New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-02-02

oyoue life NAV be well lived to paraphrase Marcus
Aurcus: and the poor towndweler has at least 10"
compensations to cheer his gloomy condition
OF course there are always and everywhere peopio
who defy hygienlc laws But it Is open 10 conoen'
ton that proportionally these are as frequent III
the country as in the city. In the mdst Oh inc
finest air. with plethora OF ozone, with the purese
WATER you shall find Just sallow faces just a' aoh
lustre eyes, Just vid lips, Just as scraWny Irscs'
Just much dyspepsia, Just as nuch hystera' 'u''
much nervous and hepatic and pulmonary uiSeaSe'
as in the close and fetld alleys Of the town. your
rustic who feeds upon salt pork and BEANS anu
potatoes cooked in pork fat and heavy saieratus DIS
cuit and hot bread washed down by green tea or
strong make believe coffee In floods, Is quite as surely
in the broad and straight path that LEADS 10 Py
destruction as Is his brother OF the Town. Nor -
It, we are inclined to think, demonstrate tiaV tne
physical exercise Of farm labor is the ldeai heai'h
giving employment. Certainly 1t bows the legs AND
rounds the hack. and gives awkwardness and lump
ishness 10 the whole figure. The town-dweller, on
the other hand with all his disadvantages, is alert
upright sprlngy in his carriage, and when ne JOINS
the militia mouds quickly into the finest athletic hght
ing material conceivable. How far do the New-fork
regiments for example. bear out the theory that all
town-dwellers necessarily deteriorate1
The truth is that DR.. Fothergill has not properly
measured his words. II will be admitted without
hesitation that town life, where ignorance OF hyglenic
laws prevails, is dangerous to young He Inc
country makes constitutions better than the city, In
such case. But in a great city like New-fork
furnished with abundant open places such as central
Park where the most valuable country conditions are
to be had and with intelligent population OF whom
the majority understand and appreciate the need Oh
fresh air and cleanliness and wholesome 1000, the
dangers so grmly marshaed by DR.. Fothergih exist
in such degree he represents There Is anouier
consideration which he seems to have ovcriookeu'
moreover. The power of nature to adapt everything
to its environment must always be taken into account
In dealing with subject Of this kind. 1t Is not
exactlv scientific truth that disease necessarily
follows exposure to tonic agencies, that the human
organism Yields always to disturbing and deranglng
influences that interference with functional processes
inevitably results in the setting up Of morbid con
dtions in the organs affected II Is nearer the
scientific truth to say that Nature always puts forth
all her skill and force to bring about adaptation, even
to an environment which seems most hopeless, and
so tenacious is she of continuity, so reluctant to
abandon the vital action she has established that
she will frequently make the strangest compromises
en- Ia sneak for the sake Of longer term OF life for
her children.
Take as an Illustration, the Chinese In San Fran
CISCO According TO all hygenc principles those
people ought to be peculiarly scky, they should ex
hibit a very high death-rate aud they should DO
fundamentally feeble and mutablc For they habtually
violate every declared law Of health; crowding their
tencments beyond all other similar experienced evolv
ing and consuming enough carbonc acid gas TO kill
an army corps every night; Ewing In indispensable
filth and sdualor. Yet what the facts' Why, the
facts are that their deathrate is actually lower than
that of the white population in proportion that they
appear rather to be sheltered from than especially ex
posed TO epdemics: that the average Of health and
strength among them Is distinctly high; that In
short they seem to flourish under circumstances
which, according to all hygenc theories, onght to
exterminate them. Nor 1t be said that they
bring with them uncontaminated country-bred. con-
sttutons. Nothing of the kind. In China they live
very much as they do try TO, here that is to
| IN a very piggish way and for many generations
that has been the life of their progcnors. OF course
IL is not intended argue against the general sound
ness Of DIR. Fothergills warnings and suggested
remedies. All that is meant Is TO make the point
that he has overcoored his picture, and in doing so
weakened the effect Of ii. No doubt. II could all
live in the country and breathe quantities OF ozone,
and hunt and fish and ride and drive and work In
the garden, lungs would be in better order and
our blood would be purer and we should perhaps
be able to do more work and Of would possibly
live longer; we say possibly" because experience
indicates a probability that the true American. II he
possessed more vigor and energy, would simply turn
it into business and So quite conceivably kill himself
little quicker. But Dr. FothergiHPs book is sug-
gestive and interesting, and IL cannot go with 1t
wholly. we can cheerfullv admit the desirablty OF
more thought upon the subjects OF which 1t treats