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!
Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:
- Wonders of the Eye.
Wonders of the Eye. – the human eye is one of the most wonderful, as well as delicate, organs of the body. It is the window through which the heart, mind and soul of man shines. Sorrow or joy, reformers, pain or pleasure, sunshine or shadow or reflected through this wondrous camera of light; the human passions hold their orgies in this window; truth and love dance they’re happy and joyous daydreams before its luminous curtain; and through it accurate to limitations of every object comes within its range are carried to and photographed on the brain, the great Art Gallery of the soul! Can man, with all of his great and scientific achievements, conceive of anything in the arcana of his accomplishments more beautiful, more wonderful, or more perfect than the human eye!
Just a quick refresher, our transcription strives to be great but is still not fool proof. If you spot an error or something that looks wrong, please drop us a comment and let us know and we will review it again. As we cover writing from 100 years ago, it sometimes becomes difficult to spot an error created now from one that was borderline then. In the meantime, we’ll try not to pull the roller shades down over our own eyes . . .
- How to Destroy Bed Bugs
How to Destroy Bed Bugs.– Spray with pure spirits or crude turpentine or benzine by using an ordinary nose and throat atomizer which can be bought in a drug store, all brass or wooden beds after scalding where possible with hot water, spray the crevices of floor, back of picture frames and where a house is “alive” with the pests repaper and paint rooms.
These small little bugs are very difficult to see even when you know what you are looking for, dozens of them or their eggs could fit on a micro sd card that would go in a modern cell phone. Spirits of turpentine will kill where carbolic acid has failed. After each spraying, watch for the bedbugs as those which are not destroyed will hasten to escape and can be killed. Remember benzine and turpentine are inflammable and poisonous. No lights should be permitted in the rooms during or immediately following the use of these drugs. When articles cannot be sprayed, as books, etc., seal up the room and burn a sulphur candle. Place sulphur candle in a tin cup and place cup in a tin or metal pie plate containing water.
- Machinery of Digestion
Machinery of Digestion.-From the number and differently formed structures which constitute the digestive organs, it will be observed that the function is a very highly complex process. If the food were thrown directly into the circulating fluid, it could not be used for the purpose of nutrition. It requires for its transformation into blood, bone and muscle, a series of complex machinery, each part of which is specially designed for the particular part it plays in this wonderful and complicated process.
Use of Mouth and Teeth.- the mechanical part, which, although not shown in this chart, may be carefully studied in the chart giving the different views of the head, is performed by the mouth and teeth, and pulverized food is subject to the action of the saliva. The lubricated morsel of food is now gathered into a ball and conveyed to the back of the mouth by the muscles of the cheek and tongue. On its arrival here, the soft palate lifts upward and closes the posterior nasal openings; the epiglottis shuts down over the trachea or windpipe, forming a bridge over which the food passes, thus preventing it from falling into the respiratory tract.
For this section I don’t really know to anything extraordinary, and I’m just going to move on to the next sections from here as we do have some interesting segments coming up shortly.
