OPEN AIR AND HEALTH. 223 



air is fresh air without daylight; he who fears night-air is like a child 

 who dreads darkness ; the light in the room after the lamp is extin- 

 guished is also night-air. In close, crowded, heated rooms, the patient 

 suffering from lung-complaint respires consumptively. In winter arti- 

 ficial heat may be employed, but the window must be opened above, 

 and thus we have at once both warmth and ventilation. In the city 

 night-air is always wholesomer than day-air, being both purer and 

 stiller. 



If it be objected that " what suits the blacksmith does not suit the 

 tailor," I reply that may be true of a plate of sauerkraut. But here 

 the case is just the reverse. The blacksmith who has no trouble with 

 his lungs can stand vapor-dust, heat, fatigue ; but the one who has pul- 

 monary disease risks his life if he has not always abundance of fresh, 

 pure air. 



So far of the What ? lung ventilation. Next, of the Why ? 



On rising, let the patient drink fresh milk (not coffee), which will 

 be relished all the more if one wakes with an inclination to cough. 

 Then let him approach the open window, brandish the arms over the 

 head which enables the lung apices to inhale air more easily and 

 for a few minutes fetch as deep inspirations of air as possible. He 

 must frequently take such deep inspirations in the open air. 



If the lungs do not become free, let him introduce into them not 

 into the stomach something to act on the dry mucous membrane 

 as the vapor of water or of camomile-tea. 



If the cough is caused rather by a "scratchy" feeling in the 

 throat, if it is spasmodic, let him swallow or gargle some substance 

 that will quiet the nerves. Cold water is best in summer ice-water; 

 in some cases cooled fennel-tea is of service, but not sirup or any hot 

 drink. 



2. Skin- Ventilation. This is of no less importance for warding 

 off simple coughs, as well as for preventing the transition to consump- 

 tion. With its millions of pores, the skin is on the one side the main 

 sewer for carrying away superfluous fluids, and on the other it is the 

 principal factor in cooling the body, in colds, in overheating, and in 

 fevers. We will now consider skin-ventilation from this point of 

 view under the two heads of a. Elimination of fluids ; b. Reduction 

 of temperature : 



a. Elimination of Fluids. Like the external skin, the inner skin, 

 the mucous membrane, exudes moisture, sweats. The mucous mem- 

 branes, having no covering, are always moist. The mucous membrane 

 of the lungs exhales watery vapor. This vapor comes from the serum 

 of the blood, i. e., from that portion of the blood in which the corpus- 

 cles are suspended, and which, after the corpuscles have been filtered 

 out, resembles water. The external skin under ordinary circumstances 

 gives off about twice as much watery vapor. But, in proportion as 

 this elimination is checked by defective skin-ventilation, the water 



