Well, in all cases of “dwining,” the fresh air and food treatment works wonders.
I must call the attention of mothers of delicate girls to the fact that there are in the market, and very largely advertised, pills containing iron which kill thousands yearly. Iron, in the hands of a skilful physician, who knows how and when to prescribe it, is often a valuable tonic, but taken without precaution, as people do who see things advertised and shored up with lies and so-called cures, it is a most dangerous and poisonous drug.
What is called anæmia or bloodlessness in girls sometimes gets the name of “chlorosis” or “green sickness” from the peculiar appearance of the skin. It is an exceedingly common complaint, and really the number of white faces one sees in the streets of great cities, as girls hurry to and from their work, is saddening. When one notices a face of this kind in a beautiful carriage, the girl who owns it being perhaps wrapped up in furs, one may put it down as a bad case. There is either some real disease to account for it, or the girl is over-coddled, the laws of hygiene and dietetics ruthlessly broken, and faith pinned on medicine alone—a broken reed.
When the working girl is anæmic, her mother or whoever owns her must see that she gets good food, that the system is kept regular in every way, and that her room is clean, tidy and well-ventilated, with no curtains on bed or windows.
All the weariness, all the heaviness, tiredness in the morning, the low spirits, and even the neuralgic pains from which she suffers, will vanish before a better diet if it is well regulated. But in such a case, the daily bath—cold before breakfast—will often be the very first thing to set her to rights.
If she can get down into the country and keep out of doors nearly all day, so much the better, only hard exercise should be avoided.
Red meat does good in these cases. If this is too expensive to be had in any quantity, plenty of milk should be used. Oatmeal is a cure in itself in many cases. Bacon is good, especially the fat, and a teaspoonful of Bovril should supplement this.
Peas meal, if it can be got in bulk and fresh, makes an excellent staple of diet for many hard-working girls. It can be made into porridge (thick), and eaten with butter and milk it is most nourishing and delicious. The Aberdeen girls (factory hands, etc.) use a deal of this, and no more wholesome, blooming and bonnie lassies are to be found anywhere. Indeed, I have never yet seen any to match them. The fresh and bracing sea air may account to some extent for their “caller” looks, but, believe me, the diet has a deal to do with their health.
Nervousness is another hereditary complaint. Now although there are a great many medicines that have an effect for good on the nervous system, they need to be used with caution, and only in conjunction with a well-regulated diet.
Rheumatism is still another heirloom that descends in families.