CHAPTER XIV
CLIMATES FOR HEALTH AND PLEASURE
ONE’S LIFE WOULD BE PROLONGED IF, LIKE THE BIRDS, ONE COULD MIGRATE ANNUALLY WITH THE TEMPERATURE—CHRISTMAS IN MANY CLIMES—THE HOTTEST AND COLDEST PLACES IN THE WORLD
From what has gone before it is apparent that the regions of the earth where man is at his best estate, so far as climate can determine his environment, may be broadly defined in this country as southern New England, southern and central New York, the Middle Atlantic States, the Ohio Valley, the southern Lake Region and westward to the middle of Kansas and Nebraska; in Europe it includes the British Isles, France, Switzerland, extreme northern Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Holland, and the extreme southern parts of Norway and Sweden. But in none of these regions is the climate equally good during all seasons. In fact there are two short seasons in each year when it is debilitating.
The great majority of the people, like galley slaves chained to their oars, must remain in the same place throughout the year, others may have a vacation of several weeks, and still others are free to change their location as often as fancy calls them. The latter might well learn from the birds, and by migrating with the temperature, going far north in summer and far south in winter, maintain themselves throughout the entire year in the most perfect atmospheric conditions for health, happiness, and long life. Many a man of fifty, having accumulated enough to modestly supply his wants, could add ten to thirty years to his life, or might even double the period of his existence, by ceasing to strive after riches, and by giving himself up to a healthful movement about this beautiful world. His principal companions should be good books,—the study of which will enlarge his mental horizon and increase his capacity to see, comprehend, and enjoy, and fit him to speak, act, and think in ways that will inure to the public good. If he has not had the benefits of a college education, now is the golden opportunity to read, and have pleasure in the reading, popular books on Geology, Botany, Biology, Astronomy, and Physics, and to become familiar with the history of his own country and of the world. It need not be a period of idleness but one of beautiful growth and of appreciation of the wonders of creation. And thus will his spirit be lifted up and fitted for a higher realm of existence in the world to come.
To those who must remain at home during heat spells, the advice is given to close not only the shutters but the windows on the east side of the house during the forenoon and do the same on the west side in the afternoon. The best night’s sleep will be gained in a room facing north on any floor that is not next the roof; this room will be cooler if it is protected by another room on its east and one on its west side.
Long Life in the Open Air and the Sunshine. It is difficult to decide which most conduces to health and longevity: cheerfulness of mind and kindness of thought, or life in the open air and in the blessed sunshine. If one can enjoy both of these beneficent conditions they should live as long as they desire to remain on earth. Most people live as long as they deserve to live. It has facetiously been said that old age is a bad habit. The writer is disposed to agree with the humorist. Certain it is that few persons who believe in the limitation of life to three score and ten ever live beyond that period, while one should be possessed of a sound body and a superior mind at that age, with just anticipations of a third of a century of usefulness and happiness yet to come. As a man thinketh, so is he. We are just beginning to comprehend something of the wonderful power with which the Creator has invested us in the development and the care of our bodies. Anger, hatred, malice, jealousy, selfishness, fear, and worry create poisons that may bring on disease and death, but they certainly create a morbidity in the body that shortens life.
Sunshine destroys molds, bacteria, and other enemies of the human race that lurk in the darkness. It strikes dead the tubercle bacillus, which is such a scourge to mankind. Its remedial power comes largely from invisible light—the ultra-violet and the supra-red rays. You are blind to these rays but your skin and blood are not; they need the sunshine to give them vitality—not quack medicines or medical tonics for which, through the venal partnership of the Press, millions of the afflicted are induced not only to part with the money so much needed by their families and themselves, but to aggravate their sufferings. The sunshine of a high region is beneficial to those ill with coughs, colds, bronchitis, tuberculosis, anæmia, or other wasting diseases, because the upper altitudes are rich in many rays that are beneficial, some of which are absorbed by the higher air and do not penetrate to the earth, or only reach the earth in minute quantities. There on the mountain the sun’s rays are unpolluted by the dust and the bacteria of lower levels and the cities. But one does not need extreme altitudes. Two to three thousand feet may be sufficient.
Mountain and Sea Air and the Injury from Over-bathing. The seashore is properly a great national playground during the heat of summer. Evaporated spray leaves a trace of salt in the air which, with the salt of the ocean, seems to be beneficial to many. Likewise there is no condition of life that is not benefited by the pure air of the wooded mountains. Those of moderate vigor may build up and maintain high vitality by continuous bathing in the cool, pure waters of mountain lakes and streams, but to many daily swimming in either fresh or salt water, except that it be for a mere dip and right out again, that is so cold as to be painful to the delicate sensations of the skin, is extremely debilitating to all bodily functions. Be moderate.
How to Find the Climate You Seek. At sea level in the tropics heat and moisture combine to produce great physical discomfort. But even under the equator it is possible to escape the tropical heat of low levels by ascending four to six thousand feet, as can be done in some places in Porto Rico and Cuba. Most of the capitals of South American countries are located at altitudes of five to ten thousand feet; and Brazil is planning to abandon her capital at sea level and move the administrative machinery of government from the splendid city of Rio de Janeiro to a mountain location in the interior.
Any region of the Alleghany system of mountains above a thousand feet elevation possesses climatic conditions of therapeutic value. Illustration of this fact is seen in the success of the noted sanitaria in the Adirondacks, and in the mountain regions of North Carolina and Virginia, and in the northern part of New England. These sections are especially frequented by persons suffering from pulmonary diseases, or from nervous exhaustion, many of whom find not only relief but cure. Cool and healthful conditions of temperature may be found during the summer along the ridges and on the peaks of the entire mountain system that extends from North Carolina northward through Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. The advice of one’s physician should be sought, if one is ailing, before determining between the seashore and the mountains, but in general those suffering from diseases of the respiratory organs are better located in the high levels, remote from the humid air of the ocean.