An essay on atmospheric vicissitudes, and their influence on the body in health and disease / by John Epps.

  • Epps, John, 1805-1869.
Date:
1834
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on atmospheric vicissitudes, and their influence on the body in health and disease / by John Epps. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    eth her appointed times, and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their coming.”—Jeremiah 8th, verse 7th. String manufacturers find variations of wea- ther have a great effect upon the vegetable fibre. It is well known that one of the hy- drometers in common use is the arista at- tached to the calyx of glasses; although, perhaps, the quotation of Sir E. Smith is correct— “ Unfortunately for the science, On the awn is no reliance.” II. The next subject, sir, to which I beg to draw the attention of the society, con- sists of a notice of some of the more striking effects of these vicissitudes upon individuals in a state of health. Every one is aware of the infl uence of the atmosphere upon the mental and the bodily condition. The most prominent social thought is the state of the weather. Hence, how common are the phrases, “ what a dull day“ what a miserable day !” “ a day enough to give the hyps!” “a horrid day!” and, to comple the climax, “ what a muggy day !” These are phrases which are repeated without any weariness, because expressing states of feeling which are unconsciously produced in us by the varying atmospherical conditions. In fact, it seems to be a phy- siological mode of obtaining relief, just as Washington Irving remarks, the traveller is relieved by saying to his fellow-traveller, when impressed by the beauty or the sub- limity of scenery, “ How beautiful! how grand!” In reference to this constituent, the wea- ther, in our colloquial discourse, it is Worthy of remark, that it is a matter of astonishment to foreigners; in fact, the people of Eng- land have been defined by some continental wit as “weather wise.” Indeed, this respect for and continued notice of the weather on the one hand, and the non-notice on the other, have been thought as characteristic nationally of the English and the French ; in fact, the English have been considered so incommunicable as to be able to talk about nothing else. The philosophic mind, recog- nizing the fact of the weather, being so inn portant in our introductory colloquials, will inquire the cause, and it will be found that our colloquial discourse being so saturated with the weather, is dependent upon a very rational cause, namely, that the varying state of the weather in this country is so prominent a feuture as necessarily to draw such an amount of attention to it; whereas the clear and lightsome sky of our conti- nental brethren produces such a perpetual lightsomeness of the animal spirits as to have aided principally in stamping upon the French character, as one of its most promi- nent features, mental gaiety. These remarks bring to remembrance a fact, strikingly illustrative of this particular point, and, at the same time, of the influ- ence of atmospherical vicissitudes on indi- viduals in a state of health. I am acquaint- ed with an English gentleman, residing in Paris, who visits his friends and relatives in this country twice a year. He states that he always feels oppressed while he is here, and his spirits sink ; he feels a peculiar op- pression, which is entirely removed on his return. This gentleman ascribed these dif- ferences to the different states of the atmos- phere in this country and on the continent. A friend of mine, who suffered from se- vere bronchitic inflammation, went to Paris, and obtained almost immediate relief; he returned to England, and the attack has re- turned, though in a mitigated form. In illustration of the atmospheric vicissi- tudes, connected with elevation, either aug- mented or diminished, the effects produced upon ascending high mountains must be known to many. The swelling of the limbs of those who have ascended in balloons is well known. It is a curious fact, that, when two travellers meet at Faraquaqua, a town mid- way in the descent from the Table Land of Mexico to the plains below, the one from the plains below, the other from the Table Land above ; the former feels the cold so intense that he wraps himself in all the garments he can procure ; the latter finds the warmth so great as to feel the slightest clothing oppres- sive ; to the former, the water is so cold that he avoids being sprinkled with it, while the other is so delighted with its warmth that he uses it as a warm bath. I might give a description of the peculiar feelings experienced during a descent in a diving bell, as illustrative of the peculiar ef- fects produced by the variations in the at- mosphere as connected with its pressure; but these are well known, and it is sufficient merely to refer to them. Again, observe for a moment the influence of the atmospheric vicissitudes at the diffe- rent periods of a day, and at different seasons of the year. How delightful is the exhilir- ating feeling inspired by the morning; the placid calmness which the evening or a moonlight scene spreads over the mind ; and the sober sadness with which th^darkness of night seems to be connected. Who is the individual that is not aware of the difference of effect produced by the atmo- spheric conditions in Spring and Autumn. In the spring all the powers are awakened into activity; the atmosphere gives out electri- city : in the autumn the same youngness of life does not exist, and then it is found that the earth and the lif$N therein and thereon give out instead of receiving electri- city. Hence, how common is the expression made use of by old people, “^ell, if I can get through to the spring, I shall do.” It is well known that in summer the cu- taneous secretion is augmented i in winter, the urinary. Dr,_ Morrison slates that spring and sum-