Health—
Dangerous Nights
"DANGEROUS FASHIONS,
"THE CRUELTIES THE TYRANT OF FASHION INFLICTS UPON HER SLAVES—WILLING THOUGH THEY BE--ARE INDEED APPALLING. JUST TO THINK OF LADIES UPON WHOM NATURE HAS LAVISHED HER CHARMS, SUBMITTING TO THE ENAMELING PROCESS ONLY TO BECOME SUBJECT TO PARALYSIS OR DROP DEAD FROM ITS EFFECTS. OTHERS, AGAIN, SEEKING TO BE FAIRER THAN THE FAIREST, ARE ALLURED BY THE GLARING WORDS, 'LAIRD'S BLOOM OF YOUTH,' AND SIMILAR POETIC PHRASES, AND EAGERLY SEIZE UPON THE POISONOUS COMPOUNDS, ONLY TO SUFFER THE EXCRUCIATING PAINS OF NEURALGIA OR BREATHE OUT A PAINFUL AND LINGERING EXISTENCE FROM THE EFFECTS OF SLOW POISON INTRODUCED INTO THE SYSTEM BY THEIR USE."
The majority of pleasure lovers attend the fashionable night gatherings, and spend in exciting amusements the hours God has given them for quiet rest and sleep in order to invigorate the body. Hours are spent in dancing. The blood becomes heated; the system is exhausted; and while in this feverish state of excitement, the late suppers are introduced, and the unnatural appetite is indulged, to the injury, not only of the physical, but the moral health. Those things which irritate and burden the stomach, benumb the finer feelings of the heart, and the entire system must feel it, for this organ has a controlling power upon the health of the entire body. If the stomach is diseased, the brain nerves are in strong sympathy with the stomach, and the moral powers are overruled by the baser passions. Irregularity in eating and drinking, and improper dressing, deprave the mind and corrupt the heart, and bring the noble attributes of the soul in slavery to the animal passions.
Many in returning to their homes from these night scenes of dissipation, expose themselves to the damp, chilly air of night. They are thinly clad with thin slippers upon their feet, the chest not properly protected, and health and life are sacrificed. By the limbs and feet becoming chilled the circulation of the blood through the system is unbalanced. Very many have, by pursuing this course, brought upon themselves lung difficulties and various distressing infirmities, which have, in a few months, carried them to an untimely grave.
The Health Reformer
October 1, 1871