Another Case of Infection.-Another famous illustration is found in the history of the "tea water pump" of broad Street, Near Golden square, London, which during the cholera visitation of 1854, killed nearly 500 persons in a single week, in one of the fashionable localities of the city. It has long been known that water containing five or six grains of lime and magnesium to the gallon is much to be preferred for making tea to water of any other quality.  This is because the line precipitates the astringent matter of the leaf, yet does not interfere with the solution of the desirable constituents; and hence certain wells which have the proper proportion of mineral matter come to be valued very highly by persons of nice taste.

The images represent a tea water pump in New York(left) placed over a natural spring (right) that had existed in Manhattan long before Europeans came to the colonies and helped create situations where cholera could break out. 

This reference to the 1854 Cholera outbreak would have been relatively recent in the minds of many.  It would have only been about 60 years old at the time of this articles printing, however, when this book was first published, it may have been referenced when the epidemic was only 20 – 30 years old possibly.  In terms of recency or relevancy, we today might have a similar perspective on the massacre at Jonestown or the Kennedy killing.  It would have made a much bigger impression on people that heard the news than say a case of food poisoning resulting from a problem with popcorn machines or something in a bar or movie theater.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• The Contaminated Ice Pond
  
  

  The Contaminated Ice Pond.  — both the house in which the ice was stored in the water from the melted ice gave off a decidedly disagreeable or even offensive odor.  Finally, a visited upon from which the ice and then gathered disclose the fact that much of the water and it was dark colored, file and highly contaminated with filthy marsh mud and decomposing sawdust.  Chemical analysis showed that both it and the suspected eyes contain a large excess of organic and volatile impurities, including four one hundredths of a grain per gallon of albuminoid ammonia.

• Heart a Double Organ
  
  

  Heart a Double Organ. –On looking at the heart one would think it was a single, solid organ. It is not, however, but a double organ, divided into four compartment; the two upper ones, and they’re supposed resemblance to a dog’s ear, are called auricles, and the lower ones, from resembling a little stomach, are called ventricles. The auricle and ventricle on each side communicate with one another, but the right and left halves of the heart are each separate and distinct organs, and perform different functions — the right side propels the dark, vitiated and impure blood, whilst the left deals with the bright crimson, life — giving and life — sustaining blood.

  I found it odd that the author referred to the left and right sections of the heart communicating with each other. They do work in tandem or synchronized together, but I have to wonder if the author believes as opposed to knowing in a scientific way that he heart has some sort of cognitive power to actually communicate between sections of the heart. Or possibly the author had some sort of mechanical perspective and looked at the heart like to sprocket’s connected together communicating as the teeth of the sprocket of the left side connected with teeth of the sprocket of the right side transferring information from one to the next like a Turing machine.

  As I think about some of the odd things in this book, I even experienced the idle thought that maybe the author or editors might have been dipping into their own medicine like Sigmund Freud a little too much.  I have no idea how much drug abuse by physicians may have occurred one hundred years ago, but the diversion from fact into what might be described as fluffy filler, could possibly be explained by the presence of a drug addiction.  Addicts were prevalent 100 years ago even thought here were no drug rehabs. If people go help at all for their addictions, it might include a trip to a sanitorium or an alms house, but chances are this is all just speculation and incorrect in the assumption.

• Natural Health Supplements
  
  

  We are still working our way through the anatomy section of the Library of Health. I am going to launch a new section of this site to dive into the Library of Health’s coverage of herbs and natural remedies soon. There is one thing that has changed a great deal over the last year and in doing so has almost not changed at all.

  For hundreds maybe thousands of years people have been looking for better natural health supplements. A hundred years ago people around the world were using all sorts of natural supplements. My great grandfather for example used to hunt ginseng and sell it at market.

  These days ginseng related natural health supplements are extremely common again after decades where they were hardly touched by western medicine. Today’s health supplements have changed in some ways. They are starting to mix natural ingredients with soft science to try potential new products out.

  Many natural health supplements do not undergo rigorous levels of scientific review or study for the effectiveness. They are not regulated as drugs. This creates the potential for risk but also puts the burden on the consumer for experimentation. Its a classic case of buyer beware. Sometimes the buyer may experience something that provides a benefit, sometimes they may experience nothing and sometimes an item may cause them some form of harm.

  The FDA came into existence about 100 years ago to stem the flow of cure all remedies that were often times laced with opiates or cocaine without any labels to indicate these primary ingredients. Natural supplements today do not include opiates or cocaine, but the FDA does not review most of them either. This means that consumers need to be extra diligent about their review of products and companies. It also means that they should consult with their health care provider or physician before mixing any type of supplement into their diet or current medicinal regimes.