RAL PROBLEM OF KEEPING WELL

"To cure was the voice of the Past: to prevent is the divine
whispering of To-day."

As stated in the introduction to our study, the fundamental law of hygiene
is the law of harmony: _Habits of living must harmonize with the plan of
the body._ Having acquainted ourselves with the plan of the body, we may
now review briefly those conditions that help or hinder its various
activities. The hygiene already presented in connection with the study of
the various organs may be condensed into general rules, or laws, as
follows:

1. Of exercise: Exercise daily the important groups of muscles.

2. Of form: Preserve the natural form of the body.

3. Of energy: Observe regular periods of rest and exercise and avoid
exhaustion.

4. Of nutriment: Eat moderately of a well-cooked and well-balanced diet
and drink freely of pure water.

5. Of respiration: Breathe freely and deeply of pure air and spend a part
of each day out of doors.

6. Of nervous poise: Suppress wasteful and useless forms of nervous
activity, avoid nervous strain, and practice cheerfulness.

7. Of cleanliness: Keep the body and its immediate surroundings clean.

8. Of restraint: Abstain from the unnecessary use of drugs as well as from
the practice of any form of activity known to be harmful to the body.

9. Of elimination: Observe all the conditions that favor the regular
discharge of waste materials from the body.

Obedience to these laws is of vast importance in the proper management of
the body. They should, indeed, be so thoroughly impressed upon the mind as
to become fixed habits. There are, however, other conditions that relate
to this problem, and it is to these that we now turn. These conditions
have reference more specifically to

*The Prevention of Disease.*--While the average length of life is not far
from thirty-five years, the length of time which the average individual is
capable of living is, according to some of the lowest estimates, not less
than seventy years. This difference is due to disease. People do not, as a
rule, die on account of the wearing out of the body as seen in extreme old
age, but on account of the various ills to which flesh is heir. It is true
that many people meet death by accident and not a few are killed in wars,
but these numbers are small in comparison with those that die of bodily
disorders. The prevention of disease is the greatest of all human
problems. Though the fight