The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1863-06-05
mosphere is most favorable to the con-
sumptive. Many medical authors have

sumptive. Many medical authors have
advanced this assumption. In the British
Isles and France, outside the cities and
manufactures, the mortality from pulmO-
nary diseases is much less than among the
agricultural classes of this country. And
on the western shores of this continent
consumption is comparatively unknown.
Our disadvantage in this comparison is
attributable, in considerable part, to the
lack of humidity in our atmosphere.
Without the evidence of facts, we might,
a priori, argue that excessive dryness of
the air would produce dryness and irrita-
bility of the air passages. From time i'm
memorial, watery vapor has been used as
a remedy in irritation and Inflammation of
the respiratory organs.
"A hundred times have my cOnsuRlptive
patients expressed surprise that the wet
weather, ia which I have insisted they
should go out as usual. has not injured
them-that they even breathe more freely
than on pleasant days. OF course, i tell
them, if the body is we'll protected, the
more moist the air the more grateful to
your lungs.
There is no possible weather which can
excuse the cOnsumptive for keeping in
doors. Give him sufficient clothing, pro-
tect his feet carefully, and he may go out
freely in rain, snow and wind.
That point of temperature at which the
moisture of the air first becomes visible
is known as the dew7point. According
to one authority, the mean dew-point of
England, from the first OF November to
~ l,o% 90 oh . fbot Of
our northern states about 160 Now,
suppose house in England is kept at a
temperature of zoe, the drying power
there would be represented by IS. A
house with the same temperature at Alba
ny, for example, would possess drying
power OF "a. This great contrast in the
atmosphere of the two countries is striking
ly illustrated by the difference between
the plump body and smooth skin OF the
Englishman, and the lean, juiceless body,
and dry, cracked skin of the Yankee. 1t
is also shown by the well-known difference
in the influence of hOuse-heat upon furni-
ture. Our chairs and sofas and wood
work warp and shrink, while nothing of
the sort occurs in England.
AS we cannot increase the amount OF
moisture in the atmosphere of our CONT
nent, we must limit our practical efforts to
the air of our houses. If we use stove,
it's entire upper surface may be made
reservoir for water; ornamental work, of
but little cost, may be used to conceal it.
The furnace may be made to send up, with
its heat, many gallons of water daily, in
the form of vapor. In justice to stoves
and furnaces, | must say here that, in the
opportunity to DO this, they possess one
advantage over open fire-places.
BY adding artificial moisture in this way
to the air of our houses, we not only save
our furniture from drying and shrinking,
but protect our skin, eyes, nose, throat
and lungs from undue dryness, and from
the Affection to which it would give rise.
1t is found necessary, in our cloth manu-
factories, to maintain moist atmosphere
in order to successful spinning. Intelligent
managers have assured me that coughs and
throat difficulties are comparatively rare in
the spinning department.
We must all have observed, that, while
the air of q hot kitchen is comfortable, that
of a parlor at the same heat, from an air.
tight stove, is almost suffocating. The
kitchen has q hot stove, but the steam of
its boiling kettles moistens the air
Your country aunt, who has lived over
her cooking stove for years without incon-
venience, after spending an afternoon in
your parlor, heated by stove or furnace,
returns home "glad to get out of that
hot, sitting air." And yet the thermom-
eter may have indicated that the kitchen
was ten degrees warmer than the parlor
The dry heat of the parlor produced head
ache, irritability, and, perhaps, a sense of
structure in the chest. If we would avoid
these, a dry chapped skin, an irritable
nervous system, and a dry hacking cough,
we must aid the needed humidity by ar
tificial means