IMPORTANCE OF SUNSHINE AND PURE AIR.
By D. H. Kress, M. D.
[D. H. Kress, M. D. in Australasian Good Health.] THERE is probably no disease that at present is causing more alarm than consumption. Everywhere it is becoming recognized as the most terrible of all modern plagues, and the one most to be dreaded. It steals noiselessly into the home, carrying off its members one by one, until often entire families are wiped out. The prevalence of this disease among animals is now so well recognized that it seems almost needless to refer to it. In England, dairy carts go through the streets advertising NON-TUBERCULAR MILK; the medical journals and daily papers can not be read without having the attention constantly called to some new phase of the dangers threatened from the disease, so that even he that runneth is compelled to read. The prevalence of consumption among pigs has recently been commented upon by investigators. They attribute it to the fact that these animals are usually fed on skimmed milk from infected cattle. This has also called attention to previous observations hitherto unexplained,—that intestinal tuberculosis is much more common among the children of the well-to-do than of the poor, which has undoubtedly been due to the fact that the children of the rich are usually artificially reared and fed on cows' milk, while the poor nurse their offspring. It is now universally agreed among medical men that the great mortality among infants in our large cities during the warm season of the year is due to the use of infected milk, the warm weather favoring the growth and multiplication of the germs in the milk. These germs and their poisonous products are to be found in butter and cheese, as well as in milk. In some investigations made by myself several years ago, I was surprised to notice the prevalence of tuberculosis among chickens. On one farm where 1,000 chickens were kept, fully one-third showed evidence of disease, and the dead and dying were seen everywhere. The coops were in a most unhygienic and unsanitary condition. Living in the midst of filth, and fed on fermented and decaying foods, what but disease could be expected? Even the freshly-laid eggs of hens have been found to contain tuberculous germs. To those who observe all the laws of life the assurance is given, "Thou shalt not be afraid . . . for the pestilence that walketh in darkness." The importance of sunlight as a preventive cannot be overestimated. Sunlight is destructive to all disease germs, and is a carrier of life and energy to the human body. Germs thrive only in damp, dark places. It is therefore important to cut down the shrubbery and trees surrounding houses, preventing the sun's rays from reaching them. It is also necessary to draw aside the curtains, keep the blinds well up, and welcome the warm, life-giving rays of the sun. Pure air is another essential. It has recently been discovered that it takes several hours longer to destroy germs exposed to the direct rays of the sun without a circulation of pure air than with it. Professor Axe has recently reported an examination of nine herds of dairy cows. Out of this number, forty-one per cent. of the animals had tuberculosis. Two of the herds were entirely free from the disease, while in another herd ninety per cent. were diseased. Upon inquiry it was found that the herds that were free from the disease were kept constantly in the open air, winter and summer, while the herd showing a disease percentage of ninety was kept constantly confined in a dark, ill-ventilated stable. Open windows mean closed doors to disease and doctors. The air, however, in order to be of value, must be carried freely to the tissues, and this necessitates exercise. There is no doubt that by welcoming the sunlight and plenty of pure air into our homes night and day, and by an intelligently selected dietary of pure foods, composed of cereals, nuts, vegetables, and fruits properly prepared, taking plenty of open-air exercise sufficiently brisk to cause expansion of the lungs, thus increasing their capacity to take in the breath of life, this disease may be avoided.