A rowing man seems somehow to be heir to nearly as many ailments as a
racehorse. Except that he does not turn 'roarer,' and that there is no
such hereditary taint in rowing clubs, he may almost be likened to a
Derby favourite.
_Boils_ are one of the most common afflictions. They used to be seen
more frequently in the writer's days than now. The modern recognition of
the importance of a due proportion of vegetable food blended with the
animal food has tended to reduce the proportion of oarsmen annually laid
up by this complaint. A man is not carnivorous purely, but omnivorous,
like a pig or a bear. If he gorges too much animal food meat, he
disorders his blood, and his blood seeks to throw off its humours. If
there is a sore anywhere on the frame at the time, the blood will select
this as a safety valve, and will raise a fester there. If there is no
such existing safety valve, the blood soon broaches a volcano of its
own, and has an unpleasant habit of selecting most inconvenient sites
for these eruptions. Where there is most wear and tear going on to the
cuticle is a likely spot for the volcano to open, and nature in this
respect is prone to favour the seat of honour more than any other
portions of the frame. Next in fashion, perhaps, comes the neck; the
friction of a comforter when the neck is dripping with perspiration
tends often to make the skin of the neck tender and to induce a boil to
break out there. A blistered hand is not unlikely to be selected as the
scene of outbreak, or a shoulder chafed by a wet jersey.
A crew should be under strict orders to report _all_ ailments, if only a
blister, _instantly_ to the coach. It is better to leave _no_ discretion
in this matter to the oarsman, even at the risk of troubling the mentor
with trifles. If a man is once allowed to decide for himself whether he
will report some petty and incipient ailment, he is likely to try to
hush it up lest it should militate against his coach's selection of him;
the effect of this is that mischief which might otherwise have been
checked in the bud, is allowed to assume dangerous proportions for want
of a stitch in time. An oarsman should be impressed that nothing is more
likely to militate against his dream of being selected than disobedience
to this or any other standing order. The smallest pimple should be shown
forthwith to the coach, the slightest hoarseness or tendency to snuffle
reported; any tenderness of joint or sinew instantly made known.
To return to boils. If a boil is observed in the pimple stage, it may be
scotched and killed. Painting it with iodine will drive it away, in the
writer's experience. 'Stonehenge' advises a wash of nitrate of silver,
of fifteen to twenty grains to the ounce, to be painted over the spot.
Mr. Brickwood also, while quoting 'Stonehenge' on this point, recommends
bathing with bay salt and water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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