How Seances May Spread Consumption

Last night, Mrs. Vix and I attended a very strange affair known as a seance at the home of my dear friend, Mrs. Violetta Pinkhurst. The Medium, a Mr. Barrabas Scrivener, demonstrated a considerable talent for turning lights on and off and cracking his toes beneath the table.

We trembled and gasped politely, so as not to make the man feel unappreciated. Then Mr. Scrivener slowly turned his head to prodigiously vomit a wad of ectoplasm down the front of his shirt.

"Oh dear," I said. "How disgusting."

Types of Ectoplasm

It is a true fact that ectoplasm is 500 times more virulent than even the spit of a five-year old child!

Not only does it carry all of the ordinary germs present in human saliva (influenza, consumption, poor attitude), but it also contains all of the germs present in the Realm Beyond Death, including, but not limited to:

• Wailing Cough
• Religious Fever
• Heavy Clanking Chains That Must Be Dragged Across the Attic Floor
• Excessive Whining
• Infectious Transparency
  
• Borderline Personality Disorder

Remember, while spirits may cross the Divide as they choose, they rarely show the courtesy to bring along antibiotics.

True Facts #1

1. The vast majority of fish wives are not in fact fish.
2. Laziness is the number one cause of death in America.
3. Hundreds of ships are sunk each year due to talkative gossip-mongerers.
4. My dear friend Mrs. Violetta Pinkhurst occasionally suffers from violent dyspepsia.
5. Also, this same Mrs. Pinkhurst often boasts of the irresistible effect of her bodily physique on young men. In fact, I have had occasion to overhear at least three of the gentlemen in question discuss said physique in no flattering tones, and apparently the lady's charms are quite resistible indeed.

A Short Introduction (to Everything)

Good evening, and welcome to A Universal History of Everything, the world's foremost compendium of both true facts and facts that are true. I am so excited to share with you my vast knowledge that I am, as my dear friend Mrs. Violetta Pinkhurst would say, puffed up like an organ grinder's organ. I'm sure I have no idea what that means.

But you are not interested in Mrs. Pinkhurst! No, you are here because you are interested in Health. Health and Healthfulness, as I always say. The two go hand-in-hand! (If you'll look closely, you'll even see that the words share six of the same letters!) And I, of course, am the very picture of Health.

Rising at 4:45 most mornings, I march out to greet the dawn from the stately lawns of our stately estate. Clad in my union suit and heavy woolen socks, I cue the marching band, and to the uplifting blasts of John Philip Sousa, I conduct my morning calisthenics, shouting with the french horns and counting along to the beats. At six, I pour a bucket of cold water over my head and make use of my antiseptic preparations (more details on my patented antiseptic preparations at a future time). For thirty minutes of quiet reflection I think about cereal, and then off I go to rouse good Mr. Thoroughgood from his twin bed. Because good Mr. Thoroughgood is not hard of hearing, he is most often already awake and cursing (not just because of the Sousa, but because the marching band stores its cymbals underneath his bed).

We dress in natural, breathable fibers (I recommend wicker for its tremendous breathability) and then dine heartily on a breakfast of Shredded Oatmeal doused in pasteurized milk. Generally, Mr. Thoroughgood then goes back to bed and I scoot off to the woodshed to practice my Phlebotomy. When the sun is at its peak, I wake Mr. Thoroughgood up for lunch. He drinks a glass of whisky to keep his strength up, and while we eat I read aloud the choicest selections from the most recent Hygienic Homemaker or the Journal of Unusual Disorders. Then I walk the fifteen miles into town. Whether it's a meeting of the Battle Creek Society for the Improved Hygiene of Other People or going door-to-door testing blood types, for an accomplished woman of Science such as myself, there is always work to be done.

I strongly believe in the merits of a diet based in three things: fish oil, cumin, and milkfat. With this triumvirate of nutrition, one may reasonably expect to outlive even their greatest grandchildren! It is my recommendation that every loving wife and mother should never serve a meal that does not include a combination of these three Key Ingredients to Health. In fact, I never invent a cereal that does not include all three (note: except for Ham Crunchies, which substitutes an artificial milkfat-like substance for added freshness and coloring).

And why is that, you ask?

The answer is simple: because I do not hate you. And I do not hate your family either. I wish you all a long life full of longevity during which I hope you will purchase a great deal of cereal and condescend to have your blood type tested if I should knock on your door, even if you already know what blood type you are.

That is why I will share my knowledge with you.