New-York tribune., 1875-03-09
MARCH,.

we all felt that il was broken. Old Dclih
has reaped with too sharp a sickle since
November the bills of mortality in this and
neighboring cities during some weeks equaling
those of the same space of time in other
years during the prevalence of a fatal epi-
demic. Not only very old persons and feeble
children succumbed in great numbers to tho
intense cold, but strong men were unable TO
sustain the shock of the violent changes from
a temperature of Go below zero to SDring-likc.
muggy days, laden with malarous fog. Tho
weather, in fact, played the part of Aladdin's
carpet, and often whisked lis in an hour from
Arctic cold to the cammy, warm Spring
sickness of Florida.
We arc all impatient to sing madrigals OF
Spring, gentle Spring" The dry goods
dealers hurry their rapturous description OF
organizes besprinked with ferns and chip
hats covered with roses, before the market.
The beauty of hower-crowned May is per-
ceptible for the first time to stout business
men who have been dosing with pcctoral sirup
or swashed in porous pasters all Winter. They
make haste to rejoice with the first warm
breath Of air, and, what is more important, if
they do not betake themselves TO a May-poe
in the open air, are apt to dispense with
sirup and porous plasters. Now March, ac-
cording to the old poets, who apparently had
nothing else to do but find out characters for
the months and laud or abuse them after
wards, is a clustering, tickle fellow, likely TO
change his mind. The defenses against him
should be more carefully watched than those
of the depth of Winter. Fires are LETT to
smolder down in the warmth of the day until
the house is thoroughly chilled, and sudden
damp wind springs up in tho afternoon and
carries disease and death into the open win
dows. "Till May be ont, Nc'er cast clout,"
is counsel as good as homely. \ handful or
two of rOck-salt added to the mornings cold or
tepld bath is On excellent preventive of colds
as effectual defense against the frOsts and
changeable winds of our Winter as was Rich
ard's chain armOr against the " thousand prick
"ing lances" Of his foes. 1t is better too, to
keep q low fire burning in the CRATES until
the last of May The walls of Easements
and foundations of the houses are thoroughly
damp, after so severe a Winter, and require
more rapid means of drying than the feeble
Spring sunshine besides this the outside air
is laden with mwholesCme vapor, which the
burning fire helps to purify before it enters
the lungs.
Mothers nowadays are apt to hold them
selves as far wiser than those of the past
generation, inasmuch as each one of them has
her favorite system of medicine, and prac-
tees herself in domestic way. She is ready
with her packs or sitz treatment for every
ailment in the household, or she carries her
book and box of homeopathic pellets or II
she adhere to alOpathy, bewiders her physi-
clan by her familiarity (amOunting to con-
tempt with nerve-centers and gastric juices.
But with all her theories of cure, she negle-ts
the simple means of prevention far more than
dad her grandmother, and knows less about
them. Women who personally nurscd and
tended their children from the cradle to MAN.
hood learned hygienic truths by hard, soro
experience, and were strict in enforcing them.
although perhaps they could give no reason
for the faith that in them. Our theoret-
ical women laugh at the old-fashioDed caudlo
cup that welcomed the baby into the world.
and at the mothers long season of rest as
much as at the candle. For the lack Of that
rest eight out of ten modern mothers are
weak, diseased women at middle age. 1t was
the old-fashOned belief that there was GER
tain fatal influence in the Spring air, against
which our grandmOthers fought by means OF
flannel wruprings and woolen stockings worn
until June, and doses of nauseous teas and
barlls administered to each child as soon as
he WAS awake. Now il appears from reports
of our foremost physicians that they have
lately discovered tho "hcalth standard OF
this country to be lower in the Spring than
"at any other season. This fact - a'cr,pcu
partly to the nervous exhaustion succe, "ns
the Winters work in the commercial and
professional classes, and parsly to the malarial
poison exhaled from tho drying earth. The
old-fashioned treatment, therefore, WAS not
far wrong. Warm and comfortable clothing
is the best defense which wo can make
against the foggy damp and death. While on
the other hand, if we do not actually resort
to toncs every effort should be made to re-
invigorate the failing system. Necessarily,
the rich and even gross food which we can
digest in Winter is rejected now, and the
lighter vegetable diet of the Spring takes its
place But the change should not be too sud-
den care should DO taken that the supply OF
phosphates be kept up i'll some articles OF
daily diet. The "Sprng fever" in a word,
which will attack all of us before many days
is not hypochondriac fancy but symptom
of an actual loss OF vitality and lowering OF
the whole physical system, and Is not I'd DO
loucbed away or fought down, but met with
RATIONAL care. Body and brain have done
ther Winters work well let us humor them
a little. give them as many holidays as we
can. and, above all, put no faith IN March OF
his PROMISES. He is a treacherous fellow, and
plays many tunes on his windy pipe but the
most of them are meant for funeral dirges.