in the state of purity in
+which we got it. If we fulfil the terms of the contract to God's
+satisfaction, He will surely reward us, and make us heirs to
+immortality.
+
+The bodies of all created beings have been gifted with the same senses,
+and the same capacity for seeing, hearing, smelling and the like; but
+the human body is supreme among them all, and hence we call it a
+"_Chintamani_," or a giver of all good. Man alone can worship God with
+knowledge and understanding. Where devotion to God is void of
+understanding, there can be no true salvation, and without salvation
+there can be no true happiness. The body can be of real service only
+when we realise it to be a temple of God and make use of it for God's
+worship; otherwise it is no better than a filthy vessel of bones, flesh
+and blood, and the air and water issuing from it are worse than poison.
+The things that come out of the body through the pores and other
+passages are so filthy that we cannot touch them or even think of them
+without disgust; and it requires very great effort to keep them
+tolerably clean. Is it not most disgraceful that, for the sake of this
+body, we should stoop to falsehood and deceit, licentious practices and
+even worse? Is it not equally shameful that, for the sake of these
+vices, we should be so anxious to preserve this fragile frame of ours at
+any cost?
+
+This is the truth of the matter in regard to our body; for the very
+things which are the best or the most useful have inherent in them
+capabilities of a corresponding mischief. Otherwise, we should hardly be
+able to appreciate them at their true worth. The light of the sun, which
+is the source of our life, and without which we cannot live for an hour,
+is also capable of burning all things to ashes. So too, a king may do
+infinite good to his subjects, or be the source of untold mischief.
+Indeed, the body may be a good servant, but, when it becomes a master,
+its powers of evil are unlimited.
+
+There is an incessant struggle going on within us between our Soul and
+Satan for the control of our body. If the soul gains the ascendancy, the
+body becomes a most potent instrument of good; but, if the devil is
+victorious in the struggle, it becomes a hot-bed of vice. Hell itself
+would be preferable to the body which is the slave of vice, which is
+constantly filled with decaying matter and which emits filthy odours,
+whose hands and feet are employed in unworthy deeds, whose tongue is
+employed in eating things that ought not to be eaten or in uttering
+language that ought not to be uttered, whose eyes are employed in seeing
+things that ought not to be seen, whose ears are employed in the hearing
+of things that ought not to be heard, and whose nose is employed in the
+smelling of things that ought not to be smelt. But, while hell is never
+mistaken for heaven by anybody, our body which is rendered worse than
+hell by ourselves is, strangely enough, regarded by us as almost
+heavenly! So monstrous is our vanity, and so pitiful our pride, in this
+matter! Those who make use of a palace as a latrine, or vice versa,
+must certainly reap the fruit of their folly. So too, if, while our body
+is really in the Devil's hands, we should fancy that we are enjoying
+true health, we shall have only ourselves to thank for the terrible
+consequences that are sure to follow.
+
+To conclude, then our attempt in these pages has been to teach the great
+truth that perfect health can be attained only by living in obedience to
+the laws of God, and defying the power of Satan. True happiness is
+impossible without true health, and true health is impossible without a
+rigid control of the palate. All the other senses will automatically
+come under our control when the palate has been brought under control.
+And he who has conquered his senses has really conquered the whole
+world, and he becomes a part of God. We cannot realise Rama by reading
+the Ramayana, or Krishna by reading the Gita, or God by reading the
+Koran, or Christ by reading the Bible; the only means of realising them
+is by developing a pure and noble character. Character is based on
+virtuous action, and virtuous action is grounded on Truth. Truth, then,
+is the source and foundation of all things that are good and great.
+Hence, a fearless and unflinching pursuit of the ideal of Truth and
+Righteousness is the key-note of true health as of all else. And if we
+have succeeded (in however feeble a measure) in bringing this grand
+fact home to our reader, our object in writing these pages would have
+been amply fulfilled.
+
+
+--FINIS--
+
+
+
+
+_ERRATA_
+
+
+   _Page_  _Line_  _For_             _Read_
+
+     2       2     _êvam_             _êva_
+    11       8     beings             being
+    40       3     _Kapah_            _Kapha_
+    41       6     had begun          begun
+    51      16     detial             detail
+    66      21     admire             pride
+    67      26     surley             surely
+    87      14     would              should
+    97       4     fus                pus
+   100       2     according          according to
+   102      16     Sriget             Siegel
+   104      11     wick               brick
+   108      15     vaccinations       vaccination
+   110      22     difference         deference
+   111      25     patients           patient
+   120       1     passion            passions
+   128      28     and                end
+   130      22     piece              pair
+   132       4     superstitious      superstitions
+   134    3, 9     god                God
+   137      25     vareity            a variety
+   138       3     Godly              godly
+   144      10     is                 are
+    33      18     brid               bird
+    79       3     that omit
+    88       2     some               none
+
+
+THE HUXLEY PRESS, G. T. MADRAS.
+
+
+========================================================================
+
+
+
+
+Ganesan's New Publications
+
+
+THE FAILURE OF EUROPEAN CIVILISATION
+
+   By S. E. Stokes with Foreword by C. F. Andrews.      Re. 1-0.
+
+In this book Mr. Stokes shows how European civilisation by its
+prejudices of colour and race has miserably failed to satisfy the laws
+of true progress and needs of the modern world, and warns India of
+destroying her unique culture by falling a prey to white imperialism.
+
+
+NATIONAL SELF-REALISATION
+
+   By S. E. Stokes                                      Re. 1-8.
+
+Students of current Indian politics and workers for Swaraj will find in
+this publication a very useful discussion of India's ultimate goal and
+the methods of attaining it. The author though an American is well known
+as a sincere friend of the oppressed and to use the words of Mahatma
+Gandhi "Mr. Stokes is a convinced non-co-operator and a congressman. I
+think I am right in saying that he has come to it by slow degrees. No
+Indian is giving such battle to the Government as Mr. Stokes. He has
+veritably become the guide, philosopher and friend of the Hillmen".
+
+
+ESSAYS: POLITICAL AND NATIONAL
+
+   By S. E. Stokes                                         Rs. 2.
+
+This collection of essays is intended to stimulate thought on some of
+the important problems that India has to solve in the field of
+Education, religion and other aspects of national life.
+
+
+THE TRUTH ABOUT INDIA
+
+   By H. M. Hyndman                                      As. 12.
+
+This small book gives the main facts about India's plight under alien
+domination in a boldly frank and appealing manner. The pages breathe
+throughout the true Englishman's inextinguishable fire of freedom and
+righteous indignation at oppression and exploitation of weak nations.
+The author exposes the methods by which British domination was
+established in India and discusses the political and economic effects of
+such rule, uttering grave words of warning against the final nemesis.
+The book deserves to be widely read and translated in the various
+vernaculars as a very necessary corrective to the distorted version of
+British Indian history taught in our schools.
+
+
+Post Box No. 427, Triplicane, Madras S.E.
+
+
+========================================================================
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes: Obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have
+been silently corrected. Similarly errors listed in the Errata at the
+end have also been corrected.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Guide to Health, by Mahatma Gandhi
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40373 ***