The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-10-01
AutumnaI Diseases.

r These are chiefly diarrhCea dvsentary and
various grades of feVers, from slight 'creeps,'
to congestive chills, for fever is the reaction
of GOODNESS but when there is not power in
the system to react from the cold stage,
death is certain, as in congestive chills, in
which the blood becomes so cold, SO thick
and so impure that it ceases to circulate, be-
comes stagnate, and the machinery of life
stops forever. Hundreds of thousands die
every autumn of the three forms of disease
mentioned but not one need die they are
avoidable diseases, their causes being known,
and all that is required is to bring a moder-
ate amount of intelligence to bear in avoid.
ing those causes. A baby will avoid putting
its finger in the candle second time it re-
mains only to grown up stupid people to
expose themselves to the causes of disease
year after year, and thus recklessly imperil
health and even life itself
The cause of autumnal diseases is an
emanation from the surface of the earth in
those localities where are found in combina-
ton heat, moisture and vegetable matter,
wood, &c, for the heat of eighty degrees
combined with moisture induces decay, and
from this decaying substance something
arises which, if breathed or otherwise taken
into the. system, induces the disease men
toned sooner or later.
What this emanation is, has hitherto been
merely q conjecture, because it was impalpa
Bile, so like thin air, that the atmosphere
which contained it, when subjected to chem
ical analysis, yielded nothing beyond the
constituents of pure air.. But within a year
or two it has been ascertained that if guam
tty of air of miasmatic locality is bottled
up and is conveyed to a sleeping apartment,
the person who breathes it viii, in a short
| time, have more or less decided symptoms of
| of fever and ague ; and examining his sali-
va or the inside of his mouth, a living, NOV
| ing thing is clearly visible with micro.
scopic aid. Observation aud experi-
ment have shown incontrovertibly that there
are two ways Of escaping the i'll effects of
| having these living things introduced into
| the system. Persons must avoid living in
| localities where the land is rich, fat and
| moist, or they must drain those lands; but
| it is possible to live in such places, and have
| reasonably good health, simply by keeping in
| the house of mornings, with brisk burning
| fire, until breakfast is eaten, and take sup
per at shutdown, because it has been fonnd
| that these emanations are more poisonous at
sunrise and sunset, and that if the stomach
| is excited to action by the process of diges-
| ton, the emanation is rendered innoxuous,
perhaps from the fact, IN part, that the, sjuic-
es of the stomach at the time of digestion
are of such character to destroy the life of
these things !; but the fact remains the same
whether this supposition is true or not. s
A practical use may be made of this sub
iect in the light of these facts, in reference
to breathing night air, Very many advo-
cate the raising of windows in sleeping
apartments, summer and winter, all the year
round the theory seems a good one, but
experience win not corToborate it. Persons
living on water courses, where the "bottom
lands" as they are called, are rich, iuxuriant
an and damp sllssse health Attn, and HE n itself
opening into chambers closed from shutdown
to sunrise during the three autumnal months,
in fever and ague or intermittent localities.
Halls Jo,anal Of Health. - j