The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-03-22
THE BLUE GLASS CURE.
Has 1t any Real Efficacy THE Delu-
sion Rudely Dispelled.

Has 1t any Real Efficacy THE Delu-
sion Rudely Dispelled.
From he Scientific american.
In our last issue we reviewed the al
legged capabilities of sunlight filtered
through blue glass in causing plants to
grow, &C., and by reference to numerous
experiments we reached the conclusion
that the light transmitted through the
violet-blue glass is nothing more than
normal sunlight diminished in intensity.
We propose in the following to finish our
discussion by examining into the effects
of light and darkness on organisms; and
we may especially here recall the fact
that Gen. Pleasonton claims that not
only does the blue glass stimulate growth,
but that it is a positive remedial agent
for such severe ailments as spinal menin-
gitis. nervous irritation and exhaustion,
rheumatism, hemorrhage of the lungs,
deafness, partial paralysis, shock due to
severe confusion, and Others, of all OF
which he cites cases.
The theory that various 'colored lights
exercise different effects on the human
system is an old one. In 1881, DR. New
berry, of this city, asserted that yellow
light stimulates the nervous, pink the
nutritiye, and blue the locomotive tenn
permanent. And recently DR.. Ponza, an
Italian physician, has asserted that luna,
tics are greatly affected by being placed
in different colored rooms. Red light,
DIR. Ponza says, removes feelings of de-
preston, blue light induces calmness, and
by violet light a crazy person was IN one
day cured. ..a ~. -; -
It is a thoroughly demonstrated fact
that light is an important vital stimulant; /;
and that, if its operation be excluded, the
development of the healthy bodily struct-
ure is arrested. Naturalists tell us that
in the absence of light the transformation
of q tadpole into frog is stopped, and
the reptile remains a tadpole. Plants in
darkness become, blanched and stunned
in growth, the process of fixing the car
bon in their tissues is arrested, q modif-
cation of the coloring principle takes
place, and they appear white instead OF
green. - The sad affects or deprivation of
sunlight are especially observable among
those who live in crowded alleys or
cellars, or who work in mines, where the
light of the sun seldom or never pene-
trates. The total exclusion of the SUMS
beams produces an impoverished and dis
ordered state of the blood, emaciation,
muscular debility, and the diseases due
to imperfect nutrition.
On the other hand, it is known that
for certain purposes darkness or shaded
light is advantageous to the Bodily con-
dition. Fowls, for instance, may be fat
tened much more rapidly in the dark,
and it would seem that the absence of
light exercises q very great influence over
the power possessed by food in :increas-
ing the size of animals. It likewise
seems to exercise a soothing and quieting
influence, increasing thea disposition of
animals to take rest, making less food
necessary, and causing them to store up
more nutriment in the form of fat and
muscle. Now, if the organism to be
treated is subjected to light, all of which
is filtered through blue violet glass, then,
as we have previously demonstrated, it is
in light which is considerably shaded.
And very probably to this cause-and
not all to the peculiar hue of the light
is to be attributed the quieting influence
on nervous and insane people which DR..
Ponza has remarked. f'-it
But Gen. Pleasonton does not use blue
violet glass alone. On the contrary, he
employs combination of blue-light and
pure sunlight, the latter very much pre-
ponderatipg. In his grapery, for exam
pie, only every eighth row of panes is
blue. The mingled light consequently is
merely pure sunlight, very slightly
shaded, and the animal or plant exposed
simply takes sun-bath-the sokarium of
the ancients, who, knowing the vivifyi-~
influences of the sunbeams, had terrace
built on the tops of their houses 80 that
they might bask in them. This sun treat
ment is now frequently recommended by
physicians for nervous diseases. DR..
Hammond, in one of his lectures, says {:
"In conyalescence from almost all dis
eases it acts, unless too intense or too
long continued, as most healthful stim-
ulant, both to the nervous and physical
systems, The deli
rum and weakness, by no means seldom
met with in convalescents kept in dark
ness, disappear like magic when the rays
of the sun are allowed to enter the cham
ber."
To recapitulate in brief, Gen. Peason-
toms claims Of any superior powers for
blue glass on account of the color which
it produces in transmitted light, are,
when tested by the result of previous in
vestigations, unfounded. In some in
stances, where it is desirable to reduce
the intensity of the light, blue glass may
be used; but any other mode of shading
the light, as by ground glass, thin cur
tains, &C., would without doubt serve
equally as we'll. The cures produced are
ascribable to two causes First, to the
healthy influence of the sunbath; and
secondly, to the very powerful influence
of the patients Imagination. There are
abundant cases known where Imagination
has SO powerfully affected the body as to
cause death.
Experiments upon criminals have
shown that in one instance, where per-
son was placed in q bed which, he was
informed, had just been vacated by q
cholera-patient but which had not, he
exhibited all the symptoms of that dis
ease. Another person is reported to
have shown all the signs of collapse from
loss of blood from the suppositious idea
that he was bleeding to death. As re-
CARDS the animals fattened under the
glass, all circumstances so to show that
the result was due to their forced quies-
cence, their shelter from the weather, and
their free exposure to the sun.
It is hardly necessary to add that, in
our opinion, the use Of clue glass, as ad,
vocated by General Pleasonton, is devoid
of benefit.
Nor A CH1cKEN.-At precisely two
o'clock by the bells the other morning a
policeman who was walking up Beaubien
street caught sight of negro who was