1880] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



333 



A thort time prior to his death he forsook his 

 calling and took a store in the same city, and 

 almost simultaneously he became a victim to 

 consumption, which caused his death in a short 

 time. 



The father of these two patients, although he 

 was predisposed to phthisis, followed the occu- 

 pation of florist from early life to the age of 

 sixty, and during all those years was in good 

 health. When about sixty years of age, while 

 he was assisting at the erection of a church, he 

 met with an accident which injured his ribs (so 

 the son says) and disabled him for work. But a 

 few months later he went into consumption, 

 which quickly proved fatal. 



Now, may not the fact that he was unable to 

 be among his plants have had something to do 

 with the causation of his last illness? 



From the above cases it will be seen that what 

 we had deduced from experimental results con- 

 cerning the health -giving effects of plants (which 

 is owing to transpiration increasing the humidity 

 of the air, — the plants acting as natural and per- 

 fect " atomizers") is entirely in harmony with 

 what is observed concerning the effect of suffi- 

 ciently moist warm air in many cases of 

 phthisis ; and if it is true, as we have attempted 

 to demonstrate, that house-plant hygiene con- 

 stitutes a valuable preventive measure where 

 there is hereditary tendency to certain diseases, 

 then it ought to be definitely and thoroughly 

 understood, and it is of vital importance that it 

 should be adopted in cases where there is a 

 known predisposition to phthisis, for half of the 

 cases are supposed to be preventable, whereas if 

 the disease be allowed to develop, complete re- 

 covery is not to be expected. Furthermore, 

 though the keeping of plants does not " cure" 

 confirmed cases of phthisis, it is nevertheless 

 very useful to prolong life, and by ameliorating 

 the distressing symptoms renders existence at 

 least endurable, — an office not to be despised in 

 such a wide-spread and lingering disease. 



Observation teaches that advanced cases of 

 phthisis (as, for instance, where cavities exist) 

 are benefited by a more decidedly moist atmos- 

 phere than is required in health, and hence they 

 will require a much greater profusion of plants 

 in the room than those who have the disease 

 in a more incipient stage. 



The plants should be well selected and kept in 

 a thriving condition. The chief points to be 

 borne in mind in the selection of the plants are, 

 first, that they have soft, thin leaves ; secondly, 



foliage-plants or those having extensive leaf- 

 surface are to be preferred ; thirdly, those which 

 are highly scented (as the tuberose, etc.), should 

 be avoided, because they often give rise to head- 

 ache and other unpleasant symptoms. 



In order to facilitate a practical application of 

 the data gained by experiment, the following 

 formula has been carefully prepared : Given a 

 room twenty feet long, twelve feet wide, and 

 ceiling twelve feet high, warmed by dry air, a 

 dozen thriftj' plants with soft, thin leaves and a 

 leaf-surface of six square feet each would, if well 

 watered, and so situated as to receive the direct 

 rays of the sun (preferably the morning sun) for 

 at least several hours, raise the proportion of 

 aqueous vapor to about the health standard. 



This formula may serve as a guide in the use 

 of plants for hygienic purposes ; but under con- 

 ditions of actual disease it will be necessary to 

 increase the proportion of plants according to 

 the degree of humidity sought, or as the indica- 

 tions of individual cases may demand. 



It should be stated that, to obtain the best re- 

 sults, both the rooms occupied during the day 

 and the sleeping appartment should contain 

 plants. It was for a long time the opinion of 

 scientific interpreters generally, that plants in 

 sleeping apartments were unwholesome because 

 of their giving off" carbonic acid gas at night ; 

 but it has been shown by experiment that it 

 would require twenty thrifty plants to produce 

 an amount of the gas equivalent to that exhaled 

 by one baby-sleeper; so this is no valid objection 

 to their admission, and not to be compared with 

 the benefit arising from their presence. 



We have no desire to underrate other means 

 of treatment while upholding the importance of 

 our subject. Exercise in the open air is of im- 

 mense advantage in phthisis, and during the 

 warm season the consumptive should be moving 

 among his garden-plants, and, if he be a lover of 

 flowers, should assume personal charge of them. 

 Again, no one will dispute the value of certain 

 tropical climates for judiciously selected cases of 

 phthisis; but the practice of indiscriminately 

 sending patients to them is certainly to be de- 

 precated. 



New health-resorts (many of them compara- 

 ble only to the patent nostrums) are constantly 

 being pressed upon the public, but too often a 

 trial of them brings only disappointment, and 

 the consumptive is rendered more miserable by 

 the annoyance of travel and the anxiety of being 

 separated from all the endearing relations of 



