Appendix 4 - The Laws of Health

William A Alcott

Page 307-1604 – “There are various ways in which we are injured by going suddenly to the fire, when cold.”

Comment – It is only dangerous if we are frozen or near frozen.

Score – Unverified

Why 66 – Warming (What 54)

Many diseases are caused by warming in front of a fire when cold.

Page 307-1604 – “Sudden death, or even convulsions, will be, after all, but rare occurrences.” (1605) – “I have felt a degree of stomach-sickness, or faintness, from sudden warming, a dozen times in my life, - perhaps twenty."

Page 308-1609 – “But, though the eyes may be injured, skin diseases aggravated, and chilblains either induced or aggravated, or both, there is an injury still greater and more frequent than any of these, which is always inflicted by sudden warming, .... It makes us tender and delicate, and renders us extremely liable to take cold.”

Score – Unverified

What 55 – Humidity

When we heat a room we must moisten the air.

Page 268-1392 – “Hence the absolute necessity, would we maintain health, of having water in our rooms for the purpose of evaporation; whether heated by stove, furnace, or fireplace. It depends on the degree of heat which is maintained, and not much on the fixture. Wherever there is fire, as a general rule, there should be water.”

Score – Minor

Why 67 – Dry Air (What 55)

Dry air can damage mucous membranes.

Page 268-1395 – “Few things are more common in a dry atmosphere than chapped hands. But can dry air produce this affect on the thicker, tougher skin of the hands, without injuring in still greater degree, the more delicate lining membrane of the lungs?”

Score – Verified

What 56 – Plants

There should be no plants in a bedroom.

Page 253-1314 – “We spoil the air quite fast enough during hours of sleep, without calling in to our aid a mass of plants.”

Comment – Their effects are too small to be dangerous.

Score - Unverified

Why 68 – Plants (What 56)

Plants give off excessive amounts of carbon dioxide at night.

Page 252-1312 – “during the night, the carbonic acid predominates, and there is quite a surplus of it which remain till morning.”

Score – Unverified

What 57 – Fragrance

The smell of plants, trees and flowers is good for health.

Appendix 4 - The Laws of Health

William A Alcott

Page 254-1325 – “the fragrance of plants and flowers, - having its origin wholly or chiefly in certain aromatic properties of plants, and trees, and flowers. - to those whose sensations are not yet perverted, is always salutary,”

Comment – Not if you are allergic to the particular flower.

Score – Unverified

What 58 – Pets

There should be no pets indoors.

Page 253-1316 – “Not only is a cat or dog suffered to remain in the rooms of the healthy, - nay, sometimes not two or three cats, - but also in those of the feeble, and pale, and sickly.”

Score – Unverified

Why 69 – Pets (What 58) Pets give off carbon dioxide.

Page 253-1315 – “carbonic acid which is furnished by ... by a single dog or cat.” Comment – They do give off carbon-dioxide, but there is no danger.

Score - Unverified

Page 60-309 – “Consider your walk not merely as a means of exercise, but in a particular manner, as a means of enjoying the purest vital nutrient,”

Page 298-1554 – “We should …. be in the open air all we can,”

Score – Significant

Why 70 – Trees (What 59) Trees and plants purify the air.

Page 211-1096 – “verdant fields and towering forests are continually manufacturing certain aromatic principles, and sending them forth wafted on the wings of the wind for the benefit of the lungs.”

Score – Verified

What 60 – Compost heaps (W 15) W 15a G 24 J 27 K 36

Rotting vegetables and animal matter about the house or yard are a health hazard.

Page 251-1302 - (problems from) “vegetable decomposition, .... is, I believe, settled beyond debate;”

Page 252-1311 – “Yet the evidence was such that, to this day, I have been a very strong believer in the dangerous influence of putrid animal emanations,”

Score – Significant

Why 71 – Compost heap (What 60)

Compost and animal dung give off gases that cause many diseases.

Page 242-1259 – “even if God sent diseases as judgements, the putrid vegetables and carburetted hydrogen gas had here an agency, as secondary cause.”

Page 251-1302 – “That many forms of disease are either produced or aggravated by vegetable decomposition, (from the gases given off) .... is, I believe, settled beyond debate;”

Comment – Even though carbon-dioxide, and even a little methane, are given off decaying vegetables, they are not a health risk.