Pure Air and Sunlight
[
How to Live, Part 4, pp. 55-62. Published in 1865.
]
In no case should sick persons be deprived of a full supply of fresh
air in pleasant weather. Their rooms may not always be so constructed
as to allow the windows or doors to be opened, without the draft
coming directly upon them, thus exposing them to the taking of cold.
In such cases windows and doors should be opened in an adjoining
room, thus letting fresh air enter the room occupied by the sick. Fresh
air will prove far more beneficial to sick persons than medicine, and
is far more essential to them than their food. They will do better, and
will recover sooner, when deprived of food, than when deprived of
fresh air.
Many invalids have been confined for weeks and even for months in
close rooms, with the light and the pure, invigorating air of heaven shut
out, as if air were a deadly enemy, when it was just the medicine they
needed to make them well.... These valuable remedies which Heaven
has provided, without money and without price, were cast aside and
considered not only as worthless, but even as dangerous enemies, while
poisons, prescribed by physicians, were in blind confidence taken.
Thousands have died for want of pure water and pure air who might
have lived. And thousands of invalids, who are a burden to themselves
and others, think that their lives depend upon taking medicines from
the doctors. They are continually guarding themselves against the
air and avoiding the use of water. These blessings they need in order
to become well. If they would become enlightened and let medicine
alone, and accustom themselves to outdoor exercise and to air in
their houses, summer and winter, and use soft water for drinking and
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bathing purposes, they would be comparatively well and happy instead
of dragging out a miserable existence.
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