Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-06

y
and mixing with the pure air from the
window, so that inmates are breathing
a contaminated atmosphere while un-
der the impression that they are living
in the purest Of air.
Goodness and ventilation are not the
same thing, although the air brought
into our houses to ventilate them is
generally cooler than the impure air In
the room. The air of the church or. q
vault Is generally, though cool, exceed
ingly impure, while the hot air Of the
| desert Is Of highest purity.
In the majority of families, nightfall
i is a signal for closing all windows, how
ever few, which have been open. A va
que fear of night air, relic Of the days
Of savagedom Of our ancestors, when
security in the cave or rude hut could
only be gained by barring every open
ing, is the cause Of this. AS a matter
of fact, the air of cities is at its purest
in the night; there is less traffic, which
means less dust; factory furnaces are
less active; gaslights less numerous as
the night progresses; the suns mois-
ture drawing power is no longer ex-
erted, so that the blanket Of moisture
which pevents the diffusion Of sulphur
fumes, SCOT and dust, is absent.
But most important of all, each gas
jet in an apartment consumes five
times as much oxygen as one individ-
ual in the same time; so that instead
of the windows being closed, at night,
they should be opened more widely to
let out the gas fumes and to admit the
increased supply Of air necessary for
healthy breathing.
A draught is not in itself hurtful Con-
sumptives in sanitoriums. so far from
being guarded from draughts, are from
the mode of life there, constantly ex-
posed thereto; and in popular parlance,
consumption is a form Of cold and may
be caused by a draught. That this idea
is erroneous is shown by the above
mentioned treatment, which is the most
successful known for this disease. 1t
cases are cured by 1t, while by the old
method Of protecting from draughts,
which cannot be done without robbing
of pure air, out Of 5000 consumptive
persons in Michigan, between 1894 and
1899, only forty-five recovered.
Consumption is caused by a microbe
(germ). Cold (catarrh) does not occur
when germs are absent. These cannot
grow in extreme cold; hence Nansen
relates that during the whole three
years his thirteen were In the Arctic
regions, not a single case Of catarrh
occurred, though they were constant
ly exposed to draughts and chills,
to wettings inability to dry their cloth
ing, and deprivation Of food. which
must have rendered them very suscep-
tible to cold. AS soon, however, as they
suffered from violent cold in the head.
No unprejudiced mind can fail to con-
clude from this that even a cold cannot
occur in the absence of microbes.
A cold, then, is really a contagious
fever; and its treatment should be the
same. 1t Is contracted because constant
bathing of the mucous membrane OF
the noses and throat in impure air,
weakens its power Of resistance to mi
crobe infection. Cab drivers rarely con-
tract influenza, another microbic dis
ease. This is because they live on pure
air all day long. Besides, some mi
crobes flourish in dirty air just as they
do in dirty water or filth Of any de-
scription. Filth has been defined as
matter in the wrong place." and the
walls of our rooms. the furniture, the
hangings and the air are certainly the
wrong place for the impure matter
arising from our lungs and bodies. We
are truly unclean unless our homes are
properly ventilated, and unclean air Is
a more fragrant negation Of the virtue
nearest godliness than any other vari-
ETY. Of uncleanliness. For sixteen times
in every minute we must breathe air
which nature has given US pure and
plentiful; while no one need touch,
drink or eat what is unclean. Abstin-
ence here can be measured by hours or
even days, but mortal mans power Of
holding the breath is limited by Sec
onds.
When q disease has been contracted,
the need Of pure air is even more ur-
gent; because when in fever, breath
ing is more rapid, owing to the increas-
ed waste Of the body which accompa-
nies fever. Accordingly, instead Of shut
ting up patients in tightly sealed houses
they are placed in large, lofty and
freely ventilated dwellings. The win
dows are freely opened at night as we'll
as day, and all draught-preventing
hangings are removed from the cham
ber. The success of this method of
treatment is shown by the reduced NOR
tality in zymotic diseases. For exam
pie, the great plague" which killed
half Of the people in the 18th century
and was the terror Of mankind after 1t
first appeared in Europe, is now re-
garded as a controllable disease and
possesses no terrors even for those who
attend the sick. Forty years ago, fifty
per cent of the Sisters who nursed con-
sumption in the Charity hospital, In
Berlin, died Of that disease; now 1t is
the rarest possible event for an atten-
dant in a properly managed consump-
tive sanitorium to become phthisical.
The number Of cases of consumption
in a town varies in proportion to the
filthiness and overcrowding Of the
dwellings in the different portions of
the city. This simply means in proper
tion to the impurity Of the air the dwell
lers in those houses breathe.
TO STEADY AERoPLANES
h.Lae PaaArt