CHAPTER V
MOTOR-CARS AND HEALTH
By Sir Henry Thompson, Bart., F.R.C.S., M.B.Lond., &c.
It gives me particular pleasure to contribute to a book on automobilism, inasmuch as I am old enough to remember the steam coaches which were running in London in the third and fourth decades of the last century, and, at the age of nearly eighty-two, I am taking part in the revival of automobilism, and am in the habit of making journeys almost daily in my automobile.
I am asked to write concerning the relation of driving motor vehicles to health. Personally, I have found my drives to improve my general health. The easy jolting which occurs when a motor-car is driven at a fair speed over the highway conduces to a healthy agitation; it 'acts on the liver,' to use a popular phrase, which means only that it aids the peristaltic movements of the bowels and promotes the performance of their functions; thus accomplishing the good in this respect which arises from riding on horseback. Horse-riding has, however, the advantage of necessitating exercise of the muscles of the legs. This is one of the disadvantages of motoring, but I have found that it may be to some extent overcome by alighting at the end of a drive of twenty miles, and running smartly for about two hundred or three hundred yards. I make this a practice in relation to my motor drives. Remaining seated in one position, with little or no opportunity of moving the lower limbs, renders them very liable to stiffness or cramp, especially in the case of elderly drivers, whose joints are less mobile and flexible than those of the young. The exhilaration which accompanies driving in a motor is particularly helpful to people who are somewhat enervated. I have known instances of ladies suffering from defective nerve power who have derived great benefit from the invigorating and refreshing effect of meeting a current of air caused by driving in an automobile. Veils of varying thickness, according to the temperature, should of course be worn by ladies, but much of the benefit to nervous patients is caused by the air blowing on the face. The facial nerves are acted upon with beneficial results well known to have a restorative influence on weak and so-called 'nervous' individuals.
Furthermore, the action of the air on the face, and the continual inspiration of fresh air, tend to promote sleep, and I should have no hesitation, speaking generally, in regarding daily exercise in a motor-car as aiding towards the prevention of insomnia.
To dwellers in cities the automobile is of great benefit, as it enables them in a short time to reach the fresher air of the country. It is difficult to exaggerate the necessity for those who live in the densely populated parts of cities and large towns to take every possible opportunity of breathing the purer air of the country. The air in towns is impregnated with carbon (smoke, i.e. particles of unburnt fuel). It is also, in dry weather, loaded with dust, a great part of which is composed of dried and pulverised horse manure. In wet weather, fluid manure from the same source is absorbed by and then exhaled from the road or wood pavement, with similarly injurious effects. These impurities are practically absent from the air of the country, and so access thereto is one of the great benefits which may be derived from the use of the automobile. I look forward to the day when Mr. Arthur Balfour's hope may be fulfilled—viz. when the perfected automobile will provide rapid and cheap transit for workers in cities to healthy homes in the country.
I have been told by men who are occupied long and closely with brain-work, that the automobile has filled a great want in their lives. They have found themselves too much exhausted to be able to take a long bicycle ride into the country; while railway travelling excites their overwrought nerves, and increases their sense of fatigue. The effort to catch a train at a definite time is in itself irritating and wearing to an over-worked system. No such effort is necessary to the owner of a motor-car who has a trustworthy driver to relieve him from the mental labour of watching the road, since he need have no fixed time for departure, but may call for his car whenever he is ready, or feels inclined to start. A drive behind a horse scarcely amounts to a recreation after the turmoil and worry of his work.
In the automobile, however, he finds ample sources of interest, amounting sometimes to a gentle and healthy excitement with complete rest and absence "of fatigue from muscular exertion; without the bustle, noise, and sense of confinement which accompany railway travelling; together with the refreshment of novelty and suggested ideas occasioned by the contemplation of a continually changing panorama of scenery; at the same time enjoying the recuperating effect of breathing the fresh country air. One enormous advantage of automobilism lies in the fact that it is so admirably qualified to supply recreation for the modern worker.
Now let me give a few words of caution. The vigorous man who has been used to take exercise on horseback, on his bicycle, or on his legs, must beware lest the fascination of motoring lead him to give up his physical exercise. Unless he systematically maintains habits of muscular exertion he may find that he is putting on flesh, becoming flabby, and generally losing condition. Whether he possesses a motor or not, he must use his muscles regularly and sufficiently if he desires to preserve his health. The eyes also should be carefully protected by glasses with silk attached to them partially covering the cheeks, whereby the small flies and dust which accompany road travel in the summer-time, and the cold winds of winter, may be excluded. Dust may set up irritation in the eyes and cause serious trouble, while driving in cold weather with the eyes unprotected may lead to similar conditions. It is a very good plan on returning from a dusty drive to wash the eyes by means of an appropriate eye-glass with a weak solution of boracic acid. Any respectable chemist can supply a solution of the proper strength to be used diluted with warm water. I always have a solution at hand in my dressing-room for the purpose.
Another chapter in this book deals with the question of dress, but I should like to impress upon those who adopt the luxury of motoring that it is better to be too warmly clad than insufficiently clad. A drive when one feels cold and fatigued may result in 'a chill,' which usually means a cold or cough more or less severe. Those who are learning to drive should be careful not to be out for long periods whilst they are beginners, as the strain of driving may cause unnecessary and harmful exhaustion. When, however, a driver becomes familiar with his car and driving becomes automatic this exhaustion entirely disappears. Of this, I must admit that I have no experience, having invariably relegated all the management of my car to an experienced driver, and reserved to myself the freedom of enjoying the incidents of the road and the scenery—may I say, otium cum dignitate?