A Guide to Health Part 7

If the skin has simply got red by the burn, there is no more effective remedy than the application of a mud poultice. If the fingers have been burnt, care should be taken, when the poultice is applied, that they do not touch against one another. This same treatment may be applied in cases of acid-burns, and scalds of every description.

CHAPTER XII

SOME ACCIDENTS--(_Contd._)

SNAKE-BITE

There is no limit to the superst.i.tions current among us in regard to snakes. From time immemorial we have cultivated a terrible fear of the snake; we even dread the very mention of its name. The Hindus wors.h.i.+p the serpent, and have set apart a day in the year (_Nagapanchami_) for that purpose. They suppose that the earth is supported by the great serpent Sesha. G.o.d Vishnu is called _Seshasayee_, as he is supposed to sleep on the Serpent-G.o.d; and G.o.d Siva is supposed to have a garland of serpents round his neck! We say that such and such a thing cannot be described even by the thousand-tongued Adisesha, implying our belief in the snake's knowledge and discretion. The serpent Karkotaka is said to have bitten King Nala and deformed him, so that he might not suffer any harm in the course of his wanderings. Such conceptions are also to be met with among the Christian nations of the West. In English a man is very often described to be as wise and cunning as a serpent. And in the Bible, Satan is said to have a.s.sumed the shape of a serpent in order to tempt Eve.

The real reason for the popular dread of snakes is obvious. If the snake's poison should spread over the whole body, death must necessarily ensue; and since the idea of death is so dreadful to us, we dread the very name of a snake. Hence, our wors.h.i.+p of the snake is really based on our fear. If the snake were a little creature, it would hardly be wors.h.i.+pped by us; but since it is a big creature, and a strangely fascinating one, it has come to be deified and wors.h.i.+pped.

The Western scientists of to-day hold that the snake is merely a creature of instinct, and it should be destroyed forthwith wherever found. From the official statistics, we gather that not less than 20,000 persons die every year in India of snake-bite alone. The destruction of every venomous snake is rewarded by the state, but it is really a question if the country has benefitted by it in any way. We find from experience that a snake never bites wantonly, but only as a retaliatory measure when it is molested in any way. Does this not bespeak its discretion, or at the least its innocence? The attempt to rid Hindustan, or any portion thereof, of snakes is as ridiculous and futile as trying to wrestle with the air. It may be possible to prevent snakes coming to a particular place by a systematic process of extermination, but this can never be done on a large scale. In a vast country like India, it would be an altogether foolish enterprise to try to avoid snake-bites by wholesale destruction of the snakes.

Let us never forget that the serpents have been created by the same G.o.d who created us and all other creatures. G.o.d's ways are inscrutable, but we may rest a.s.sured that He did not create animals like the lion and the tiger, the serpent and the scorpion, in order to bring about the destruction of the human race. If the serpents were to meet in council and conclude that man has been created by G.o.d for their destruction, seeing that he generally destroys a snake wherever found, should we approve of their conclusion? Surely not. In the same way, we are wrong in regarding the serpent as a natural enemy of man.

The great St. Francis of Asissi, who used to roam about the forests, was not hurt by the serpents or the wild beasts, but they even lived on terms of intimacy with him. So too, thousands of _Yogis_ and _Fakirs_ live in the forests of Hindustan, amidst lions and tigers and serpents, but we never hear of their meeting death at the hands of these animals.

It might, however, be contended that they must certainly be meeting their death in the forests, but that we do not hear of it, as we live so far away. Granted; but we cannot deny that the number of _Yogis_ that live in the forests is nothing in comparison with that of the serpents and wild beasts, so that, if these animals were really the natural enemies of man, the whole race of _Yogis_ and other dwellers in the forests should become very rapidly extinct, especially since they have no weapons with which to defend themselves against their attacks. But they have by no means become extinct, and we may conclude, therefore, that they have been allowed to live unmolested in the forests by the serpents and wild beasts. In fact, I have implicit faith in the doctrine that, so long as man is not inimical to the other creatures, they will not be inimical to him. Love is the greatest of the attributes of man.

Without it the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d would be an empty nothing. It is, in short, the root of all religion whatsoever.

Besides, why should we not regard the cruelty of the serpents and the wild beasts as merely the product and reflection of man's own nature?

Are we any the less murderous than they? Are not our tongues as venomous as the serpent's fangs? Do we not prey upon our innocent brethren much in the same way as lions and leopards? All scriptures proclaim that, when man becomes absolutely harmless, all the other animals will begin to live on terms of intimacy with him. When feuds and conflicts as fierce as that between the lion and the lamb are going on within our own b.r.e.a.s.t.s, is it any wonder that such things should go on in the external world? For, we are but the reflection of the world around us; all the features of the external world are found reflected in the inner world of our mind. When we change our nature, the world around should also inevitably change. Do we not find that the world a.s.sumes a totally different aspect to those individual men and women who change their own nature by strenuous self-discipline? This is the great mystery of G.o.d's creation as well as the great secret of true happiness. Our happiness or otherwise rests entirely upon what we are; we have no need to depend on other people at all in this matter.

Our excuse for writing at such length on snake-bite is this. Rather than merely prescribe cure for snake-bite, we thought it as well to go a little more deeply into the matter, and point out the best way of getting rid of our foolish fears. If even a single reader were to adopt in practice the principles we have been discussing, we shall consider our effort amply rewarded. Moreover, our object in writing these pages is not merely to give the generally accepted hygienic principles, but to go to the root of the matter, and deal with the most fundamental principles of health.

Modern investigations have also shown that the man who is perfectly healthy, whose blood has not been tainted by excess of heat, and whose food is wholesome and _Satvic_, is not immediately affected by the poison of the snake, but that, on the other hand, its effect is instantaneous as well as fatal on the man whose blood has been tainted by drink or unwholesome food. One doctor goes so far as to say that the blood of the man who eschews salt and the like, and lives exclusively on a fruit-diet, remains so pure that no kind of poison can have any effect on him. I have not had enough experience myself to say how far this is true. The man whose diet has been free from salt and the like for only one or two years cannot be said to have attained this stage of perfect immunity, for the blood which has been tainted and poisoned by bad practices continued for years cannot be brought back to its normal state of purity in the short period of a year or two.

It has further been scientifically demonstrated that a man under the influence of fear or anger is much more and much sooner, affected by poison than when in the normal condition. Everybody knows how fear and anger make the pulse and the heart beat faster than the normal rate, and the quicker the flow of blood in the veins, the greater the heat generated. But the heat generated by evil pa.s.sions is not healthy, but extremely harmful. Anger is, indeed, nothing but a variety of fever.

Hence the best antidote against snake-bite is to use pure and _Satvic_ food in moderation, to rid our minds of all evil pa.s.sions like anger and fear, to refrain from giving way to panic, to retain perfect confidence in the saving power of a pure and G.o.dly life, and to remain self-possessed in the full faith that we are ever in G.o.d's hands, and that the span of life which He has allotted to us can on no account be curtailed or exceeded.

Dr. Fitz-Seaman, the Director of the Port Elizabeth Museum, who has devoted a large portion of his life to the study of snakes, their varieties and their habits, and who is a great authority on snake-bite and its cure, has told us, as a result of his numerous experiments, that the majority of the so-called deaths by snake-bite are really caused by fear and the wrong remedies applied by quacks.

We should remember that all snakes are not venomous, and that even the bite of all venomous snakes is not immediately fatal either. Moreover, the snakes do not always get an opportunity of injecting their venom into the body of their victim. We should not, therefore, give way to panic even when we are bitten by a venomous serpent, especially since very simple remedies are available, which can be applied by ourselves without any aid from others.

The part of the body immediately above the point at which the snake has bitten should be tied round with tight bandage, which should be further strengthened by means of strong pencils or pieces of wood, so that the poison may not ascend through the veins. Then the wound should be cut half an inch deep with the fine point of a knife, so that the poisoned blood may freely flow, and the hollow should be filled with the dark-red powder sold in the bazaars and known as Pota.s.sium Permanganate. If this is not available, the blood issuing from the wound should be well sucked and spat out, by the patient himself or by somebody else, until all the poison has been removed. Of course, no man who has a wound on the lips or the tongue should be allowed to suck this poisoned blood. This treatment should be applied within 7 minutes of the accident,--that is to say, before the poison has had time to ascend and diffuse through the body. As already mentioned, the German doctor who has specialised in mud-cure, claims to have cured snake-bite by burying the patient under fresh earth. Although I have not tried the use of mud in snake-bites, I have unbounded faith in its efficacy from my experience in other cases.

After the application of Pota.s.sium Permanganate (or the sucking out of the blood, in the alternative,) a poultice of mud half an inch in thickness, and big enough to cover the whole region around and above the affected part, should be applied. There should be kept in every home a quant.i.ty of well-sifted and powdered mud in a tin ready for use. It should be so kept as to be exposed to light and air, and free from dampness. Suitable bandages of cloth should also be kept so as to be within reach when needed. These will be found useful not only in snake-bite, but in numberless other cases as well.

If the patient has lost consciousness, or if respiration seems to have ceased, the process of artificial respiration already described in connection with drowning should be resorted to. Hot water, or preferably a decoction of cloves and the bark of the bay-tree, is very useful for recovering consciousness. The patient should be kept in the open air, but if his body seems to have taken cold, bottles of hot water should be employed, or a piece of flannel dipped in hot water and wrung out should be rubbed over the body, to produce warmth.

CHAPTER XIII

SOME ACCIDENTS--(_Contd._)

SCORPION-STING

Our familiar expression, "May G.o.d never give any man the pain of scorpion-sting", shows how keen that pain is. In fact, this pain is even sharper than that of snake-bite, but we do not dread it so much, since it is much less fatal. Indeed, as Dr. Moor has said, the man whose blood is perfectly pure has little to fear from the sting of a scorpion.

The treatment for scorpion-sting is very simple. The affected part should be cut into with a sharp-pointed knife, and the blood that issues from it slightly sucked out. A small bandage tied tightly above this portion would prevent the spread of the poison, while a poultice of mud would give immediate relief to the pain.

Some writers advise us to tie a thick bandage of cloth over the affected part, wetted with a mixture of vinegar and water in equal proportions, or to keep the region around it immersed in salt water. But the poultice of mud is certainly the most effective remedy of all, as may be personally tested by those who may have the misfortune to be stung by scorpions. The poultice should be as thick as possible; even two seers of mud would not be too much for the purpose. If the finger be stung, for instance, the poultice should extend up to the elbow. If the hand be kept immersed for sometime in wet mud in a pretty large vessel, it would give instant relief to the pain.

The stings of the centipede and other animals should be dealt with exactly as that of the scorpion.

CHAPTER XIV

CONCLUSION

I have now said all that I had intended to say on the subject of health.

And now, before finally taking leave of my readers, I will say a word or two on my object in writing these pages.

One question which I have asked myself again and again, in the course of writing this book, is why I of all persons should write it. Is there any justification at all for one like me, who am no doctor, and whose knowledge of the matters dealt with in these pages must be necessarily imperfect, attempting to write a book of this kind?

My defence is this. The "science" of medicine is itself based upon imperfect knowledge, most of it being mere quackery. But this book, at any rate, has been prompted by the purest of motives. The attempt is here made not so much to show how to cure diseases as to point out the means of preventing them. And a little reflection will show that the prevention of disease is a comparatively simple matter, not requiring much specialist knowledge, although it is by no means an easy thing to put these principles into practice. Our object has been to show the unity of origin and treatment of all diseases, so that all people may learn to treat their diseases themselves when they do arise, as they often do, in spite of great care in the observance of the laws of health.

But, after all, why is good health so essential, so anxiously to be sought for? Our ordinary conduct would seem to indicate that we attach little value to health. If health is to be sought for in order that we might indulge in luxury and pleasure, or pride ourselves over our body and regard it as an end in itself, then indeed it would be far better that we should have bodies tainted with bad blood, by fat, and the like.

All religions agree in regarding the human body as an abode of G.o.d. Our body has been given to us on the understanding that we should render devoted service to G.o.d with its aid. It is our duty to keep it pure and unstained from within as well as from without, so as to render it back to the Giver, when the time comes for it, in the state of purity in which we got it. If we fulfil the terms of the contract to G.o.d's satisfaction, He will surely reward us, and make us heirs to immortality.

The bodies of all created beings have been gifted with the same senses, and the same capacity for seeing, hearing, smelling and the like; but the human body is supreme among them all, and hence we call it a "_Chintamani_," or a giver of all good. Man alone can wors.h.i.+p G.o.d with knowledge and understanding. Where devotion to G.o.d is void of understanding, there can be no true salvation, and without salvation there can be no true happiness. The body can be of real service only when we realise it to be a temple of G.o.d and make use of it for G.o.d's wors.h.i.+p; otherwise it is no better than a filthy vessel of bones, flesh and blood, and the air and water issuing from it are worse than poison.

The things that come out of the body through the pores and other pa.s.sages are so filthy that we cannot touch them or even think of them without disgust; and it requires very great effort to keep them tolerably clean. Is it not most disgraceful that, for the sake of this body, we should stoop to falsehood and deceit, licentious practices and even worse? Is it not equally shameful that, for the sake of these vices, we should be so anxious to preserve this fragile frame of ours at any cost?

This is the truth of the matter in regard to our body; for the very things which are the best or the most useful have inherent in them capabilities of a corresponding mischief. Otherwise, we should hardly be able to appreciate them at their true worth. The light of the sun, which is the source of our life, and without which we cannot live for an hour, is also capable of burning all things to ashes. So too, a king may do infinite good to his subjects, or be the source of untold mischief.

Indeed, the body may be a good servant, but, when it becomes a master, its powers of evil are unlimited.

There is an incessant struggle going on within us between our Soul and Satan for the control of our body. If the soul gains the ascendancy, the body becomes a most potent instrument of good; but, if the devil is victorious in the struggle, it becomes a hot-bed of vice. h.e.l.l itself would be preferable to the body which is the slave of vice, which is constantly filled with decaying matter and which emits filthy odours, whose hands and feet are employed in unworthy deeds, whose tongue is employed in eating things that ought not to be eaten or in uttering language that ought not to be uttered, whose eyes are employed in seeing things that ought not to be seen, whose ears are employed in the hearing of things that ought not to be heard, and whose nose is employed in the smelling of things that ought not to be smelt. But, while h.e.l.l is never mistaken for heaven by anybody, our body which is rendered worse than h.e.l.l by ourselves is, strangely enough, regarded by us as almost heavenly! So monstrous is our vanity, and so pitiful our pride, in this matter! Those who make use of a palace as a latrine, or vice versa, must certainly reap the fruit of their folly. So too, if, while our body is really in the Devil's hands, we should fancy that we are enjoying true health, we shall have only ourselves to thank for the terrible consequences that are sure to follow.

To conclude, then our attempt in these pages has been to teach the great truth that perfect health can be attained only by living in obedience to the laws of G.o.d, and defying the power of Satan. True happiness is impossible without true health, and true health is impossible without a rigid control of the palate. All the other senses will automatically come under our control when the palate has been brought under control.

And he who has conquered his senses has really conquered the whole world, and he becomes a part of G.o.d. We cannot realise Rama by reading the Ramayana, or Krishna by reading the Gita, or G.o.d by reading the Koran, or Christ by reading the Bible; the only means of realising them is by developing a pure and n.o.ble character. Character is based on virtuous action, and virtuous action is grounded on Truth. Truth, then, is the source and foundation of all things that are good and great.

Hence, a fearless and unflinching pursuit of the ideal of Truth and Righteousness is the key-note of true health as of all else. And if we have succeeded (in however feeble a measure) in bringing this grand fact home to our reader, our object in writing these pages would have been amply fulfilled.

FINISH