The Crab Lice.—These are a smaller type of the former species, as head or body lice. They are nearly as wide as long. They have strong legs spread out on the sides of the body, which makes them appear like crabs. They are of whitish color, slightly shaded on the shoulders and legs with a red tinge. Crab lice are found upon the hairy regions of the body other than the scalp. The spread of these pests can be checked by washing all toilet seats with scalding water, and boiling towels and linen from suspected persons. Laundries should be especially careful as to the thorough boiling and disinfection of all clothing, as the eggs of these parasites can be conveyed in bed-clothing, towels, etc. TREATMENT.--Shave the hair in the region of the itching and wash twice a day with a lotion made of

Tincture of Larkspur............1/2 ounce

Commercial Ether ........... 8 ounces

 

 WARNING  This treatment recommendation is over 100 years old.  We do not recommend it nor know how effective or safe it might be.  If you are cleaning clothing or Delsey luggage or something, use at your own risk, but if you try this stuff on your self, we think you are probably crazy.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Composition of the Chest
  
  

  Composition of the Chest– the chest is composed of bones, cartilages, and ligaments.  Its natural form is that of a cone diminishing upward; and it affords lodgment of the heart, lungs and large blood vessels.  Its walls are formed posteriorly by the seven dorsal bones of the spinal column, and the ribs as far as the angle, the sides by the body of the ribs, and front by the ribs, the costal cartilages and the breast bone.

  This section is about as exciting as you’d expect from a medical textbook.  It’s almost unique in the fact that it has no items comments or issues that don’t seem like they would appear in a medical textbook.  Some of the descriptions seem rather basic, but even that’s a bit of a stretch to find something unique about this section.

• Bones of the Face – Spinal Collumn
  
  

  Bones of the Face — the bones of the face shown in this plate are the nasal bone, forming the arch of the nose, and malar, which gives prominence to the cheek, the upper jaw, containing the upper teeth, in the lower jaw, containing the under teeth.

  The Spinal Column — that portion of the spinal column noticed in the illustration consists of the cervical vertebrae.  Each vertebra is composed of a body, with seven spinous processes projecting from it.  The body is perforated by a ring, through which is seen running the spinal cord, giving off nerves between each separate bone.  A ring of cartilage is seen inserted between each separate vertebra, the object of which is to prevent any jar reaching the brain when we run, jump, walk or stumble.

  This wraps up the discussion of chart 1.  Nothing sticks out at me from the section as we finish the description of chart 1.  As a possible exception in the fact that they’ve ended this section without any conclusion for follow-on or marks.  It seems that the author often times took extra steps to say more than was necessary in insert their awe inspired view of the world on the reader and seems to have forgotten to take the opportunity to close out this section with lofty language.  I’m sure we’ll get a larger taste of this in the sections and chapters in books to follow.

• What the Lungs Are
  
  

  THE LUNGS; THEIR MECHANISM AND WONDERS.
  
  What the Lungs Are.– The lungs!dense looking objects, and yet how li buoyant! This beautiful anatomical chart shows us a front view of the chest and lungs, with the lungs enclosed within the bony basket — work of the chest. The lungs are two large, conical bodies, placed one on each side of the chest, and occupy the greater part of its cavity. During the life they accurately adapt themselves to the varying dimensions of the chest; for, unhappily, the foibles of fashion very frequently cause restriction of the lungs, by interfering with the resistance and freedom of movement of the ribs, so essential to health, by tight lacing and the bar Paris usage of corsets.

  _____________________
  This is a distinct historical reference as we go to the section on the lungs. Corsets aren’t in use very often today in 2007, and when they are used they used with materials that don’t actually bind up the chest typically. They’re definitely not in wide use and reading about this in a medical book almost reminds me of reading about foot binding in a history book about Chinese fashion. This is a Western medical book and so corsets are probably closer to this book than Chinese foot binding might be, however to me looking at the book almost 100 years later, the concept still seems very alien.

  The first couple sentences of this section are also fairly peculiar for the writing styles, with the excessive use of the “!” And the joy and wonder at looking at something so beautiful as the lungs today seems a little insincere, however it may have had very pure sincere reasons when it was written a hundred years ago, the great war and in World War II and its successor along with many scandals have cause the world to grow up a bit and harden itself and I wonder if in part this almost innocent use of language seems slightly alien itself due to the distance of almost 100 years of innocence.