Danger in Farmhouses from Polluted Water.  -- Of course, the same conclusion holds good for country farmhouses or dwellings when, from motives of convenience, although there is space enough and to spare, but a short distance is interposed between the sides of the hole which is called the well, and which furnishes the drinking water, and the other hole nearby which is called the cesspit, and used as a receptacle for filthy, often poisonous, excrement.  Moreover, there are no doubt many instances where, owing to the inclination of beds of sand or gravel, strata of rock and so forth, impurities of these and other dangerous varieties may be carried, by underground currents, much further than the distances which have been mentioned as measured upon the surface of the earth area in other words, a cesspool on a hillside, 500 feet or more away from a well, may infect the water of the latter, if underground currents favor such contamination.

We have previously talked about the potential for typhoid and other contagions that can be carried by livestock and transmitted to humans.  Shielding the water supply both of people from animals and animals from people was known 100 years ago, but not always well documented unlike the dangers of mesothelioma or many other deadly situations that people could create themselves.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Giving up of Oxygen
  
  

  Before I begin this next section, I wanted to point out the title it has a most curious title. I can’t wait to figure learn what it might mean. It sounds as if someone might give up an addiction, however I believe that addiction was not understood 90 years ago as it is today. Although people did work to give up ‘vices’ that today are known to be addictive such as alcohol, tobacco, opiates and other items.
  

  Giving up of Oxygen. –the atmospheric air laden with its life-sustaining property, oxygen, having passed in to the lungs, gives up that vital element and receives in its place the carbonic acid gas, water, and other refuse materials which the blood is picked up in its journey through the body, and which are no longer fitted to circulate in the blood and preserve the vitality of the body. No tonic invigorates so well as a few, deep, full inspirations of pure, cold air.

  ________________

  well I didn’t expect what I received in that section. The last sentence though definitely sounds a little bit hokey. Older maybe invigorating, but that doesn’t certainly make it healthy. It just makes a cold.

  Oddly there are a few unscientific studies that have been circulated over the last decade or two that offer a contrarian exception that heat therapy might actually be good for a person that is sick. I suspect that the correct answer is that the body needs or prefers a stable temperature that is neither too hot nor too cold in order to remain healthy or regain health.

• The Pyloric Gate and The Liver
  
  

  The Pyloric Gate.  — At the smaller end the muscular fibers contract and form a gateway — the pylorus, as it is called — which carefully guards the exit from the stomach, and allows no food to escape until properly prepared.  The gastric blood vessels are seeing distributing themselves over the outer surface of the organ, thus ensuring its nutrition and repair.

  The Liver.  — The liver is the secreting organ by which the bile is formed.  It is situated on the right side below the diaphragm, and is of a reddish-brown color.  It is a regular in form, being convex on the upper surface, irregularly concave behind, very thin in front, and weighs about 4 pounds.  It is, therefore, seen to be the largest organ or gland in the body.  It is divided into two lobes, the right and the left, the former being by far the larger.  I’m turning the flap over, we see how intricately is arranged internally.

  ________

  It’s strange but there are only a few sections like this one where there are no bizarre items to report or identify.  It’s kind of a nice change of pace when the medical textbook reverts back to being a medical textbook.

  I’m sure some strange topic will come up to catch my attention soon and it’s not like topics today in real life don’t sometimes appear a little out of the ordinary.  I recently covered a reference to something known as tranquility diapers, which I believe is some reference to the peace of mind that a person suffering from incontinence, or IBD might experience after they utilize this particular product and start to live a more normalized life again. 

  In many ways it’s all a matter of perspective, my perspective of this old textbook is skewed significantly from the perspective of the initial writers and editors.  Like calculus problem I’m studying the derivative.  In this case the derivative can be measured by the span of time and change in knowledge .

• 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.