Health Notes.

Now that we are verging on the treacherous months of the year, the subject of colds, coughs and chills cannot be ignored. Where children are concerned, special care is needed because colds frequently turn to bronchitis, and more serious illnesses are the direct cause of ill-health in later life. It is also necessary to keep children away from infection, as many of the infectious diseases of childhood are ushered in by a common cold.

We cannot emphasise too strongly the beneficial effects of an open-air life, as far as possible, which fits us to withstand the invasion of enemy bacteria. A clean, healthy body makes a poor breeding place for microbes.

Of course, a healthy body requires to be fed properly—no machinery can work to the best advantage unless it is looked after in a reasonable fashion. A machine that is not taken care of becomes “Junk” before its rightful page 59 span, so we ourselves become second-rate if we do not take care of our own particular machinery.

Simplicity is the keynote of health, and yet from disinclination or laziness we ignore the simple measures necessary for the maintenance of health— fresh air, exercise and nourishing food. Good health adds so much to the enjoyment of life that it is hard to realise how careless we are in endeavouring to keep our health at a high standard.

We all know our bodies require liquids—at a minimum three pints a day—but we neglect through laziness chiefly, to drink except at meal times; they require exercise, but we are really too bored to walk merely for the love of the walking. Fresh air is available to all, but we would no doubt be amazed at the low percentage of time spent in the fresh air.

In the above category we exclude devotees of tennis, swimming, golf, etc., because these pastimes compel them to spend a certain amount of time in the fresh air, but what happens when these games no longer enthral?

Clothing is also another important item. Do not coddle in cold weather, but do not go to the other extreme and court pneumonia in every suotherly gale. The sensible women know that there is a happy medium and invest in lightweight wool undies which are as dainty and slim-fitting as silk. With careful laundering they wear marvellously.

Spring, summer, autumn, winter, all have their particular charm. We are ready to welcome spring after the winter; summer after the vagaries of spring, autumn after the heat of summer, and winter with its cosy fires.

Imagine a winter without the common cold—no people coughing in shops, in trams, in theatres, etc. What is there to equal the enjoyment of frosty nights and mornings, the sense of well-being which arises in us as we breast a buffeting wind? But this is only the enjoyment of a healthy individual.