Causes of Impure Blood—Bad Cellars
By O. C. Godmark, M.D.
Causes of Impure Blood—Bad Cellars.
ANOTHER of the prominent causes of so much impurity of the blood, at this season of the year, is to be found in the condition of our cellars. In the majority of cases these cellars are located directly beneath the house, with an inside cellar way opening into the kitchen or pantry. Many of these cellars are dark, sometimes even damp,—the very condition best suited to cause rapid decay of the fruits and vegetables that were placed there in the fall for winter’s use. A cellar, by the way, ought to be light, airy, and dry. Could the sun’s rays fall directly within some portion of the cellar, they would be a most powerful agent in removing dampness, mold, and bad odors. True, some vegetables do not shrivel as much in the dark as in the sunlight, but that can be obviated by the use of blankets and covered bins. An open barrel or box of unslaked lime aids materially in keeping a cellar dry. As the warm days approach, the outside doors should be frequently opened so that the pure air and sunshine can find entrance. Be sure that all the empty barrels, boxes, pieces of boards, and temporary bins are removed, and that the remaining apples, potatoes, and other fruits and vegetables are carefully sorted, and every particle of decay removed. This precaution is very necessary to the preservation of health. When the cellar is located beneath the living apartments of the house, there is a continual exchange of air, imperceptible tho it may be, between the two. The cold air from out-of-doors creeps in and settles to the bottom of the cellar, crowding the warmer air, laden with the germs of decaying vegetables, up through the floor or cellar way into the rooms above. When the cellar way opens into the pantry where the milk, flour, and other foods are kept, they become tainted with the air from the cellar, and so the elements of disease are conveyed to the members of the family. How much better to purify the surroundings, and so keep the blood healthy, than to live in a germ-poisoned atmosphere for months and then spend means for patent medicines that in the end may prove only a damage! Another cause of impurities in the system is the usual bill of fare during the cold winter months. With many the old custom of salting down one or more fat hogs for winter use is still followed, tho with the better informed this article of food is fast being discarded. After the fresh fruits, berries, and vegetables of summer and fall have gone, recourse is generally made to meat, buckwheat pancakes, syrup, fried foods, etc., which, in the usual method of preparation, do the system as great damage as the fruits of summer and fall had done good. Pork was never a fit food for man—a scavenger by nature, scrofulous in flesh, and infested by that dread parasite, trichinae, from which those who use pork only escape by the fact of its being destroyed in the process of cooking. The buckwheat of itself would not be so injurious, but the usual accompaniment of butter, syrup, and sugar in large quantities, helps to fill the system with impurities. Fruits, canned or dried, tho so necessary for the maintenance of health, are considered by many as a mere luxury during the winter season, only to be served for company, more as a matter of style than a necessity. The medicinal effects, however, of a liberal use of fruits, grains, and nuts are far superior to any amount of blood purifiers or tonics sold at from seventy-five cents to $1.00 per bottle. With many the frequent bathing kept up during the warmer seasons is also neglected. The unpleasantness of bathing in a cool room, or after the family have retired at night (tho of course only applies where bathing facilities are not the most convenient), causes this part of life’s duties to be less faithfully carried out. The skin being one of the excretory organs, and one whose functions we can the most readily assist, requires constant care. Much of the impurities of the body is constantly being thrown off through the skin. As the blood follows the minute capillaries that permeate every portion of this organ, the myriads of minute sweat glands continually draw off from the blood much of the broken-down tissues and elements of disease therein contained. While we may not appreciate the act of perspiring in the winter as in the summer, yet the process is continually going on, tho in a less degree, and as the skin is continually receiving upon its outer surface renewed supplies of this poisonous matter, it becomes us to attend to the matter of personal cleanliness. The skin is not merely an excretory organ; for, being compound in its function, it is also an absorbent; for while the sweat glands are pouring out upon its surface the excrementitious matter from the blood, another set of vessels are actively engaged in absorbing and returning to the system whatever comes in contact with the skin that is capable of being absorbed. With many this perspiration becomes rancid and is returned into the circulation in a much worse condition than when first expelled. Whenever proper bathing is neglected, we fail in carrying out one of nature’s best prescriptions for keeping our minds clear, blood pure, and enjoying the very best of health.