The oculist is liable to
look at all ailments as related to the eyes; the dentist as related to
the teeth; the mental hygienist as related to wrong attitudes of mind.
If we examine their claims, we find that they are usually right in their
affirmations, though wrong in their denials. It is their affirmations in
which we are here interested. They find that the ailments within their
own special province extend in unsuspected ways, and to a surprising
degree into seemingly remote fields; and that to remedy the special
defect which they can treat, will often go a long way toward remedying
numerous other ailments.

[Sidenote: Remote Effects of Ailments]

It has already been noted that eye-strain leads to an astonishing number
of serious nervous affections, and that corrective eyeglasses will often
work wonders for remedying those ailments and improving the general
health. There may be other unhygienic conditions equally responsible for
these symptoms, and the correction of which may produce equally
wonderful improvement. Vertigo may be due to eye-strain, or it may be
due to wrong posture or to pressure of wax on the ear-drum. Diabetes may
be aggravated by too much sugar, by infected tooth-sockets, or by too
much worry. Tuberculosis may be due jointly to indoor-living, lack of
exercise, wrong diet, wrong posture, sexual excess, alcohol,
nerve-strain, and numerous other preconditions, besides infection with
the tubercle bacillus. The social evil can be fought not only directly
by attack on prostitution, and by appeals to self-control and moral
ideals, but also indirectly by diminishing the consumption of alcohol
and other drugs, for alcohol not only produces abnormal sexual desire
but reduces the strength of will by which that desire is repressed.
Forel asserts that the social evil can not be controlled until the use
of alcohol as a beverage is abolished.

[Sidenote: Popular Delusions]

It is not uncommon for people to attribute their ailments to the less
important rather than the more important cause, and so fail to get the
best benefits of hygiene. Many people bemoan the fact that they sat in a
draft and "therefore" caught cold, when what they most needed was not to
keep out of drafts but to keep in such condition that drafts would do
them good, not harm. Benjamin Franklin, a century ago, believed, what we
now know to be true, "that people who live in the forest, in open barns,
or with open windows, do not catch cold, a