Spring- and Well-Waters.-- Spring- and well-waters are almost always more or less impregnated with the soluble ingredients of the earth and rocks through which they pass, and are therefore sometimes very unsuitable for the ordinary ones of life. As a general rule, they are colder than other waters, although hot springs are found in various parts of the world, some with a temperature as high as the boiling point.

 

Now unlike the last section, the section actually seems to describe one of the categories that has fallen into the varieties of water section. That said, the author does seem to mix and match two different categories together by combining springs with Wells. The obvious difference here is that a spring is natural and a well as to be done by a person. The author also doesn't seem to take any consideration as to what might heat a spring, and from that perspective you once again have two doubts the scientific inquiry that has taken place within this section, like you might doubt a doctor prescribing legal steroids to a person is uninjured and planning on competing in the Olympics.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Evaporation
  
  

  These days our drinking water is so contaminated with drugs, antibiotics, chemical wastes and supplements of every different size and color that you never know if you might be getting a cocktail of Amoxycillin or Fenphedra when you take a sip.

  Evaporation.-Our supplies of drinking water are, of course, derived originally entirely from the rainfall. We need not consider now how the water found its way into the air. Without entering into the details of the process of evaporation, all that the present object requires is, that we clearly recognize the fact that spring, fountain, river and lake are all alike fed from the clouds which float over our heads and send their rain upon the just and upon the unjust. Hence, then, man is wholly dependent for his supply of this vital element upon the rain which comes down from heaven. He may dwell upon the most arid plains, but he drinks from the stream which flows beside or underneath his feet—which stream is itself fed by floods that fell perhaps a thousand miles away—and what-ever mystery attaches to subterranean waters, we may be sure that, by a long enough circuit, we can trace every drop back to the clouds.

• Insects As Common Carriers
  
  

  Insects As Common Carriers.- great strides have been made in recent years by scientists in regards to the further prevention of disease by studying the life habits of insects.  It has been clearly proven that the poison or germ of certain diseases are carried by them, such as tuberculosis, typhoid fever, bowel complaints of children, by the common housefly; malaria and yellow fever by the mosquito; the bubonic plague by the rat flea, of which there are several varieties, and the squirrel flea, of which there are also several.

  It is easily understood that to prevent the spread of a contagious disease from one individual to another, the precautions are not complete unless he or she be protected against either the bite of a mosquito or fleet which is received into its own blood the poison or the germ causing the disease, which conveys by biting another person.  Fly should be kept out as, by coming in contact with the spittle or discharges from a patient, they carry the germ of poison upon their feet, etc. to the food, milk, water and by direct contact to another person.

  As to aid in the prevention of disease, the numerous boards of health of city and state have issued regulations and instructions whereby these insects can be destroyed and then every person, sick or well, can be protected.  If well, the flight is a danger by bringing disease into her home, if ill, it can convey our disease to another screen is home and start an epidemic.

  There is distinctly different set of priorities that are being covered in this book than those we might consider today.  Typically malaria for example is only known in the tropics, but that definitive line on the globe might not have been known about back then.  Installing screens on Windows had a dual benefit of keeping out mosquitoes as well as flies.  Today we might worry about getting a discount on budget software or spending less time in traffic, but back then mosquitoes had much larger impact on the lives of people in the west much as the same insects have a great impact on people that live in Africa today.

• The Value of Life
  
  

  We have seen in the Book of Medicine already that times were very different 100 years ago.  The infant mortality rate was much much higher and life expectancy was much lower as well.

  As such people had a much different perspective.  They often distanced their emotions just a bit from their children.  Furthermore, their concerns for the hereafter were much more immediate.  Middle age today was much older today than middle age 100 years ago.  This may have been part of the reason why people had a more pious view on life.

  They lost their loved ones more often and sooner in life.

  They worked to build up big families so that the family could continue to survive.  We often limit family size for economic reasons.  We buy life insurance from companies like our sponsor, Globe Insurance.  They kept family grave plots.

  Things were much different back then and we will explore these even more as we move past the anatomy section of the Book of Medicine and get it to the prognosis and care of many of the ailments that were common 100 years ago.