Sleeping Out. One of the great factors in the treatment of consumption through. living in the open is "sleeping out." By this is meant the location of the consumptive's bed in the open air, where during every moment of repose, he can inhale deeply of the saving breath of Nature. At every Sanatorium, sleeping out is demanded of every patient; it is as much a part of the routine as is proper diet and rest. So great are the benefits of sleeping in the open air that it can be unequivocally recommended to those suffering in any way from bronchial troubles or weak lungs. It is, in truth, a benefit to anyone and brings in better health a reward out of proportion to the temporary hardship involved. The average person can get all the benefits of sleeping out by using a porch which is so covered as to protect him from the weather. The cot should be placed on the porch, its springs should be covered with a blanket or a thick layer of paper and it should be provided with ample covering. Delicate persons will find it advisable, even in this climate, to sleep in a hood during the winter months; and persons who are restless in their sleep should either use a sleeping bag or should pin the cover down carefully before they retire. A few night's rest on such a bed, with the fresh air about one, will prove a veritable blessing. Few persons who give "sleeping out" a fair test are ever willing to dispense with it. Fresh Air and Pneumonia. Unreasonable exposure and not fresh air, as has been said, adds to the danger of contracting pneumonia. No person working, living or sleeping in the open air is very liable to pneumonia, unless he unduly expose himself. On the contrary, experience has shown that fresh air is a very important factor in the treatment of this disease. Some physicians are accustomed to ordering the windows kept open in the bedroom of a patient suffering from pneumonia, even in the severest weather, and they regard fresh air as more important than any single item in the treatment of the disease. This, of course, is a matter of treatment that should be left to the physician, but it is mentioned. here as another proof of the curative powers of fresh air. Fresh Air and Typhoid Fever. In the same way, many physicians think that an abundance of fresh air is helpful in typhoid fever, and require it in all cases where they treat the disease. They are careful of course to protect their patients from exposure, but they have found that fresh air strengthens the body in his defensive war against the germs of fever. Fresh Air Schools. One of the most recent applications of fresh air treatment in the cure of disease has been the fresh air school. In every large school there are a number of tuberculous children, with the disease either in the lungs or in some other part of the body. There are likewise in every school, a number of children generally described as "delicate,"—pale, weak or under developed. A few years ago some enterprising teacher decided to try the fresh air treatment with these cases and accordingly opened a fresh air school. In cold weather the children were, of course, carefully wrapped at their desks and were protected in every way; in moderate weather, the school room was literally transferred to the open air. The result was little short of miraculous. Tuberculous children, slow-witted and pitiful, began to take on weight and to show new zeal in their studies; delicate children became rosy and alert; within a session the entire group was almost normal both in body and in mental attainments. This movement has spread until the "fresh air" school is one of the most imperative demands of the new educational propaganda. Not only do these schools give a fair chance of life and happiness to those unfortunate little ones who would otherwise go handicapped through life; but they aid greatly in the protection of the well from the sick. With the diseased children removed from the crowded room to the open air, the healthy children are less exposed to the dangers of infection; and, in this way, the spread of disease is checked. The fresh air school is as yet in its infancy; but its success has been so marked and its possibilities are so great that it can be unequivocally recommended. No community should neglect it, if it wishes to produce future citizens strong in body as in mind. Such a school prevents educational waste and conserves the entire energies of the pupils. Conclusion. The crusade for fresh air always meets with opposition. The indolent, the lazy and the unenlighted regard it as useless where it is not positively dangerous. "We have lived all these years," they say," without fresh air; and we reckon we can get on without it during the rest of our lives." Such a demurrer is unworthy. Man has shown a remarkable ability to live even under the conditions that are positively dangerous to his existence; but this should not justify him in tempting nature or, when he is cognisant of its dangers, to continue a method of life. Fresh air is vital to life, to be sure; but it is more vital to better living. In centuries gone by, ere invention had given us the comforts of warm houses and good clothing, men lived much in the open air. Their house were drafty, there garments were thin; by the very force of circumstances they had to breathe pure air. They hardened themselves to exposure. This counted in giving the Northern races of Europe that strength, that sturdiness and that stability which are written large in history. As times have changed, men's environment has changed; their clothing is ample, their lodgings are better. They have gained much in security and in comfort. But they have, in a measure, been weaned from nature and have lost that protection given by life in the open. Yet nature has not changed; its magic elixir is potent still and the benefits it confers through life in the open are not less than in the early life of the race. As man returns to the life of nature, he will receive the blessings of nature. He need sacrifice little to gain much. The War on Disease PAPERS READ BEFORE THE PUBLIC{HEALTH CONTENTS SOME EXPERIENCES IN TREATING HOOKWORM DISEASE. R. L. RAIFORD, M. D. SOME OF THE OBSTACLES IN THE WAY OF W. B. BARHAM, M. D. DIFFICULTIES OF A RURAL HEALTH OFFICER. SOIL POLLUTION. W. A. PLECKER, M. D. HAVE YOUR NAME PUT ON THE MAILING LIST Entered as second-class matter July 28, 1908, at the post-office at Richmond, Virginia, under the Act of July 16, 1894. |