TEMPERATURE. 125 



power o£ producing heat, and the symptoms evinced very much 

 resemble those of an incipient attack of intermittent fever. 



The influence of a damp, warm atmosphere on the various 

 functions is still more distinctly observable than that of a dry, 

 warm air. The proportion of the colouring matter decreases in 

 the blood, thereby showing that hematosis is modified by 

 humidity. As a result of these modifications of the blood, the 

 different organs are variously affected, and, among others, 

 the stomach : its digestive power is weakened, and, generally, a 

 lesser proportion of food is required to satisfy the appetite — 

 gentle stimulants and tonics then become necessary. 



The hepatic secretion is much diminished, and the quantity 

 of bile secreted may not only become insufficient for the process 

 of healthy digestion, but even its very quality may become 

 so much altered as to constitute a pathological state. As a 

 consequence of the alterations caused in hematosis, and the 

 digestive functions, nutrition becomes impaired. 



The glandular system is, also, particularly modified; its 

 activity is much increased, and individuals, having lived for 

 a certain period in a damp locality, may be said to be placed 

 under the same conditions as those who are of a lymphatic 

 temperament. If, together with these natural coincidents, are 

 combined those of insufficient non-animal diet, bad lodgings, and 

 the appurtenances of filth, the consequences speedily become 

 apparent : inflammation of the lymphatic glands and vessels, 

 ulcers, chronic eczema, and even leprosy, according to individual 

 constitution, must be the deplorable results. 



Light. — It is not very easy to obtain practical information 

 as to the influence on man of this physical agent, when con- 

 sidered separately from air and heat ; but we are warranted in 

 concluding, analogically, from its effects on the healthy growth 

 of plants, and the metamorphoses of batracians, that it must 

 materially influence certain functions. I do not, therefore, 

 hesitate to affirm, that the evil effects of confinement in dark 

 rooms or dwellings must be partly attributed to the absence or 

 want of light ; whilst to the presence of that agent may be 

 partly traced the beneficial results of exercise in the open air, 

 particularly in the case of those who have the misfortune of 

 being born with a lymphatic temperament. 



Besides the general influence exercised on the human frame 



