I have told you that next to the lungs the greatest breathing organ of the body is the skin. The great importance of this fact has been overlooked by many of your school teachers and parents—that is, from the boy’s standpoint.

It is through the skin that much of the poison of the body is thrown off; and it is because there are conditions in our methods of living which prevent its full activity that we have so much insanity of a certain form, habits that are injurious to body and brain and are often the cause for the boy being inattentive to his studies and blamed by the teacher for being lazy or stupid. He is not, in fact, anything of the kind; he is indolent and unable to interest himself in his work because through his brain is flowing blood contaminated by poisons that the skin has not been able to cast off.

I think we all know about those Saturday night’s baths. Your mother was brought up with the impression that if you had a bath[27] once a week that was sufficient. You see the real facts were never given her. She simply thinks of cleanliness, and once a week is enough to get the DIRT off the ordinary boy. But this is the OUTSIDE dirt—what you must be careful to do is to get the inside dirt—poisons—out of your system. Many an unfortunate boy has been handicapped for life because these poisons accumulated in his system as he grew up and the real cause for his nervousness, restlessness and inability to keep at one thing was never known.

Here is an example of the powerful effects of not keeping the pores of the skin so open that every drop of the poisons being made in the body every minute can work out. If a healthy boy should have his body—up to his neck—wrapped in tin foil, or any similar substance which would completely close the pores of the skin, he would soon have headache. This would become very severe, followed by loss of consciousness and finally convulsions—fits followed by death. Now this would occur even if he were in the open air. You can see by this fact that the lungs cannot alone cast off the poisons in the body; in fact their principal work is to supply the blood with oxygen and throw off carbonic acid gas—carbon dioxide; the skin must get rid of much of the other injurious material.

[28]

Another important thing to remember is that when this poisonous stuff is allowed to remain in the body it causes a ready soil for disease germs to grow in—typhoid fever, malaria, pneumonia, etc. If you keep the body free from all its poisons and have plenty of sleep, exercise and proper food scarcely any disease can attack you, for there are in the human body millions of little cells which roam around devouring all the germs of real diseases if they dare venture into a healthy body. If this were not so, not one of us would live out our infancy.

You have heard a great many stories about the endurance of the little Japanese, and a lot has been said about its being due to their custom of living on rice. This has but little to do with their powers of endurance. Of course a diet of rice and vegetables do not leave in the body such an amount of poison as meat will leave; but even when the Japanese eat meat we witness their wonderful powers of endurance.

They can start on a run and keep it up all day. But they will stop two or three times a day and take a hot bath. Here is the secret—that is, the principal secret. I have had one of these little, but powerful chaps pull me in a ’rickshaw up hills and around mountain roads at a dog trot which tired me to watch[29] him; so fearful was I at first that he would break down. But about every two hours he would stop at a bathhouse along the roadside and literally wash off the sweat containing the cast-off poisons from his body. Then fresh as when he started in the morning, he would go on again.

He wore only a loin cloth, hence his body was free from any covering which would keep the pores from working and performing their duty—the second secret of his endurance.

Now, if this man had been dressed in underwear and over this skin covering wore a pair of trousers and a jacket, he would have become tired, had a heavy feeling throughout his limbs, and if forced onward, succumbed to headache—that is he would have shown all the symptoms of self-poisoning. Especially so would this have happened had the baths been denied him.

Similar habits and customs were the reason for the Indian being able to run long distances and keep the pace up day after day.

But you ask; how about the Northmen; the Icelanders, those hardy and enduring men of Lapland? Surely they have to wear heavy clothing and have no hot baths along the roadside. Partly true; but their endurance is of a different nature; it is that of being able to put out great muscular power, to withstand severe cold and long fasting. This latter ability[30] is simply because when they do eat it is a gorging of fatty food; food which gives out heat. The Eskimo remains quiet and semi-asleep many months in the year. When he makes a kill for food he and his family—even the babies—eat like wolves. They stuff themselves like the animals, then go to sleep in the winter and live off the fat on their body. Then their form of endurance is one of race—a trait which has been passed down to them for generation after generation. But I am doubtful if their contact with civilization does not injure this trait, and then will come their extinction.

But contrary to the general impression those hardy Northmen living in Norway, Lapland and Iceland take excellent care of their skin. In traveling in Iceland after a hard day’s work over ice fields and lava deserts, the natives would bring us to camp where there were either hot springs or little huts built of lava blocks which were primitive Turkish baths. In these huts were round stones; upon these they would build a hot fire and after it had burnt to ashes these were brushed off and water poured upon the stones. This produced a hot steam in which the natives would remain until the sweat poured down in streams. Then after rubbing each other they would put on their heavy homespun clothes and emerge fit for[31] another day’s hard work. It is the same in Norway and Lapland.

These habits are what gives them the ability to endure physical work without exhaustion.

While upon this subject I would like to impress upon you the unnecessary custom of using any perfumes upon the body. The sweetest odor is that coming from a clean, healthy skin.

There is another feature of this skin cleanliness—the help it gives the kidneys. A lot of poisonous matter is cast off from the kidneys. Now, if the pores of the skin are kept constantly open, much of this material goes out through them, thereby relieving the kidneys from extra work. As you grow along in years this becomes a very important matter, for many kidney diseases are due to the overwork they have had to do, when it could have been better done by the skin. When we come to dealing with vital matters in keeping good health—the care of the sex organs—more will be told you about these poisons.

As considerably more than ninety per cent. of the body is made up of water, you can realize how necessary it is that plenty of pure water should be supplied the body. Here again the sweating process aids man to replace waste water by returning to it pure water. The loss of water containing poisonous stuff[32] makes one thirsty, and this is one way Nature has of keeping man’s body well balanced—the useless goes out and the useful goes in.

If we thoroughly understand what our body consists of and how to care for it, there would be no necessity for doctors or medicines. In fact, drugs are far more harmful than useful. Four or five simple medicines—or rather correctives—are all man needs if he has the proper understanding of himself. Of course surgeons are necessary and doctors in accidents—such as the great diseases like pneumonia or typhoid, for these are really accidents, accidental insomuch as you have taken poisonous germs into your stomach or lungs. But even in this latter disease, knowledge of how it is contracted is all that is necessary, for then we can keep our sewerage from emptying into the drinking water; flies from landing on refuse and then on the food we are to eat, and if you carefully remember all I shall tell you, those diseases which are breaking down so many of our fathers and mothers, can be avoided. Kidney troubles, as I informed you, may be avoided by commencing to see that the kidneys do not do the work that the skin is intended to do.

And the liver? Just remember what I said about it being the “clearing house” of the body.

There are many boys and young men who[33] have a sluggish or over-active liver. These unfortunate chaps have always been misunderstood and often blamed for being slothful or willful, when in reality they were suffering from poisons in their body which were not cast off. If these conditions go on, the result is sometimes very unfortunate—destructive to any attempt to make a success in life—no matter how hard one tries.

Here is a case that came under my observation, only one of many; oh, so many misunderstood fellows.

He was twenty-seven years old when I saw him. His father and mother were heart-broken over his habits—that is what they called them.

Everything they knew had been tried; but he would drink at times. These sprees came over him at certain times and nothing the doctors, ministers or friends could do would stop him.

We know better now.

When he was a boy at school he would have severe headaches. When they first came on he would try to keep up with his studies, but day after day became more indolent and the teachers called his attitude “pure cussedness.” At the end of the attacks he would become very sick; vomit for hours, and when the poison was thrown off through his stomach he was weak[34] for days after. The doctors who were called all said about the same thing: “Only a bilious attack; he will be all right after he has thrown the bile off.” But he never was all right. Each attack left some residue of the poison; also left him less able to fight against another attack, and so the poor chap went on suffering misery of the body and pain of soul because he was blamed for a state over which he had no control. He became useless to himself, and after he had reached full age could find nothing to do because he could not stick to anything. One day when he was feeling so badly that he could hardly hold up his head, some older man suggested a drink of whisky. He took it; it was the first and only thing which had given him relief. Of course this “relief” was only a blind one; the alcohol gave him a false impression of his condition. It also sent the poison running through his brain and this called for more whisky. When the next attack came on he, of course, took whisky again and remained practically insane until the whisky drove the poison out through his stomach AND SKIN—it sweated it out.

But by this time he had been pronounced a drunkard. He was nothing of the kind; he would have given up his life for a cure of the awful demand for whisky when these attacks came over him.

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These cases we call dipsomania; and they are now understood to be cases of faulty work on the part of the liver and other organs which retain the poisons of the body.

Turkish baths, sweating and other methods soon put him in a position to understand himself. He was shown just what to do to keep the poisons out of his body and hence keep off the attacks. Of course his liver had been injured, and probably his kidneys, by the absorption of so much alcohol; but by care and watchfulness he became a useful citizen, but could never for a moment forget his delicate condition.

Now it is not necessary for you to understand what to do in these cases—but it is necessary for you to understand how to keep from getting into the same state.

If you have headaches due to some cause that you do not recognize—as you would from those following blows or breathing foul air in closed rooms—just remember that some organ of the body—skin, kidneys or liver—is retaining poison. You must get rid of that at once; for every hour it remains it accumulates and if allowed to go on, some of the organs will be affected. Then when you get to be forty and over you will wonder why your kidneys are not in perfect health or why you have become so nervous.

[36]

If the headaches are so distressing that you cannot exercise violently enough to sweat—not simply perspire—then get out in the air, no matter what the weather is, and take long, deep breathing exercises. Keep this up until your chest muscles ache. Now you should commence to feel better. Put all the pure water in you you can hold. After a while make a brave effort to exercise so that the water and its poisons run off your skin. Then wrap yourself in a thick blanket and go to bed. Before breakfast eat some fruit and drink plenty of water. After your bowels have moved you should be feeling as fit as a trivet.

If this feeling of well-being possesses you, then it is certain you had an overplus of the natural poisons in your body.

If this advice and knowledge had been the possession of boys and youths twenty years ago we should not have to build hospitals for dipsomaniacs as we are doing to-day.

All I am saying to you and shall say, does not mean you should not consult a doctor—quite the contrary. What I want you all to understand is some of the important matters that have not been told boys by teachers or parents—things which, when you thoroughly grasp, will make your growing life free from worry and misunderstanding. Oh! there are so many moments in a boy’s life when he[37] needs to know things; when he longs for that knowledge; when he suffers inwardly, is afraid of himself and when he only gets from his father or mother the advice: “You had better go and see the doctor.” And the doctor? Generally gives him a slip of paper and tells him to return in a day or so to see if the medicine works.

And the soul-suffering chap needed something more than a slip of paper.

He needs someone to help him unburden his mind; to free him from his worry, to confidentially overhaul his mind and put him to rights again. Some man who was and is a boy, and who can say to him: “Here is the trouble, Harry; it amounts to nothing now; so glad you came to me; for we can show you how to rid yourself of the worry. Now be sure to come again when anything worries you; or you want to know.”

Go to your old doctor and talk to him about what worries you. Most doctors will be pleased to chat with you. The trouble is that you have not been instructed in the fact that what you want from a man of knowledge and kind and appreciative heart, is a good talk, not medicines. Go and have a plain talk with your father first; if he is too busy to give you the time then seek a friend in the physician—the right kind.

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Boys, if you are healthy boys, no matter if you haven’t big muscles and strength, all you need for a tonic is fresh air, plenty of sleep and food, and a clear understanding of your body. Not one single portion of it or its uses should be kept from your knowledge, and it shall not in these chats.

Boys often ask me: “Doctor Howard, what shall I eat to make me big and strong? Is underdone meat good? Shall I chew, so many times, all my food?” and many other questions along the same lines.

Eat what you like. In this matter study the healthy animals—for in our bodily living we are simply animals. Let all food fads alone. The only rule to follow is that of common sense. You should be certain that the food is fresh, that you eat at regular intervals and only eat that which you relish. Man, as an animal, needs variety. Sometimes a boy will crave one kind of food, at another time a totally different sort. If he is not suffering from some disease, nature tells him what chemical constituents his body needs and then gives him a craving for the foods containing these materials.

I know of some fathers who wrongly blame a boy because he will not eat fat with his meat. The father likes fat and so unthinkingly, believes that the son should not waste it, but[39] relish it. The full grown and the elderly man needs fat to give him heat; the boy has hot blood coursing in him and besides, exercises; his system does not need fat; so his appetite rebels. If he relishes fatty substances, it shows that his system needs it.

And so on through all foods—eat what you relish if it is fresh. Of course there are a few general principles to be followed. Chewing, for instance. Every animal chews his food according to the nature of its food. Man has teeth to handle all sorts—flesh and vegetable. Watch a good-sized dog eat—not the lap dog brought up on candy and cookies; such is not a regular dog; just an unfortunate, wheezy, overfat, ill-smelling substitute for a little baby—something to fondle. The boy’s dog will bite, grind and then chew his bone or meat. He does not count the number of times his jaws work, just gets the food ground up into small pieces so that the digestive fluids in the stomach can get it ready for further digestion in the intestines. For in reality it is these latter organs which have more to do with digestion than the stomach.

This brings us to a very important subject—the care of the teeth. There is only one thing to say about the teeth—ALWAYS KEEP THEM CLEAN. I know boys are naturally careless in this matter—we all are; but if you[40] commence the habit of always cleaning them after each meal—or whenever they have had work to do, you will be saved much future misery and chagrin. Foul teeth always means foul breath. Decayed teeth means that your muscles can never reach their full development because the food cannot be properly chewed and churned; hence the blood and muscles do not get the benefit of the nourishing elements of the food.

You should not delay nor try to attend to your teeth aside from keeping them clean. At the least sign of decay or the appearance of color on them, go to a dentist. There is no pain or distress in the dentist’s chair if you attend to the matter at once.

Drink plenty of water before breakfast, then when possible, fruit. Remember that there are about thirty-three feet or more of piping in your body. Through this piping—the intestines—there is a constant flow of food-stuff undergoing a chemical process. It leaves a lot of dirt—useless stuff—in the pipes. Now if you had a series of lead pipes through which flowed constantly some fluid which made a deposit on the sides, you would naturally flush out the pipes, every once in a while—wouldn’t you? Of course you would.

Well, do the same with your system of piping. In the morning there is a lot of useless[41] matter containing germs left in your thirty-three feet of intestines. Flush them out by large drinks of water, plenty of it. This will also keep your bowels free; the principal thing to observe if you wish a healthy body.

Shall I drink water with my meals or after—or when?

Again watch your dog; he drinks when he is thirsty; do the same. It is better to drink some water just before meals, and if your meal has been somewhat a dry meal, drink water during that meal; if you desire it—just do as your system demands.

Do not attempt any training through a regular system of diet. If you prefer a lot of meat and like it, it is going to do you good; if you force underdone meat down against your liking, it is going to weaken your muscles instead of strengthening them.

Is candy or other sweets harmful?

No; not a bit—the normal boy often needs sugar—his system demands it. But here is the trouble with all sweets—they are too often eaten between or just before meals. This destroys the edge of a good appetite and hence the habit is injurious—not the candy itself. After meals if you crave sweets they will do you good. Chocolate is beneficial to all boys if eaten only after the second or third meal of the day.

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But there is so much adulteration of all candies and chocolate that in order not to injure yourself you should avoid all cheap stuff, and especially that rotten mess sold on the street stands. Then think of the dirt and germs which have accumulated upon these adulterated sweets. Get the best or leave sweets alone.

Now one little word about training for the boy and the youth. Never train to get off weight but to put it on. Remember that every tiny cell in your body is growing and developing to be of use when the great time in your life’s struggle comes. Anything you do to stop this growth injures your future prospects. The stoppage of one minute’s growth of a cell can never be regained. That little improvement that was about to be made has been interrupted—stopped. Aid Nature in her growth and development—don’t interrupt her. If you do, later on in life she will punish you—this is as certain as is the rise of the sun.

If you have done some sprinting in the spring, and when you return to school find that you are a little too heavy for running, don’t for a moment think of trying to reduce your weight.

Just quit sprinting and be very thankful that you are in such excellent health that every organ in your body is growing big and strong.

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Any exercise that puts on weight in the boy or youth is good exercise—anything that takes off weight is harmful. When you have reached middle life, if you are in good health and busily occupied in doing your allotted work in this world—as every healthy—mentally and morally—man has to do, you will have enough to do to keep off the extra and unhealthy fat that has accumulated around your organs.

I know of a very sad case of this trying to insult nature in a growing boy. He was sixteen years of age; big, strong, and a champion wrestler in his class. He was entered to wrestle for the interstate championship—140-lb. class. His instructor and the athletic club to which he belonged expected him to win for them. But as the weeks went on he gained weight at a very rapid rate. He was a straight, wholesome, moral boy—of course he gained weight—he lived right. Two days before the contest he was seven pounds overweight. His trainers took measures to bring him down—to rob Nature of that seven pounds of her good work. They did it; he lost the match and from that time onward he has never regained his full strength. The process of building going on smoothly in all his organs was interfered with, and the inevitable setback followed.

Every boy—every person—should sleep alone.[44] Think of what I have said about the skin and its emanations. You do not want to be under the sheets with another boy who is throwing off from his skin poisons; breathing some of them, letting others be absorbed by your own pores. Try to get two dogs to sleep under the same blanket—respectable dogs, such as you or I would own. In about two minutes each will get from under cover with distended nostrils and deep breathing. They’ll sleep together without covering; but never under it.

Sleep alone under as light coverings as possible for comfort. This will aid you in getting big and strong. Don’t forget this advice.