The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-01-15

in the bad air. In the present state IF
knowledge. it goes without saying. that
he is a promising candidate for series
of most unpleasant whether
they take the form of fever and ague.
dumb ague, typhoid fever, dysentery,
diphtheria. cerebro-Spina or
some other of the recognized malarial
diseases. In just what way the democrat
body has not been demonstrated. but
that out of hundred persons exposed to
their influence. Il large number will be
attacked by some one of the ailments
above named, is as certain as that 4 num-
Der of persons will have SMALLPOX if you
shut up hundred unv%ccinat ID individ-
hours. in company with person suffer
ing from that disease. of the hundred.
some would probably escape, for III order
to fulfill their hideouS mission the small
pox germs must find the system of their
victim in just the right condition pre-
cedent.' The grain of corn takes no
root on stony ground. Exactly what it
is that constitutes defence against the
onset of malarial spores we do not know.
but facts are not wanting for the belief,
that persons who arc overworked persons
who are underfed. those who live in poor
ly warmed and poorly ventilated rooms,
shut out from that mo,licum of light and
air which should be the rightful portion
of every human creature, and those whose
vital powers are depressed by anxiety OF
grief. or the ever-eating worry of fight
ing off want-all these and many more
whose condition would rate uader par.
afford the prepared soil, while blood
poison often swiftly Stays in Il brief
typhoid attack the most tlorid and robust
Of men. so that high health even is 10
security.
Enough has been said to furnish
priori ground for saying that these fer
ments enter the body and there set up
their transforming action; and no doubt
the age whose vital microscopy is led by
sucll investigators as Pasteur, will yet
wiring forth the secret of How they do
it, Meantime there are circumstances
surrounding the action of these germs
that are perfectly patent to the least
trained of observers. Those who dwell
in malarial regions know that the danger
of inhaling enough b"d air to ensure an
aStack OF sickness is greatly enhanced
by ni5A1sa&ll. Why is this: Let us sup
pose th;st we have 4 tumbler OF muddy
water-the water representing the at
mosphere and the particles Of earthly
matter the bacteria of blood-poison. Ii
the water remains at rest, presently the
particles subside and form i layer of mud
at the bottom of the glass. An aualo-
gous change takes place when. by the
withdrawal of the suns rays. the air is
suddenly cooled and its diilused moisture
condensed and carried downwards in the
form of dew, bearing with it myriads of
latelui germs, So InaI the person VINO Is
compelled to pass through the lowest
stratum of the air after dark has his
chances of being made sick greatly null
tiplicd, and the superior healthfulnesS of
sleeping above the ground floor has been
50 long demonstrated that to mention it
is repeating stale truism. \ pin lying
i'll the mud deposit at the bottom of the
glass, and pin horizontally suspended
an inch above and parallel to it, will
APPLY represent the relative advantages of
the two situations Is it any wonder
that the cellar population of cities are
swept off by the thousands when the
right conditions exist to quicken into
life the enemy: and is it any wonder that
the fatal germs bred. it may be. in a
= Stun, should find their way into the
palatial mansion. which, though on Il
wide and sunny street. is not so far away
that the winds of heaven cannot bring
the scourge which visits alike the lofty
and the lowly: For, depend upon it,
there is nothing in the wide universe
more radically democratic and levelling
than malorio. Verify bad air is no re-
spector of persons.