The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-09-08

the reasons why the air of health re-
 sorts such as these proves so beneficial
 in cases of weakness of the lungs. AS
 We have seen, it is not question of
 temperature, as our ancestors imag-
 med; and, although dryness may have
 something to do with it, we find that
 our parching east winds are peculiarly
 trying to sufferers from chest com
 plaints. There can be no doubt, how
 ever, that the extreme purity of the air
 in these regions is an important factor
 Tn aiding recovery. Consumption, like
 all other diseases in which micro-or-
 ganisms are the chief agents of mis-
 chief, is according to the latest medi-
 cal philosophy, strife between the
 constitutional garrison consisting
 mainly of phagocytes, or white blood
 corpuscles, and the invading hordes of
 the enemy. The various characteristic
 symptoms which arise in the course of
 such malady are so many phases of
 the combat. Many physicians hold the
 view that the rash on the skin in such
 diseases as scarlet fever and measles
 results from the fact that the skin, as
 an excretory organ as well as the chief
 frontier line of the body, is highly im-
 portant strategic point, and therefore
 attracts the combatants of both ar
 mics. In the near neighborhood of
 each tiny coiled sweat-gland deadly
 strife goes on between the phagocytes
 and their microscopic antagonists, and
 the result is a certain amount of red
 ness and irritation of the surrounding
 tissues. As rule, the defence and at
 tack a cn hn+ Io ;e,
 prolonged for days or weeks, during
 which time the forces on each side are
 nicely balanced If the invaders can
 be kept in check in this manner the disease soon wears itself out, for the
 micro organising cannot stand a long siege, owing to the readiness with which they exhaust the provisions around them. There is also good req son for believing that these living poi
 sons provide their own antidotes, for 1t is found that in places where they have lived a new material has been devel- oped (probably a waste product excre- ted by the bacteria themselves) which Is inimical to their continued existence.
 It seldom happens that the human fortress is carried by assault at the first onset; although in some cases of cholera. pneumonia, and in fact nearly all kinds of diseases caused by micro organisms, such a rapid and fatal ter imitation of an attack may take place within a very short time of the first in- | vasion.
 | Now, in the air of this thickly popu- lated countryit has been abundantly | demonstrated that living organisms and disease germs literally swarm. | Not only are they set afioat in count
 less myriads from their breeding places l (generally some living fellow -creature) but the humidity and temperature of our atmosphere serve to maintain them for some time in lively condi- tion and possibly to enable them to i'm crease, It is plain that if we can les- sen or abolish the influx of reinforce ments the loyal phalanx of phagocytes will have a much better chance of con- querng and expelling the foe. One
 way of bringing this about is the re- moval of the patient to a climate where the physical wear and tear are some-
 what lessened, and where the atmos- phere is not only normally free from disease germs, but is inimcal to their
 existence outside the body. All this Is fairly comprehensble; but it is evil dently not the whole story. Thee are
 contiguous regions in South Africa
 where the air is equally pure, accord ing to physical tests, and yet one proves favorable to consumptive pa tients and the other rather the reverse
 A Virtue in Mere Change
 This brings us back to the evident fact that there is a peculiar virtue in mere change. It seems to give a fillip | to the whole system, and especially to | increase the recuperative power. The persistent languor and debility follow | ing an exhausting illness, such as an | attack of influenza or whooping cough, will often disappear like magic under | the influence of a change of abode. I Nor is it essential that the patient | should go to the seaside, or to some | spot of acknowledged salubrity. Often | the mere removal from one part of a |