صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني
[ocr errors]

The Sanitary Renaissance of Persia.

It is reported that the Persians have come to believe that the recent European tour of the Shah has unsettled the mental equilibrium of their ruler. This belief has originated from the fact, that actuated by the everywhere evident benefits to be derived from sanitary administration, impressed by what he saw in more enlightened lands, this Eastern potentate has concluded to no longer continue his country as one of the plague spots of the world. He has ordered hundreds of houses to be pulled down, foul slums to be demolished and new streets to be built, while the very latest and crowning proof of his madness is a royal order for the commencement of the systematic sanitation of the Persian capital.

How different are the ideas of different people, and how true is it that we are but creatures of habit, for that which, in this country, we would regard as the highest evidence of intelligence, is, in far-away, dirty, disease-ridden Persia, looked upon as evidence of an erratic mental state.

Double-up the Under-clothing.

Should we have, as we probably will, an occasional day when the thermometer will fall down below freezing point, we will experience much comfort and avoid. much danger, if, in the morning, when we find that the temperature has so fallen, we put on two undershirts, two pair of drawers and two pair of stockings. During the old-fashioned winters, when we had one, long, continuous cold spell, it was a comparatively easy matter to dress properly, but in this Summer-in-winter weather the sudden and great changes in temperature constitute a serious menace to health, and it is no easy matter to guard against it. Most of us are now dressed for winter, and when a really cold day comes, having accustomed ourselves to the warm days in winter wraps, we are not prepared to resist the onslaught of Jack Frost. The plan we have mentioned, will, if tried some cold morning, give such satisfaction that its practice will be persisted in. It will make a little more washing, but it will prevent much sickness and discomfort from cold.

An Echo from the Plymouth Epidemic.

We are sorry to be compelled to disagree with the decision of the Court in a suit growing out of the typhoid fever epidemic that so frightfully ravaged the town of Plymouth, in this State, a few years since. It seems that a man, who lost two children, brought suit for damages against the water company and he was non-suited, because the Court held that the water company was not responsible for the action of the nurse, who, by depositing the dejecta of a typhoid fever patient on the edge of the stream, thereby polluted the water supply and gave rise to the epidemic. We take it that no precedent has yet been established, but we are quite clear that it should be so ordered, that when the privileges usually given to water companies are granted, they should be, in some way, compelled to protect the water from artificial contamination. Of course it would be too much to ask that they should guarantee absolute immunity against the various freaks of nature, but it seems to us only fair that they should hereafter be required to guard against the gross and palpable pollution. of man, of such as occurred in the case under consideration, and that they should be held responsible for the neglect of such precautionary measures.

Crimean Sanitation.

Early in 1855 (says Colonel George E. Waring, Jr.), moved by the most distressing condition of the sick and wounded in the hospitals of the Crimean army, Lord Panmure commissioned Dr. Sutherland, Dr. Gavin and Mr. Rawlinson to proceed to the Bosphorus and to the Crimea, and to take instant measures for the improvement of the sanitary state of those sadly crowded buildings.

The order was issued on the 19th of February. In less than three weeks the work at Scutari was already progressing, and within a month a marked effect was obvious.

Kinglake says: "Then came on a change, which, if only it had been preceded by mummery instead of ventilation and drainage and pure water supply, would have easily passed for a miracle. Down went the rate of mortality. Having already gone down from the terrible February rate of 42 per cent. to 31, it descended in the next fortnight to 14; in the next twenty days to 10; in the next to 5; in the next to 4; and finally, in the next twenty days, ending on the 30th of June, 1855, to scarcely more than 2."

This result was achieved by physical changes effected by intelligent engineering.

General Grant in Battle.

In

The sentimental worship of the soldier is born of our natural admiration for bravery, and it is because of the bravery that he displays in facing dangers, for the common good, that we come to regard him with great respect and admiration. the case of General Grant, it was his combined wisdom and bravery that exalted him to the pinnacle of fame. But now we are going to claim (though we do not believe it) that Grant was not a brave man, we so claim that we may fight with their own weapons some of those who scoff at hygiene. To the man who says that there is no danger in impure water, foul air, dung-heaps in proximity to the house, rotting vegetables in the cellar, damp and shaded houses; to the man who laughs when we tell of the causes of ill-health, because he has been surrounded by such (and maybe his father before him) without any particular appreciable results, to such a man we say that there is no danger in battle, because General Grant, though in many battles, suffered no ill effects therefrom; and since there is no danger in battle, Grant was not a brave man, because he really did not face danger. Our reasoning, of course, is faulty, but not one whit more so than that of the person who argues that there is no danger in insanitary surroundings or customs because he or she does not happen to be among the victims.

Cellar Air.

Cellar air is bad air and not fit for breathing, no matter how clean the cellar is or what care has been taken in cementing it. Cellar air, especially when the suctional power of the furnace is exerted on the cellar, is largely ground air,—is drawn from the soil beneath and surrounding the cellar,-and the air from the ground is very different from the air above the surface. Money expended for supplies of air from pure sources is money put into one of the best forms of insurance.

The fresh-air box, or flue for the furnace of a dwelling house should start from some out-door point where the air will not be liable to pollution, should be as short and direct, and as free from angles, especially sharp ones, as possible, should be tight, preferably of metal or metal-lined, or laid in cement and lined with asphalt, and should be made much larger in cross-section than is customary. For a dwelling house of ordinary size the fresh air inlet should be at least 20 to 24 inches square, we could almost say the larger the better, so that, especially in mild weather, the rooms may be warmed with a large quantity of air of very moderate temperature. This of course, will require a furnace of such construction and with such a setting as to admit of the free passage of the desired amount of air; conditions which are rather rare in furnaces, but may be found in some.-Sanitary Inspector.

Absorption of Tobacco Smoke by Meat, etc.

M. Bourrier, an inspector of the slaughter houses of Paris, has lately reported to the Revue D' Hygiene the results of some experiments to determine the influence of the fumes of tobacco on food of animal origin.

Two kilograms of raw beef were minced and subjected to the fumes of tobacco for some time. When offered to a dog of medium size, which had been deprived of food for twelve hours, the dog refused to eat it. Concealed in a piece of bread, it was taken with avidity, At the end of twenty minutes the dog showed uneasiness and abdominal pain, and uttered plaintive cries. The respiration became noisy and embarrassed, the flanks heaved, the tongue hung from the mouth, the alvine evacuations became abundant, and the animal died in horrible convulsions. Various other kinds of meat, raw, broiled, roasted, etc., were used in the experiments, and with results similar, but varying in intensity. It was found that raw meats, and those which are moist and tender, absorbed the tobacco smoke more readily than others, and that strawberries and raspberries readily absorb the smoke from a tobacco pipe. The inference which the author would draw from these experiments is, that food which is subjected to the fumes of tobacco smoke, during the process of preparation in factories or other places, may absorb enough of the tobacco poison to become injurious to the health of consumers.-Sanitary Inspector.

Poison from Dead Bodies.

An American merchant ship was lying at anchor in Wampoa Roads, sixteen miles from Canton. One of the crew died of dysentery. He was taken on shore to be buried. No disease of any kind had occurred in the ship from her departure from America till her arrival in the river Tigris. Four men accompanied the corpse, and two of them began to dig the grave. Unfortunately they pitched upon a spot where a human body had been buried about two or three months previously (as was afterward ascertained). The instant the spade went through the lid of the coffin a most dreadful effluvium issued forth, and the two men fell down nearly It was with the greatest difficulty their companions could approach near enough to drag them from the spot and fill up the place with earth. The two men now recovered a little, and with a 'sistance reached the boat and returned on board." Both died, one on the evening of the fourth and the other the morning of the fifth

day of a malignant fever, with symptoms resembling plague. The other two men, who were less exposed, were similarly affected, but recovered. Commenting on these facts which are related in "Johnson on Tropical Climates," Dr. A. N. Bell, the editor of The Sanitarian, very logically says: "That the poisonous emanations inhaled in this case would have been any less dangerous if swallowed with the subsoil water in the vicinity can be surmised by those only who believe inhumation of the dead to be without danger to the living.

Reporting Typhoid Fever.

In Michigan typhoid fever is a disease which the State Board of Health has declared to be " dangerous to the public health," and as such it comes under the law requiring physicians to report to the health officials. Any physician who shall neglect to immediately give such notice, "shall forfeit for each such offense a sum not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars." And since October 1, "any householder who shall refuse or wilfully neglect immediately to give such notice, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to a fine of one hundred dollars, or in default of payment thereof may be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding ninety days."

The Medical Age, October 10, 1889, says that this law applies to scarlet fever, diphtheria, small-pox, and all diseases dangerous to public health, as well as to typhoid fever, and that every case should be reported to the health officer, who is required to promptly attend to the restriction of the disease. The new law makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or imprisonment, for the health officer to knowingly violate the enactment, or for any person to violate the orders of the health officer made in accordance with it. The actual penalty, however, which is incurred is— Death! And about one thousand people are lost in this State annually from typhoid fever alone. The saving of a large proportion of these lives is the real reason for the effort, in which it is hoped all people will join.—Med. and Surg. Reporter.

The Coming Table Oil.

The use of cotton seed oil as a substitute for olive oil seems to be largely on the increase in this country. For a long time many persons have used it for table purposes when neatly labelled as "Huile d'Olive," without a suspicion that it was. anything but the best quality of olive oil. We do not believe (says The Sanitary Volunteer) in such a fraudulent enforcement of the use of cotton-seed oil, but there is no reason why this valuable food product should not be universally adopted for table use under its proper name. Indeed, the refined oil is being quite extensively used for table purposes, and with the greatest satisfaction. It is used in the preparation of the most delicious and delicate salads, and it is rapidly finding its way into the culinary departments of many households.

In a paper read before The American Public Health Association some four or five years ago, Prof. Monroe said that the chemical composition of cotton oil revealed nothing that interdicted its use as a food, and, if experience proved it acceptable as such, it would be a product of great value to the American people. The proof has been presented. We have in this article a substitute for olive oil,

equally as good, and at a price which brings its use within the reach of many who cannot afford to purchase genuine olive oil. So valuable an American product as this ought to be found in every grocery store, neatly bottled, and labelled with its true name, and for sale at a price which, with a reasonable margin for profit, would place it far below the cost of olive oil. We predict that its future use as a table oil will be extensive and satisfactory.

[subsumed][merged small][graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]

From ife, not the journal Life, but real life, showing somewhat forcibly the power of imagination,
and demonstrating rather forcibly the secret of the so-called "Faith Cure."

Dom Pedro's Common Sense.

It has been frequently said, and with the greatest truth, that the most uncommon sense is "common sense." A moment's reflection will make this truth very evident. The world, to-day, admires Dom Pedro, late Emperor of Brazil, because, in him, it recognizes a most uncommon man; but it does not quite so clearly comprehend that this very individuality of Dom Pedro is owing to the fact that he is, in an uncommon measure, possessed of the enviable commodity known as "common sense."

When this good man found that a Brazilian Republic was inevitable, he did not, to use a vulgar expression, fall to "crying over spilled milk," but, summoning his "common sense" to his aid, philosophically and placidly accepted that which he knew could not be prevented. His "common sense" told him that "that which

« السابقةمتابعة »