Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, January 05, 1913, EDITORIAL SOCIETY, Image 18

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    Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
Copyright IstS. by th Star Company. Oreat Britain nights Reserved.
TALKWTH
Your Hands and
OrovThin
The Gotures of Mllo. MUtinguoth.
The Unusual
Reduction
Philosophy of
a Parisian Beauty Wno
Discovered That Many
Women Grow Fat Because
They Use Their Lungs
Too Much for Speech and
Not Enough for Breathing
AMERICA'S statuesque comedienne, Louise Dresser,
, has told In this newspaper how the got thin
studying monkeys. Geraldlne Farrar, America's
most charming prima donna, has told how she got thin
studying geese and the methods of producing pate-de-fole
grasi Mile. Lenora de Brysse,' of the Capuchlnes,
the newest beauty In Paris, tells how she keeps thin by
doing most of her talking with her hands. From her
observations, Mile, de Brysse has constructed a whole
new science. U follows: ,
By Mile, de Brysse.
I WAS growing fat. I had trtod everything, and still
I grow fatter. My mind has always boon of tho
typo called sclontlflc. I know that all groat truths
are loarnod by observation, and. that often t,ko greatest
truths aro those which, lie just under our nosos, so
close that no ono over discovers them until somo near
sighted genius falls over them. Might not, I reasoned,
some sucb truth be near mo ready to make mo thin ,lf
I would only rccognlzo jtT
I looked over my friends. Thoro was paby Doslys
la! la! 1 Mow what Bho doos to keep herself thin.
Would I do it? Never! I know how bitterly tho poor
Lantelme had struggled against fat, and how much
that strugglo 'had contributed to her tragic end. I
looked over nil my friends on tho Paris stage, and I
asked, "Why do thoy grow fat?"
During my observations I was ntrudk with tho se
vere outlines of Mllo. Mlstlnguotfo- tho cleverest of
tho French occoutrio comodlonnea. I know Mllo Mia
tlnguetto well, and I know that she waB naturally in
cllned to bo plump. 1 know that she took nothing to
keep down her flesh, but she had confessed to mo that
two years before, when her vogue drat began to bo so
groat, this increase had ceased, and that Bho had grown
steadily thinner.
A. light flashed upon me-that It was at Just this
time that Mile. Mlstlnguotte had gone almost cntlroly
Into pantomime, and that her pantomimic art had Blich
au effect upon her that her friends complained sho
hardly spoko to' thorn using always her hands nud her
shoulders to express her thoughts. But still 1 did not
sett it all. '
I asked myself again, "What Is U that nil those
who aro fat or growing fat aro doingthat those who
are thin or who aro growing thin dq not do?" I re
jected this thing and that scientifically, until I had left
only one surprising fact Thoso who wore tho fattest
of my friends woro thoso who talked the most thoso
who wero tho thinnest wero tho mast silent, and those
who wort) thinnest of tho thinnest wero thoao who Used
many gestures ot tho hands, shoulders and hips, and
so an, to express most of their Ideas.
I bad made the discovery I I knew what the reason
women grow fat is that thoy talk too much with their
faces and not enough with their muscles, and espe
cially with their hands.
Then I sot about to find why talking so much with
tho face made women fat. Ot course, It is n sclontlflo
fact that if any machine Is built to do ono thing, but
is capable of doing two things. It must do either one or
the other. It cannot do both things equally ns well
nt once.
And so it is with our bodily organs, which are. after
all, only complex machines. The primal, and Indeed
tho solo purpose, of our lungs is to oxygenato our
blood. Fat Is almost entirely due to Insufficient oxy
genation of the blood. The lungs' do not tako on
enough oxygen to burn awuy the fat. If wo only ate
as much food. as we needed, which Is Just enough
to repair waste, and every bit ot tho energy in thlr
food was used up, wo would never grow fat. But
everyone or us eatB morp than Is necessary.
Now, !( tho lungs are working at full force drawing
The Gesture That
Says: "No, thank
you, I cannot go rid
ing with you to-day,"
and at the Same
Time Expand the
Lungs.
In all the oxva-on flint ,k
a glutton, the oxygen so 'taken burns" up all thSso
ScSlarf 8,0bU,C8 and remain1 cleUaPn1utthand
This fa the whole roason for tho lungs. Thblr
aHfeh Is nTSfo arfVnt,rC,y rtlflclaMnaBmuch
SatCofThe blood10 The" lV WT t0T 0xy'
oxyEenato nnnri r;i le8s wo ta,k tho mro we
test people In - ?.porft fllnBerB aro ft
clvlllzatlon. No , . , , .
on uas such a
struggle to keep
thin as the prima
donnn. - For at
least five hours of
tho iny sho 'uses
her volco In prnc
tlce.and thoso live
hours are the
equivalent of at
least eight hours
sneaking. At night
ho sings for at
least an hour moro
and here wo have
tho equivalent oi
perhaps three
hours speaking,
becauso the air of
the stage is usu
ally hoavy mid
lifeless. The
reason of their
fatness is p)niu.
tho lungs nro
used too much for
the production of
sound, and so their
oxygenating capn.
unities aro 11ml
t ' und so tho ex
cess fat cannot be
"'"' up, ud
Piles itself every
whoro nbout the
body.
, I found this
also true of tho
pulpit, the law
aim among ora
tors. For every
thin orator thoro
aro Ilftv fat m,., a
A" Br.tUt crators "Rve boon fat, men.
i hmi, , .! an actress and as h human being
i InM ?.,c?rt.a.,n am"nt of talklug. I had noticed,
iLL I,,1 hfl. vcry thlncst of my friends wero
,?r.-to0iJi,kod the ,ca8t' and wno UB0(1 the mst
fh W?y,could nt RestUres bo mado to take
?ir ot ,ho. tlrosomc. uncomfortable exorcises
ar" Pfescrisd to reduce fleBh and at tho somo
speech? t0k lhtt P,auo ot a grciU part of
,,J down ?6 .day nnd wrot ot all the phrases
inn up ?!lch ay a.1 loa8t nn hour of y speech,
and which could be translated Into gestures
bn ,i?8,Un.C0' 1 calculated that I said "I don't
know thirty times a day on the average. I translated
tins phrase Into a rising of the shoulders and an out-
1 frouldefs, ' '
The Gesture That Says,:
"My dear, did you ever hear
such wonderful singing in
your life!" and Exercises
Arms and Chest.
Mile. Lantec, One of Mile, de
Brysse's Disciples, Saying,
"My dear, I never, never
take absinthe in the day."
ward swoop of tho arms, which said the same thing
perfectly, and at tho same time exorcised the muscles
of ray cheat The ceremony of greeting people, which
would tak up a dozon or more words perhapB, a dozen
times a day, I translated Into a smile and a clasping ot
my hands up by my throat. "Good bye" was very easy.
All I had to do was to glvo a wave of my arm. When
I found It necessary to ask for something I would
fasten my gazo upon a thing I wanted and make a
graceful heckonlng motion,
I figured than In tho flrst week i had cut down my
talking fully on'o-flfth, and growing proficiency lod mo
on to use other now gestures, all of which took tho
place ot words,
In two weoks I found that I had not gained a single
pound. In threo weeks I was live pounds lighter, nnd
In three months, slnco I began my study, I havo reached
my normal weight ot 130 pounds, nnd keep there
without any difficulty. It I And myself getting too
light I talk a little more, aud uso my bauds less.
I And much enjoyment in thinking out gestures of
the highest offlcloncy, both -as communications ot
Ideas and as exercise factors.
Why We Are Going Too Fast
For Our. Hearts to Keep Up
Studying the Value of Food by the Way It Breathes
V
EGETABLES have thrflr problems ot life as
well as animals. Thuy havo got to have a cer
tain amount ot air and light or they can not
exist
The study of theso problems has recontly been
undertaken by tho experts ot the United States De
partment ot Agriculture with greater prospect ot suc
cess than ever before becauso ot the apparatus
known as the respiration -calorimeter.
This dovlce was originally designed, and has been
heretofore used for the study of problems concerned
with the food and nutrition of man and animal, tho
value of different foods as sources of energy for mus
cular work and similar quostlpns. Now, however, It
is being used to ascertain tho vital requirement? of
vegetables and fruits, ud thw Held of Inquiry Is, ac
cordingly, greatly extended.
The discovery that the respiration calorimeter ls
equally as valuable foe studying tho ripening fruit pro
cesses and other problems of vegetable life, and for
the study of mau's food and the way to use it most
profitably, ba)s opened up a now line ot work. Since
tho respiration calorimeter was first used bv tho Do-
partmout It has boon groatly simplified aud made
easlor pf operation, and so dovclopod as to be moro
appropriate for the study of vegotablo life.
The feedlug standard Is something which tho
farraor of to-day realizes Is necessary 'for success, and
a progressive farmer bases his fraction on tho feeding
standards which exzperimenters havo provided for him.
if wo are to mako tho right use of our ovallabte food
supply, dietary standards aro needed, and thoso pro
posed by tho Department pf Agriculture havo had
wide use. The proof of the accuracy ot these dlotary
standards with respect to energy has boon obtained
from experiments with the respiration calorimeter.
A deduction of greut theoretical interest obtained
with tho respiration calorimotor experiments is that
tho law of conservation of energy holds In the animal
body. Such a conclusion Is at the basis of many im
portant deductions regarding rations and dlots aud
tho use which man makes ot his food and farm animals
of their feeding stuffs.
The human body In a complex machine. It la im
portant to know Its efficiency as compared with other
machines. Experiments with the respiration calori
meter show this to bo twenty per cent. that Is, five
units of energy must be supplied by tho food to pro
vldo one unit of work. In this respect mnn compares
favorably with the best steam engine their effi
ciency, It Is sate, to say, not exceeding fourteen por
cent. '
Whether or not physical energy must bo expended
for mental work as well as for muscular work Is a
question ot Interest. Judged by tho results ot a long
seres of experiments with the respiration calorimeter,
severe mental work does not mako demands for
physical, energy at least, In amounts that woro meas
urable even with so accurato an instrument.
It Is natural that an apparatus of this character
should be uod jn the study of technical questions
which can hot 'be approached by simpler means and,
In part, the results referred to above are technical
Howevar, the usefulness ot the respiration calorimoter
Is not limited to such matters, and It has been of great
value In studying questions ot everyday interest 'per
taining to food and the use which man makes ot It,
It is, In. a. large measure, duo to this and related wprk
that we are able to discuss such matters to-day with
reasonable certainty.
ITH more and more emphasis, physl
clans are warning middle-aged per
sons ot both sexes that their chief
vital organ, tho heart, Is dangerously over
taxed In Its effort to keep pace with modern
spirit of "hustle." v
Just now an official warning to the same
effect Is worrying the adult population ot
England. Dr. Newsholme, medical . officer of
health for tho Lohdpn Qorernnunt Board, in
htB annual report, demonstrates the remark
able fact that in spite of the great reduction
lu the general death-rate due to Improved
social and sanitary conditions, tho death-rate
among mon between the ages of forty-five
and sixty-live is Increasing.
An analysis of tho general death rate for
the two sexes shows, he says, that the Im
provement In mortality has not taken place
at all periods ot lite, tho higher ages parti
cipating in it little or not nt all.
This seemed ot such significance that a
special inquiry was made, -and as a result it
may be said that, owing to "the rapidly In
creasing aggregation of population in towns
and the associated industrial conditions," we
age rapidly after forty, tho result of tho stress
of modern life. Man, it Is commonly said by
doctors, is as old ten his blood vessels. Our
blood vessels begin to give out at forty-five
to-day, or, In tho language of the profession,
"wp become prematurely old through arterial
degeneration."
Tho facts supplied by the national statis
tics given In the report speak eloquently
enough, and hustling city men should remem
ber that thoy will not know ot the degenera
tion of thejr arterial system till it breaks
down suddenly, say, through Inflammation
ot the lungs following a chill. It appears It
Is not tho inflammation which kills them,
but tho heart, overtaxed for years, in circu
lating with more and more difficulty the blood
In a body which gets plenty ot wear but little
repair, and finding a new burden Is placod
upon it, stops.
Taking the. main results ot the tables glrea
In tho retfort, which compare tho percentage
reduction or incrcaso In the death .rates be-,
tween 1841-1845 and 1006-1910. we find that
In th,o later period at ages under five some
what more reduction has occurred among
female than mate children. Between live
and thirty-five years ot age reductions have
occurred varying at different ages and in the
two sexes from 44 to 65 per cent. a vast
improvement. But betwoen thiriy-flve and
forty-flvo the anxiety and hustle of business
life begin to tell, for a much greater im
provement Is soen In tho female than in the
malo rate (38 as against 25 per cent.).
At ages forty-five to fifty-flvo tho female
rate has Improved 15 por cent and the male
rato only 3 per cent. So far as female life
Is concornod, the improvement continues,
though In a decreasing degree; but among
men there was In 1906-1910 a higher death
rate at tho ago periods flfty-flvo to sixty-five
and sixty-five to seventy-five than In the
. period ot 1841-1840,
The report states that between the ages ot
fifty-Ove and slxty-flve there Is no clear Indi
cation of material Improvement In tho death
rate among me, though Improvement is
shown among women at the same porlod ot
life. ' This contlnuanco of an excessive death
rato at a time of life when a man's experi
ence may be regarded as especially useful to
the community evidently calls for investiga
tion." Tho report then adds, the startling fact that
both In men and womon diseases ot the
' eart and blood vessels were tho registered
caust, of about one-third of the total deaths
be.t.S?enJ.n?.agea oi flfty-flve and sixty-five.
'The high mortality from diseases ot the
heart and blood vessels Is m part." Dr. News
holme adds, "a consequence of rheumatic
fever In earlier life."
, Dr T,w Andrews was requested by the
London Government Board to investigate ar
terial degeneration and its premature occur
rence. In his exhaustive report he says there
can be no question that the Btraln of a per
sistently high blood pressure Ib a fertile
cause of premature age. -The wearing out ot
arteries Is accelerated by mechanical Btraln
(such as anxloty and an active mind would
Induce) causing high blood pressure.
The city man's body, through overfeeding
and wrong and wrong and irregular feeding,
gets full of toxic matters. He gets little
regular physical exercise. A circulating
pump, therefore, which is getting cloteed
and fouled is still kept working-ai ; high pres.
sure till at last something demands that It
should work harder than ever; and it strikes
work.