Huntsville gazette., 1885-11-14
NIGHT AIR.
The Popular Belief That 1t Is Impure an
Absurd SuperstitiOn.

The Popular Belief That It Is Impure an
Absurd Superstition.
An opinion very generally prevails,
particularly among the less intelligent
in such matters, that the night air is
impure, unfit for breathing, while it is
supposed that the early morning air,
just before sunrise, is particularly in
vigorating and salutary in its effects.
am not aware that any reason has
yet been given in proof of the impur-
ity of the night air, or that it contains
any chemical element differing from
the air at midday, yet the idea has
wide prevalence. In accordance with
this absurd notion. not worthy of the
term idea, the doors and windows OF
too many sleeping rooms are carefully
closed, that not a breath OF the sup
posed poisonous night air may enter.
With no special means of escape, the
supply, of course, must be very linn
tied, the air becoming unfit for use in
q very short time, constantly growing
worse and worse till the morning,
when it is decidedly offensive, really
putrid!
Now, when we remember the state
ment that each breath renders three
cubic feet of air impure, really unfit to
be breathed again. till purified, or that
it is thus rendered incapable of purify
ing the blood as the pure does, or, that
each sleeper needs from seven to ten
cubic feet of air each minute, we shall
see that there are not many rooms
large enough to supply sufficient pure
air for one sleeper, while at least two
will be found in most rooms, often
more. Now, 1 have to say that no
night air is necessarily impure simply
because it is night air, and that no un-
confined air can become so, at least to
any considerable extent, while the
natural forces are so ample, ever at
work in this publication. the winds and
waters, scattering and absorbing, while
the vegetable kingdom is ever busy in
this matter. absorbing foul gases,
appropriating the carbon. and restor-
ing the oxygen to the air, that which
has been removed by respiration and
combustion.
Like lump of sugar put in a vessel
solved, attenuated. diffused through
the whole mass, making all equally
sweet, any foulness in the air, gaseous
or solid, is soon so diffused that it is
robbed of its poisonous qualities, as a
merciful arrangement of divine Provi-
dence. Though carbonic acid gas.
the poison constantly thrown off in the
act of breathing, in combustion, etc.,
is heavier than air, falling in conse-
quence of its weight, like the sugar,
heavier than the water, it soon tends
to diffuse itself, filling the mass of air
in its vicinity, thus diminishing its
potency.
Those who foolishly suppose that the
night air is poisonous-we must
breathe night air if we breathe at all at
night-will find it difficult to explain
how soldiers, sailors, lumbermen, ETC.,
with the numberless beasts and birds,
breathing such air, unprotected, are
not promptly poisoned! 1 assert,
therefore, without any fear of contra
diction, from any respectable source.
that it is safe to open the doors and
windows of our sleeping rooms-judic-
iously. of course-so that the sleepers
may be comfortable, and that if the
light has any favorable effect on the
purity of the air, it must have some
the air during the night is purer than
that just before sunrise, when it is sup
posed to be so very pure, by those who
dread the light air. There is an
abundance of ART is now said that il
extends two hundred miles above the
earth, vast ocean encircling the
globe-which, if true, will afford an
ample supply for all creatures on earth.
1t is well to attempt to secure our
part!-Dr. Hanaford, IN Golden Rule.