My last illustration shall be a word of praise for pure Olive Oil, but it must be pure better than all the face creams. Rub a spot or two into rough hands before retiring and mark the effect next morning. Or use it for sore parts brought about by cycling or similar continuous usage, and unto thee shall be given a perfect skin, free from blot and blemish.
I will close with words written by the late Dr. George Black, Homoeopathic Doctor of Torquay, who was a very dear friend, and to whom I owe much, for he was a man whose very presence made vice appear a sacrilege and virtue a god, and of whose life it may be said, “he needeth not to be ashamed”:-.
“Foods from the Vegetable Kingdom are the foundation of Health, because from them pure blood is made, and pure blood means a healthy life”.
“Thus should we seek with bodies truly fed
By fruits and grains from garden and from field,
And with clear vision on lifes pathway led
Our consecrated lives to duty yield”.
IN spite of our esteemed Editors request to contribute a series of articles under the above heading, the writer has come to the conclusion that they may prove of greater service if the ” Self” is broadened out to mean more than Number One. Should the writer, now or later, write on such lines, I trust he will not displease our esteemed Editor or his readers. I will continue by having something to say on.
NERVES AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
As the writer has previously stated in these columns, he was born a bundle of nerves, and although he has given up the use of such things as tea and coffee, and placed these, with alcohol, among the prohibited articles together with fish, flesh and fowl, with great benefit, nevertheless, he has never quite lost the inherited tendency to nervous disorders which always show themselves when for any reason he becomes below par through accident, or otherwise, although this is not very often he is pleased to say.
It hen becomes a constant fight against depression, stomach disorders, disinclination to meet either strangers or friends, loss of self-confidence and the memory also becomes somewhat affected. Years may pass between such conditions, but they immediately reveal the fact that I still have a heart and nerves.
The causes of such nervous disorders with different persons are various, but stomach troubles are often the root cause; this should be remedied, or better still, avoided. They should further make up their minds with a determined spirit that come what may, they will let nothing put them about, believing that their business is only to do their best and to leave the rest, taking no heed of the morrow, which will take care of the things of itself.
We shall thus earn success and the best of all rewards, “She ( or he) did what she could.” Those who know from experience, however, have to admit, that whatever their station in life may be, it is much easier to give such instructions than to carry them out. To make this task more easy, ones end and aim should be get and keep the body in as perfect condition as possible by wise eating and drinking, the exercise of every muscle, securing as much fresh air as possible, with sufficient rest, relaxation and deep breathing.
Among the best foods obtainable from Health Food Stores for building up nerves are Wholewheat Breakfast Food, Romany Rye Breakfast Food, natural brown rice, brown haricots, Pitman Wholemeal Macaroni, soya beans, celery, grape-fruit and orange juice, not to forget those recommended by and specially prepared at the request of our Editor: Washed Prepared Bran and Wheaten- Bran Breakfast Food.
A fast of several days duration will often prove of great service. A meatless diet, without tea and coffee, pickles, sauces, vinegar and condiments will very materially help to bring about the wished for results. Experience has also taught the writer what a wonderful help deep breathing may prove to be.
He has on numerous occasions walked from his office home to lunch, only a few hundred yards, starting with a depressed tired feeling, practised deep breathing inhaling through the nose and exhaling with force from the mouth, with the result that a feeling of perfect fitness quickly returned. A good exercise is to rub every part of the body dry after a bath. Try it before going to bed and note how well you sleep and how refreshed you wake in the morning, with a feeling that you are much nearer a “Self Cure” of your nerve troubles than you anticipated.
The writer often feels that one of the saddest things in life is to be continually losing friends and associates by death, or hearing of them being on the sick-list for no other reason than their unwise mode of living and by their not taking simple measures of “Self Cure” which would likely have prolonged their lives for many years and restored them to good health and fitness.
One such business friend, much less than the writers age departed this life during the last month, through stomach troubles brought on by eating the wrong foods and partaking of far too many meals a day. At different times during the last few years, I have spent hours trying to convince him of the folly of his ways, all, it would appear, to no purpose, although he informed me that neither the doctor nor his medicine was doing him any good, and that he got worse rather than better.
Nothing, however, would induce him to ” act wisely, and so give Nature a chance”. What did happen was, he stayed away from business a week or so at a time, off and on for several months, until he had to stay away entirely, and remained in the hands of the doctor permanently until the time of his death.
Such patients, I consider, may be more to blame for their condition than the doctors, but for the fact that I am quite convinced that had the doctor given my friend the same advice as I gave him and for which he would have rightly charged him, I have no doubt it would have been taken and acted upon, while the same advice from me without charge was not accepted, in any case not as it should have been. The result being my friend has departed this life, and a home made desolate without a husband and father.
To the writer the tragedy of it all is awful. no wonder hard things are said of many of the orthodox doctors, especially by panel patients. Fortunately for the public, however, many of the best who are entitled to add ” M.D.” to their names have now become good Nature Cure Practitioners. One of the best wrote the writer only this last week asking many questions about different foods, and apologized for the unorthodox character of his letter. It did not shock me, however, it only gave me a higher opinion of the Doctor and made me more convinced of the truth that was in me.
Another sad mistake connected with the question of “Self Cure” I consider, is the wrong belief and attitude the majority take up as a regards on whom responsibility rests for anyone having become other than fit. In nearly every case, the chief cause of the troubles lies with Number One and Number one is the last to take the blame.
If we would all learn the truth about this, and act accordingly, it might prove to be one of the best days work we ever accomplished. If we also side by side with this truth accepted another, that only Nature can cure, it being our business to so act as to give Nature a chance to do the healing, then unto us would be granted the reward of health and fitness, without which, it is a question of whether or not life is worth living.
On the other hand, the writer is prepared to admit that some are far more to blame for their ill health than others. In this respect we must remember that Natures laws are neither set aside, nor do they cease to exist because we ignore them, or are ignorant of them, although we may not have broken them through any selfish reason.
As an example, one of the most proficient and conscientious Vegetarian chefs I ever knew, died at the age of about 40 with catarrh of the stomach, brought about by his desire that all his work should at all times be beyond criticism. To ensure this, he considered it to be his duty to test every one of the many dishes daily for which he was responsible, prior to their leaving the kitchen.
A very laudable ambition, but his digestive organs were never made for, and would not stand such treatment for very long, the reckoning day must come sooner or later. Such conduct may be continued for so long that to others it may be looked upon as a miracle, but it will never become a miracle of healing, simply because it is not working with, but against Nature.
Another important lesson to be learnt from Natures laws, is the fact already discussed in these pages, that we can possess none of the blessings of this life other than by making use of them, and nothing is worth having on any other condition. This applies to our bodies in every detail. In closing, let us see how this affects our.
EYES AND EYESIGHT.
When between the ages of forty and fifty, I went for the first time to an eye specialist, and I asked him what had gone wrong with my eyes, as I could see a few yards and also miles away as well as I could when I was a boy, but when I wanted to read or write it was a different matter. I was told there was nothing wrong with them, I was only suffering from a very common complaint, ” Anno Domini”, that we should all suffer from if we lived long enough.
Henry followed in his father's footsteps, obtaining his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Durham in 1891. At the age of 27 he arrived in Melbourne in April 1894 aboard the Port Albert. He was registered as a medical practitioner in Victoria on 4 May 1894.
It appears that Dr Cook already believed in homœopathy, possibly because of his father's influence, as in 1895 Dr Cook took the position of Resident Surgeon of the Melbourne Homœopathic Hospital . (This position was previously held by Dr James Cook, unrelated, who resigned in March 1895). He was listed in the 1896 & 1897 editions of the Melbourne Post Office Directory as being Resident Medical Officer at the Melbourne Homœopathic Hospital, but not in the 1898 edition.
In 1901 he moved to Sale in Eastern Victoria, where he ran a practice in York Street. By 1909 his practice was at Wyndham Street, Shepparton.
By 1919 he had moved to 2 Studley Park Road, Kew, where he died on 7 May, 1923.