cities or large towns, may be maintained in health by due attention to natural conditions. Precocity in children cannot be too cautiously avoided. There can be no mistake more fraught with injurious consequences, than the attempt to force the mind at the expense of the body; while nothing can be more ridiculous than to set a child down to a mechanical routine of mental exercise, before he has been taught to observe the various objects of life and nature that everywhere invite his attention! A cramped condition, and sickly tendencies of mind and body are the inevitable result. "What pains are sometimes taken to destroy all that is natural in children. They are told that to ask questions is impertinent, that it is vulgar to use any active exercise, that it is not genteel to talk to, or even to take notice of, any one beneath them, in fact, everything which Nature tells them to do, they are carefully taught not to do. If we would but observe Nature and Nature's laws, take lessons from her teaching, and carry them out in our schools, how immense would be the advantage, even to the next generation! But it is thus, that our condition, as God made it, is depraved by our vain teaching; thus the vivacity, openness, and heartiness of children are checked, and they are perverted from the delightful simplicities of nature to the cold conventionalities of art."*

To childhood follows youth, and the gradual development of the body up to maturity; the expansion of the limbs, the chest and other cavities, the consolidation of different parts of the frame resulting in its general harmony and * The Laws of Health, by L. J. Beale, M.R.C.S.

symmetry, belong to this epoch. In these years of increasing independence of thought and action, each individual should study the peculiarities of his own system, and the suitable adjustment to these, of different physical conditions. In short, he is now called upon to take the helm in his own hands, and learn to steer and trim his frail bark in the passage through the sea of life! He now ascertains by experience, what agrees with his peculiar constitution, and how to adapt his mode of living to his avocations and condition. The duration of manhood-the period of life when the physical and intellectual powers are in full vigour-will depend upon the attention that has been given to sanitary laws, and the use or abuse of faculties during youth. We cannot, it is true, always regulate our physical condition, and the greatest care will at times fail in eradicating the germs of disease; but it may be safely affirmed that it rests very much with ourselves, and with the bias we have received in early years, whether we shall enjoy a vigorous, useful, honourable and prolonged manhood, or one of enervation and misery, prematurely merging in old age.

The second childishness' of old age also requires distinct hygienic management. The functions of respiration and circulation have now lost their force, and, from the diminution of animal heat, artificial warmth becomes more necessary. Digestion being performed with diminished vigour, the body feeds somewhat on itself, and becomes thinner; the different tissues shrink and lose their

elasticity and tone. The frame can no longer

sustain the rude shocks that it could have resisted

in manhood. The mind too, though not in all cases, sympathizes with the decay of the frail tenement through which it has so long kept up intercourse with the external world.

From the period of the ancient Greeks, and probably of the Egyptians, physicians and philosophers have divided the life of man into certain epochs, to which the term climacterics has been applied, and at which the system is supposed to undergo certain changes. These epochs occur at the seventh year, and at years which are a multiple of seven-at the twenty-first, the fortyninth, and the sixty-third year. The last period is regarded as the grand climacteric; and is frequently marked by a change for the worse, a wasting and decline of the powers, from which, if the individual rally, he will frequently enjoy a

better state of health than he has done for some time previous. Should any peculiar symptoms of an unfavourable character occur about this epoch, they should not be treated with indifference. Some writers notice the eighty-first year as a sort of second grand climacteric.

The difference of sex, upon which it is not necessary to dwell, must also be regarded. Woman, the fairer and more delicate flower, bends more easily to the blast, and requires more tender rearing.

Temperament, idiosyncrasy, hereditary predisposition, habit, age and sex are the component elements of what is called "constitution," which is consequently distinctive in each individual, and a distinct subject for study in connexion with the laws of health.

Certain modifying circumstances affecting man

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in the aggregate-masses, classes of men-must also be considered. The influence of race, which imparts to different groups of human beings characteristic peculiarities analogous to those of constitution in the individual, must be taken into account. The genius of a race, whose sanitary condition we are desirous of ensuring, must be previously studied; its physical and other characters, the prevalence of this or that class of disorders, the relative mortality and longevity of the race. The question must also be entertained, how far civilization tends to improve the physical condition of races. It was long supposed that savage tribes possessed greater physical vigour than those more or less civilized; but this notion has been shown to be erroneous. The influence of civilization in improving the health of a community is, however, exerted rather indirectly, by the impulse that it communicates to mind and thought, by teaching men to observe and reflect, by leading to inquiries such as those which resulted in the discovery of the circulation of the blood, or of the efficacy of vaccination as a preservative against small-pox.

Climate, the capabilities of a country, the general habits of a people, the proportion of indigence and affluence, the peculiar form of government and religious faith, are all modifying circumstances in the life of communities, and must be considered in reference to their sanitary condition.

Public"hygiene" rests especially on statistical tables, on facts represented by figures, which, formidable and unmeaning as they may appear at first sight, when "compared, arranged, and fer

tilized by intelligence, lead to the discovery of laws by which society may be regulated." These statistical facts represent the component elements of population in different districts, the mortality of town and country, the different causes of death, and the relative havoc made by it among different sexes, ages, and conditions of life. The consideration of data thus obtained, leads to an inquiry into the causes of undue mortality, and the operation of various physical and moral influences upon the well-being of classes and communities. Through such knowledge only, can those measures be adopted, by which may be ensured the greatest amount of health, happiness, and longevity, compatible with every condition of ex

istence.

It is but recently that "hygiene," has assumed the importance and character of a science. The earliest historical records of different countries show us indeed that their legislators were not altogether indifferent to the health of the people. Moses, the great lawgiver of the Israelites, lays down numerous rules for the preservation of health. The Greeks did something more than indulge in useless homage to "Hygeia;" they had baths, and gymnasia places for athletic sports and exercises-for the benefit of the people. Not the least important relics of ancient Rome, are the striking ruins of baths and aqueducts, attesting the practical character of her civilization. The Romans had their public officersediles-who superintended the healthy condition of towns, houses, and provisions. During the middle ages, however, the several European states seem to have been very indifferent to sanitary