HEALTH IN THE HOUSE.*
WE must premise that we know little more of the physiology treated of in Mrs. Buckton's lectures than what we have learnt during the perusal of her book, and we cannot therefore criticise that part of it. But for this very reason we approach the sub- ject from the direction of those for whom the book is intended, and can tell whether it teaches us anything new and valuable. Let us therefore say at once that we can scarcely imagine a book more calculated to do substantial good—directly to our sanitary condition, and indirectly, but immediately, to our intellectual and moral health—if only it were possible to ensure its being carefully studied, not only by those for whom the lectures were originally prepared, but by all who do not already know what they teach. It is not too much to say that Mrs. Buckton's simple and intelligible directions for obtaining and maintaining health would not only do much to make present wages go a great deal further than they do in procuring what will satisfy the appetite and provide comforts, but that this immediate result would open the way for an increased amount of health and intelligence in the families of the poor that would be so much new earning power. Mrs. Buckton shows us, as it were, how to obtain and husband resources of health, that must become new capital for further in- vestment. For health is not only strength, but cheerfulness and spirit, without which enterprise and courage are out of the question.
These lectures are written in the purest English, but in language so simple and intelligible that a child—we do not use the word in
• Health in the House. 1 vol. By Catherine 31. Buckton. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. its conventional, but in its real sense—can readily understand it, and they teach us how to treat our bodies with care and respect ; what food to procure for them, so that, for the smallest cost, we may have all the essentials for the body in proper quantity and proportion and for the different ages of life ; how to cook it, not only to preserve all the valuable qualities, but all the pleasant and agreeable flavours ; when to eat or drink it to be of the greatest use, and to avoid interference with work or sleep ; how to make and keep our clothes and houses clean and wholesome ; and finally, how to insure that, after the day's toil, sleep shall be the absolute restorer that God meant it to be, by being taken in a pure and sweet atmosphere, and under conditions that shall neither promote heat that is too weakening, nor check or impede healthy perspiration.
There have been many manuals of health published which might have done good, if we had had absolute faith in the authors who elaborated them ; but they have all laid down arbitrary rules on the hard - and - fast principle of "what to eat, drink, and avoid," and have all been more or less wanting in any reasons for, or explanations of, the directions they gave. And as the opportunity of judging for ourselves of their wisdom has been thus denied us, it becomes essential that we should have unquestioning faith in the sound knowledge and discretion of their authors. And there is another difficulty in the way of accepting such absolute and exceptionless rules; without some knowledge of the principles on which they are framed, we have no guide to treatment under different conditions or of dif- ferent constitutions. Mrs. Buckton, however, explains the reason for every rule that she lays down, and gives us, briefly and popu- larly, the physiology of the subject, to show on what facts her reasons are grounded, and to help us to judge for ourselves of the applicability of her rules under modified conditions or circum- stances. Thus she explains to us how tea—unlike coffee—has a powerful effect in opening the pores of the skin and pro- moting perspiration, and thus carrying away some of the sub- stances of the body, of which the poor have not any to spare ; and we are, therefore, able to arrive for ourselves at the con- clusion that the well-fed may be absolutely benefited by this result, as well as by the stimulating and reviving qualities of tea. In this particular instance, however, Mrs. Buckton does not tax our logical faculty, her sense of humour impelling her to point out the difference herself, in order to have a sly hit at the luxurious "kettledrum" of the wealthy.
Though even the most abstruse and recondite of the lectures are as simple as the subjects admit of, yet Mrs. Buckton seems to have unconsciously addressed two different audiences on two different subjects. The earlier lectures on fever, cleanliness, and ventilation, and the latter ones on food, and cooking, and the treatment of animals, being peculiarly practical, and directly im- portant, and quite easy of comprehension ; while the intermediate ones on physiology require a higher education and a much greater degree of intelligence to be thoroughly comprehended, and are, though highly, yet only indirectly important, as explaining the reasons for the advice on the management of the health in general, and of food in particular. These lectures on the circulation, re- spiration, and digestion taxed our close attention, and would re- quire constant repetition to become our own, and we fear that if we began to guide our conduct by them, we might sometimes get into inextricable confusion. We might say, for instance, "I feel dizzy, and the bleeding from a cut is difficult to stop, and my nose bleeds often and profusely ; I have too little gluten or albumen in my blood, and too much serum. I must increase my quantity of albuminous food,—that is, I must take more nitrogenous and less carbonaceous food,—but I already take an undue proportion, for I ought only to take five ounces of flesh-formers to ten ounces of body-warmers, and I already live almost entirely on bread and meat, as rich and sweet things give me indigestion." Nevertheless, the knowledge gained will indicate the direction that attempts at remedy should follow, and will prevent any great or continuous wrong treatment. And Mrs. Buckton does not once recommend amateur or self-treatment in serious illness, but with a few important directions as to immediate action, dismisses us with great good-sense for a doctor, especially warning us against quacks. Here and there we observe what seem to us weak points in Mrs. Buckton's books. She does not, for instance, make it , quite clear to the very young or ignorant people she addresses— for these lectures were delivered to children between ten and thirteen years of age—how to combine warmth with perfect ventilation, nor does she reconcile her recommendation of warm woollen garments with her serious warning against woollen fabrics as harbouring infection and unhealthy germs. And there seems a
step wanting now and then in the physiological explanations ; we do not, for instance, make out from her lectures how the capillaries of the lungs communicate with the venous, or what Mrs. Buckton calls the "dirty" blood, so as to oxygenate it. Occa- sionally, too, our authoress speaks of "proving" things that she only explains. But these small suggestions are made in expecta- tion of a second edition, and not as hypercriticism.
The book is arranged in twenty-five short lectures, in the simplest and clearest language, on the most important points of sanitary and economical science, in the course of which the natural conclusions to be drawn from the explanations are given in direct instructions for practical conduct which cannot fail to interest the student and to remain in his memory—enforced by striking anecdotes—and which, in fact, constitute quite a valuable catalogue of things which should, and of others which should not be done. We wish that the more scientific lectures on circulation, respiration, &c., contained a greater number of these valuable corollaries, in order both to make the drift of the argument more evident, and to insure a practical result for the lecture,—as our authoress has, for instance, done in her explanation of the danger of running to catch trains. Each lecture is followed by a list of cheap and easily procurable things, by which the lecture actually delivered was illustrated and ex- plained; and further, by a very short list of important questions to be answered in writing by the young students before the next meeting, in order to test the accuracy of their knowledge and the clearness of the lecture. The book concludes by some valuable appendices, principally of food-tables and receipts, and by an ample and complete index for easy reference. The ninth and twenty-fifth lectures we particularly commend to those who are fond of animals, and desire to see their comfort and happiness more universally considered. We feel particularly grateful to Mrs. Buckton for including our four-footed dependents in her efforts towards more enlightened domestic arrangements.
At first, in our ignorance, we felt much alarmed and disturbed to think of the dangers which surrounded us ; we conjured up unhealthy germs in every direction, and gave a wide berth to carpets, curtains, and blankets, that had not been very recently washed ; afterwards we sobered down into a more rational desire to have blankets much more frequently washed, and carpets and curtains—had views of economy anything to do with this, we wonder ?—dispensed with as much as possible. Cleanliness, ventilation, good food wisely selected and cooked, exercise, warmth, and dryness are, of course, Mrs. Buckton's re- quisites for health, and we only wish we could quote here a few 'of her admirable and sensible rules, and her reasons for them. It is unnecessary to say that she dissents from the theory of the old coach- man, who reproached his shivering companion on the box-seat, in the following terms :—" I dessay yer washes yer feet. Well, there's a pair of feet in them there shoes of mine as asn't been washed sin I were a babby. Wash my feet ! I'd as soon think of washing my 'ead." On the contrary, Mrs. Buckton insists on much washing with soap, and of the head especially, and a wise use of permanganate of potash. She insists on open fire-places not stopped up, and on win- dows that will open at the top. She insists on a great variety of food, and on nothing being boiled, though many things may be put into boiling water, and instantly removed from the fire, and though others, like tea and coffee, may have boiling water poured upon them. She insists on retaining all the properties of food by ab- staining not only, from boiling, but from paring and pricking. And she insists, especially, on stimulants being only used in emer- gencies, or by a doctor's orders.
We notice that many of the "Marshall's diagrams," so often referred to in foot-notes, are not to be found in the book ; this puzzled us very much indeed at first, and we would suggest that if they cannot be added to the book, an explanation to the effect that they are referred to only to assist other lecturers should be given.
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