The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 184?-1851, 1850-08-28
: AND INSTRUCTIVE FAMILY NEWSPAPER:
why the Epidemics Rage at Night

II was one night that 1000 perished in The
plague OF London Of 1865. il was 1t nigEl |
that the army OF Senacherib was destroyed. |
Both IN England and Oh the continent a large
proportion ofcholera cases in It's several forms
have been observed to have occurred be-
tween one and two O'Clock in the morning;
the danger0( exposure to nigh, air, has been
theme OF physicians from time mmemonal; Il
but it is remarkable that they have never yel
called in the aid of chemistry to account for
the fact. aa......l ....aa4
1t is at night hat the stratum Of aif nearest
the ground must always be the mus char
ged with the particles ofanilized matter given
out from the skin, and deleterous gascs,such
as carbonic acid gas, the product ofrespira-
ton, and sulphmaed hydrogen, The product
Of sewers. In the day, gases and vaporous
substances of all kinds rise in The air by the
rarel6cation Of the heat, at night, when this
rareifcalion leaves them, they fall, by an in
crease Of gravity if imperfectly mixed with
the atmosphere, while the gases evolved du-
ring the night instead Of ascending, remain
nearly at the same level. II is known that
carbonic aci gas; at a !oS tempealure, par-
takes so nearly Of the nature Of fluid, thai
it may be poured out of one vessel into ans
other; it rises al a temperature OF which il is
exhaled from the lungs, but IFS tendency is
towards the floor, or toward the bed of the
sleeper, in cold unvenllIated rooms.
:; At Hamburgh,the alarm ofcholera at nigh,
! in snme parts Of tue city was so great, tha
/; on some occasions many refused 10 go 10 bed
l lest they should be attacked unawares in thei
t Sleep Sitting up, they probably kept thei
+ stoves or open fires burning for The sake q
E their warmth, giving the expansion 10 an!
: deleierious gases present. which would pro
g mote their escape, and promote their duliol
q in the atmosphere, the means Of safety were
!, thus unconciousiy assured. Al SieIrs Leone
: the natives have a practice IN the sickly sea
e son, of Keeping fires constantly burning il
J, their huts at night, assigning tina, The fire
. kept away The evil spirits to which, in thei
. ignorance, they attribute The fever and agu
| Laiterly, Europeans have begun 10 adopt til
,r same practice, and those who have tried
a assert that they have now entire immunit
a from the tropical levers to which they wei
a formerly subject .a, r.aas
'T In epldemlcs OF ihe middle ages, tire
r used TO be lighted in the streets for the puT
W fcalion Of the air; and in the plague Of .or
a don, 1865, fires in the streets we're at on
le time kept burning necessarily, I'LL extinguisl
3 ed by violent storm Of rain. Latlerly, tt1il
of gunpowderha been tired,and cannon di
4 charged Cor the saHfe object; but IT is obVio,
that these measures, although sound in pr
/. cipe, must necessarily, out Of doors be c
t., too small a scale, as measured against ;
IN ounce of atmospheric air, to produce any Sc
sibIe effect. Within doors; however, tt
rs case is different 1t is quite possible to he
or room sufficiently 10 produce rareiticatt
a. and consequent dIu'ion ofmagl ign1nt gass
a itmay contain, and it is Of course the air
no the room, and that alone, at night, whit
Il, comes into immediate contact with the lun
lb Of q person sleeping. g. Westminster Revie