The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopath...Page 562 of 653as scrofulosis may easily terminate in tuberculosis, the means ofprevention must necessarily go back to the first years of childhoA correct mode of living from the earliest infancy is an excellenpreventive against the dreaded disease; every physician should seto it that physical laws are properly obeyed in the rearing of chdren, for this will at the same time prevent a legion of other diA physician's duties in this respect are so much more sacred as smany false customs and wrong maxims have been grafted upon theeducation of the young by the present age. Unfortunately it cannot be denied that physicians pay too little attention to the firdevelopment of childhood, and that they confine their solicitudemuch more to the treatment of existing diseases than to theirvention. Of course, preventing diseases does not pay. We havenot space to exhaust the whole subject of prevention ; hence wehave to limit ourselves to a statement of the most essential poinThe diet should be regulated in accordance with the principleswhich are more and more universally recognized as correct. Aboveall, during the first two years the nourishment should principall670 Constitutional Diseases without Definite Infection.be milk ; afterwards other easily digested articles of diet may badded in suitable quantity and order. Potatoes should not by anymeans constitute the chief nourishment of children, nor should thbe fed, as has been the custom, with milk and farinaceous preparations. But not only the quality, also the quantity of the food,which should moreover be supplied at regular intervals, should haour careful attention. It may seem a small matter for a physicianto bother about such trifles, when the children are robust andhealthy, but it is not a small matter ; on the contrary, it is aof great importance. Beside proper diet, a salubrious home, freshair, exercise and cleanliness must likewise be provided for the lones. The mental culture is likewise of the utmost importance.Daily experience shows that precocious development and continuedmental exertions render children irritable, make them look pale,deprive them of their appetite, and predispose them for all sortsbodily sufferings. These symptoms show themselves, already inthe seventh year, but still more at the age of pubescence, particularly among females. How many individuals fall victims at aaearly age to an unreasonable and precocious mania for acquiringknowledge ! The only means of counteracting the absurd claimsof our schools is gymnastics in all its forms, especially if it lparticular stress upon the cultivation of the respiratory musclesbut not by imitating the modern plan of practising necktours-de-force,and straining the muscles to the outermost limitsproper system of hardening children should likewise be pursuedwith a view of rendering them capable at an early period of beariabrupt changes of temperature without being made sick by theexposure.If it is proper that all these rules should be enforced in the edcation of every child, it is still more important that they shoulstrictly carried out in the case of scrofulous children or childrborn of tuberculous parents.At the age of pubescence all the signs denoting the accession oftuberculosis, become more apparent, and the tuberculous habit frequently shows its peculiar characteristics at an early age. To thhttp://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt