The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-05-15
A SANITARY BUaBEAR.


According 10 tenet established among
nearly all the modern nations Of Chrstendom
low temperature Is n chief cause of disease
IN general, and of pulmonary disorders in par
ticulRr. Cold outdoor air, no matter how pure,
Is supposed TO aifict the human organism with
q large number Of chronic and acute diseases,
all OF which can be cured, or palliated, by warm
indoor air. no matter how impure. That doc
trine, not always perhaps formulated in the
above plain terms, Is nevertheless accepted and
scrupu!onsly acted upon by 3JO,0O0.050 Of our
fellow men, with results experienced in the ap-
palling prevalence of lung disorders. for the
more severe forms OF those disorders-con-
sumption, pneumonia and eroup-cousttute
only small fraction of the kindred affections
bronchitis, chronic cough and catarrh
The current synonym of the latter word
has good deal To do with tho propagation of
the unhappy delusion. The idea of " cold :"
is naturally associated with that OF cold
weather, cold drafts aud cool night winds. and
the first impulse OF n catarrh patient is gener-
ally the hermetical exclusion of the outdoor
air. Another mainstay of the error is the
MEDIEVAL doctrine of antinaturalism, the tenet
that whatever ID natural must be- wrong and
evil, and that salvation can be attained only
by abnormal, artificial and non-natural means.
That doctrine. which in some form or other
nndorlies the entire system of medieval ethics,
finds its physiological expression in the dread
OF lHe natHtbi bicMthts, ana tho trust IN the
efficacy of artificial remedies, indoor coniiuts
ment, repnlsive drugs (the more nauseous the
better and mode OF life as different "a possible
from that of our instinct guided fellow erea-
lures.
The pupils of the monkish fanatics probably
could not help cheTshing "a secret prediction
Tor the pure air of tho woods and hills In prefer
ence to the dungeon fumes of the convent
schools, but the doctrine Of natural depravity
ada tbafu Anuhf tta audience If haf In
stIncts. Mountain air certainly was pleasant to
the senses but that very circumstance might be
IA proof Of its banefulness. Who could tell by
what snares the arch 1end ght be trying to
mislcad the dupes OF sensual alluremeuts?
Whatever is natural is wrong, pleasant things
were mostly sinful, and tho foul dungeon air
might, after all, be moro Salutary, both physic-
ally aud morally, than the lung pleasing at
mosphero Of the unrcgenerate highlands with
their pagan temple relies and witches Sabbaths.
Outdoor air thus became a sanitary bug bear
general scapegOat for the consequences of our
countless sins against the health laws of nature.
Caught cold is the ready excuse of gluttons
and tOpers whose dietetiC excuses have brought
on fit of govt. Caught n cold somewhere
or other" says the young debauchee TO explain
the rheumatic condition of his knee joints. His
friends may have theory of their own, but
nobody doubts that colds in the head. coughs,
Group and consumption are chiefly, if not ex-
clusively. due to tho influence of cold outdoor
air.
Yet year after year the comparative study Of
international statistics makes il more absolutely
certain that consumption is house disease,
more frequent in cities than in country districts,
more frequent in manufacturing towns than
anywhere else, less frequent in tho cold, pastor
al regions of North Britain and Northwestern
North America than in tho mild climate of the
industrial districts farther South less fre-
quent among trappers, hunters and miners than
among spinners and weavers, enormously much
more prevalent in the weatherproof, we'll
warmed tenements of our Eastern coast cities
than In tho blizzard swept camps of the north
ern Rocky Mountains And so often has ex-
perience proved the possibility of curing lung
diseases by adopting an outdoor mode of life in
the bracing atmosphere of n northern highland
region, that far-gone consumptives are now
actually sent from the Southern States of our
Republic to the "tent sanitariums" of the
northern Adirondacks.
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