The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-09-08
CHANGE OF AIR.
Science of the Matter-A Revolution in
 Medical Opinion

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 Medical Opinion.
 Although change of air is one of the most generally recognized means or restoring lost health, very little IS known as to the reasons why tempo rary removal to new district is fre- quently of such great benefit to mVa- lids.
 That progress has been made on the practical--as distinct from the purely scientifc-side of the subject is made plain by the fact that most of the views and customs prevalent among physicians a hundred years ago have now been almost entirely discarded. Better methods of observation and a more exact habit of recording results of treatment--if not more enlightened theories on the physiological effects of change of air-have enabled us to take several considerable steps in the right direction. It seems odd enough to us in the present day that our great great grandfathers and their physi- clans considered sea-air to be peculiar ly unwholsome and spoke Warningiy of it's dampness and chilling effects. The air of mountainous regions was l looked upon as raw and trying for del- icate lungs. In, the olden time dWeli- l ings were scarcely ever built on an en- thence except for purposes of defence, 1 the more favorite sites being those in sheltered valleys. Most of our ancient | mansions and farm houses occupy damp and low-lying positions, such as no sane modern house builder would iS1, tells the same story. From the time of Elizabeth to that of George the Third we find fruitful wales" and shady | hooks" continually spoken Of as the ideal places for human dwellings,. Up to the time of the present generation consumptives were ordered to warm and damp regions such as the West h. dies or Madeira, because it was though that phthisis. "the English dis ease" resulted directly from the harsh ness of our climate. A very favorite last resort of the eighteenth century physician was to send patient to visit the place of his birth, since 1t was thought that natal air would be like ly to prove peculiarly beneficial. This last theory, although somewhat ludi- crous when viewed from our modern standpoint, strikes me as being some thing more than mere piece of plaus- ible empiricsm It shows that in spite of their terrible faith in physic, ! the doctors of those days did not lose sight of the importance of conforming | to natures program
 Clean Sea and Mountain Air | Although the beneficial effect of sea ! voyages was to some extent recognized, l 1t is easy to understand that the ships | of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- | turies, damp and stuffy below, ana | provisioned with salt junk and hard
 biscuits, scarcely gave broken-doWn 1 invalid q fair chance Of deriving any ] great amount of good from change or air taken under such conditions
 | Generally speaking, we now conslder
 that sea and mountain air owes its vir-
 tue to it's freedom from organic lmpur- ities. Probably it is this quality, more than any other. which gives it its reVi-
 wing effect on those who have been liv-
 ing in the clogged and polluted atmos- 1 phere of large towns. Yet purity or | the atmosphere per SC is no preventive
 oS those very ailments which prlng the
 majority of patients to seaside water | ing-places and highland sanatarlullls' | If any invalid who has thus sought re- lief were to take careful note or the na- tiyes of his favorite health resort, ne
 would probably be disquieted to ma | that pale, sicl<ly children and alllnS
 adults were by no means uncommon Patients with weak lungs are otten
 sent to winter in Devon and Cornwall, although the mortality from puimoha- ry diseases among the permanent resi- dents of these favored counties is not a | whit less than among the dWellers m
 the midlands and the north. Yet the | undoubted fact remains to De account
 ed for that such migrants to warmer
 climes almost always derive marked | benefit from the change.
 When the late John Addington Sy- monds first went to live in the search
 ing and rarefied atmosphere of the En-
 gadine. not a few of his friends thought
 that he was making a fatal mistake and that he would certainly increase
 the tendency to phthisis which com
 pelled hiAn to leave England. But
 since then opinion has so veered round
 that this Alpine valley has become onf
 of the most orthodox places of refuge
 for consumptive patients. LatterlN
 certain dry and elevated parts of Soutf
 Africa and Australia have surpassed il
 in public favor. because it has beer
 found in many cases that the safety o
 the patient depends upon his remain
 ing permanently away from the bitter
 winds of Britain; and the colonies offel
 greater advantages in the way of oecu
 patton than do the Alpine regions O
 Europe.
 Not Question of Temperature.
 It is by no means easy to indicate al