Health and Temperance by Nettie C. Hall, M. D.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 17, 1887

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 11.

Health and Temperance.

By Nettie C. Hall, M. D.

A HEALTH TALK IN THE NURSERY.

HEALTH and temperance, which in its broadest sense is the law of health, needs to be taught from the cradle. When my little four-year-old boy discovered the veins in my hands, I was obliged to lay down my pen, and give a plausible answer before his childish curiosity would be satisfied. On being told they were little rivers carrying blood, an exploration of his own chubby hands followed, with the delightful discovery that he, too, had those "little rivers." Of course a volley of questions were fired at me in quick succession, the first of which was, "What is blood made of?" "What we eat." "What do the little rivers carry what I eat to my hands for?" "To make them grow." "Does everything we eat make our hands grow?" In that way he soon learned that some kinds of food furnish better building material for his bodily house than other kinds, and afterwards, when inclined to eat something that was not suited to his child's stomach, I had no difficulty in inducing him to deny himself, when reminded of the work of the "little rivers." He does not want tea and coffee, because in our talks he has learned that they hurry the nerve builders, but is a staunch friend of milk and brown bread, and takes great interest in his food, and by this means is learning to have power over his appetite, and to exercise self-control.

On discovering a picture of a man drinking beer, his first question was, "Does beer make my house grow?" On being told that the alcohol of the beer drank up the water in the "little rivers," and injured them, he voluntarily pledged himself against intoxicants, because he is inspired with an ambition to possess a fine bodily tenement. His delight is unbounded, if, when taking a bath, he discovers in some part of his body a vein heretofore unknown to him. I consider that here is foundation for a desire to make his body a splendid creature, with every nerve steady, and every muscle trained to do his bidding. His imagination makes the wonderful little builders very real, and he will not intentionally retard their progress. He is willing to retire early because his house is being built more rapidly while sleeping, and the very best work is done the first half of the night. We have even gone a step higher in our little talk, and learned to reverence the Creator of such a wonderful building, and that it is a sin to abuse a house so costly and beautiful, because it is God's workmanship.

And all this came about without "cramming" his mind. The questions naturally came, at intervals, even after I had forgotten our previous talk, and it was better to give the little philosopher a reasonable, satisfying answer. He is a child of only ordinary intellect, so I believe every fact and law of physical life can be taught the child very early, and physiology become a fairy tale to the imaginative child, and they are all such. Every woman, for this reason, if no other, should at once enlist in the department of hygiene. You owe it not only to yourself and community, but most surely to your children, whose first years are spent entirely with you, and at a time, too, when lasting impressions are made; the early impressions enter into the solid masonry upon which manhood is built. Some one has likened the knowledge acquired in maturity to paint and whitewash.—Nettie C. Hall, M. D.