The Sun.
London, England, 1832-04-21 00:00:00

MALITtIA.

Health is so important a blessing.- to us all,
•an is so frequently endangered in .England by
the impure exhalations of mats'.'' ground, that
our reader's feel interested in knowing . the
retult of a number of observations and extitii-
ments on such exhalations, trade` by aitycable
French philosopher, M. Julia, froth whose work
these extra ;t5 rev'tews all the
known Marshes, of the. two .hri4s, and .shows
thdt th:,3 iftdr:shes of France alone occupy
1„::00,000 acres; and that,if those sources of
destruction, which diffuse, weettn-en, ill health,
and death, wtert' dialned and converted into
;and, they would feed a million of inha-
bitants, and contribute seven mill i= to, the re-
venues of the State. He attributes the (llfference
which exists hqtiteen the tYrAtic:;ti or life in
toWns-, Anti iYs illiration in the country, as much
t the insalubrity of the air caused by the
sewers, the filth, and the stagnation of dirty,
narrow, and crooked streets,,, as to the de-
bauched and, irregular or the population.
He .4itViis, by the result of observation, that
the effluvia of marshes and of the yellow fever
do not extend their influence beyond a limited
height above the places in which they,art.prodoced,
which height is estimated at bbte.-.2en 100 to 150 fa-
thourt., It affeais that if the marshes are always
co'Veredovith water, and if the summer is not
very hot, putrefaction will be scarcely sensible ;
but that if stagnant waters evaporate, they leave
an `uncovered slime, in which myriads of aquatit
animals and vegetables pbrisli and putrify: This
abP.orbs the oxygen of the air, and giVes
out in return deleterious gases) produced by the
decomposition of the Water, soured with frag-
ments of animal and vegetable matter. It ap-
pears the air of marshes, that of hospiCals, all
differ from pure air only by a very small quantity
of carbonic acid, if we are to trust the best che-
mical analysis; nevertheless the author thinks
tith Guyton, Morreau, and others, that the gases
resulting from putrefaction, retain and carry with
them certain particles of putrid substances, anti
that those particles introduced into the human
body are the germs of epidemic disorders; he
goes further, he maintains these germs are not
identical," because chlorine, which destroys all of
them, has no effect on that of the yellow fever.
It is clear that the morbific principles of the air
of marshes are certain particles of decomposed
vegetable and animal matter, of a particular and
specific nature, which elude chemical analysis,
although their presence is attested by the manner in
which they affect our senses. He is far from
ascribing all epidemics to marshy effluvia, every
one of those disorders seems to have a particular
virus, a specific germ. Thus the itch, hydro-
phobia, the yellow fever, &c., depend each upon
principles which are incapable of engendering
other disorders. He next proceeds to the best
means of disinfecting the air. Fire is one of
them. Epidemics have been stopped by burning
a large quantity of vegetable matter. He con-
demns the use of odoriferous scents to conceal
the fetor of bad air ; he confides in chlorine,
the most efficacious of all anti-contagions. He
endeavours to persuade the inhabitants of.towns,
where epidemics are raging, not to expose them-
selves to the sudden effect of cold and damp ; •
to observe regular regimen ; to eat only healthy
food, easy of digestion ; to drink wine moderately,
and spirits not at -all; to « away with melan-
choly;'' to shun any excess of pleasure tending
to weaken the body ; to observe the greatest
cleanliness ; frequently to wash their whole body
with cold water ; and never. to go out fasting
before sunrise. He-recommends the magistrates
of towns under such a visitation, to order the
streets to be frequently swept, the kennels washed,
the sewers inundated, and• filth of all-kinds to be
removed.

Friday "%EGA RR A WAY, baker, of Batheaston,
committed suicide by hanging himself in an outhouse ad.
joining his premises. The awful fact was discovered by
one of his own children, who went to call him to dinner,
when the body was perfectly lifeless. It is reported that
pecuniary embarrassments led him to commit the dreadful
act. Verdict—" Temporary derangement " lie has left
a wife and six children. It may he in the recollection of
our reader., that about four months since Mr. GARltA-
wAy's brother put an end to his existence by similar
means.—Both Chronicle.

TITHES.—A fact has come to our know-
ledge which will establish the fatuity of the attempt to
prop up the crumbling establishment, much less to per-
petuate the tithe system in any way, or under any name
in Ireland. A few days ago, the incumbent of Clashrnore,
county of Waterford, caused summonses to the Dungarvan
Sessions, to be served on ten or twelve of the most respec-
table parishioners, including a popular barrister, who per-
emptorily refused to pay tithes either in money or in
kind ; but declared their determination to become Quakers
in this regard, and to permit the parson to seize and sell
the best way he could, any head of cattle he might fix
upon, in lieu of his demand. The day of trial having
arrived, the parson, who had drawn the summonses him-
self, directed his law agent, Mr. GA RDN Elt, a Protestant,
be it understood, to conduct the cases. The attorney
refused point blanc to interfere at all in any actions,
suits, or prosecutions growing out of the popular re-
sistance to tithes or church rates. Two other attor-
nies were subsequently applied to, and one of them, a
Catholic, at first consented to act, but upon considera-
tion, adopted what he deemed the wiser course, and flung
the original summonses up. The Parson, thus left to
his fate by the attorneys, and not being able to procure a
law agent of any religious or political' creed, to move
his cases, was obliged to suffer* dismiss to be entered on
each summons—and of course to dine that day without
his tithe arrear, which amounts, as we- have been informed,
to only 121. The game is up with their reverences when
the attorneys refuse a fee to act in their behalf.—Dublin
Morning Register.

On the 23d of April (New Style), 1709,-
1,?3 years ago,—the first number of the Taller was pub-
lished. A volume containing all the numbers, not re
printed, but as they originally came from the press, is now
before us. We look upon this volume with a sort of
venera'ion. Pius publication was the first attempt made
in England, or in any other country, to instruct and
amuse unlearned readers by short pipers, appearing at
stated intervals, and sold at a cheap rate. The Talkr
was the first Penny II:loyal:rine ; and some of the ablest
writers which England has produced did not think it
beneath them to contribute to this good work of enlight-
ening a large body of their countrymen, to whom this little
paper was devoted. Amongst the most eminent of these
men were STEELE, ADDISON, and SWIFT—names which
will be remembered as long as the English language en-
dures. The object of these writers was "to bring phi-
losophy out of closets and libraries, schools and colleges,
to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and at
coffee-houses." They aimed at refining the mass of idle
and ignorant people who then constituted what was called
" the town ;" and to repress the looseness and coarse-
mils of manners which then prevailed. There was at
that time very little general knowledge ; and even those
whose stations in life afforded them leisure wasted
their opportunities for improvement in frivolous
or wicked amusements. It was then thought no dis-
grace to be ignorant of the commonest things ; and a per-
son of wealth or rank was not considered less a gentleman
for being an open profligate. It was a hold attempt to
endeavour to allure the idle to some application, and to
cover the vicious with well-deserved ridicule. But the
attempt succeeded. GAT, who lived at the same time as
ADDISON and STEELE, speaking of ISAAC BICE ERST Art.
(the assumed name of the conductor of the Taller), says,
—" It is incredible to conceive the effects his writings
have bad on the town ; how many thousand follies they
have either quite banished or given a very great check to;
bow much countenance they have added to virtue and re-
ligion ; how many people they have rendered happy
by showing that it was their own fault if they were no! so;
and lastly, how entirely they have convinced our fops and
young fellows of the value and advantages of learning."—
From
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It must succeed.