The Catholic World, Vol. 09, April, 1869-September, 1869Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 09, April, 1869-September, 1869
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
This old malady becomes more rare as we approach the higher
latitudes. It is supposed not to exist at all in Siberia, in
Iceland, and in the Faroe Islands. Thus, diseases of the lungs
seem to be more rare in certain cold countries than in warm
countries. It is also observed that at a certain altitude the
number of cases greatly diminish, and even completely disappear.
Brockman testifies that phthisis is rare on the plateaux of the
Hartz mountains at the height of two thousand feet above the
level of the sea; and C. Fuchs, stating the same fact concerning
certain elevations in Thuringia and the Black Forest, was the
first to advance the theory that phthisis diminishes according to
certain altitudes.
Dr. Brüggens, also, has since testified to the infrequency of
this disease in the Swiss Alps, at the height of 4500 to 6000
feet in the Engaddine; nor is it found among the monks of the
Great Saint Bernard at the altitude of 6825 feet. According to M.
Lombard, it completely disappears among these mountains at the
height of 4500 feet.
The populous cities of the American continent, which are situated
in the tropical zone at an altitude of six thousand feet above
the level of the sea, are exempt from lung diseases; although, in
the same latitude, phthisis is common in lower regions, This
immunity exists on the other hemisphere in the same zone--on the
elevated plateaux of Hindostan and the Himalaya. In examining the
state of the climate on the heights in which phthisis is seldom
or never found, we find there, even on the equator, a medium
temperature sufficiently low throughout the year; between twelve
and fifteen degrees on the heights below 9000 feet; between three
and five degrees on those between 9000 and 12,000 feet.
In the temperate zone it is still lower. But the warmest months
upon tropical heights do not vary more than six or eight degrees
from the medium temperature. It is the same on the plateaux of
the Alps and in Iceland, and is a general and common
characteristic of the regions in which phthisis is not found. The
deviations below the annual medium, appear even to increase this
immunity. If sufficient observations have not been made to decide
upon the degree of comparative humidity on the heights above
12,000 feet, we know that the elevation at which phthisis is
wanting, is in a hygrometrical condition more nearly approaching
saturation than the lower regions, and that the rains are also
more abundant there.
It is desirable that the heights of Cévennes, the Pyrenees, the
Alps, and, above all, the elevated parts of our Algerian
possessions should be carefully studied, with a view to the
treatment of lung diseases, which are the great scourge of the
human race, and which annually cause the death of more than three
millions of its number.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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