Impure Ice As a Cause of Diarrhea. -- the fact that ice is now used by almost all classes to an extent which entitles it to rank rather as a necessity than, as formally, as a luxury of life, renders it important that its purity should be is jealously guarded as the water supply. It is popularly believed that water freeze itself from dangerous organic matter, as it does to a great degree from certain saline contaminations during the process of freezing, and also that the vegetable or animal germs of typhoid and other fevers are killed, or at least rendered sterile, by congelation of the water in which they exist. Both these ideas are, however, unquestionably running us, as has been repeatedly proved by the various experiments which ignorant hotel keepers try without the least intending it, upon their guests, on a scale which would have the oldest vivisector stand aghast before the suffering inflicted, even if it were only upon the brutes which form the subjects of his researches.
Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:
- Diet Pill Support Groups
Here is an interesting concept. You have probably heard of weight watchers which brings people together in a support group like setting and teaches them to assign points to the food they eat.
The PhenForum is a support group for women that use Phentermine diet pills. They can come together and share their views and lessons learned about dieting, losing weight and diet pills.
Unlike Weight Watchers that is one part support and one part dietary education, the PhenForum mixes support group methods with the power of diet drugs. Many times people receive a prescription for a long term drug and do not get to share notes with other patients. They are completely at the mercy of their doctor.
That’s not entirely bad, but sometimes it helps to see how the drug is impacting, helping or hurting other people. In this regard the PhenForum provides a useful social setting where people taking this prescription drug can share knowledge about their conditions as well as the drugs they are taking to alleviate that condition and lose weight.
- A Case of Impure Ice Poison
A Case of Impure Ice Poison. — such was notably the case in an epidemic of intestinal disorder which occurred at the watering place of Rye Beach N. H. from the account of Dr. Nichols, who attended most of the patients, it seems that, early in the season, a mild form of disturbance of the stomach and bowels made its appearance among the guests of a particular hotel at his favorite summer resort. The symptoms were in general penis, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea and severe abdominal pain, accompanied by fever, loss of appetite and mental depression. The well and drainage system of the establishment, which had recently been put in complete water, was found almost faultless, and the milk supply of unquestionable purity; but on the attention of the physician being directed to the stock of ice provided for the guests, conclusive proof of its dangers quality was promptly obtained.
- 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.
