The Plymouth weekly Democrat., 1867-10-17
AutuInnal Diseases.

These are chiefly diarrhea, dysentery,
and various grades of fevers from slight
"creeps" to congestive chills, for fever is
the reaction of colduess, but when there
is not power enough in the system to re-
act from the cold stage, death is certain,
as in congestive chill. in which the blood
becomes 50 cold, go thick and so impure
that it ceases to circulate, becomes stag
nate, and the machinery Of life stops for
ever. 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 anu all that is required is to bring
a very moderate amount of intelligence to
bear in avoiding those causes. n baby
will avoid putting its finger in the candle
second time. it remains only to grown,
up stupids to expose themselves to the
causes of disease year after year, and thus
reeklessly imperii health and even life IL
self.
The cause Of autumnal diseases is an
emanation from the surface OF the earth in
those localities where are found in combi-
nation heat, moisture and vegetable mat
ter, such as leaves, wood, etc. for the heat
of eighty degrees combined with moisture
induces decay, and from this decaylng sub
stance somthing arises, which, if breathed
or otherwise taken into the system, indu-
ces the disease mentioned sooner or later.
What this emanati0n is, has hitherto
been merely a conjecture, because 1t was
impalpablc, so thin like air. that the at
mosphere which contained it when sub
jccted to chemical analysis yielded moth
ing but the constituents OF pure air
But within a year or two it has been as
certained that if quantity of air of mi
asmatic locality is bottled up and is con-
veyed to a sleeping apartment, the person
who breathes it will, in a short time, have
more or less decided symptoms OF fever
and ague; and on examining his saliva or
the inside of his mouth, living. moving
thing is clearly visible with microscopic
aid Observation and experiment have
shown incontrover:ibly that there are two
ways of escaping the i'll effects of having
these living things introduced in the sys-
tenn. Persons must avoid living In locali-
ties where the land is rich, fat and moist,
or they must drain those lands but it is
possible to live in those places, and have
reasonably good health simply by keep
ing in the house of mornings, with a brisk
blazing fire until breakfast is eaten, and
take supper at sundown, because it has
been found that these emanations are
more poisinoUs at sunrise aud sunset, and
that if the stomach is excited to action by
the process of digestion the emanation is
rendered inocuous, perhaps from the fact,
in part, that the juices of the stomach at
the time Of digestion are of character to
destroy the life of these living things but
the fact remains the same whether thi.
supposition is true or not
y practical use may be made Of this sab
ject in the lgh of these facts in refer.
ence to breathing night air. Very many
advocate the raising of windows In sleep
ing apartment summer and winter; the
theory seems to be good one, but expert
ence viii not corroborate it. Persons liv
ing on water courses where the bottom
lands, as they are called, are rich, luxurI
ant, and damp, will save health aud if'
itself by keeping al outside doors and win
dows opening into chambers closed from
sundown to sunrise during the three au
tumnal months, in fever and ague, or in
termttent localities -HaHs Journal 0
Healh