Change of air or the pursuit of health and recreation. (Through France, Switzerland, Italy, &c.) illustrating the beneficial influence of bodily exercise, change of scene, pure air, and temporary relaxation in sickness and in health / by James Johnson.

  • Johnson, James, 1777-1845.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Change of air or the pursuit of health and recreation. (Through France, Switzerland, Italy, &c.) illustrating the beneficial influence of bodily exercise, change of scene, pure air, and temporary relaxation in sickness and in health / by James Johnson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    servative against disease, by means of travelling exercise, that England provides facilities, advantages, and varieties, beyond all other countries on the face of this globe. To every ailment, to every constitution, to every taste, and almost to every whim of the fancy, there are suitable places of resort—as well as admirable conveyances, by land and by water, throughout the whole of Britain. Those who cannot bear a voyage to Margate, may navigate a noble stream to Richmond or Gravesend. Those who wish to inhale the sea air, but are afraid of sea-sickness, may venture to Ramsgate—if more daring, and the mal-de-mer be desirable, Scarbo- rough or Scotland is at their command—or, in four days, they may traverse the whole length of the Channel, encounter the Atlantic winds and waves, and visit the smiling shores of the Emerald Isle. In what other country can the traveller or the invalid find such variety of aquatic excursions ? Not on the Rhone—the Po—the Tiber, or any of the Mediterranean shores. The Rhine, even, cannot compete with the sce- nery and the invigorating breezes on the lakes of Scotland. If health or pleasure be the object, and terra firma preferred to steam, the British traveller, whether valetudinary or not, can command the great- est variety of air, soil, and scenery, with the best roads, the best horses, the best carriages, and the best inns in the world. The mountains of Scotland, it is true, are not so lofty as those of Swit- zerland ; but they are more accessible, and the air equally salubrious. The Highland glens and valleys are not quite on a par with Grinden- walde, Lauterbrunen, and Meyreng’en ; but they are not blotted and de- formed by goitre and cretinism. Moreover, they have that v,Thich the Helvetian vales and cliffs are remarkably destitute of—a romantic tale— an historical event—or a legendary tradition connected with every step we take, and capable of keeping the memory and the imagination in a con- stant state of excitement, similar to that which we experience on the clas- sic soil of Italy or Greece. If Windermere, Killarney, and Loch Lomond are not so beautiful as Lakes Leman, Como, and Bolsena, they are very little inferior in that respect—and their banks are the seats of health and hilarity—not the scenes of loathsome pellagra, nor the sources of deadly malaria. If Ca- ledonia is less majestic in scenery than Switzerland or the Tyrol, it is equally impressive on the eye of the spectator—and equally salubrious for the traveller.* * The mountains and vales of Cambria must be allowed worse condition than when he started for Naples. It is to be confessed, however, that Sir Walter’s constitution was ill calculated for a hot climate and for the fatigues of travelling. * It is a certain fact, that mountains of the second-rate altitude, say ten thousand