In curing diseases, and the general management of the sick, light, too, is an important agency.
It is said by Sir A. Wilie, who was long at the head of the medical staff in the Russian army, that the cures of disease on the dark side of an extensive barrack at St. Petersburg, have been uniformly, for many years, in the proportion of three to one, to those on the side exposed to strong light.
In one of the London hospitals, with long range of frontage, looking nearly due north and south, it has been said by observers, that a residence in the south wards is much more conducive to the welfare of the patients, than in those on the north side of the building.
Light is a very important matter as regards the health of the eyes.
We find nowhere so much disease of these important organs, as among the poor people who inhabit the dark, filthy, and illy-ventilated portions of large cities.
This is true of infants, who are, more than others, kept within doors. It is, indeed, said, that in a certain dark alley of the city of Boston, infants are not unfrequently born blind.
Fish that live in the pools of the Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, we are told, have no sight.
Thus, my friends, I have spoken at length on the subject of light; almost more than was necessary, perhaps, you will say. But it is a matter which has not been much spoken of; and this, if there is need, is my excuse.
What practical lessons are we to gather from facts like these?
Shall ladies darken their parlors and sitting-rooms, thus making them more like dungeons than pleasant apartments for use?