CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 3 2 5 



change is indicated for the case in hand ?" The question, to be 

 properly answered, necessarily includes a knowledge of the region 

 in which the individual has been living. Shall an inhabitant of 

 Virginia go south or north for the winter ? Or, had he better 

 go west, or northwest, or southwest ? Shall a New-Yorker go 

 to Florida, and, if to Florida, shall it be into the tonic Atlantic 

 breezes of the eastern shore, or the milder and softer air of the 

 Gulf coast ? Does this person's condition and meteorological 

 surroundings indicate a change to the rarefied air of Colorado or 

 to the denser atmosphere of Tennessee, Michigan, or Minnesota ? 

 Ought the change to be to the moist breezes and frequent rains of 

 Washington in the northwest or to the constant sunshine and 

 more even temperature of southern California in the semitropical 

 southwest ? If the Pacific slope seems indicated, shall it be in the 

 coast cool winds or the warm and calm interior valley ? Or, had 

 we not better make a new climate of our own ? The bosom of 

 great Ocean furnishes a variety of climates all its own. In former 

 days a sea voyage was much resorted to for chronic invalids, and 

 with decided advantages in many cases. A life at sea, if at all 

 prolonged, has the disadvantage of leaving too many comforts 

 behind to be recommended for any but the young and compara- 

 tively robust. It is said that three hundred miles from land the 

 air is free from living germs. Many persons have returned from 

 long voyages in health entirely restored. 



But we need not go to sea, or go abroad, or even to the south, 

 or to the wide west. We can make a climate of our own if we 

 properly work for that end. It is not even necessary to rattle 

 over ten miles of pavement in order to get a change of air. We 

 have it right there on the veranda ; we can have it fresh from the 

 outside grand air, by opening the windows and opening them 

 wide till all the stale air in the room is blown out and all the 

 room is filled with ozone. We can change our food at home if we 

 like. I know a man who almost rejuvenated himself by living on 

 little else than fish, oysters, and clam juice for three months. We 

 can regulate the temperature and take a sun-bath whenever the 

 sun shines. And we can stop fretting if we are sufficiently 

 determined to do so. Actions are but the evidence of a pre- 

 determination. Why not determine to change our climate, when 

 there is benefit to be derived from such change ? 



It has always been the unsolved puzzle of my professional life 

 that so many people insist on reaching out to a distance for much 

 that can be had better right at hand if they would but open their 

 hand and take it. This is especially so in regard to climate and 

 changes of climate. Notwithstanding positive directions to the 

 contrary, many a child in pain with joint disease has been taken 

 out miles over rough pavements " for the air," while every jolt 



