Proximity of Privy and Well. -- unless privy and well be located at considerable distance from each other, and further unless the nature of the ground be such that the flow from the privy will be away from the sources of the well, there is always great danger of the pollution of the well water with germs from the privy. This also applies to nearby stable yards. There are many authenticated cases of typhoid which have been directly traced to the proximity of wells to privies and stables, and the dangers should not be underestimated.
Today, we often consider the injury that we sustain at the hands of others, but consider that 100 years ago, just living, building or improving your home could potentially create unintended results that could significantly impact your health. Searching for a Seattle injury lawyer in a case where you have essentially poisoned yourself due to the poor design or layout of your water supply and privy or septic system would not do you much good.
Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:
- Air and Gases in Water
Separating substances from liquids a hundred years ago was still a novel chore and not even as easy as a car insurance comparison is today.
Air and Gases in Water.-A considerable amount of air generally exists in water, and is taken up by the gills of fishes, assisting them to accomplish the proper aeration, or rather oxygenation, of their blood. The air usually mingled with water may be expelled by boiling, but is absorbed again if the boiled water is agitated with access of the atmosphere.
Now, that particular segment doesn’t make a great deal of sense in the grand sense of things, but it would appear that the author is trying to talk about the purification or the impurities that can be found or removed from water.
- Breathing
Breathing.–Respiration, or the act of breathing, consists of thealternate inspiration and expiration of air to and from the lungs; in the process of which the lungs themselves are almost passive managements, since their contraction expansion takes place by means of the muscles which surround the chest. The diaphragm or midriff, which, when at rest in the lungs empty, forms a beautiful dome to the abdominal cavity, becomes depressed during the inspiratory process, and presses the walls of the abdomen outward. At the same time the ribs become elevated, thus increasing the size of the chest. Thereupon the elastic lungs expand to occupy the entire space, whilst the current of air, in obedience to a well known physical law, rushes down the windpipe and enters the numerous air cells, the result of which is inspiration. In expiration the reverse of this takes place. We bend forward, draw the abdominal walls inward, press the diaphragm upward, whilst the ribs are pulled downward. All these acts simultaneously performed decrease the size of the chest, and force or expel the air from the lungs.
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This is another one of those segments where there are excessive number of comments, however the writing is actually fairly descriptive of the process. Today the commas are a distraction but the writing is pretty good here. It is not extremely technical nor does it get into many of the finer details of the inner workings of the lungs, but from the perspective of a person describing the breeding action of the lungs as observed from the movement of the chest this is pretty good.
Make no mistake at this point in time scientists had often studied the lungs of animals and sometimes even people in action without the obstruction of a skin or the chest cavity. Scientists almost two hundred years earlier had performed what would be considered today fairly brutal experiments on animals and dogs in particular to gain a working knowledge of the organs. Battle field physicians also received a great deal of experience in war time and this book series actually was first published during the time of the American Civil War.
- The Mosquito
The Mosquito.-the mosquito is a common carrier of yellow fever and malaria or “chills and fever” as it is sometime spoken of by the public. Malaria is caused by a tiny parasite which can only be seen by the microscope in the blood of man and the mosquito. It lives and multiplies in the blood of an individual suffering from the disease.
It definitely is interesting to see that they do have a pretty good understanding of what malaria was even though the microscope was still relatively new back at time of publication of this book. Just a short description of the potential of this little insect that causes people so many problems. Malaria medicine and running water have helped people get away from these critters. Many colonial settlers in Africa tended to locate themselves close to rivers and streams to be close to running water. This was a formula that worked in colder climates where mosquitos were not as dangerous, but in the tropics this put them in the danger zone for malaria. They literally settled in the mosquito breeding areas.
Well and running water deliver waters into the homes around the world from the ground to the faucet helped people move away from the proximity of these danger areas, but there are still many people stuck in the original settled areas.
