The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

.
November, 1927 The Health Bulletin
very long, and must soon be recharged
in the way made and provided.
Observe the peach tree : ( Figure 1 )
That tree was once covered with green
leaves through which it breathed. In
the springtime it was covered with beautiful
blooms, which were soon followed
by luscious fruit. The sap, which is the
circulating bloo 1 of the tree, coursed
its way from the roots carrying the
proper elements of food from the earth
up the trunk and out the limbs to the
leaves, where it received oxygen, and
on to the buds which quickly matured
into the peach—a fruit fit for the king
and queen. But not so now—the fruit
is gone, the leaves have fallen and lie
withered upon the ground, and the sap
courses its way no more. The horticulturist
says the tree is dormant ; we
say it rests. And this rest for the tree
covers a period of many months out of
the year, all taken at one time. While
the human body requires almost as
much rest as the tree, it should be
taken in appropriate amounts each
twenty-four hours, and when totalled
amount to four to five months out of
the twelve.
Take the human cell,—no matter
whether it is a cell from mucus membrane,
skin, nose, or brain : Stimulate
the normal body cell, put it to work
and it slightly enlarges, just as do the
muscles of this Ederle person, who
trained her muscles and endurance
until she swam the English Channel.
Continue this stimulation and it enlarges
further. This cell needed rest
after the first stimulation, after the
continued stimulation it had to have
rest or disaster would follow. We refuse
to allow the cell to rest and continue
the stimulation and we now find
a diminution in the size of the cell.
With continued stimulation death ensues.
When a local infection or injury takes
place in any part of the body, an immense
number of soldiers of defense
known as phagocytes are rushed to the
point of invasion, and they undertake
to destroy the enemy. Their method of
warfare is to engulf the infective microorganism
in their own bodies, but these
phagocytes, after they have done a certain
amount of combat, must have rest
in order to dispose of the enemy forces
they have captured. If they are required
to continue the combat without
any rest thej' will soon become dead.
The medical advisers to our war
forces in France were aware of the
importance of rest for their troops,
and so when our boys went over the
top and put to rout the enemy, they
were, after a certain time, brought
Figure 1
back behind the lines for rest, and
fresh troops were sent in to take their
place.
Every one is familiar with the necessity
of putting a broken bone at rest
in order that nature may build it together
again, and unless this is done
we do not get a bony union at all,
but a cartilaginous union instead, and
if it is a long bone we get a useless