SCIENCE LETTER FROM PARIS. ' 285 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



SCIENCE LETTER FROM PARIS. 



Paris, July 29, 1882. 



Laennec observed, "the curability of consumption is not above nature, but art 

 ^Dossesses no means as yet to arrive at that end." It is to nature that those af- 

 flicted with tubercular consumption, or predisposed to that malady turn for relief 

 by seeking for an air of the greatest purity. Where find that genial atmosphere ? 

 The doctors prescribe several health stations, and though differing in respect to 

 situation, agree that the main conditions are purity and uniformity. Indeed the 

 best means to oppose to the terrible malady, consist in a residence on the borders 

 of the sea, in a mild climate, practicing a generous regimen, and taking every 

 precaution against chills and coughs. 



At present the assistance of nature is demanded under the form of a resi- 

 dence on high mountains ; by this is not necessarily meant excessive altitudes, 

 for immunity against phthisis can be secured at altitudes the most various. Al- 

 titude also varies with latitude; for example: — in the Andes, consumptive pa- 

 tients are ordered to stations 3,500 yards above the level of the sea, while at 

 Mexico, invalids are sent to reside at similar heights. Consumption is extremely 

 rare in the Pyrenees ; in Switzerland it is never met with above an altitude of 

 1,100 yards; in the Hartz and the Black Forest, it is next to unknown at a height 

 of 560 yards. Exemption is here due perhaps more to the kind of life led by 

 the natives than to elevation. Altitude cannot alone be the cause, for phthisis 

 is common at Andermatt and Splugen, in Switzerland, while it is unknown at 

 Klosters, which has about the same height. 



Again, many consumptive patients find relief in sea voyages ; now if the 

 level of the sea and elevated health stations produce the same beneficial effects, it 

 is due to these extremes having a common trait — great purity of the air. There 

 is absent what exists in centres of populations so prejudicial to delicate lungs, for 

 where phthisis is not exempt from bad sanitary influences, there its ravages will 

 be most terrible. A pure atmosphere, dry, and protected as much as possible 

 from winds ; a dry soil and a sparse population, these are the conditions sought 

 by the consumptive, and which exist in the Upper Engadine and in the Davos 

 Valley. The latter is the first favorite and resembles much the health resorts in 

 the Andes. Saint Moritz is less in request. Davos, from being a pretty village 

 has become a leading winter residence, has about the same altitude as the Miirren 

 so well known to Interlaken tourists — about 2,000 yards; it owes its reputation 

 to the remarkable tranquillity of its atmosphere. The climate resembles a good 



