Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1862-03-20
Mise anu qthermise.
Theory Of Epiaemics..

deavored to account for the man
ner in which diseases undermine !
the vital powers by a theory not
unentitled to attention. As the
air is ever more or less filled with
determinations of putrifvinganimal
aud vegetable matter, they have
assimilated the action of these pan.
lticles upon the blood, to that of
yeast on wort. BY the fermenta-
ton produced by the yeast, the
sugar is turned into alchohol. 1t
is apparently, predisposed for the
change; and the slightest assistance
litreceives enables it to unloose the
former union Of its particles, and
| to enter into awholly new state or
chemical combination. Just SO,
animal matter, floating in the air
lin the chemical state OF change
lcalled putrescence, if not sufficient
Ily diluted, is capable Of throwing
the blood with which it comes in
lcontact into an analogous state of j
fermentation. Thus, of course, 1t
totally altersits nature, and renders
lit incapable of fulfilling its proper
functions. Other writers have
supposed that the air when rem
I dered impure, becomes overloaded
:, with multitudes of miscroscopic
insects, who attack the human.
body, as smut attacks corn. Con-
ceive minute fungus, whose spores
| floating in the air, form the germs
iof epidemic disease. But all the
various theories brought forward
proceed from the assumption Of a
vitiated state of the atmosphere.
To understand the full force of
these theories, we must remember
that the HUMAN body is wonder
ful combination of innumerable
! particles, all placed in different de-
!, grees Of chemical affinity or antag-
j onism to each other, and only
!. held separate, and in their proper
! relations, by the inscrutable pow
Iers of vitality Port wine will
ttan and convert into species of.
Heather the stomach of a dead per-
son; and the gastric juices, that
F, possess the powerof dissolving not
only animal substances, but even
! metals fail to injurc, IN the least
: degree, the tender vessels with
4 (which they are in constant contact,
: as long as life holds full dominion.
How wonderful does one single
fluid-the blood-in its passage
= through each organ of the body,
d yield to it the different secretion
required to enable it to fulfil its
r proper flnctions-supporting, at
q the same time, that very vitality
which it at once sustains and
serves! Life has no sooner depart
ed, and let loose all the different
n atoms of which our earthly taber-
t nacle is formed, than they engage
4 in the great strife that. eventuates
, in its total dissolution As in
a moral sense, the spirit is ever-at
elwar with the inclinations Of the
flesh; SO too, in a physical sense the
different elements of the body are
only preserved in their integrity
: by the despotic control of vitality.
! These considerations derive
z some title to notice, from the IN
! doubted fact that epidemios are al
!. most invariably accompanied by
u an extraordinary development of
: insect life; and seldom fail also to
',,lproduce most remarkable effects
= Upon the lowe animals:
: We have often heard Of the
{ "showers Of blood" that are said to
: Ihavopreceded, pestilence, striking
q q terror into the minds Of the vulgar.
The showers of colored rain are al,
: most invariably caused by infinite
II lmultitudes of microscopic insects,
= or sometimes by growth of a fun
: gus. The cliffs between Cape
= York and Cape Dudley Digges, in
: the Arctic regions, are sometimes
covered with snow of a bright
crimson color Whether these
: crimson globules belong to the ami
, NAL or vegetable kingdom, has been
! much disputed; Sir John Ross, the
\ discoverer, insists that they are 9
J vegetable production, and has called
- them Ufec'a 'aacdtis. He has sc
! styled them because, hemaintains,
- they belong to the genus Ureda
z vulgarly known as smut in wheat
: 1t is evident that the phenomenon
! of colored rain cannot occur, par
ticularly In our ATTITUDES, without