| Show ditri MOUNTAIN AIR why it in more healthful than that 0 lower altitudes the only reason why mountain air Is healthier than low air Is that mountain air Is cleaner than low air the chemical composition of the atmosphere differs but little it at all wherever the sample be taken on pikes peak the relation of oxygen to nitrogen and other constituents of the atmosphere mo sphere Is the same as at the level of the ocean the favorable effects therefore of a change of air are not to bo explained by any difference in the proportion of its gaseous constituents one important difference however Is the bacteriological one tho air of high altitudes contains no microbes mic robes and Is in fact sterile while near the ground and bome feet above it microbes mic robes are abundant in the air of chicago and other crowded places not only docs the microbe impurity increase but other impurities puri ties such as the products of combustion of coal accrue also several investigators have found traces of hydrogen and certain hydrocarbons in the air and especially in the air of pine oak and birch forests it Is to those bodies doubtless consisting of traces of essential oils to which the curative effects of certain health resorts are ascribed thus the locality of a or forest Is said to give relief in diseases of the respiratory tract dut all tha same these traces of essential oils and aromatic products must be counted strictly speaking as impurities sanco they are not apparently necessary constituents of the air As recent analyses have chown these bodies tend to disappear in the air as a higher altitude Is reached until they disappear altogether louisville dispatch |
