The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-07-03
Why Epidemics Rage at Night.

IL was one nlSnt tndt 4OOO peTlSneQ III the
p'agus of London Of 1865. 1t was at nig ht
that the army ofSennacherib was destroyed.
Both in England and on the continent large
Of cholera cases, in its several forms,
have been observed to have occurred between
one and two o'clock in the morning. The
Changer of exposure to the night air" has
been theme Of physicians from time i'm
memorial but it is remarkable that they
have never yet called in the aid Of chemis-
try to account for the fact
1t is at night that the stream of air near
est the ground must always be the most
charged with the PARTICLES of animalized
matter given out from the skin, and delete
rious gases, such as carbonic acid gas, the
product of respiration, and sulphuretted hy-
drogen, the product of the sewers. In the
day, gases and vaporous substances of all
kinds rise in the air by the rarefaction of
heat; at night, when the rarefaction leaves
them, they fall by an increase of gravity, if
imperfectly mixed with the atmosphere,
while the gases evolved during the night,
instead of ascending, remain at nearly the
same level 1t is known that carbonic acid
gas, at low temperature, partakes so near
ly of the nature of fluid, that it may be
poured out of one vessel into another it
rises at the temperature at which it is ex-
hailed from the lungs, but its tendency is
towards the floor, or the bed of the sleeper,
in cold and unventated rooms.
At Hamburg, the alarm of cholera at
night, in some parts Of the city was so great,
that on some occasions many refused to 60
to bed, lest they should be attacked una
wares in their sleep. Sitting up, they pro-
badly kept their stoves or open fires burning
for the sake of warmth, and that warmth
giving the expansion to any deleter Gus
gases present, which would best promote
their escape, and promote their dilution in
the atmosphere, the means of safety were
thus unconsciousy assured. AT Sierra Le-
one, the natives have practice, in the
sickly season, of keeping fires constantly
burning in their huts at night, assigning
that the fires keep away the evil spirits, to
which, in their ignorance, they attribute fe-
yer and ague. Latterly, Europeans have
begun to adopt the same practice, and those
who have tried it, assert that they have en-
tire immunity, from the tropical fevers to
which they were formerly subject.
In the epidemics of the middle ages fires
used to be lighted in the streets for the puri-
fcation of the air; and in the plague of
London, of 1865, fires in the streets were
at one time kept burning necessarily, till
extinguished by violent storm of rain.
Latterly, trains of gunpowder have been
fired, and cannon discharged for the same OBJ
ject but it is obvious that these measures,
sound in principle, must ecessarily,
out Of doors, be on too small a scale, as
measured against an ocean of atmospheric
air, to produce any sensible effect. Within
doors, .lowever, the case is different. 1t is
quite possible to hest room to produce
rarefaction and consequent dilution of any
malignant gases it may contain and it is
OF course the air Of the room, and that alone,
at night, which comes into immediate con-
tact with the lungs of person sleeping
Westminster ReUie,r.
A FASHIONABLE TURNOUT A CENTU-
RY AGo.-Among our Dutch progenitors
fashion swayed no iron sceptre, aud dress
was made for substantial use. Wearing
apparel was changed so seldom that one
lady was quite familiar with the extent of
another lady's wardrobe. They used to
wear bright blue stockings, with large scar
let clo,kc biub- heeled shoes silver buckles