LITTLE KINDNESSES
“You gave on the way a pleasant smile,
And thought no more about it;
It cheered a life that was sad the while,
That might have been wrecked without it;
And so for the smile and fruitage fair,
You'll reap a crown sometime—somewhere.”
“You spoke one day a cheering word,
And passed to other duties;
It warmed a heart, new promise stirred,
And painted a life with beauties;
And so for the word and its silent prayer
You'll reap a crown sometime—somewhere,
“You lent a hand to a fallen one,
A lift in kindness given;
It saved a soul when help was none,
And won a heart {for heaven;
And so for the help you proffered there
You'll reap a joy sometime — somewhere.”
We cannot
attack the macrophages, even if this were
desirable, without at the same time doing
damage to the body itself, for these cells
are more hardy and vigorous than the
higher cells by which the bodily func-
tions are performed, so that whatever
means might be brought to bear to
weaken the attack of these cells would
to a still greater degree damage the body
itself. The only direction in which we
can hope for success in the attempt to
prolong life is in giving attention to those
predisposing causes which weaken the
vitality of the higher body cells, and thus
expose them to the attack of the macro-
phages. Long life must be a simple
life.
“Attention is especially directed to the
diet as having a direct bearing upon the
length of human life. While it is noted
that certain flesh-eating birds, as the
eagle and falcon, are very long-lived, at-
tention is called to the fact that carnivor-
ous animals in general are short-lived;
and the reason for the greater longevity
of carnivorous birds is found in the fact
that flesh-eating birds have a very short
colon,— special study of this subject
showing in general a direct relation be-
tween the length of life and the length of
the colon,— the longer the colon and the
longer the retention of fecal matters in
it, the shorter the length of life. The
reason for this interesting fact Metchni-
koff finds to be the enormous develop-
ment of poisons by germs which find
entrance to the colon, take up their abode
there, and subsist upon the remnants of
foodstuffs which have escaped digestion.
living cells be prevented?
Strasburger has claimed to have proved
THE WATCHMAN
that some trillions of bacteria are dis-
charged from the colon daily. Nearly
all of these produce poisons, some of
which are highly deadly in character.”
It has beeen found that various lactic-
acid-forming germs are antagonistic to
the disease-producing microbes in the
colon, and Metchnikoff advocates the
use of foods containing these germs to
combat and drive out the colon germs:
but common prudence will dictate the ne-
cessity of avoiding those articles of diet
which afford the most favorable medium
for the growth of the poison-producing
microbes. To quote further: —
foods which are
have this character.
Metchnikoff calls attention to the danger
of using raw milk because of the great
number of colon germs and germs of
various sorts with which raw milk is al-
wavs contaminated. Cheese and even
ordinary sour milk are shown to abound
with germs of different kinds. Such
foods encourage the growth of germs in
“There are certain
well known to
the colon in enormous quantities, not only
by introducing dangerous germs, but by
supplving the material upon which they
rapidly grow, and from which thev are
able to produce the most deadly poisons.
“ But the substance which constitutes
the most suitable food for these poison-
producing germs, and in which they de-
velop with the greatest rapidity and pro-
duce poisons of the most deadly charac-
ter, is the flesh of animals. Thus it is
that animal flesh becomes so quickly pu-
trescent, offensive, and poisonous when
left to itself after the death of an animal.
The conditions of warmth and moisture
afforded in the human colon are those
which in the highest degree promote pu-
trefactive processes; hence flesh is of all
substances the best calculated to encour-
age the conditions in the colon which
Metchnikoff has shown to be the chief
cause of old age, not only in man, but
in other of the higher animals.
“One of the best means of fighting
old age, then, will be found in wholly
eliminating from the dietary those sub-
stances which encourage the growth
in the colon of germs which poison
and destroy the body, and sub-
stances which add unnecessarily to the
labor of the liver and kidneys. To the
list of dangerous foods, including raw
milk, cheese, and meat preparations, must
also be added eggs, especially when eaten
in the ordinary way.
Undigested por-
663
tions of hard-boiled eggs lying in the
colon furnish the very best sort of food
for old-age-producing germs. Mustard,
pepper, vinegar, excess of salt and other
condiments, as well as alcohol, must be
added.
"The vegetable world affords an am-
ply sufficient variety of fruits, cereals,
legumes, and green vegetables to sup-
port human life under the best possible
conditions without involving the risk of
poisoning the bodv and shortening life,
which necessarily accompanies the use
of the flesh of animals, and which is even
connected more or less closely with the
use of animal products of all sorts.”
MM
RESTFUL PEOPLE
M. H. Tuxford
“VERY pleasant, but slow!”
often we
How
people
And we frequently smile at
these quiet, steadv-going people. But
while we agree that they are pleasant,
are thev not also restful — restful to oth-
ers who are bustling about, so occupied
hear simple-minded
called this.
J
r
is to seem to have no time for repose.
There is something refreshing about
their manner, their tranquil talk. They
Know something of what is going on, of
course, but there are so many things into
which they have entered only slightly.
And when vou talk of those things of
which they know so little, their remarks
cause vou to think and to ask yourself
whether there is so much in the hurly-
burly as vou imagined. Is
while ?
it worth
You must go through it perhaps; but
vou go away with the feeling that you
would like to pass an hour or two with
them more frequently. That afternoon
visit with refreshment has been very rest-
ful. and has given you fresh energy, and
has helped vou to take a more rational
view of life.
They enjoy life, those simple, “ slow,”
out-of-date people. They have their
troubles, which they bear bravely. They
have a mission, if we can only see it. To
come in contact with them is like the
pouring of oil on troubled waters.
SoS
Tue one who drifts,
And seldom lifts
A burden from the dust,
Can never know
The heart-felt glow
That yonder reapers must.
—M. A. Kidder.