Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-12-22
POPTL-iR .F-iLLICTES.

POPUL-fR .FiLLICIES.
Night air and damp weather are held in
great horror by multitudeS of persons who are
Sickly or Oi weak constitutions: consequently.
by avoiding the night air. and damp weather.
and changeable weather. and weather that is
considered too hot or too cold. they are kept
within doors the much largest portion of their
time. and aS a matter of course continue i'll
NalidS, more and more ripening for the grave
every hour: the reason Is they are breathing
an impure atmosphere niueteen-twentieths of
their whole existence.
As nothing can wash us clean but pure wa
ter 81 nothing can cleanse the blood. nothing
can make health giving blood. but the agency
ot pure air. - grea, Il The tendency of the
blood To become impure in consequence of
Waste and useless matters mixing with IL as
II passes through the body. that il requires a
hO2>head of air every hour OF our lives To I'M
load IL Of these impurities: hut in proportion
aS this air i yitiated. in such proportion does
II iniahbiy fail To relieve the blood of these
impurities. and impure blood i the founda-
tion ofall disease. The great fact that those
who are out of doOrS most. SUNNI r and winter.
day and night. rain CT shine. have the best
health the world over does ot itself falsify the
general impression that night air or any other
outdoor air is unhealthy rs compared with
indoor air at the same time.
Ali Is the great necessity of life so much 80
that II deprived Of 1t for moment. We perish;
and 80 constant II the necessity of the blood
for contact with the atmosphere, that every
drop IN he body il exposed To the air through
the medium of the lungs every two minutes
and hall of OureNiStence.
Whatever may be the impurity of the out
door air of any locality, the indoor air Of that
dust, and decaying and OdOriferouS matters
which are found in all dwellings Besides,
how can Indoor air be more healthy than the
outdoor air. other things being equal. when
The dwelling - supplied with air from with
out?
To this very general law there is some ex
eeption which II is of the highest Importance
To note. When the days are hot and the nights
cool. there are periods of time within each
twenty four hours when il is safest To be in
doors, with doors and windows closed that is
to say. for the hour or two including sunrise
and sunset, because about sunset the air cOO!S
and the yaporS which the heats of the day
and settle near the surface of the earth, so as
To be breathed by the inhabitants; as the night
grows colder these vapOrs sink lower and are
within a foot or two Of the earth, so they are
not breathed. As the sun rises, these same
yapors are warmed. and begin To ascend, to
be breathed again, but as the air becomes
warmer, they are carried so far above our
heads as To be innocuous. Thus il is that the
old citizens of Charleston, :. C.. remember,
that while il was considered important To live
in the country during the summer, the com
mon observation Of the people originated the
custom of riding into town. not in the cool of
the evening or the morning, but i'll the middle
of the day. They did not understand the
philosophy, but they observed the fact that
those who came To the city al midday
manned well, while those who did so early or
late suffered from II.
AL strangers at Rome are cautioned not to
cross the Pcntine marshes after the heat of
the day is over. Sixteen OF ships crew,
touching at one of the West India Islands,
slept on shore several nights, and thirteen of
them died of yellow fever in a few days, while
of two hundred and eighty who were freely
ashore during the day, not single case of
sickness occurred The marshes above named
are crossed in six or eight hours, and many
travellers who do IL in the night are attacked
with mortal feyers. This does. at first sight.
seem To indicate that night air Is unwhOle-
some, al least in the locality of yiruent mala-
riaS, but there is no direct proof that the air
about sunrise and sunset is not that which is
productive of the mischief.
For the sake of eliciting the observations of
Intelligent men, We present our theory on the
subject.
a person might cross these marshes with
impdnity who would set out on his journey
an hour or two after shutdown, and finish it an
hour OF two before sun-up. especially II he be-
gins that journey on a hearty meal because,
in this way, he would be travelling in the cool
Ofthe night, which GOODNESS keeps the malaria
80 near the surface of the earth as To prevent
its being breathed 10 hurtful extent
But If il is deadly 10 sleep out of doors all
night in a malarial locality. would II be neceS-
SaTily fatal 10 sieep in a house in such 10
cality. Ii would not. IL would be safer
To sleep in the house, especially II the win
slOws and doors were closed. The reason
is. that the house has been warmed during the
day. and il kept closed. it remains much
warmer during the night indoors than ,t IS
outdoors, consequently, the malaria is kept
by this warmth SO high above the head.
and rarifed, as To be comparatively
iinction altogether. but il will be found
throughout the world Of nature that the works
Of the Almighty are most strikingly beauti
full in their minute. and these ninut9 are
are the foundation of His mightiest manifeS
tatiOnS-
Thus il il. too, that what We call fever and
ague might be banished from the country as
general disease. If two things were done. J..
Have a fire klndled every morning at day
light, from spring Ia fan, in the family room.
Ia which all the family should repair from
their chambers, and there remain until break
fast is taken. = Let a FIRE be kindled in the
family room a short time before shutdown; let
every member Of the family repair To it, and
there remain until supper Is taken.
In both cases the philosophy OF the course
marked out consists in two things First. The
fire Tarefies the malaria and causes ii To as
eend above the breathing point. Second. The
food taken into the stomach creates an activity
of circulation which repels disease HdHs
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