Water, an essential Constituent of Organized Beings, and of Man.-Necessary to Cleanliness and Invigoration.-The Skin, its Structure and Functions.-Cold, Warm, and Vapour Baths. Providence of God evidenced in the Supply of Food.-Objects of Digestion. How ensured in different Classes of Animals.— Organs and Function of Digestion in Man.—Hunger and Thirst, Effects of Excess and of Deficiency of Food.-Composition of Animal and Vegetable Bodies.-Nature of different Alimentary Substances. Prout's and Liebig's Arrangement.-Digestibility of different Articles.-Philosophy of Cookery.-Classification of THE SCIENCE OF HEALTH. CHAPTER I. HEALTH DEFINED.-FREQUENTLY DEPENDENT ON CAUSES WITHIN OUR CONTROL.-DUTY OF PROMOTING IT IN OURSELVES AND OTHERS.-CONDITIONS AND NECESSARY TO HEALTH.-PUBLIC PRIVATE HYGIENE.-MODIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES IN INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES. WHEN the various functions of life are quietly and effectively performed, the balance between all being nicely adjusted and maintained; when the physical powers are in full activity and vigour, and the spirits buoyant and elastic; when the mind is free from dark care and brooding melancholy, and can contemplate the works of creation with the luxurious freshness of childhood; when there is no perversion of the moral affections, no whisperings of uneasy conscience, and when religious belief and hope are the main-springs of conduct-man may be said, in the most comprehensive meaning conveyed by the expression, to be in a state of health! A more restricted definition would fail to express that full vitality, that relative perfection of existence, of which, even in this world, a being, endowed with soul as well as body, is susceptible. But the word health is ordinarily applied to physical well-being, to a sound and B vigorous condition of body; and it is chiefly in this sense that we shall employ it in the present work. In consequence, however, of the mutual dependence of mind and body, it follows that the condition of the former, in some degree, depends upon that of the latter. If the harmonious play of the several organs be disturbed, and the functions imperfectly or irregularly discharged, the mind is frequently affected-sympathises in some way or other with the derangement. The moral affections, too, unless the controlling religious principle place us above disturbing physical causes, are apt to become warped and embittered. Seeing, then, that the free exercise of our intellectual faculties, and the power to cope with the duties and difficulties of life, depend greatly upon the health of the body, the preservation of this by all means within our power becomes not merely a matter of importance, but a moral obligation. We cannot, it is true, always avert the "pestilence that walketh at night," or the "destruction that wasteth at noon-day," but even when the hand of God is traceable in these, and they may be regarded in some degree as Divine chastisements, their violence may be mitigated by means within our reach. But, there are other sources of sickness and death around and about us, which, though silent and imperceptible in their action, are ever poisoning the air we breathe, and preparing our destruction. These, for the most part, are within our control, and where their baneful influence is exerted, the body rarely attains its perfection of health and vigour, and disease, when present, is unusually fatal and destructive. It must not be supposed indeed that it altogether depends upon ourselves, whether we shall enjoy immunity from the various "ills that flesh is heir to." Sickness and suffering are the destined portion of human beings, inseparable from the weakness of humanity, wisely designed to develop the resources of our moral nature, to purify and strengthen our spirits, and, by weaning us from our temporary home, to lead us to look to a happier one in futurity. When attacked by illness, which neither our folly nor negligence has induced, nor our precautions could have averted, when prostrate and in pain through tedious days and weeks, we must cheerfully and manfully submit to the trial. Moreover, there are imperative duties, as in the case of the clergyman or medical man, involving frequent attendance at the bedside of the sufferer from contagious disease, from which, were we to shrink, we should prove faithless to our Master. Exception must be made in favour of these cases: the above remarks applying to disease incurred by wilful ignorance, indifference, or neglect. "That which, in the one case, may be a spectacle of resignation, meet for men and angels to behold with interest, and approved by the Ruler of the universe, in the other resembles the acquiescence of a suicide in his own guilty act of marring his Maker's work, disobeying his will, frustrating his design in the existence of his creatures, and his delight in their health and happiness."* The duty in reference to health is twofoldrelating to its maintenance in ourselves, and in our fellow-creatures; especially the poor and comparatively helpless members of the commu *Rev. C. Girdlestone. nities to which we severally belong. It is the duty of every man to study the preservation of his own health, that he may be enabled to exercise the faculties with which God has endowed him, and fulfil the purposes of his mission; while, at the same time, it is his interest so to do, that he may enjoy a greater amount of happiness, and "that his days may be long in the land." It is equally the duty of those possessed of wealth, and of the power of intellect or place, to employ these in endeavouring to reclaim their poorer fellow-mortals from the physical degradation and misery that have hitherto been the too frequent attendants on poverty. The improvement of the sanitary condition of the lower classes is indispensable to their social, mental, and moral elevation. Christian missionaries have found their success, in converting different barbarous races, materially influenced by previous attention to their physical necessities. The cure of a disease, the introduction of clothing or of some useful art, hints about the cultivation of land, various practical appeals to self, have often happily paved the way for the introduction of religious truths; and in our home-missions, among the half-civilized inhabitants of the poor districts of our larger towns, the same course must be productive of the best results. Brought up from infancy in darkness, squalidness and misery, breathing an atmosphere of moral and physical impurity, unguided by principles, which, if ever implanted, were stifled ere they could take root, at an early age exposed and yielding to temptation, incapable of intellectual pleasures, and fearfully indifferent about futurity-a large proportion |