impunity the impressions of heat, cold, light, air, and the various
external influences to which, at birth, it is subjected, it may be
properly asked why this primitive state of health cannot be maintained,
and diseases, and medicines, and even PREVENTIVES wholly avoided.

But the reason is obvious. Civilized society has placed the human race
in artificial circumstances. Instead of listening to the dictates of
reason, making ourselves acquainted with the nature of the human
constitution, and studying to preserve it in health and vigor, we yield
to the government of ignorance and presumption. The first moment, even,
in which we draw breath, sees us placed under the control of individuals
who are totally inadequate to the important charge of preserving the
infant constitution in its original state, and aiding its progress to
maturity. And thus it is that though infants, as a general rule, may be
said to be born healthy, few actually remain so. Seldom, indeed, do we
find a person who has arrived at maturity wholly free from disease, even
in those parts of our country which are reckoned to have the most
healthy climate.

It is indeed commonly said, that a large proportion, both of children
and adults, among the agricultural portion of our population, are
healthy. But it is not so. There is room for doubt whether, on the
whole, the farmers of this country are healthier than the mechanics, or
much more so than the manufacturers; or the whole mass of the country
population healthier than that of the crowded city. The causes of
disease are sufficiently numerous, in all places and conditions; and
this will continue to be the fact, not merely until parents and teachers
shall become more enlightened, but until many generations have been
trained under their enlightened influence.