FLOWERS AND HEALTH.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 215, 25 September 1873, Page 2

FLOWERS AND HEALTH.

(Gaudkx). TnEnn havo not been wanting plenty of alarmtstt as to the pi-nla of sleeping in rooms where large quantities of paiticutar kinds 01 llowers have been temporarily ueposited ; sometimes, no doubt, with good leason, for ltjhas been proved by evpentnce that ceitam individuals are atiected seriously by certain odours, the odoriferous matter being not a, mere invisible aura, but a substantial exhalation, capable of being taken up after the Siime mannor as the gases produced by sundry chemical evpunments. The naictbsus, the wall-llower, aud several others, appear to have furnished definite cases of this nature, bimilar charges have been biou^ht, more or kss justly, against certain trees, shrubs, and even heibaceoiis plants, invisible emana ions from which are reputed to cause nausea, insensibility, and even death, the famous fable of the Upas having a fractional amount of truthful realisation. The Manchineel tree of the West Indies, and certain American species of Rbus are generally understood to be capable of thus vitiating and even poisoning the atmosphere that immediately envelopes them, though the cfiects aie manifested only in persons who are piedisposed to sutler trom malaria. These statements rest, no doubt, upon a certain basis of fact, but more numerous observations, and greater piecisionin determining how much is bona fide cause, and how much is veritable effect, are still needed in order to a right appi ehension of the degree to which plants can injuie man seriously through his nostrils Simple uupleasautnesß of odour is of course quite another thing, oiten a matter merely of fancy or education, and cannot be in any degiee associated with deleterious qualities in the plant atlbrding it, biuce we have noisome scents in some i.f the haimless labiane, such as the stachys sylvatica and the ballota nigra, the very name of which last facetiously derived fiom ballien, "to cast away," is intended to imply its unanimous 1 ejection by respectable noses, or at all events by the average nose of civilised Europe, while, per contra, there are plants of vicious properties that aflord Fcent truly delicious — as, for example, tbe common mezereon. With modern science to give us lessons, we rind, however, that tbe ill effects produced by the odours of one «et of plants and flowers |are balanced, perhaps quite overmatched, by the good etiects of other sets. Most of us hare heard of ozone It is one of those capital ingredients of the world that ha\e existed from tbe beginning, but which have only of late years been actually recognised, and consists, in plain English, of highly electrified oxygen, the pns when so electrified acquiring specially good qualities in regard to the general health of mankind. Professor Montegazza. of Padua, states that ceitain plants and flowers, upon exposure to tbe rays of the sun, cause so large an increase in the quality of ozone iound about as to be eminently conducive to a better condition of tbe atmosphere, of couise with the understanding that there is pioper ventilation, such as will carry of the excess of puiely odorous matter that may arise fiom them. Among these ozone manufacturers of the botanical world are the cherry laurel (poisonous in its leaves and kernels), the clove, lavender, mint, fennel, the lemon tree, and others ; also tho narcissus, the heliotrope, the hyacinth , and mignonette. Certain prepared perfumes, similarly exposed to the sunshine, add further to the atmospheric stock of ozone, the well known Eau-de-Cologne, for instance, oil of bergamot, extract of millefleurs, essence of lavender, and tome of the aromatic tinctures. The oxidation of certain essential oils obtained from plants and flowers, such as the oils of nutmeg, aniseed, thyme, and peppermint, is likewise indicated by the professor as a source of ozone, though the supply of this pleasant aerial condiment is in the case of these less considerable. Dr Alontegazza recommends accordingly the large and sedulous cultivation of ozoneproducing plants in all districts and locahtits where the atmosphere is liable to be corrupted, marshy places in particular, in which last, according to Dr Cornelius Fox, in his recent comprehensive work upon ozone, it is impossible for any better stnitary agent to be introduced than the common sunflower, 'ibis plant, happily able to make lUelf quite at home in the pooitst cottage backyard, has been spown not only to purify the atmosphere of marshy places, remov iug a very decided amount of the miasmata ordinarily theie engendered, but to confer the positive benefit of augmenting the quantity of ozone. People are recommended often to the seaside, or to special marine watering places, for the sake of their reputed wealth in ozone. Should we not give thanks to the man who has shown us how to arrange for supplies upon our own premises ? In past n»es there anpear to have been instances of a sort of instinctive resort to certain plants as disinfectants. Herodian relates that during a plague in Italy, m the second century, strangers crowding to Rome were direr'ed by the physicians to retreat to Laurentum (now San Lorenzo), a place co called from the abundance of Laurus nobilis, or sweet bay tree, which then grew there, and by inhaling the odour of winch they would in a certain measure be guarded from infection. And long before the tune alluded to, the disciples of Enipeclocles had been aceuslomed to plant aromatic and balsamic herbs in the neighbourhood of their dwelling! in the confident belief that b) so doing they were providing means of defence against fevers, &c. To tins day we havo the name of " Feverfew " as the appellation of ono of the itrongest-scented Composite, with traditions of its abounding febrifugal powers. So that if we ore wise we shall imitate the citizens of Laurentum, and promote the growth of bay trees wherever the toil nnd climate will allow them to flourish. If the experiment should fail as regards miasma, we shall at all events be«o much the richer as to a fragrant evergreen : and I if we are wise, we shall further encourage and help forward I the di lllusion of odour-yielding flowers, such as yield this excellent ozone, in the gardens, &c, of towns and their suburbs, promoting the healthy qualities of the a' mosphcre after the molt beautiful and picturesque of methods. Mignonette, thyme, lavender, sunflower, will grow almost anywhere, operating their quiet but solid usefulness in a way that is least of all suspected. The purification of the atmosphere from a portion of its carbonic acid gas goes on all the same, and uninterruptedly ; the ozone manufacture is a distinct and independent perfoimance, and belongs to the flowers alone, just as the former pertains to the green foliage only. The more that chemistry discovers in relation to the ozoniponous properties of flowers, tho more Taluablo will flowers become to reflective minds.