Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-07-20
THE ART OF RAISING CHILDREN.

true scientific pan. The ignor nee and
superstitions of early times, and the legacy
of traditions which sll inherit, tell power
fully against the health Of babes and
young children, when every brain, nerve,
muscle, bone and organ is in the most i'm
pressible and forming site. The natural
docility of the youthful mind extends to
every animal or physiological func-
ton, and has its imminent perils,
as well as it peculiar advantages.
In state OF nature, man in families, ham
let's, villages and cities, inclines to contami-
nate TIE earth with his unavoidable daily
exc-eta, and poliutes the air which he
breathes and the water which be drinks, by
the simple accumulation of vegetable and
animal sui Stances undergoing decomposi-
ton. As years advance, and one genera
ton succeeds another, these organic mat
ters steadily increase about barns,
stables, corncribs and dwelling houses
on farms in the country, ano
still more in commercial and manufactur.
log towns where manure is not needed for
business purposes. That there is vastly
more of the elements of plants in Nash
vile in 1873 than there was in 1923, comes
from the fact that thousands of farms, dur
ing the last fifty years, have sent their an
nual crops to this market for consumption
Not particle of al this organized matter
hiss been annihilsted; but it has done
much 10 produce thousands OF sick
ly, puDy CHI dreD, many Of whom
have been sent 20 uptimely graves.
1t may be stated as an unimpeachable truth
that it is exceedingly difficult to raise heal
thy mosquitoes and healthy children in the
same neighborhood. II comm uuity in
sists on raising mosquitoes, it should aban-
don the idea of raising children. On the
contrary, if it regards children as mere de-
sirable than any musical, blood sucking in
sect, then it should discontinue the propa-
CATION CT this kind of stock, ard
rear the young Of the human species in
better health, and In more comfort.
You cannot preserve The health Of man
kind, young or old, or in middle life, with
ont learning first what feeds so many mos
quitoes, gnats, swamp and dung-heap flies,
before they reach the wing. One hundred
eggs deposited on water by mosquito will
not weigh as much as the young from one
of these eggs in six or more days, when il
comes cat Of the water a perfect in
sect, This rapid gain of ninety-niLe
new parts of living matter in one hun
dred, is the instructive feature o. this lesson.
When a chemist places pure distilled water
to invite mosquitoes to lay their eggs in it,
as they will, the eggs hatch, but the young
are Starved, and never come to maturity.
The young Of this insect, like that Of the
common blowing fly, must have something
more nOurishing than pure water and pure
air to form its organized tissues. The laruG
mosquito must have filthy water, but do
our children stand 10 the same
need Of such water? Certainly rot.
They receive their proper nourishment In q
different way. The water that breeds in
sects, feyers, and cholera infantum, is not
necessary to the health or strength Of the
human family. II all people OF sense are
ready to admit the truth Of this propCsi-
ton, why do any insist on pollutiDg any
water in the city Of Nashville? 1t is mis-
taken tradition that perpetFates this fs.sl
blunder, which gives to Nashville a higher
death rate than it ought to exhibit
as compared with other cities.
We do Lot wish to offend nor weary the
reader with full detail OF all the reasons
why the water that multiplies and fattens
mosquitoes will kill thousands of children,
aud greatly impair the general health and
constitutions of such as survive. A few
plain fac.' only, are staed, although to the
eye of science, there are facts by the square
mile within the corporation limits visible,
which show where the error lies that pro-
duces so much sickness. All plant
food, or waste animal food, should
be burnt, or carried out Of
the city, and not in a0uter.
The little lcose earth ard soil that lie over
an impervious rock, have already oeen over
dosed with the food Of pestlence; nor does
rain water wash fertility out of the ground
to make it healthy for man, so easily as thu
advocates of drains and sewers appear to
believe. All farms would be impoverished
in few years by rain alone, If water re-
moved all manure or plant fool from loan,
clay and sacd. Water has no such power
to purify fat lard in a city as
is often assumed. Burn manure
CT send it into the country.
Health is Of the highest Importance, yet it
is either wholly neglected, or treated in the
most expensive, injurious snd quack-like
manner. If the purpose Of the city is to
expend large sums of money, make the
Cumberland ard many o;her places first
rate breeding-water for raising mosquitoes
and all pestilent organisms besides, to ruin
the business Of The town and the value
Of it's property, then this remarkable pun
pose is in fair way of being accomplished.
1t is our duty to plead for tho lives of
children who are too young TO plead for
Is it undesirable to have OAR
streets and sidewalks defl!ed by human ex,
crements? If so, why parmis any number
OF fat hogs to do substantially the same
thing, TO raise swarms of flies and breed
Swine eat the same articles Of
food that man eats, and their droppingS are
the same xcellent on q meadow or corn
field, but terribly QUO Of place in the streets
of city.
DEFENDING CONGRESS-.
The Washington Republican, an organ
Of the Grant Administration, defends Con-