SANITARY ESSENTIALS. 321 



of normal nervous energy, and that cheerful, hopeful spirit 

 necessary for efficient activity and the highest possible attain- 

 ment of success and happiness in life. 



Besides these general effects of impure air, its relation to 

 specific diseases is important, considered as a cause which is 

 most fully proved. 



Scrofula, the great enemy of all civilized races, in its many 

 forms, arises from several causes acting upon the individual, 

 such as hereditary predisposition, syphilis, scant clothing, 

 poor food, cold, heat, dampness, uncleanliness, and excesses 

 of every kind ; but over all these, in importance, stands im- 

 pure air, for these other causes may often be controlled or 

 obviated. This cause, aided by one or more of these coinci- 

 dent conditions, is recognized all the world over as potential 

 in the production of consumption, bronchitis, and pneumonia ; 

 and the popular belief that these diseases are caused by ex- 

 posure to the weather, and changes in temperature, is not 

 altogether correct, for there is abundant evidence to show 

 that this cause is subordinate to several others. 



Again : it has long been considered that an atmosphere, 

 vitiated by the organic vapors and particles given off from 

 the person, in addition to these effects that have been men- 

 tioned, favors the more rapid spread, and increases the 

 virulence, of ^cute, infectious diseases, such as scarlet-fever, 

 small-pox, measles, typhus, and the plague. 



The exudations from the sick load the air of the sick-room 

 with a vast amount of organic matter most injurious to 

 breathe, increasing the severity of the disease, and retarding 

 convalescence in all conditions attended with a febrile move- 

 ment. 



In hospitals, w^hen a certain degree of contamination is 

 reached, erysipelas and hospital-gangrene appear to condemn 

 existing sanitary conditions ; for these diseases never occur 

 when men are treated in tents in the open air. 



An abundant supply of reasonably pure water, for drink- 

 ing, cooking, cleanliness of person, clothing, and habitation, 

 is another sanitary essential of the home and farm. 



Good potable water, when examined in a glass, should be 

 limpid, colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Absolutelv pure 

 water is not found in nature : it is obtained only by distilla- 

 tion, is flat and insipid in taste, and not suitable for drink- 

 ing, unless aerated, or made to absorb air. 



