The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-27
Sunshine for the Consumptive.
BY DR.. HENRY |. BowDITcH.

| We have heen told by some consumptves,
that one Of the best prescriptions we have
made has been their removal from north room
to tie sunny south chamber. As we write,
two cases come to mind, strikingly illustrative
! OF the suns benign influence. We had been
attending, at an orphan asylum, girl about
twelve years old, who had been long i'll of
! severe typhoid fever. She was wholly pros.
trated in mind and body, and cmaciated to the
last degree. 1t was plain that she was falling
into that depressed condition of all the powers
of life that so often precedes consumption. Day
after day We visited her, but all recuperative
power seemed lost Half dead and alive,
the little creature neither spoke nor moved,
and ate only on compulsion. One day, on our
way to visit her, we felt that elastic thrill which
the warm rays of the sun impart in the early
cool weather of spring We involuntarily
leaped along, and we're instantly struck with
the fact that virtue had gone out oi us, 4"
when we left behind us the sunlightanu warmth
of the street. and entered that northern cham
Der, the dormitory of the poor orphan. That
inSpiriting influence the invalid had never ex
perienced in the slightest degree during the
whole of her sickness, as, owing to its peculiar
situation not ray Of direct sunlight had ever
entered the chamber. We were shocked, and
for the first time considered the depth of her
loss, and our own remissness in regard to her.
The air of the room had been pure, the ceilings
of the infrmary Were lofty, the attendants had
been faithful aud sagacious. Nothing seemed
lacking, in fact to restore health. Yet it did
not come. On the contrary, there seemed a
constant downward tendency. "a sun bath
in the warm rays of this delicious spring day
is what this girl needs, we instantly said to
the sister superior This lady gladly consented
to the change, and placed the little patient in
another room having southern aspect, and
consequently filled with sunlight. The invalid
Immediately recognized the change, and asked,
in her weak way, to have the curtains raised,
so as to let in the full blaze of the light. Soon
she wanted to sit up, and directed that the
easy chair, in which she was propped, should
be so placed as to allow her whole body below
her face to be exposed to the direct rays of the
sun 1t was the natural tendency of disease,
seeking for all life-renovating influences. And
we have never met with so marked or so rapid
improvement as Immediately began in the
body and mind of the girl Appetite and
strength increased daily, and with them burst
forth again all the joyousness of the chid's
heart
Another analogous case, which. though we
do not demonstrate by it the influence of the
sun alone, we cannot forbear to name, because
by such examples we impress perhaps on the
minds of our readers the real principles un.
derlying the whole question A lady aged
about thirty, resident in the northern part of
New England, consulted us for undoubted
tubercular disease of the lungs. Her house
was well situated, and on the side towards the
south was small piazza resting on stone steps,
which was raised two or three feet above the
ground. The winter was approaching and
rules were to be given. Having full faith in
these divine influences Of pure air and sun
light, we directed that she should sit out on
this piazza every day during the winter, unless
it were too stormy 1t was so arranged as to
shut out the cool air on three sides, and to