The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1892-07-16
CLIMATIC INFLUENCES.

~ NE Of our city physicians will
soon publish the first volume of
an illustrated work entitled 1.-The
Influence of Climate in Engender-
ing and Curing Diseases" An out
growth of large amount of material
collected during many years passed in
foreign climes. The book will be in
terwoven with scenes in distant coun-
tries, incidents of travel, stories, tales
and legends of foreign lands etc. We
print below section of chapter
taken at random.
In riding on horseback from Inter
lachen to LuZerne in the company of
Doctor Frank Workman, of McMinn-
vile, Oregon, we met so many goitrous
ton appeared uncommon, SO noted is
this region for such cases that picture
exists in a museum of more northern
city entitled 1.-The arrival of an En-
glIshman in Switzerland. America
typIiies an Englishman as John Bull
short stout gentleman with fat
smoothly shaven face, knee boots, low
silk hat, etc. - Europe pictures him as
a tall thin middle aged man with yard
long side whiskers standing stiffly out
on each side of his shoulders, brim-
less flat-topped cap with two hanging
ribbons at the back, checked suit and
carrying checked shawl hanging from
his arm. In the picture such tall
thin necked Englishman is standing in
quiet dignity on the platform of rail-
way station in a small village in Switz-
erland, calmly viewing surrounding
assembly of dozen goitrous men and
women who are cycling him IN great
surprise and one of the men with clasp
ed hands is exclaiming, ''just look!
here is fellow who hasn't any throat" >"
The waters of these portions OF Switz-
erland and the Tyrol are not more re-
dundant in calcareous and metallferous
material than those many of other
mountainous countries where goitre Is
almost unknown, therefore 1t seems
Just as reasonable to infer that the
affection is an outgrowth of climatic
condition, just as stories, tales and leg
ends are outgrowths of countries and
pa1take of the diversified characters
ties peculiar to and in harmony with
the land of their origin. Take Ger
many for instance: what country is
richer in folk lore and whyP A trav-
eller on his arrival in Germany at once
feels that he has entered an ancient
and hallowed region. The lay of the
land, the position of the mountains, the
situation of the lakes, the natural ar
rangement of the green trees and deep
forests, the ruined castles, the disman-
tied towers, the beautiful clear river
Rhine winding like n silver band be-
meath the grape covered slopes past
the crumbling turreted strongholds OF
the dark ages all suggest folk lore.
The famed Schwartzwalder (black-
woodsl of southern Germany-with its
high mountain tops covered up to its
| lofty peaks with dense forests of tower
ing pine trees, the dark and gloomy
recesses of which seem impenetrable-
suggest at once to the imaginative mind
as being the dismal abode of dwarfs,
fairies and huuchbacked wonder-work-
ers, and should knight clad in glitter
ing armor from head TO foot, his he'll
met crowned with nodding plume, with
errct lance and bearing his emblazoued
shield, mounted on his armored and
prancing gallant war steed, come rid
ing down from out the green woodland
and tell you he was on his way to a
tournament at which the lady of his
affection was to preside by right of her
being the queen of beauty and of love,
it would seem perfectly appropriate to
the natural surroundings. The follow
ing legend is one of the outgrowth OF
the country's appearances: Many long
years ago-in the early part of this
century, young and handsome prince
fleeing from the enemy became lost in
the black-forest. The enemy had in
vaded his country, fair and historic
Germany's white winged angel of peace
had buried her head beneath her snowy
pinion. The King had been driven
from his home and exiled, the royal
family had been scattered to the four
winds. The prince wandering in the
backwoods still fugitive from persu-
ers, his flight for some days through
the luxuriant and dense forest had been
one of singular vicissitude and roman
tic incident, in the day time gliding
along on the elastic carpet of fallen
leaves he passed through groves fra
grant with the jessamine and maurla
and vocal with the song OF beautiful
plumaged birds. On either side of his
path the feathery blossoms of the white
flora plant grew IN wild profusion,
while suspended overhead from the
gothic arches of the centrifolious tree
were the nests of the red bird interwo
ven with the starlet linonia and the
slender stems of the clinging ivy, alof
the towering oak trees branched into
round tables spread for banquet in
the clouds, and below the snowy mag
nolia whose cheeks are seldom brazen
with the paint of early frosts in thu
historic and romantic land modestly
shrank from his passing gaze; at nigh
by the mellow light Of the silver.
moon he waded through swamp
where aged linden trees rose like th'
columns of some vast sepulchre
again his way led him over mattet
views and tangled morasses or alon!
the margin of deep pools frlnged witt
the vegetation of the dark forest. DC
casionally a cloud of bats tapped thei
clammy wings in the face of the intru
; ; der or a dull splash announced tn
presence of the bull frog and the turtle
Often IN the calm Silly night Will
speeding along he would listen to tn
sweet song of the nightingale until tn
beautiful notes died away over tn
great masses of green foliage an
nothing broke the silence save the rip
pling of far distant river, looking i
the soft purple moonlighG like glis
tening line winding its way along tn
valleys where the winter ever sleeps
amid the fragrance of the myrtles an
perfume of the vine, along the gree
hills aud glossy glades, through tn
untracked and impenetrable forest pas
the cypress shaded shores to the me
anchoiy deep. Weary and foot sol
he came at length to wide yawnin
chasm reaching down to seemingly enc
less depths below. Overhead the win
whistled through old oaken monarch:
hoary and grim, that had silenti
watched the suns of centuries rise an
fall over their majestic grandeur, the
outstretched arms thickly clothed wit
the gloomy old grey hanging vines c
the black forest. The bank OF th
chasm was covered with verdure an
he threw himself down on the gree
CARPET behind a large solitary rock an