The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1853-07-29

| writer's have endeavored TO account fo
the manner in which diseases undermin
the vital puwerS, by theory not unen
titled 10 attention. AS the air is eve
more or less filed with the emanation
ofpuirifying animal and vegetable matter
they have assimila,ed the action Of thes
particles upon the blood, 10 that Of yeas
or wort. BY the fermentation produced
by yeast, the sugar is changed into alco
hol. II is, apparently, predisposed TO
the change; and the slightest assistance
i, receives enables il TO unloose the for
mer union of its particles, and TO form
into wholly new state Of chemical com
binations. Just so, animal matter Goat
ing in the air, in the chemical state o
change called prutrescence, if not suffi
cien,ly diluted, is capable Of throwing
the blood, with which it may come il
contact, into an analogous state Of ferm'
enia,ion. Thus, Of course, il totally al
lers IFS nature, and renders il incapable
Of fulfilling iiS proper functions.
Other writer's have supposed that the
air, when rendered impure, become,
overloaded with multitudes of microsco
pic insects, who attack the human body
as smut attacks corn. Conceive a min-
ute fungus, whose pores, floating in the
air, form the germs Of epidemic disease.
But all the various theories brought for
ward proceeded from the assumption Of
a vitiaied state Of the atmosphere.
To understand the full force OF these
theories, we must ramember that the hu-
man body is wonderful combination OF
PARTICLES. all placed in diff
erent degrees Of chemical affinity or an@
tsgonism 10 each other, and only held
separate, and in their proper relation, by
the iuscruiable powers of vitality. Por,
wine will fan and convert into species
Of leather the stomach Of a dead person |;
and the gastric juices that possess the
power Of dissolving not only animal sub.
stances, su. even metals, fail TO injure,
in the least degree, the tender vessels
with which they are in constant cons
tact, as long as life holds its full dominion.
How wonderfully does one single
blood-'in its passage through
each organ ofthe body, yield to i, the
different secretion required to enuble it
to fulfil its proper funclion-supporting,
at the same time, the very vitality which
il at once suslains and serves! Life has
no sooner departed, and let loose all the
different atoms Of which our earthly tai.
ernacle is formed, than they engage in
the great strife that even,ua,es iE ils
total dissolution. As in moral sense,
the spirit is ever al war with the inclina-
tions Of the flesh; 80, too, in physical
sense the different elements Of the body
arc only preserved in their integrity by
the despo,ic coutiol Of vitality.
These considerations derive some
title to notice, from the understood fact
tina. epidemics are almos. invariably ac>
companied by an extraordinary Develop
ment Of insect life; and seldom fail also
TO produce most remarkable effects upon
the lower animals.
We have often heard Of the "showers
Of blood" that are said to have preceded
pestilence, striking terror into the minds
ofthe vulgar. The showers Of colored
rain are alnos, invariably caused either
by infinite multiiudes Of microscopic in.
sects, or sometimes by the growth Of a
species Of fungus. Dudley Digges, in
the Arctic regions, are sometimes Coz
vered with snow and brigh. crimson.
Whether these crimson globules belong
TO the animal or vegetable kingdom, has
been much disputed; but Sir John Ross,
the discoverpr, insists that they are vege-
table production, aud has called them the
"Ureda navatis." He has SO styled them,
because, he maintains, they belong TO
the genius "Ereda,'' vulgarly known as
the smut 10 wheat.
1, is evident that the phenomenon Of
colored rain cannot occur, particularly in
our latitudes, without some extraordinary
atmospheric changes, of which philosophy
has failed to discover the causes; 5u, i,
takes place on the eve Of q
pestilence.
DR.. Barker has recorded the fall Of an
ink black fe:id rain doubtless an;macu-
lsr) near Carlow, on the 18th Of April,
ls49, pt q period coincident with the
of the cholera in that town.
This belief in a connection between both
circumstances, also prevails extensively
in India; and though perhaps il receives
an undue amount Of credence, the popu-
Iarity Of The theory vouches for the fre,
1uency Of the coincidence. An immense
development Of insect life also preceded
he pestilence elsewhere, and has been
frequently Witnessed and recorded
Dublia Vnipersity Magazine.