The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1855-03-20
MisItleltailR,n:lIs1,: il


1t was in enc night that four thoHsahd "per.
sons perished Of the plague in Ldnd5n. Ut was
by night the army Of Senacharib was destroy,
I'd. Both in England and on the c0utinepts 8
large proportion Of cholera cases, in it's sesersl
forms, have been observed to havesSoceutEed
between one and two o'clsck iu the hsortrfng.
The danger Of expQsore, to the plight !airs has
been theme of physicians from tiale irn-
memorial; but. il Is remarkable that they hive
never yet called in, the ,sid .f chemistry tl ae
count for the fact: IL, is at night that the
stratum of air nearest the ground must aiwayx
be the most charged with aIe particles of. lanf
msliEed matter given out from the skin, aud
deleterious gases, such as esrbonic acid gas,
the product Of respiration and sulphurettpd
hydrogen, the product Of the sewers. lh the
day gases and various Substances Of all kinds
rise in the air by the rar-Eclioit.of the heat
At night, when this rareiaetion ceases, theNf fail
by an increase of gravity, If 'impelfectIy mix q
with the atmosphere, while the gases ey vrd
daring the night, instead If cendii:s, 'e,::;tii
at nearly the same level. L. is ku"au lba;
carbouic acid gas, at a How temperature. par
takes so nearly Of the nature Of affuit, tb..t1l
may bepoured mt Of one vessel into another
1t rises al the temperature at whlsh it Is: .ex
hailed from the lungs, but its tendency is~tp,
wards the feor, or the he'd Of the slepere in
cold and unventilated rooli1s... :. =
At Hamburg, the alarm of cholera al night
in some parts uf the. city" was -, great hat
many refused To- e, t"e bed. hest they should ne
attacked .unawares in their sleep. Sitting up
they probaly kept their stoves: ''r 1'pen Rre'
burning for. the. sake of warmth. and that
warmth giving the expansion to ans 'deitteTiens
gases present, which would best prAm,ts their
dilutiop in the atmosphere, the means Of safety
were then uriconscioasly assured. : :.-.,' :
At Sierra Leone, the natives have q practice
in. the sckiy season. of keeping fires constantly
bnruing 10 the :hsts at night, assigning that the
fres keep away evil spirits. to which in theit
ignorance they sttributed. fever a,id agee.,: =.
Latterly, Europeans have begun to: adopt
the same practice, and those who have tried: it
assert that they have now an entire Immunity
from the tropical feyers to- which they were
formerly subjected. . 10 the epidenjcs, of the
middle ages fires used to be. lighted: in the
streetssfor the purifeation Of the air; and in
the plague of London, in 1856, 6res in the
streets were at. one time kept bdrning inces-
sanity, till ex.inguished by violent sterm oi
rain.
Latteriytrains Of gunpowdef have been fired
and canaon discharged for the same 55jett :;
but it. is obvious that these measures, although
sound in principle, must necessarily; though
out Of doors, be on too small q scale, as mea.
sured against an ocean, Of atmospherio air,. to
produce, any sensible. effect. Within doors,
however, sthe csse Is different II is quite
possihte 10 heata room sufficiently to. produce
4 rssefaction and consequent diIation Of, any
malignant gases it may contain and is is-of
course the air, of the room, and thst sione at
pighs which comes ia. contact with the lungs Of
tbe psrson sleeping. 80 > :
~ -" -'sT- Weslminsie, ResAp:; -