The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1882-01-26
Pure Air and Health.

1t is hard for one to keep up his
spirits in certain states of the weather,
and some poor wretche5 attempt to
remedy tnis by pouring spirits down.
1t i not the degree OF heat or cold, of
dry ness or moisture. which gives to the
air depressing or bracing influence;
neither can il be anv chauge in the
proportion of nitrogen or oxygen,
for this is invariabe. Some have at
tributed it to the amount of ozone that
happens to be present. a word that is
used to Indicate a notification of oxy-
gen, developed BY electrical action in
thunder storms, and the existence OF
which is detected bv q peculiar smell in
the atmosphere. There are persons
who are kind of liv lg barometer. and
they tell you they can s'feel it IN their
bones when the WIND is about to
change or q. thunder storm is impend
ing Rheumatic people are particular
IL gifted in this respect.
The ind spenSableuess of pure air in
order to the enjoyment of high health
was not much appreciated in dass gone
b.. and this branch of knowledge has
become much more important in its sci
entinc aspect Since the Introduction OF
cellar furnaces and double windows and
anthracite coal burning and gaslrghting
and numberleSs other improvements
which have come in with the advance of
civilization. But vet. just for the want
| OF that knowledge, we read OF 'great
plaques that depopulated whole dis
| tricts almost in day, and the system
| attic exclusion of fresh air from the sick
chamber sent myriads OF people to their
graves who would have escaped if they
had only been left to the curative re-
| sources of nature. 1t is noticeable
fact that the most efficient remedies
| adopted in our day for the cure of fevers,
such as fresh air and sunlight. ice and
! cold water. stimulants and nourishing
food. were not very long ago resoiutely
denied the suffering patient. no matter
how strongly his instincts might crave
them. | well remember how, in former
days. the professional 6ieeder in Phila
delphia was habitualiy called in to sap
the fountain of life whenever the stream
began to move slowly.
There are certain classes of persons
who are peculiarly exposed to deleterious
atmospheric influences, and it is not
easy to see how this evil can be avoided.
v
nature as to require that the room
should always be kept closed and the
a mosphere is likely to become charged
with noxious gases and poisonous dust
and irritating rlaments. the workman
can hardly expect to fill ont the full
measure of his days. The atmosphere
of an ordinary factory is bad enough,
and do not wonder that a prominent
Il IL he
could not bear to punish or even awak
en- the little children in his employ
when they fell asleep in the mill How
they manage to keep awake at all in
such mephitic atmosphere is a mystery,
for the incessant clatter OF the machin-
ery. when one is used to it, operates as
a soporiic. 1t is true that the human
ss stem has strange facility in adapt
ing itself to untoward surroundings. and
the heart will keep on beating when one
might suppose that it must soon col
lapse and stop forever.
Those who labor habitually in tn:
open air have much stronger assur
ance of health and longevity, although
they NAV be exposed to great mutations
of heat and cod, and the body will &C
custom itself to these changes more
readily than it can to any unwholesom'
elements in the air. Even an extreme
artificial heat is not always prejudicia
, to the health, as may be seen in tn,
brawny frames of the men who toll aut
sweat over the pudding furnaces of {
foundry. The heat seems to pas
/ through them and ooze out at thei
, faces, without dong any special harm
and they are quite sure to be in no dan
ger from the presence of any malariou
| germs in the atmosphere.
J Students and writers, who pass thei
: days in close and confined apartments
< bending all the while over their desks
. neglectiul of outdoor exercise. mus
r expect, sooner or later, to pay the bite
l pei atty. In order to do healthy intel
r Iectual work one must keep himself il
: healthy condition. Ii this Jaw wer
v mere generally regarded the worl'
1 would be spared many a lugubriou
D poem, and uwholesome tale. and weari
some treatise and stupid sermon.
l The depressing and baleful effects c
D unventilated halls and churches an
4 school rooms are better understoo
Y than they were in days past. There
D still great room for improvement, a
o may be seen in the soporific attitude c
n many of our crowded congregation:
:, and the heavy talk that falls from th
J. lips of many public speaker, and tn
IL wandering eye of many poor chile
y who strives in vain TO fix his thought
s upon the swimming page. How often
g in the midst of sermon. have longe
v to stop and cry ont, ''Open the win
4 dows! let in q little fresh air!' N
5 preacher can reach the hearts or th
it heads of his congregation when he
y obliged to address them through
d medium of carbonic acid gas. Let til
J. army of sections throughout the Ian
l. take pote of this.
Il We all know what mischief the q
p can do when it goes off on one of il
d swift and awful journeys and rides G
3 the wings of the tornado and the hurr
y cane; but this is work of destructiO
n over which man has no control, and fl
s. which of course he is not responsible
;, 1t is, however, when the atmosphere
y most peaceful and quiet that it does i
y deadliest work. 1t takes up out of tt
Y damp earth, and the soggv pool, al
It the decaying pile OF vegetable and an
d NAL life, and from all forms of filth an
d rottenness, seeds of death, which +
|, eye can discern or art of analysis d
n tect, and they are waited in throug
y the doors and the windows of tt
h abodes where men are waking ar
l. where they are sleeping, and soon the
le are called to sleep the sleep whit
l. knows no waking. For this evil v
10 are. however, in degree responsible
and if. by our neglect, we allow the a
mosphere to become charged wi
these seeds of death, we must be CO
tent to abide the consequence.
ie we will not clean the streets, and dra