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In the prevalence of cholera, it was invariably the case that deaths
were more numerous in shaded streets or in houses having only northern
exposures than in those having sunlight. Several physicians have stated
to the writer that, in sunny exposures, women after childbirth gained
strength much faster than those excluded from sunlight. In the writer's
experience, great nervous debility has been always immediately lessened
by sitting in the sun, and still more by lying on the earth and in
open air, a blanket beneath, and head and eyes protected, under the
direct rays of the sun.
Some facts in physiology and natural philosophy have a bearing on this
subject. It seems to be settled that the red color of blood is owing
to iron contained in the red blood-cells, while it is established as
a fact that the sun's rays are metallic, having "vapor of iron" as one
element. It is also true that want of light causes a diminution of the
red and an increase of the imperfect white blood-cells, and that this
sometimes results in a disease called _leucoemia_, while all who
live in the dark have pale and waxy skins, and flabby, weak muscles.
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