The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-03-13
A BLACK FOREST sANITAR1uM
Curing Consumption by Fresh Air
and Plenty of It.

From the moment of arrival until
leaving NOrdrach the patient never
breathes one breath of any but the pur-
est air, as Nordrach is in the Black
Forest, at an elevation of 1900 feet,
surrounded by trees, and a long way
from town or even a. village. The
easements windows of the sanitOria
are kept wide open and night, summer
and winter, and in some instances the
windows are taken completely out Of
the frames. Thus it is practically an
outdoor life the patient lives continu-
ously. There is, therefore, no danger
of chills on going out in any kind Of
weather or at any hour, as the tenn
perature within and without is equal.
So pleasant does this living in the open
become, and so hardy is the patient
made. and so invigorated, that on his
return to this country it is the great
est misery for him to have to remain in
a room with closed windows.
Being at such a considerable hight
LOO feet. with a rise in the longer
walks of another 1,500 feet-the patient,
to get the same amount of oxygen into
the system, must breathe relatively
more of the rarefied air, and thus ex-
pdllO Tie LII Ills way LIE lungs
are completely flooded with pure air;
all the odd corners and crannies, which
he has hardly used for years, are venti-
lated, which the easy walking up hill
is eminently calculated to effect, while
at the same time the almost absolute
rest the patient enjoys allows the lungs
to be practically undisturbed, and so
permits the healing process to proceed.
The climate is much the same as at
home. There is quite as high rain
fall, and in winter it is much colder.
But it has been demonstrated beyond
a doubt that climate has absolutely
nothing to do with the case.
There the patients, who go out regu-
larly. day after day, in all kinds of
weather, sometimes walk for hours at
a time in the rain, without ever think
ing of changing their wet clothes after
ward This course I still adopt, and
find that such a wetting-sometime
twice in one day-never does me any
harm whatever. I asked DR.. Walther
if he thought his system could be car
ried on with hope of success in this
country He said that it could be
worked here quite as we'll as at Nord-
rach, or as in the balmiest cline; that
all that was required was a place where
pure air was to be had, situated we'll
away from a town, at fair elevation,
and the man to see that the system
was properly carried out. l am now
convinced that this is perfectly true
Absolutely nothing else is needed
Freedom from wind, a high average of
sunshine, dry climate, and all such
other things as are generally supposed
to be so necessary, go for nothing And
this is the crux of the whole matter 1t
is possible to cure here, on the spot,
almost all the people of this country
who are i'll of phthisis! Why, then, are
sanftoria not erected at once to cure
the hundreds of thousands of those
who are i'll, and who have not the
means to go abroad-hundreds of
thousands who are as certainly DOOM
ed to death as if they were already
under the sod. if some such steps be
not at once taken? 1t is sad to think
that All these people must die, when
they might easily be saved.-Nineteenth
Century.