Reviewing the Medical Books and Journals that constituted Medical understanding a century back.

History of the Book of Medicine

September 1st, 2008 at 2:29 am

River-Water

River-Water. -- River-water is, to a certain extent, similar to Spring-water, but is much more apt to be contaminated with sand and clay, organic material from decomposing vegetable or animal remains, the refuse of manufacturers, and especially with the sewage of cities and towns, which it is probable events amounts of sickness and death are annually due in all civilized countries. Unfortunately, River-water is that which is chiefly supplied to towns and cities, and therefore find its way into the systems of vast numbers of our fellow-beings.

In past sections, I have marveled at the excessive use of punctuation, but I've never seen the excessive use of "hyphens". This particular section on water is absolutely rife with the excessive use of hyphens, and it is wreaking havoc on my attempt at editing. It's almost like the author falls in love with a certain type of punctuation has a brief affair with it for a chapter or two before turning to a new punctuation. This particular affair is driving me nuts, and I can't wait for it to be over. If it doesn't end soon I will probably single-handedly increase NC health insurance rates by myself.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

Fleas

Fleas.—There are one hundred varieties of this pest which live on dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, rats, mice, etc. It has been proven that fleas carry the germs of Bubonic Plague, which has caused as high as 113 deaths in 119 cases during an epidemic. The disease was found to be spread by means of rats, mice and squirrels of all species and the flea (pulen fasciatus) in the fur of the animals was the medium by which the disease was conveyed to human beings by biting them and injecting the germs of Plague into their blood.

The forms which pester the American homes are the Rouse Flea (Pulen Irritans), the Cat Flea (Pulen Felinius), and the Dog Flea (Pulen Canis).

While we have made major advances in the treatment and prevention of fleas, the speed of their prevention as not advanced along a path like Moore’s Law where we see advances in computer chips and flash memory doubling on a regular basis.

Each female flea deposits from eight to twelve whitish ovoid eggs in dust or lint, under carpets and the larger crevices of woodwork. In the summer they develop in about four weeks from the egg to the adult flea, in winter they develop in about six weeks. Four to six broods, as a rule are hatched out during each summer.

The House Flea occurs in dwellings, breeding in bedding, clothing, carpets, window curtains, etc. They attack their victims at night. The Cat and Dog Flea, though they annoy only their respective victims, are as troublesome to human beings as the human flea.

Typhoid Poison from a Well

Typhoid Poison from a Well. — in a report of the American public health Association, Dr. Austin Flynn gives an account of an outbreak of typhoid fever in Vermont which it was possible to trace, in the most circumstantial way, to the poisoning of a well in some such method as has been described. The young man traveling through the region by stagecoach was taken ill, and, when he could go no further, was left in a tavern and a little hamlet to be cared for, his illness soon proved to be typhoid fever. A small watercourse, a shallow valley, by the village into two portions, each of which consisted of half a dozen houses or less. In a few days new cases of the fever made their appearance in that part of the hamlet which the tavern along — every house, in fact, but one was invaded with this disease — whilst on the other side of the stream not a case occurred. It appears that the tavern well, which was the only one up on that side of the village, furnish the water supply to all the families belonging there but one. That one family had had a quarrel with the landlord of the hotel, and consequently deserted the tavern well for a more distant supply of drinking water, and so escape swallowing the specific poison of typhoid fever in the water by which all their neighbors were stricken down.

In case you’re wondering, typhoid fever is spread by people that shed typhoid bacteria area this can happen when they handle food or drinking water that other people consume, or when the bacteria is exhausted into a sewage system that contaminate the water supply. So it is possible that the people that became sick from typhoid fever in this example, became sick from close proximity with a very sick traveler, in addition to the pollution of that traveler with the water supply. We rarely think of these problems today when we book time in las vegas suites or at a beech cottage, but the bacteria could still be propogated by people handling food. This is one of the prime reasons why people should wash their hands. Due to water treatment procedures, we are currently fortunate to have less exposure to contaminated drinking water, however when sewer lines break in coastal areas and people swim in the ocean near these breaks, the risk could go up.

It is also very interesting to note, that in this passage a health association that Dr. Flynn worked with was noted as opposed to just a name. This is a distinct improvement, and I think the first time it has occurred in 158 pages!
Medicine News
Google News Feed TOS Attribution