Diseases Caused by Alkaline Waters. -- the symptoms referral to an excess of alkalinity, rising from the presence of these earthy salts in a drinking water, and mainly those of a dyspeptic nature. At first the employment of hard water by persons who are unaccustomed to it produces diarrhea. Which is occasionally serious or even dangerous in its character. But the long continued use of such a drinking fluid is thought to cause habitual constipation, with the heavy training of evils, including piles and liver complaint, which depend upon it. Calculus, or stone in the kidney or in the bladder, which gives rise sometimes to the most horrible agony human beings are ever called upon to endure, is believed to be due, in many instances, to an excess of lime and magnesia salts in the drinking water.

This section is definitely interesting. And as I read this section, I distinctly heavy memory of watching an old Clint Eastwood movie. Clint Eastwood's trek across the desert somewhere in the southwest of the United States, and of course the bad guys are chasing him. Clint Eastwood is smart enough to recognize that the water in one pool that he comes to has an alkalinity level far too high to drink. He has a sidekick, who initially attempt to drink the water but Clint Eastwood stops him knowing better. Then the bad guys come by sometime later and drink the water and one of them croak's. This particular section highlights the fact that you may not die instantly from drinking this water but it can definitely make you very ill in the short-term afterwords, or very ill in a chronic way if you consume this type of water over a long period of time. Plus I'm sure that there is some water that is poisonous right from go. 

This section also reminds me of a water purification straw that was handed out at a trade show that I attended a few years back. The water purification straw was handed out like personalized pens are handed out at most trade shows, but this was a bit of a outdoorsman tradeshow focusing on hunting tools and guns and stuff like that. I'm under the impression that water purification straw's or tablets even only work to essentially remove microbes are things that might trigger Montezuma's revenge, but now I have to wonder if maybe they had the ability to cancel out our alkalinity and balance the pH a bit.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Lead Palsy
  
  

  Lead Palsy. — under some special circumstances, not at present well understood, extremely minute amounts of lead in water may prove injurious. Thus, for example, Dr. Angus Smith speaks of cases in which lead paralysis, or palsy, was apparently produced by water containing only 1/100TH of a grain of lead to the gallon.

  I’d like to veer off the topic of lead poisoning for a second and just meditate on the fact that until I engaged in reading this section of the book, I had not taken the time to learn the definition of ‘palsy’

  Is is actually an alternative to the word paralysis, and might even be a slang term or abbreviated version of the word.  My own apathetic ignorance as it relates to this word, which to my ears in 2008 even sounds a little politically incorrect, speaks to a decrease in the threat of cerebral palsy even though paralysis (palsy) is still a real problem as a result of injuries.  I might be more in tune with seeking a car insurance quote than fearing for the potential of developing palsy as a result of lead poisoning.

• A Picture of Good Health
  
  

  Note, This is the opening section of the first chapter of the first book.

  The following Opening lines precede the segment:

  A Description of the Colored Anatomical Charts Composing the Manikin Accompanying this Work.

  We now proceed with what the book refers to his chart 1, however this would normally reference a chapter 1 I believe today.

  A PICTURE OF GOOD HEALTH

  This exquisitely beautiful and artistic anatomical late presents the head and face of a young man in the enjoyment of perfect health. Apart from the subject it’s so accurately and faithfully represents, it is in itself a viable life-like portraiture of the human head and face, and shows to what perfection the art of anatomical plate printing has attained. Note the prominent perceptive faculties, the high four head, features characteristic of a large brain and a massive and unimpaired intellect. Mark the open expression of the eye! How true to nature and life — like. Observe the compressed lips, denoting firmness of character and determination of purpose. Look at tentatively at the bright, open, manly countenance; there are no signs of mental decrepitude, physical bodily infirmities, nervous fear, or exhaustion of brainpower or life — force in the expression of the noble, ruddy and healthy face. It is, as its name implies, typical of Perfect Health!

  Now you might ask, “What in the world is as book referring to at this point?”

  The answer is what I can only refer to as a pop out picture on page 37.

• VIEW OF THE LARGE BLOOD-VESSELS, SPLEEN, KIDNEYS AND BLADDER
  
  

  Blood Vessels of the Body.–The blood-vessels of the human body consists of heart, arteries, veins and capillaries.  the heart and its wonders we have already referred to.  In this magnificent chart we are enabled to form some idea of the larger blood-vessels.  We see the main arterial tube of the body — the aorta — from a point where it unites with the arch of the aorta; and in its dissent downward along the spinal column it gives off numerous branches.

  The Arteries.–opposite the fourth lumbar vertebra is seen to split in two, and these divisions are called, from their position, the right and left iliac arteries.  These are seen to divide again into the internal and external iliac arteries, the former of which is distributed to the walls and this are contained in the pelvis, then proceeding to the lower limbs after sending two important branches to the abdominal walls.  The arch of the aorta gives off the innominate artery, which divides and to the right carotid and right subclavian arteries; the left carotid and left subclavian spring direct from the arch of the aorta.  Each carotid artery divides into the external and internal carotid arteries, the former being distributed to the external parts of the face and head; the latter supplies the brain and internal parts of the cranium.  The subclavian arteries supply the upper extremities with blood.

  __________

  These sections are fairly descriptive and provide an apt description of these initial areas covered.  The word innominate did throw me for a loop and I had to go look it up on Wikipedia.

  As a processing point for this blog, I’m going to attempt to speed up my coverage of the book.  So for things to be going a little too slow for my own tastes and I don’t want to grow stale on the topic.  I hope you’ll bear with me, but this may lead to if you additional incorrect translations of the spellings from the book.  I feel the need to get through the book and I suspect I will be making additional passes back to the book at later dates.  If you come across anything that just doesn’t make sense and I haven’t covered already please feel free to leave a comment, I’ll reference again in the book and determine if I’ve made in an accurate translation or if it’s just a peculiar topic as it’s covered in the book itself.

  I don’t expect any extreme mistakes or extra peculiar things to come up such as substituting strange words into context in the book are ascribing people wearing an animal costume or who knows what, but I am using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to translate the book and the software does upon occasion make some strange substitutions and words.