AIR, THE LIFE-GIVING PRINCIPLE.
By H. E. Sawyer-Hopkins
H. E. SAWYER-HOPKINS. (Battle Creek, Mich.) Pure, fresh air is a health-giving principle, imparting vitality and strength, invigorating and enlivening the whole human system as nothing else can. It is a free gift, one within the reach of all—the rich and the poor. But do we prize health enough to procure it at any cost? If a carpet, curtains, or furniture are needed to make home pleasant and comfortable, every effort is made to secure them, but frequently the most necessary thing to health seems to be given the least attention. “Many in this enlightened age seem to be content to live in close, ill-ventilated rooms, breathing the same air over and over again, until it becomes impregnated with the poisonous impurities and waste matter thrown off from their bodies through the lungs and the pores of the skin.” How few realize that this carbonic acid gas which they are constantly inhaling is a slow poison, and one cause of pneumonia, diphtheria, and other diseases, which frequently end in death. To maintain health, we must have that which will impart life. If ventilators cannot be had, open the windows, and let in the life-giving element. To open a window on one side and let in the cold air is not sufficient; the pure oxygen mixes with the carbonic acid, and the room still retains the impure air; for this reason there should be an opening on the opposite side, that the impure air may be driven out. It is of the utmost importance to secure an outlet, thus giving the lifeless atmosphere a chance to be cleansed. Gas arising from stoves, lamps, decayed wood, etc., etc., and steam escaping from cooking and washing, help to form carbonic acid. Water for drinking and cooking purposes in an uncovered pitcher or pail, perhaps standing overnight, is unfit for use. Air in a room or house39that has been closed for some time, becomes dead. Heated air is low in vitality, and weakens the lungs. Those who thus abuse the health must suffer with disease. We are told that the surface of the skin has many million little mouths through which it should breathe. But how can it breathe when these mouths are clogged with the impurities of the system? Air must be kept in constant circulation to be kept pure. If we take a daily bath to keep the outside clean, and wash our hands with scrupulous care, why not use as much precaution with the inside structure? Professor Kedzie once said: “If the housewife washes her hands in water, she does not say: ‘The water does not look dirty, and I can use it again.’ No; the water was used to remove dirt, and she throws it away. Shall she wash her hands five or six times a day with clean water, and wash her lungs twenty-eight thousand times a day with dirty air?” From the pen of a well-known writer we quote the following: “The air we breathe is of more importance than the food we eat. To deprive the lungs of air, is like depriving the stomach of food. Air is the food that God has provided for the lungs. Welcome it, cultivate a love for it. Pure air and water, cleanliness and a proper diet, purity of life, and a firm trust in God are remedies for the want of which thousands are dying. Yet these remedies are going out of date, because their skilled use requires work that people do not appreciate. Fresh air, exercise, pure water, and clean, sweet premises are within the reach of all, with but little expense.” An able physician said, “It is a sin to be sick.” In the words of the apostle, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. . . . For the wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:12, 23. Paul adds, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh.” And John says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 2. Sin is the transgression of the law; and “it is just as much a sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the Ten Commandments; for we cannot do either without breaking God’s law.” “The transgression of physical law is transgression of God’s law.” “God’s law is written by His own finger upon every nerve, every muscle, every faculty, which has been intrusted to man.” “Disease of almost every description will be caused by inhaling the atmosphere affected by decaying substances lying about the premises.” If we cut off our life forces, or disable the wonderful structure of our bodies in any way, we deprive God of our service. He says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6. Said a voice to ancient Israel, “Be ye clean.” Does not that voice speak the same to Israel to-day?