Health
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Sleeping apartments should be large, and so arranged as to have
a circulation of air through them, day and night. Those who have ex-
cluded the air from their sleeping rooms, should commence to change
their course immediately. They should let in air by degrees, and in-
crease the circulation until they can bear it day and night, winter and
summer, with no danger of taking cold. The lungs, in order to be
healthy, must have pure air.
Those who have not had a free circulation of air in their rooms
through the night, generally awake feeling exhausted, feverish, and
know not the cause. It was air, vital air, that the whole system required,
but which it could not obtain. Upon rising in the morning, most persons
would be benefited by taking a sponge-bath, or, if more agreeable,
a hand-bath, with merely a wash-bowl of water. This will remove
impurities from the skin. Then the clothing should be removed piece
by piece from the bed, and exposed to the air. The windows should
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be opened, and the blinds fastened back, and the air left to circulate
freely for several hours, if not all day, through the sleeping apartments.
In this manner the bed and clothing will become thoroughly aired, and
the impurities will be removed from the room.
Shade trees and shrubbery too close and dense around a house are
unhealthy; for they prevent a free circulation of air, and prevent the rays
of the sun from shining sufficiently through. In consequence of this, a
dampness gathers in the house. Especially in wet seasons the sleeping
rooms become damp, and those who sleep in the beds are troubled
with rheumatism, neuralgia, and lung complaints, which generally end
in consumption. Numerous shade trees cast off many leaves, which, if
not immediately removed, decay, and poison the atmosphere. A yard
beautified with scattering trees, and some shrubbery, at a proper dis-
tance from the house, has a happy, cheerful influence upon the family,
and, if well taken care of, will prove no injury to health. Dwellings, if
possible, should be built upon high and dry ground. If a house be built
where water settles around it, remaining for a time, and then drying
away, a poisonous miasma arises, and fever and ague, sore throat, lung
diseases, and fevers, will be the result.
Many have expected that God would keep them from sickness
merely because they have asked him to do so. But God did not regard
their prayers, because their faith was not made perfect by works. God
will not work a miracle to keep those from sickness who have no care