[Footnote 58: One may be partially stifled and made wakeful by confined air about the skin, as well as asphyxiated with bad air in the lungs. The eminent Dr. B. W. Richardson, of London, lays great stress upon the necessity, and has himself devised a means, of ventilating the space about the person in bed——a very gradual change of the air being insured. Next to any special mechanical device for the accomplishment of this object, and perhaps all sufficient generally, comes the use of loosely woven sheets and blankets, instead of heavy linen or cotton sheets and “comfortables” which are well-nigh airtight.] Dr. James R. Nichols, of Boston, the well-known scientist, thus emphasizes the importance of this form of bath: “One of the most sagacious, far-seeing men this country has produced was Doctor Franklin. He was in all that he did and said far in advance of his age and of his opportunities, and his wisdom was of that rare kind which does not grow old. His discoveries and devices were not partial and imperfect, but such as have needed little revision or improvement. “The lightning-rod he devised is to-day the best form we have, and his method of applying it to buildings needs no special modification. His open-fireplace stove is still largely in use, no better one having been devised. His philosophical theories and speculations were so rounded out, so clearly and sagaciously developed, that many of them stand to-day as fixed facts in philosophy and science. Among his important discoveries was the ‘air-bath,’ a sanitary or curative agent which is of the highest consequence to the welfare of mankind. It may be said that he did not present the matter in much practical detail, but he suggested it, used it, and gave reasons for believing in its high importance.