Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1861-10-23

article, aud never 90 in without AKIN me.
or some other one Of the breethring-tol
there are nine of them q siandin' round
the door. and the last one of them said
they would take sugar in ther'n, and a
little boy only eight years old, says ne,
Pap, I'll take little ef' it kills me! !"
| <-----
The Health OF our Camps.
ny pRoF. DARBY, OF EAST ALABAMA COLLEGE
To lie Editors of tie Enquirer:
Gentlemen Feeling, like thousands
| ofonr fellow citizens, the decpcstsolicitndc
| in regard to the health of our army,
visited Fairfax and its environs. to see if
there was any obvious cause of the vast
amount of sickness among our forces.
The cause, in my opinion, are most
apparent. lis now well established
f.ct. that for the atmosphere to rightly
| perform its office in supporting human
health. it must contain ozone, the active
condition of oxygen. 1t is readily detected
III all healthy localities. tested for it
| in the tents of our soldiers, and none
could be discovered in tile lower parts OF
the tents in the morning. The sieepers
then were without this essential condition
of the vital air. The mere absence OF
this might, perhaps be borne by most
constitutions for many successive hours
hut it would be remarkable that the agent
that neutralizcd the ozone should Just
be sufficient to produce that neutrality,
and not be in excess Hence. ctested:
for what Saw calls pnterjme, and found it
| abundanlly in a tent in which five OF our
,odicrs slept. This is 5 heavy putrescible
substance. without odour, aid is gencr-
atcd in certain conditions of decaylng
matter.
It's source in the tents is probably
mostly from the emanatiolis of the bodies
7Jt The sleepers: iiorhings purities more
readily than those cmanations, us may
| readily be proved Another so"rcc Is
from the soil on which they lie. The
living vegetation, which would Otherwise
| consume those materials, is destroyed,
and the warmth Of the body hastems its
| production, and there is no ozone III the
air to consume it.
Ozone and puterinc are antagonlsnnS.
Where one exists the other cannot.
The above are the iacts-can they be
rencded We think their conditions
might be reversed. The tents are too
| close at night. They might he made SO
that they coudnot be cclosed only toshefter
and keep off the storm. One third OF the
tent should always be open; the opening
so arranged that it might be altered to
different sides of the tent, so as to be to
the lecward in storms.
There are too. many i'll tent as now
constructed. .,
The tents are too near each other.
There should be at least one road between
the tents; so that the sun may have Its
full effect on the intervening space.
The contents of the tents, especially
blankets. straw, &C., should be placed out
in the sun every day, when the sun shines
The tents should be completely rolled up
or removed at least once week, that the
| sun may have its purifying effect on the
soil.
Much advantage, 10 doubt, might be
raiued in the location of the tents i'll regard
70 each other and surrounding localities;
Our prevailing winds arc westerly All
offensive localities should, of course, be
to tho lceward, or east side Of the camp;
the tents being arranged North and South
the cooking and fires should, as much as
possible, be on that side, that the vltlated
mir NAV not be driven into the tents. The
conditions are reversed in the arrangement
of many of the camps. The sickness is
now somewhat subsidng for want OF
material in subjects: but if no better
arrangements urc made, pneumonia, Pleu'
risy and typhoid fever will appear with
greater virulence.
Many of the camps are kept clear from
offensive materials; but even this We
are sorry to say, is not the case win
all. But the utmost cleanliness is not
sufficient. The virus has no necessary
connection with filth as exhibited to sight
or smell The most loathsome conditions
may be free from the active agent III
producing disease, and the most cIeanIy,
apparently, may produce it in greatest
power The tests are the only criterion,
and these should be applied
1t is said the conditions required arc
impracticable. However this may he:
cannot say. Ii army discipline "a
enacts and is inncxihe, she is in coli'e, &c,
with laws more inlltxible, and which VIII
never yield. Human beings must have
pure air containing all-essenilal elements
and the conditions Of suppl y must be
observed. or such results as air now mani
testing themselves ino"rarmy VIII 'olI9%, I',E
have made the above statements with,
out argument or proof, that your space
might be spared, and with tho knidcst
feelings towards all concerned. having no
other motive than the interest Of our
glorious cause, by bypromot"g the health o'
our noble soldiers.
Very respectfully,
---ee.--.-.-----.-
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