Against old age sunlight should be regarded as an excellent protection. It safeguards our kidney functions by promoting skin activity, and it aids the processes of metabolism. It is best used in combination with exercise, like riding or some form of sport, and a daily sun bath. It is our belief that, by such means, both youth and life may be prolonged. The wonderful effects of sunshine are illustrated by an interesting experiment of Benjamin Franklin. According to Hufeland[250] this savant had received wine from Madeira which he was putting into bottles on his Pennsylvania estate. In this wine he found a few flies, which were apparently dead. The sharp-minded savant put these flies in the July sun of the hot Pennsylvania climate, and before long the life that had been so long interrupted appeared again. The flies became lively and soon flew away. They thus showed the same reaction to the beneficent effects of sunshine as the insects in the above-mentioned experiment of Niels Finsen. The fly is a most objectionable animal, but it possesses one good trait that reconciles me to its existence; and that is that it is so fond of the sunlight that it may thereby serve as an example to those foolish people who do their best to avoid it. Footnote 250: Hufeland: “Makrobiotik,” p. 129. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XXXI. ON THE ADVANTAGES OF AN OPEN AIR LIFE AND OF BREATHING EXERCISES. WHEN we note the faces of persons who, by reason of their occupations, pass their lives in the open air, such as peasants, gardeners, etc., we usually find them healthy and fresh-looking, and looking more youthful than their actual age. This is especially so in the case of their wives and daughters, who are more exempt from certain injurious habits, such as smoking, and are less addicted to other harmful agencies, like alcohol. Their fresh rosy faces speak in eloquent terms of the benefits of fresh country air. On the other hand we see that others, whose daily avocations compel them to stay all day in a close atmosphere, very frequently look pale and sickly. Among such persons, as observation shows, infectious diseases are frequent, and especially tuberculosis. This disease most frequently develops in persons who pass all their time in close places, especially when they are poorly fed at the same time. We can trace this plainly in the working classes in certain European countries where, in Vienna, for instance, until the past several years, about 70 per cent. of the total mortality was due to tuberculosis.