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

124 THE HEALTH BULLETIN.abandoned. The tannin extracted inst3eping tea is especially bad.Laxative foods are of value. Amongthese may be mentioned bran crackers,whole-wheat or Graham breads,shredded wheat biscuits, whole-wheatbiscuits, puffed wheat, etc.The following vegetables are valuable:parsnips, carrots, turnips, spinach,raw vegetable oysters, cabbage,etc.The sweet fruits are all laxative.Prunes, figs, dates, etc., are of value.In the use of the foregidng foods,care must be exercised in their combination.In cases where irritability of thestomach exists, with an excess of gastricjuice, the above foods should beused sparingly; and where the conditionborders on ulceration, theyshould be entirely avoided until improvementoccurs.The agar-agar and paraflBn are especiallyhelpful in these cases. Agaragarsupplies the bulk, but is nonirritating,while the parafBn is a splendidlubricant.Where digestion is slow and thegastric juice diminished, the foodsreferred to are indicated.There are local and general treatmentsand exercises which are greataids in overcoming constipation, butdiet alone will accomplish marvelousresults if persevered in.CHEAPER SANITATIONOne thing in North Carolina sanitationstands head and shouldersabove everything else when it comesto getting the greatset results for theleast money. It is the entire solutionof the hookworm problem, the solutionof over half the typhoid feverproblem, a great share of the problemof so-called "summer complaint," anda big factor in the fly problem. It isnothing more or less than the adoptionof the sanitary privy everywhere,where access cannot be had to sewers.It is an easy thing to show anyintelligent person or board of aldermenthat the lack of sanitary priviesis the cause of the continuation ofall our hookworm disease, half ourtyphoid, and much of our diarrhcealdiseases, to say nothing about flies.However, when you tell such a personor board that a sanitary privymade of iron, wood and concretecosts upwards of $25, you give themcold feet, and of course no such privyis built. We now know that it costsno more to build a sanitary privythan it formerly cost to build an insanitaryone. If the individual hasto furnish the cans it will cost himsome 50 cents or sixty cents extrafor each can, where he used to haveto pay $1 or more. For cities andtowns it is recommended that municipalitiesown and clean the cans.The State Board of Health is nowsecuring proposals from several canmanufacturers for prices on standardprivy cans. Of course, the Boardcannot advertise any one make of canto the exclusion of others, but it appearsthat one or two manufacturersare able to make standard cans meetingthe specifications laid down bythe State Board of Health for betweenone-half and two-thirds the price formerlycharged, when bought in lotsof 100 or more. By addressing theBoard interested parties may securethe benefit of the best proposals receivedby the Board for such cans.