BY L. MARIA CHILD.

There are three things peculiarly essential to health,—plenty of fresh water, plenty of pure air, and enough of nourishing food.

If possible, the human body should be washed all over every day; but if circumstances render that difficult, the operation should be performed at least two or three times a week. People in general are not aware how important frequent bathing is. The cuticle, or skin, with which the human body is covered, is like fine net-work, or lace. By help of a magnifying-glass, called a microscope, it can be seen that there are a thousand holes in every inch of our skin. In the skin of a middle-sized man there are two millions three hundred and four thousand of these holes, called pores. Those pores are the mouths of exceedingly small vessels made to carry off fluids, which are continually formed in the human body, and need to be continually carried off. This process is going on all the time, whether we are sleeping or waking, hot or cold. When we are cool and at rest, that which passes off is invisible; and because we see no signs of it, and are not sensible of it, it is called insensible perspiration. But in very hot weather, or when we exercise violently, a saltish fluid passes through our pores in great drops, which we call sweat; and because we can see and feel it, it is called sensible perspiration. If the pores of the body are filled up with dust, or any kind of dirt, the fluids cannot pass off through them, as Nature intended; and, being shut up, they become corrupt and produce fevers and bad humors. This is the reason why physicians always advise people to be careful and keep their pores open. In order to do this, dust and dirt should be frequently washed away. Many a fever and many a troublesome sore might be prevented by frequent bathing. Moreover, the skin looks smoother and handsomer when it is washed often. If a pond or river is near by, it is well to swim a few minutes every day or two; if not, the body should be washed with a pail of water and a rag. But it is not safe to go into cold water, or to apply it to the skin, when you are very much heated; nor is it safe to drink much cold water until you get somewhat cool. The best way is to plunge into water when you first get up in the morning, and then rub yourself with a cloth till you feel all of a glow. It takes but a few minutes, and you will feel more vigorous for it all day. Cool water is more healthy to wash in than warm water. It makes a person feel stronger, and it is not attended with any danger of catching cold afterward. But water directly from the well is too chilly; it is better to use it when it has been standing in the house some hours. Garments worn next to the skin, and the sheets in which you sleep, imbibe something of the fluids all the time passing from the body; therefore they should be washed every week. I am aware that, as slaves, you had no beds or sheets; but as free men I hope you will gradually be able to provide yourselves with such comforts. Meanwhile, sleep in the cleanest way that you can; for that is one way to avoid sickness. When the skin is hot and feverish, it does a great deal of good to wipe the face, arms, and legs with a cloth moistened with cool water, changed occasionally. Headache is often cured by placing the feet in cool water a minute or two, and then rubbing them smartly with a dry cloth. Sitting in cool water fifteen or twenty minutes is also a remedy for headache or dizziness. A cut or bruise heals much quicker if it is soaked ten or fifteen minutes in cool water, then wrapped in six or eight folds of wet rag, and covered with a piece of dry cloth. The rag should be moistened again when it gets dry. This simple process subdues the heat and fever of a wound. When the throat is sore, it is an excellent thing to wash the outside freely with cold water the first thing in the morning, and then wipe it very dry. A wet bandage at night, covered with a dry cloth, to keep it from the air, often proves very comforting when the throat is inflamed. Indeed, it is scarcely possible to say too much in favor of using cool water freely, at suitable times.

Fresh air is as important as good water. The lungs of the human body are all the time drawing in air and breathing out air. What we breathe out carries away with it something from our bodies. Therefore it is unhealthy to be in a room with many people, without doors or windows open; for the people draw in all the fresh air, and what they breathe out is more or less corrupted by having passed through their bodies. It is very important to health to have plenty of pure fresh air to breathe. No dirty things, or decaying substances, such as cabbage leaves or mouldy vegetables, or pools of stagnant water, should be allowed to remain anywhere near a dwelling. The pools should be filled up, and the decaying things should be carried away from the house, heaped up and covered with earth to make manure for the garden. If there is not room enough to do that, they should be buried in the ground. Whole families often have fevers from breathing the bad odors that rise from such things. It is morally wrong to indulge in any habits that injure the health or well-being of others. The bed, and the coverings of the bed, should have fresh air let in upon them every day; otherwise, they retain the fluids which are passing from the body all the time. In England, children that worked in large manufactories became pale and sickly and died off fast. When doctors inquired into it, they found that the poor little creatures crept into the same bedclothes week after week, and month after month, without having them washed or aired.

Occasional change in articles of food is healthy, as well as agreeable; but it is injurious to eat a great variety of things at the same meal. There are two good rules, so very simple that everybody, rich or poor, can observe them: First, never indulge yourself in eating what you have found by experience does not agree with you; secondly, when you have eaten enough, do not continue to eat merely because the food tastes good. It is foolish to derange the stomach for a long time to please the palate for a short time.

If you have oppressed feelings in the head, or sour and bitter tastes in the mouth, or a tendency to sickishness, take nothing but bread and water for two or three days, and you will be very likely to save yourself from a fever.

People might spare themselves many a toothache if they would rinse their mouths after every meal, and every night, before going to bed, remove every particle of food from between the teeth, and rinse them thoroughly with water. New toothpicks should be made often, for the sake of cleanliness.

Dirt was a necessity of Slavery; and that is one reason, among many others, why freemen should hate it, and try to put it away from their minds, their persons, and their habitations.