And What We Gain 237 



ceasing action, paramount and decisive, on the 

 physical frames of young and old town-dwellers, 

 producing deterioration of physique, lowered vi- 

 tality, and constitutional decay. For over thirty 

 years I have been hammering away at this question 

 of " bad air " and " bad sanitation " as the prime 

 causes of impairment of health and race, and the 

 more I consider it the more I am convinced of the 

 soundness of my conclusions. A great deal has 

 been said on this subject, and it is not difficult to 

 adduce conclusive evidence from a large variety of 

 reliable sources in proof of the deleterious effects 

 of impure air on the animal economy. Consump- 

 tion is the best type of degenerative action and loss 

 of vital energy. It stands out in bold relief as the 

 disease most rife wherever foul air exists. The 

 significance and value of fresh air were recognized 

 by the old fathers of medicine. Hippocrates was 

 accustomed to advise a walk in fresh air of ten or 

 fifteen miles daily. Aretaeus, Celsus, and Pliny 

 speak of the good effect of fresh air; and our great 

 English physician, Sydenham, did the same thing. 

 Dr. Guy found that of 104 compositors who worked 

 in rooms of less than 500 cubic feet of air for each 

 person, 12.5 per cent had had spitting of blood; of 

 115 in rooms of from 500 to 600 cubic feet, 4.35 per 



