• How to Destroy Existing Mosquitoes
  
  

  How to Destroy Existing Mosquitoes.-Kill every mosquito seen about the house. Every mosquito killed in the winter or spring will lessen the number of mosquitoes in the summer by thousands. Use a paddle, made of an oblong sheet of wire gauze tacked on to a strip of wood, to serve as a handle, to kill both the fly and mosquito whenever seen. One of the best means of killing female mosquitoes (as they survive from one season to another) is to begin in the winter or early spring to fumigate the air with the following mixture :—Equal parts (by weight) of carbolic acid crystals and gum camphor. Liquify the carbolic acid crystals by gentle heat, break up gum. camphor into small pieces and then pour the liquid acid slowly over the camphor. The acid will dissolve the camphor completely and the solution formed is permanent and will evaporate slightly at ordinary temperatures.
  

  This may be one of the early books on the fight to attack mosquitoes and malaria.

  To fumigate a tightly sealed room, three ounces of this liquid will suffice for 1000 cubic feet of air space. Place it in a tin over an alcohol or other lamp and in addition place the lamp on a tin waiter or old pie plate, heat and it will require about one half hour to evaporate these three ounces of liquid. This solution is death to the mosquitoes and flies. It is not poisonous to man and is not destructive to fabrics and materials, furniture, etc. It is not explosive, but is inflammable and precaution should be taken to prevent fire. Mosquitoes found upon the ceilings of bedrooms in the evening may be quickly killed by taking a shallow tin cup or lip of a tin can, tacking it to a stick and then fill it with kerosene. Place quietly under the resting mosquito which either falls into or flies against the oil and is killed. Burn Chinese punk and mosquitoes will be driven away temporarily. Equal parts of olive oil and oil of citronella applied every half hour or so to the skin of the face, neck, hands and ankles will keep away mosquitoes. This method is useful to farmers, hunters, lumbermen or laborers about woods, swamps, etc., where mosquitoes are an annoying and disease carrying pest.

• Health
  
  

  Health.-Disease can be prevented by the individual doing everything in his power to keep in the best physical condition.  Disease is a common enemy of all of us, waiting to destroy, but nature is in league with us if we obey her laws.  With a normal body and pureblood should the invader arrived, the fight is on our side.  But once the body is weakened by heredity as a result of our parent’s or forefather’s neglect of the body, through the abuse of alcohol, tobacco or immoral living, lack of exercise, over eating and loss of sleep, overworked or lack of work or improper food, then will the soil be fertile for the planting of the germs of disease.  When exposed and once planted the flight will be in their favor, as the rundown body will not have sufficient vitality to overcome the invader and sickness and death will result.

  Its an interesting perspective that the author offers up about the abuse of alcohol and its impact on babies.  This is something that is well documented today with fetal alcohol syndrome, but somewhat remarkable that they made the link 100 years ago.

  Its remarkable, but it might also point to the direction of science and how unsubstantiated beliefs of 100 years ago, pushed the logical research in one direction or another.  Hypothesis followed by experiment to result in a proven rule or dismissal or refinement of the hypothesis.  But it requires that first notion and direction to research.  Similar things can be seen in the evolution of other areas of science from airplanes to vacuum cleaners and Ladybug steam cleaners.

• Distilled Water
  
  

  Distilled Water. At the present day, most sea-going vessels are provided with apparatus for distilling the water of the ocean, and so producing a pure and wholesome but insipid water, which can be rendered, however, more palatable by agitation with plenty of fresh air. Hence, the horrible agony of death by thirst among sailors is now much less frequent than formerly, although mariners in open boats, or cast upon small uninhabited islands, still sometimes scan with anxious eyes the briny waste around them, beholding
  

  “Water, water every where, but not a drop to drink.”

  —

  This article tells me something that I had never heard of before as they mention that sea going vessels at the turn of the last century had water distilling devices that they could use to generate water.  Today, we tend to think of swimming pools and home theater seating and tennis and buffets.  Definitely a difference in culture and technology and what you can do with it all.

Dangers in Snow Water.  -- snow water, pure and fresh as it seems may be very dangerous to health and consequence of organic impurities contained in it.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Sea-Water
  
  

  Sea-Water.-Sea-water varies considerably in composition, being, of course, more concentrated, as a rule, in the tropical regions, where evaporation is most active, such, for example, as in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean near the equator. According to analysis, the water in the English Channel contains in 1000 parts‑

  Chloride of Sodium 28.05

  Chloride of Magnesium…………………….. 3.66

  Sulphate of Magnesia 2.29

  Sulphate of Lime ……………………………. 1.40

  Other Saline Materials ……………………….. .76

  Total Solid Matter…………………….. 36. 16

  Besides these, and perhaps contributing largely to the healthful qualities of sea-water, there exist in the ocean small quantities of iodine and bromide, and extremely minute amounts of some of the common metals. It has been found that, by dissolving a little common salt and carbonate of soda, lime and magnesia in distilled sea-water, its taste is rendered much more agreeable; and this plan, it is said, is adopted in the Russian navy.

  – - –

  As in the last section where they talk about distilling sea water for drinking on ships, this talks about some of the other materials that can be extracted during the distillation process.  With the exception of salt extraction some of these other materials don’t seem terribly practical.  Times do change however, and if water is extracted every bit of material that comes with it has to go somewhere whether it can be sold in bulk for mass production of vitamins or horse supplements or what ever. 

• 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.

• The Famous London Pump – John Snow reference in Book of Medicine
  
  

  The Famous London Pump. — at any rate, the Broad Street pump had in London the reputation of furnishing, and it’s cold sparkling waters, a better medium for "the cup which cheers but does not inebriate," then was elsewhere to be found. When the cholera invaded this neighborhood the wealthy residents retired to the fashionable suburbs which were still uninfected; but, to the surprise of many, the cholera broke out among them with terrible severity. The health officers soon discovered, however, that those who were attacked had sent and every day to their favorite Broad Street pump for their water supply, and, by removing the pump handle, they quickly put an end to the epidemic.

  It’s interesting to note that this particular paragraph describes a rather famous historical incident that did occur in London and marked the discovery of cholera by John Snow, who was responsible for removing that pump handle, as well as plotting the progression of the disease as it broke out throughout London.

  The discussion and precautions offered throughout this section would have been as practical as a person offering advice today providing tips to buy car insurance online. In the west we do not hear about this disease as often as they did 100 years ago in America or Europe for that matter, but in the east and developing areas of the world that have not upgraded their water plants (or installed water plants and sewage treatment at all) this is still a very real issue.