The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-07-09
ESpecial Correspondence

with our departure from the myth of the
ancients who represented hades az an
abode OF darkness and frost. Our ideas OF
extreme physical misery date no longer
from shivering December, but from swell
tering July.
Philosophers have indeed predicted the
advent OF time when our houses will be
cooled in summer by artificial contriyances
as we now warm them in winter. We shall
have ice air registers and municipal re
frigeration companies, with pneumatic
forcepumps and network Of underground
pipes; but there is no doubt that the value
of such inventions will be modified by in
dividual prejudice, and it is equally GER
tain that the discomfort OF present ar
rangements can be greatly mitigated by
private common sense.
Every family enjoying the blessing OF
exemption from the tyranny of fashion
should give themselves the benefit of that
advantage By reducing their summer dress
10 the minimum compatible with decency
and the protection from troublesome in
sects. The long lived races Of eastern Eu
rope would laugh at the idea of flannel
underwear at a time of the year when
every superfluous garment becomes an
equivalent Of the hair shirts by which the
self torturing monks of the Middle Ages
tried 10 expiate their sins on this side Of
the grave.
Shade trees in front Of a house are
blessing that can hardly be balanced by
such objections as their tendency to az
glavate dampness and exclude sunshine,
since their leafy screen opens just at the
time when sunlight becomes pleasant;
and statistics prove that in the scale Of
longevity even country parsons are out
ranked by the north European forest
keepers, who generally transmit their
trust from father to son, and whose dweH-
ings are often completely hidden in the
depths of the greenwood shade.
Savannah, Ga, with its fourfold rows Of
magnificent shade trees, enjoys a remark
able immunity from climatic diseases, In
spite of It's proximity to the rank swamps
Of a river delta, and the real motive of the
the protest against tree shade has probably
less TO do with our love Of sunshine than
with the dread Of dew drenched foliage
and the popular fallacies concerning the
origin of colds" II shall not try to ex
plain" says Benjamin Franklin, "why
damp clothes produce colds rather than
wet ones. because | doubt the fact. / sua-
pect that the causes of catarrhs are totally
independent of wet and even Of cold"
But at all events let us rid ourselves and
all our reason blest friends of that ne plus
ultra Of sanitary delusions the night air
superstition. Like the dread of cold water
and raw fruit, etc, that prep0sterOus fal-
lacy is founded Oh our traditional mistrust
of our natural instincts, and, next TO the
stimulant habit, is perhaps the most pro
life single cause Of impaired health,
though the subsection Of common sense TO
hearsay could hardly go further. "Be
ware Of the night air, close all your doors
and bedroom windows after dark"-in
other words, sicken your organism with
the gaseous excrements Of your own lungs,
breathe the same yitiated air 5000 times
over again, and bar out the cool, pure
breezes which since the day OF creation
have been inhaled with impunity by count.
less millions OK different creatures.
But could we hope TO get fresh air by
opening the windows Of a city dwelliDgW
Professor Pettenkofer, Of Munich, tried 10
answer that question by a chemical test,
and demonstrated by actual experiments
that the atmosphere OF an Ill ventilated
bedroom contains more noxious gases than
the air of an ordinary sewer. The outdoor
air Of large city, l. G., the diluted
effluvium Of factories and slum alleys, in
cessantly modified by the influx OF sea air
or mountain breezes, is between fifty and
than fha indoor a p
mosphere OF a stutfy tenement. The only
objection TO draughts in such cases" bio
Lewis used to say, lis the circumstance
that the draught is generally not half
strong enough IL certainly can not be
the inclemency of the night air we dread,
for even In sweltering midsummer nights
the sweet south wind. welcomed by all
creatures that draw the breath OF life,
brings no relief 70 the victims OF the
draught superstition.
Dante describes miser who has starved
his family wandering famished IN the
deserts of Gehenna and with the same
fitness Of retributive justice persons who
have deprived their children Of fresh air
ought TO do penance in black hole OF
Calcutta. | have often wondered If ever
in that den of horrors some Of our confirm
ed draught monomaniacs would have ven
tured to approach the open bars after
dark, and there is nodoubt that individuals
who have freed themselves from the curse
of the night superstition can live out and
out healthier in the centre OF large city
than the dupes Of the deplorable delusion
on the ARREST highlands Of the southern
Alleghanies.
Among the secondary causes Of our mid
summer martyrdom we must include the
belief in the necessity Of three daily warm
meals. II see you have followed my ad-
vice and substituted milk for coffee" said
lady physician OF my acquaintance, as
she entered an arbor where number Of
children were taking a breakfast Of bread
and hot milk. ''only there would have
been no need OF serving the milk steaming
hot"
Why what else could we do'" asked
the materfamilias in evident surprise. 1T
stands To reason that child ought TO have
something warm for breakfast" Gould
you oblige me to specify that reason" in
quired the sanitary reformer.
That question would, indeed, he hard TO
answer In the polar regions, where
rousing stove fire often fails 10 thaw the
rime frost on the chimney fue, the organ
ism OF the human body contrives to main
tain It's blood heat within half degrce OF