74 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OP 



swer as a depot for the deposit of exotic vegetation, their 

 fragrance and beauty depending more on the absorption of 

 nitrogen and carbonic acid gases ; but it is a great mistake to 

 comoel the precious buds of our race to respire the noxious 

 vapors of an air-tight dwelling, for instead of promoting health, 

 strength, beauty of form, and soundness of intellect, we are 

 adopting the sure means to produce a reverse effect. 



Parents look on, and in agony witness the sufferings of their 

 loved ones just on the verge of an early grave ; they observe 

 the mandate of death written in unmistakable characters on the 

 pale cheek and attenuated form of their " idols,'' and they can 

 also, with what some persons have termed " Christian fortitude," 

 submit to the irreparable losses which are constantly occurring, 

 under a false conviction that it is the " dispensation of a wise 

 Providence ; " but we seriously urge such persons to abandon 

 this injurious doctrine, and inquire of themselves if they have 

 fulfilled the obligations which the laws of physiology impose on 

 all ; and if they have failed to perform their duty in this matter, 

 what hath Providence to do with it ? " God helps those who 

 help themselves ; " hence, if people trifle with vitality, and 

 prove recreant to the laws of their being, they must expect to 

 suffer. The so-called " dispensations of Providence " are 

 nothing more than the results of our own ignorance and failures, 

 to perform necessary duties (see article on breeding). Long 

 life, when not hereditary, is the result of an intelligent use of 

 the various organs and functions of the body, by keeping every 

 one of them in as perfect a state as possible, we promote health, 

 secure length of days, and thus guard against unnecessary 

 diseases, and premature deaths. It is a matter of importance, 

 therefore, that every house and sleeping apartment should be 

 thoroughly ventilated, and parents should see, as a matter of 

 duty incumbent on them, that their tender buds of promise are 

 bountifully supplied with the " breath of life " — a pure atmos- 

 phere. A celebrated physiologist propounded the following 

 grave question : " Can any thing be imagined more at vari- 

 ance with the fundamental laws of life than the repeated 

 respiration of a local atmosphere, where the principles of 



