The Nakedness of Benjamin FranklinA genius inventor of his age, Ben Franklin is remembered for his p
The Nakedness of Benjamin FranklinA genius inventor of his age, Ben Franklin is remembered for his pioneering work in electricity and physics. However, like most men of his ages he was also woefully ignorant of the principles of health and medicine. At the time there was a prevailing theory that disease was caused by bad vapors in the air. Any kind of dank, musty, or filthy air could easily cause life threatening disease. Franklin was a proponent of this belief, and as a result he would take what he described as an “air bath” every day. Typically done for about 1-2 hours in the morning, Franklin would strip down stark naked, then open up every door and window of his house to allow for better ventilation. In the meantime he would continue his morning routine; having breakfast, reading the paper, and perhaps getting in some writing, all the while sitting naked in front of an open window.While the miasma theory has long been debunked, Franklin’s air baths were probably beneficial to him as he suffered respiratory problems throughout his life with symptoms characteristic of chronic bronchitis. His ideas also challenged another theory of the day which supposed that cold air caused disease. Many may remember our mothers and grandmothers warning us to wear our jackets lest we catch a cold. Once again modern science has debunked this notion. So in a way, Franklin’s air baths may have been more advanced in thinking than most medical ideas of his age. -- source link
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