The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-08-23
ELKTON, MD, SATURDAY, AUGUST %; 1879.
SEA BATHING AND HEALTH.
"Giye him the bath. arrange his couch with rug
And then await the goiden-thorned morn"

"Give him the bath, arrange his couch with rugs
And then await the goiden-thorned morn"
| Odyssey.
a life by the ocean wave" is the song o
the thousands who, when the Summer sol
| Stice comes, hasten to the sea. The towns
i people, we think, are getting more ant
more to feel that they must live Il part o.
the year near business, and then make ny
for country life by a Summer dwelling
place along the shore. 1t is true, lake and
mountain scenery still attract many, and
| now and then the virtues of some spring
allure special classes of Individuals; but
| after all, the rush is for the ocean. The
coast from Mount Desert to Newport has
| long Eecn famed for health. The greatest
development has been along the Jersey
shore. 1t seems as if the entire coast was
| destined to become an elongated city. No
longer is the Summering confined to the
| richer classes. The families OF the wage
| classes are also able to enjoy the luxury of
a retreat from the brick walls and hot streets
| to which they have been subjected. We
| are greatly interested in the fact that so
| much of this enjoyment is now possible to
| 50 many citizens, and that families and
| children become sharers in the blessing. 1t
is to have a great bearing on American
health. With our rapid life, our rapid ways
of doing business, our stirring activity
which often keep brain, and muscle, and
principle, too, at full tenSon-there are
| many reasons why it is profitable to have
this intermission to the strain. Body, mind,
and soul may all thus get u better chance to
recruit.
The seaside resort has these great advan-
tases: it gives, or ought to give, entire free
dom from all products of decay. This can
not exist in the towns with their massed
populations. Neither can we always have
it in the country, where marshes and forced
or neglected vegetation and various other
circumstances often upset the equilibrium
which nature has so beautifully established
between production and decay. 'Ah."
said one, g love the sea, for there is no
dust there" That seems really an adequate
reason; but when we find dust to mean mil
lions of invisible particles, some of which
represent life unf:tvorable to human life, or
decay in too concentrated a form, we readily
rejoice that on the sea and close by the sea
we may be rid of many dust mote of dis
ease.
Then there is purity of air in another
sense. Carbonic acid and gaseous impuri-
ties are almost entirely absent, while the
chiorideS Of the sea seem to impart to the
air especial tonic properties. 1t is bracing;
not merely in sensation, but in an actual
sense. 1t seems as if the lungs We're en-
ablcd to take in more oxygen, and with it
more of those slight stimulants which sea
air contains. Under this influence the SyS-
TEN Is aroused TO greater activity and the
effete products of the blood are more fully
consumed Then there is more active as
stimulation and construction to make up for
this lawful destruction. This is the kind of
blood purifier that does not need patent
and has a real significance. Life is a pro-
cess of destruction of tissue, replaced by
l,n Tho le~tr,r,finn within
the limits of normal life and health is itself
reparative, in that nutrition is conditioned
by il. Where this process is interfereu with
it is correct to speak of the system as clog
ged. Good, pure air, deeply inhaled, with
exhilarating enjoyment, has the effect to
give activity to this sluggish, halt-su$pended
animation and to create a healthy demand
for food, in place of the i'll store which has
been kept on hand. In such a sense. air is
a real food and TO feed on air, if only one
can have good victuals for a dessert, is a
very enjoyable and plumpy thing. We
love this air of the sea: and, taken Alright,
which one soon learns, it is tonic to drink
in with exquisite delight. That does not
mean that an invalid should face an ocean
storm, or that he should ever allow himself
to get chilly; for, though cold is often
healthful, real chilliness never is. To be
borne at all, it must be very temporary. If
YOU 40 NOT KNOW now TO breathe, ana IOfEtt
that the nose is the chimney, and rush to
the sea with mouth wide open and a yell,
you may get rs hoarse As the waves, and he
the shorn lamb to which the wind will not
be tempered. But, if only very briefly, you
will adjust yourself to the changed air,
avoid at first the dampness of morning or
evening, and have changes of clothing ready
to adjust to change of temperature, it is not
difficult TO avoid contingencies, and to get
the full vigor of the ocean life.
There is yet need of much study of all of
our sea watering places. They are not all
alike: but differ much as to exposure, eli
mate, soil, and surroundings. We believe
there are spots on the New Jersey coast as
well suited to lung diseases as some south
ern resorts, while the effect on general
health is highly favorable. There has come
TO he danger in some of our watering places
from the close contact of residences and the
befoulment Of local air, by Imperfect meth
ods of waste removal Even beautiful and
healthy Newport has heen in danger, and
has needed and received the counsel of the
skillful engineer. There is Il law of adapta-
ton: and, although the sea air is so full of
tonic power those who would get the great
est blessing from it, should study it, or con-
suit the few physicians who really know its
virtues, and the conditions under which its
highest value is to be secured.-hdepeHdcm