But the best of food can not be changed into
nutritive blood till it is vitalized by pure air in the lungs."
And again:
"To those who have the care and instruction of the rising
generation--the future fathers and mothers of men--this subject of
ventilation commends itself with an interest surpassing every other.
Nothing can more convincingly establish the belief in the existence
of something vitally wrong in the habits and circumstances of civilized
life than the appalling fact that _one fourth_ of all who are born die
before reaching the fifth year, and _one half_ the deaths of mankind
occur under the twentieth year. Let those who have these things in
charge answer to their own consciences how they discharge their duty in
supplying to the young a _pure atmosphere_, which is the _first_
requisite for _healthy bodies_ and _sound minds_."
On the subject of infant mortality the experience of savages should
teach the more civilized. Professor Brewer, who traveled extensively
among the Indians of our western territories, states: "I have rarely
seen a sick boy among the Indians." Catlin, the painter, who resided
and traveled so much among these people, states that infant mortality
is very small among them, the reason, of course, being abundant exercise
and pure air.
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