I have since, however, been led to believe that this was not at all the truth. Rather do I believe the truth to be that I had treated my eyes unfairly in my reading and writing, as the chef had treated his digestive organs. In both cases there proved to be a limit to the length of time such treatment could be continued.
Too great a strain had been placed upon the digestive organs, with never a rest or a holiday, and the same remarks apply to the treatment my eyes had received. Watch how others treat their eyes, this may show you how you use your own and teach you how to improve matters. As an illustration, having given someone a few weeks ago a letter to read, I could have told by his reading it how many lines it contained for he turned his head from left to right for every line.
Again, while waiting in an office in town to see the principal, I watched a lady clerk about twenty years of age, wearing glasses, typing a letter, and she moved her head in like manner from left to right for every line. I remarked to her, ” Why not give the muscles of your neck a rest, they get plenty of exercise without keeping them eternally at work all day long while you are typing. If you never use some of the muscles of your eyes while others are constantly being overworked you consequently have to wear glasses to see to read.” She had never thought of that.
If one wishes to improve their eyesight, we must work with Nature, not against, and use in reason every muscle of the eye, but we must not put all the work on a few only. How, it may be asked, are we to assist Nature to mend matters if we stop doing the opposite? My reply as a busy man is as follows. When walking in the fresh air, while practising deep breathing if you like, keep your head, or rather, your neck stiff and turn your eyes to the left, and then as far as possible to the right a number of times, then up and down for an equal length of time and repeat the exercise for as long or short a time as you like.
Again, after washing each morning, allow the cold water tap to run, and with your head bent over the washing basin so as to catch the water with the fingers of your partly closed hands throw same on to your open eyes while turned in the four different directions mentioned above, and continue for two or three minutes. This will do much to strengthen weak eyes and help to restore your sight if not too late in the day.
IF it were possible to induce a large portion of the women of England to give up the use of tea and white bread entirely doubtless it would bring about more “Self Cures” from their digestive troubles and the resultant ill-health, than any other action they could take. It would doubtless prove to be a bad thing for their Doctors but it would prove beneficial to themselves both in health and pocket.
That the truth of this is more and more being learnt, if not acted upon, by all Food Reformers there is no shadow of doubt. Of the two, there are far more slaves to tea than white bread, the former is consequently the most important to give up. For as a very noted lady once said with a view to attainment, “If you cant give it up, you must; if you can, it does not matter”. In proof of such slavery one often hears it said “I could not live without tea”, but I have never, heard the same said regarding white bread. At present, however, it is not tea I wish to write about, but the truth concerning.
GENUINE PURE WHOLEMEAL BREAD .
In writing thus I speak for no one else than myself, although I may have arranged and seen carried out more experiments with a view to providing wholemeal flour perfect in all respects, than any other living man. The first experiments as I may have recounted in a previous issue, were with a stone mill, as used to produce the boosted Stone Ground Flour.
It took several years to convince me that such like grinding may have been considered good enough for the time of Christ, and in spite of the fact that we are told that we have to all eat our peck of dirt before we die, I saw no reason why I should hasten my end by eating stone dust in stone ground flour or causing other people to do so. That it is impossible to avoid this objectionable side to stone ground flour there is no doubt. One cannot wear away the stones and recut them every few weeks, without contaminating the flour with the abraded particles, we cannot have it both ways. The use of stones were accordingly for the production of.
STONE GROUND FLOUR ABANDONED.
This took place some twenty years ago. Such mill was superseded by steel rollers which got over the objection named. This process was continued for some years. Experiments and experience, however, eventually revealed the fact that there were other objectionable results alike in both processes, that have not yet been mentioned, the two chief being that the bran could not be ground sufficiently find in one process without unduly pulverizing the starch. This necessitated the wheat being first ground, then the bran sifted out, reground to the fineness desired and then evenly mixed back into the flour, which doubled the cost of production.
Further, wholemeal flour unlike white flour, had a had name for keeping which was detrimental to both its sale and popularity. Why is this so ? it may be asked. It is owing to the heating it received in the milling process, in as much as the flour when it leaves the mill is often so hot that one can scarcely bear ones hand on it. The germ, etc., is thus heated to such an extent that there is risk of it not keeping for long.
This trouble applies far more to some of the brown flours sold under fancy names at a high price, composed of white flour plus a great deal of germ, bran, etc., which used to provide food for the pigs, and is still used as such under the name of “offals”. The writer has seen a whole floor covered with life emanating from such flour, after being kept, that was originally supplied for making into bread.
Needless to say, this second process with the steel rollers was abandoned some ten years ago, also for a new process, quite different from anything previously attempted, to produce.
THE FINEST WHOLEMEAL FLOUR, WITHOUT STONES OR ROLLERS.
The wheat being ground by one process into flour with the bran, etc., more finely ground than wholemeal flour had ever previously been offered. It leaves the mill quite cold and unlike the risky heated condition of flour when stone or roller ground. This new process has done much to make wholemeal flour popular and doubtless will continue to do much to bring into more general use the best English-grown wheats.
Although not so strong as many foreign wheats, yet for colour, flavour and sweetness, English wheat is second to none in the world. It also provides a wholemeal flour which should keep fresh and sweet under normal conditions as long as ordinary white flour will, which is of great importance to the ordinary housewife.
The three methods described whereby wheat is made into flour are quite natural without any doctoring of the wheat in the process by chemical bleaching or otherwise. The housewifes wish to receive the flour as nearly white as possible for pastry, etc., being complied with by using only the finest white, not red. English wheat. Wheat of any grade or colour would do if it is to be artificially bleached, which is usually the case with the flour used to make into white bread. All those who object to eating such bread should insist on their baker obtaining a guarantee from his millers that the flour they supply him with has not been artificially bleached.
Most likely it will result in the baker having to search elsewhere for the flour needed. It will also do much to free the dough maker from that very objectionable trouble, dermatitis. This is now well known to be brought about by doctored flour. Under this third and new process there is produced. Wholemeal flour for bread making composed of Manitoba wheat with a percentage of English white wheat which is also suitable for scones, etc.
Many people, however, who do not make their own bread never by this flour as it is not the best possible for pastry, cakes, biscuits and the like. Such people, however, are very partial to, and are very enthusiastic about, the wholemeal pastry flour both plain and self-raising, produced by the same process. The only wheat used being cleaned white English wheat, more finely ground than that used for bread making. All white flour experts will not agree that the last of the three processes mentioned above for the production of wholemeal flour is perfection or that the last word has been said with such end in view.
This view is correct in as much as we shall never reach perfection in this world, but I am anxious to learn and to be shown a better way. The chief criticism undoubtedly is, while admitted the bran is ground finer than all other wholemeal flour, the same cannot be said of the white (starch) portion.
I have yet, however, to see proof produced that the flour as a food is any the worse for this. To prove the difference between ordinary wholemeal flour, stone ground or otherwise, and that produced by the new process, one has only to try making puff paste with them. While both are suitable for making short paste, it will be found that only the new process flour will successfully turn out.
WHOLEMEAL PUFF PASTE.
With the Pitman finely ground white wholemeal pastry flour perfect puff paste is brought within the reach of all. There is a reason for the difficulty of making puff paste with the ordinary wholemeal flour. Puff paste is best made, as every good housewife knows, by the continual rolling out of the paste and spreading same with fresh butter, or similar tough fat. When made with white flour, each fold of the paste should produce a leaf of crust.
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.