﻿ATMOSPHERE IN RELATION TO HUMAN LIFE AND HEALTH. 79 



previously died annually ; pneumonia has been greatly reduced in preva- 

 lence and intensity; ophthalmia has nearly disappeared, and the animals 

 are much less susceptible to colds and coughs. " Cattle plague, pleuro- 

 pneumonia, variola, and probably tuberculosis are undoubtedly spread 

 by the medium of the air in infected areas." This class of disease can 

 therefore be absolutely stamped out, and there are other diseases, such 

 as horse influenza and pneumonia, which, with better knowledge of 

 atmospheric influences in connection with the specific cause, may come 

 into the same category. Infected places should be treated as if in a 

 state of siege. 



Port inspection, as regards some of the worst animal diseases, it is 

 impossible to estimate too highly ; for instance, in the years up to 1886 

 the number of cases in Great Britain of foot-and-mouth disease was 

 1,993,149 ; since that year almost the only cases occurring have been 

 those which had escaped detection at ports in a very few instances, and 

 certain other cases which had been in their proximity. All these were 

 traced and most severely isolated, so that the country is saved from 

 great agricultural disasters by the constant vigilance of the central 

 and port authorities. Since many animal diseases, including tubercu- 

 losis, glanders, foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, actinomycosis, scarlet 

 fever (a slight eruption in the cow), and diphtheria, are transmissible 

 to mankind (some of them, but to a very small degree so far as is 

 known, through the air in proximity), the immunity of animals from 

 disease concerns not only the wealth, but the health of the community. 

 Further inquiry is needed as to the transmissibility of horse influenza 

 and pneumonia through the air, and as to the connection, if any, of 

 these with human maladies of a like character. 



THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON MENTAL AND PHYSICAL QUALITIES 

 AND ON NATIONAL HEALTH. 



The influence of atmospheric qualities upon the bodily constitution 

 and health, upon the mind, and upon the enjoyment of life, is eminently 

 worthy of consideration. When we come to examine closely into the 

 manifold causes which contribute toward human happiness, we find 

 that, upon the whole, comparing acclimatized races, the differences in 

 the results in regard to all except extreme varieties depend at least as 

 much on human, artificial, and removable causes as on climate and on 

 atmospheric conditions. The peasant of Norway may be as healthy and 

 as happy as the peasant of Italy, the native craftsman or the ryot of 

 India as contented though not so vigorous as the woodsman or farmer 

 of Canada, the African negro of the equatorial zone and the uncor- 

 rupted Greenlander may physically enjoy life as much as the English 

 or American laborer. The peculiarities and tendencies of race can 

 hardly be separated in the account from the effects of climate. Broadly 

 speaking, however, we may safely aflirm that, apart from the special and 

 preventable evils of a high civilization, the most vigorous, flourishing, 



