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The Arabs and Bedouins living in the desert prefer to wear wide, flowing woollen clothes and coats as a protection against the heat of the day and the cold of the night. Cotton had many opponents at first, but in time it came to be accepted and established itself as a good, inexpensive material, especially as a substitute for linen, which was much more expensive. Eventually, cotton began to replace linen more and more.

All these fibres are produced by nature, yet each one has its own characteristics and qualities. Wool and silk are better insulators than cotton and linen, making them more suitable for winter weather and cold days. Interestingly, however, silk is also pleasant to wear in the heat of summer because it has a cool feel.

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Before eating linseed, grind it with a small mill or mincer. If you buy it already ground, make sure that it is fresh because after four or five days ground linseed begins to go rancid. The reason for this change is the effect of oxygen on the ground seeds and, after just a few days, although their goodness is barely reduced, the unpleasant taste is most off-putting. Thus, it is better to buy the seeds to grind yourself and use them right away. Take care to select good linseed, rich in active substances and highly unsaturated fatty acids. A small mill or a blender can be used to grind; set on the lowest speed for the best results. There are various ways of using linseed, for example, mixed with honey or curd cheese and herbs, all nourishing and delicious. These seeds can be called a strengthening food, a tonic, and once you have become used to their taste you will not want to do without them.

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If we are to benefit from the minerals in the plants we grow we should avoid boiling them, as the minerals pass into the water. It is better to steam the vegetables or, if cooked in water, use the bare minimum so that hardly any is left when the cooking has been completed.

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Walking barefoot, although a pleasant and healthy habit in temperate zones, is hazardous in the tropics. Various parasitic larvae may stick to the skin, penetrate the sole of the foot or the skin between the toes and travel via the lymphatics and the bloodstream to various parts of the body where they can wreak havoc. If you are a nature-lover, who cannot resist the impulse to walk barefoot in these warm areas, make sure you do so only on beaches where the sand has been cleansed by the ocean tides. Even the sand dunes farther back from the beach and which are not in direct contact with sea water are a danger and must be avoided. In tropical and subtropical regions the sand farther back is often contaminated with human excrement, releasing hundreds of thousands of worms and other parasites that can be easily transferred to the foot – and their new host – while walking on the dunes.

In hot, humid, tropical or subtropical regions, it is advisable to take with you, and sleep under, a mosquito net at all times. A net is an excellent protection and prevention from insect bites that could result in malaria, elephantiasis, sleeping sickness, and many other tropical diseases.

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Hydrochloric acid acts like a disinfectant and kills the germs that cause fermentation and putrefaction. Where there is little hydrochloric acid present, fermentation accompanied by gas formation and bad breath is more likely. It is peculiar, too, that cancer of the stomach generally develops when there is a great lack of hydrochloric acid; the reason for this has not yet been satisfactorily explained. When we come to think of it, how difficult it is for man to find answers and explanations for that which we receive from the hands of our Creator!

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