The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-02-13
SUNSHINE FOR THE CONSULTATIVE.
BY DIR. HENRY /. BOWDITCH,

we nave been told by some con-
sumptives that one of the best prescrip-
lions we have made has been their re-
moval from north room to the sunny
south chamber. As we write two cases
come to mind, strikingly illustrative of
the suns benign inRence. We had
been attending, at an orphan asylum,
a girl about twelve years old, who had
been long i'll of severe typhoid fever
She was wholly Frustrated in mind and
body, and emaciated to the last de-
gree. 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 visit
ed her, but all recuperative power seem
ed lost. Half dead and alive, the lit
tie 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 wealth
or of spring, We involuntarily leaped
along, and were instantly struck with
the fact that virtue had gone out of
u.s." when we left behind US the sum
light and warmth of the street, and en-
tered that northern champer, the dor
mitory of the poor orphan That in
spiriting influence the invalid had never
experienced in the slightest degree dur
ing the whole of her sickness, as, ow-
ing 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 re-
gard to her. The air of the room had
been pure, the ceilings of the infrmary
were lofty, the attendants had been
faithful and sagacious Nothing SEEM
ed lacking, in fact, to restore health
Yet it did not come. On the contrary,
there seemed a constant downward ten
dency. "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 hay
ing a southern aspect, and consequent
ly filed 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 want
ed 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 di-
rect rays Oft the sun. 1t was the natur-
al tendency of disease, seeking for all
life-renovating influences. And we
have never met with so marked or so
rapid improvement as Immediately be-
gan in the body and mind of the girl
Appetite and strength increased daily,
and with them burst forth again all the
joyousness of the child's heart.
Another analogous case, which, al
though we do not demonstrate by it
the influence of the sun alone, we can
not forbear to name, because by such
examples we impress perhaps on the
minds of our readers the real principles
underlying the whole question. A
lady aged about thirty, resident in the
northern part of New England, con-
suited 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 win
ter 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 admit the full
blaze of sunlight in front. Here, ac-
cording to our directions, she used to
sit, wrapped in furs, reading or writing
for several hours each day during the
following winter, and with most excel
lent results. She was directed frequent
ly to make deep inspirations, in order
to fill the lungs with pure air. She
was never chilled, because the suns
rays and her warm clothing prevented
it, She never "took cold" there. On
the contrary, the balmy influences ex-
erted upon her by her daily sun and
air bath were SO grateful her breath
ing became SO much easier after each
of them, that, whenever storm came
and prevented the resort to the piazza,
the invalid suffered in consequence
thereof Whether these remarks will
prove to our readers that want of sun
light may be reckoned among the
causes of consumption may well be
doubted, but we trust that at least,
they will convince some sceptics that
sunlight has potent influence in rails
ing the human body from various weak
ness that sometimes are the precursors
of fatal phthisis.-Atlantic Monthly.
The Old House Far Away.