Part 148
The following table by Dr Frankland shows the amount of force which different foods yield when burned. The results agree very closely with those theoretically given by Playfair and others.
_Energy developed by one gramme, or one ounce of the following substances, when oxidised in the body._
+-----------+--------------+--------------- | | | 1 ounce will | | | equal foot-tons | Per | 1 gramme | of energy, or Name of Substance | cent. of | will equal | in other words, | Water | kil.-metres | would raise the | | of energy.| under-given | | | number of tons, | | | 1 foot high.[276] -------------------+-----------+--------------+----------------- Beef (lean) | 70·5 | 604 | 55·0 Veal (lean) | 70·9 | 496 | 45·3 Ham (lean, | | | boiled) | 54·4 | 711 | 64·9 Bread crumb | 44·0 | 910 | 83·0 Flour | ... | 1627 | 148·5 Ground rice | ... | 1591 | 145·3 Oatmeal | ... | 1665 | 152·0 Pea meal | ... | 1598 | 146·0 Potatoes | 73·0 | 422 | 38·5 Carrots | 86·0 | 220 | 20·0 Cabbage | 88·5 | 178 | 16·2 Butter | ... | 3077 | 280·9 Egg (white of) | 86·3 | 244 | 22·3 Egg (yolk) | 47·0 | 1400 | 127·0 Cheshire cheese | 24·0 | 1846 | 168·5 Arrowroot | ... | 1656 | 151·3 Milk | 87·0 | 266 | 24·3 Sugar (lump) | ... | 1418 | 129·5 Ale (Bass' bottled)| 88·4 | 328 | 30·0 Porter (Guinness' | | | stout) | 88·4 | 455 | 41·5 ----------------------------------------------------------------
[Footnote 276: The amount of work done is generally estimated in this country as so many lbs. or tons lifted 1 foot. In France it is expressed as so many kilogrammes lifted 1 metre,--and called 'the kilogrammemetre,' as above.]
"A table of this kind," says Dr Parkes, "is useful in showing what can be obtained from our food, but it must not be supposed that the value of food is in exact relation to the energy which it can furnish. In order that the force shall be obtained, the food must not only be digested and taken into the body properly prepared, but its energy must be developed in the place and in the manner proper for nutrition. The mere expression of potential energy cannot fix dietetic value, which may be dependent on conditions in the body unknown to us. For example, it is quite certain, from observation, that gelatin cannot take the place of albumen, though its potential energy is little inferior, and it is easily oxidised in the body. But, owing to some circumstances yet unknown, gelatin is chiefly destroyed in the blood and gland-cells, and its energy, therefore, has a different direction from that of albumen. So also of the potential energy, it is quite possible that all is not usefully employed. The tables of energy give broad indications, and can be used in a general statement of the value of a diet; but at present they do not throw light upon the intricacies of nutrition."
=ENFLURAGE.= See POMMADE.
=ENGRA''VING.= The art of producing designs or figures on metal, wood, &c., by incision or corrosion, usually for the purpose of being subsequently printed on paper, calico, or other materials. The mechanical operations of the engraver do not come within the province of this work. Several of the materials which he employs in his trade will, however, be found noticed under their respective heads.
There is this important difference between engraving on metal plates and wood-engraving: in the former all the lines and dots that are to print black are hollowed out with a graving-tool, or 'bitten in' by acid; in the latter all the parts that are to appear white in the impression are cut away, and the lines which produce the imprint are left on the face of the block.
Casts of wood-blocks, or 'stereos.' are often used instead of the original blocks when a great number of impressions is required. To produce them stucco moulds are prepared, and from these the casts in type metal are taken. The casts are usually about 1/8 in. thick, and have to be screwed upon wooden blocks to bring them to the height of the types which are printed with them. As soon as one cast is worn out another may be taken, and the original block is thus preserved in the state in which it left the engraver's hands.
For the reproduction of engraved metallic plates the ELECTROTYPE PROCESS is commonly employed. Woodcuts are also copied, though less frequently, by this process. The mode by which the postage-stamp plates are multiplied is as follows:--240 'queen's heads' or stamps (a pound's worth) are engraved on one steel plate. This plate is then hardened, and an impression of it taken on a softened steel roller. This roller, in its turn, is also hardened, and softened steel plates being passed under it, an impression precisely like that of the original plate is produced on each of them. These plates are then hardened and employed for printing the penny postage stamps for sale. They last a long time; and when they are worn out they are destroyed, and their place is supplied by fresh ones, which are produced by the cylinder before referred to, which continues ready to supply any number that may be required. Bank-note plates are reproduced in the same manner. See ELECTROTYPE, ETCHING, &c.
=Engravings, to Clean.= Place the engraving on a smooth board, and cover it thinly with finely powdered and very clean common salt. Next squeeze lemon-juice upon the salt so as to dissolve a considerable portion of it. Now elevate one end of the board so that it may form an angle of about forty-five or fifty degrees. Next pour on the engraving boiling water from a tea-kettle until all the salt and lemon-juice are washed off. The engraving will then be found to be perfectly clean and free from stains. Care must be taken to dry it on the board or on some smooth surface very gradually. It will acquire a yellow tint if dried by the sun or before a fire.
=Engravings, to Mount.= Strain thin calico on a frame, then carefully paste on it the engraving, so as to be free from creases; afterwards, and when dry, give the engraving two coats of thin size (made by putting a piece of glue the size of a small nut into a small cupful of hot water); finally, when this dries, varnish the engraving with a varnish known as 'white hard.'
=ENTERI'TIS.= See INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.
=ENTOZO'A.= Parasitic animals which infest the bodies of other animals. See WORMS.
=ENTRY, Powers of.= The Public Health Act thus defines the power of any local authority to enter into premises whereon a nuisance is supposed to exist; and the conditions under which this power is to be exercised.
"The local authority or their officer shall be admitted to any premises for the purpose of examining as to the existence of a nuisance thereon, or of enforcing the provisions of any Act in force within the district requiring fireplaces and furnaces to consume their own smoke at any time between the hours of nine in the forenoon and six in the afternoon, or in the case of a nuisance arising in respect of any business, then at any hour when such business is in progress or is usually carried on.
"Where under the Public Health Act a nuisance has been ascertained to exist, or an order of abatement or of prohibition has been made, the local authority or their officer shall be admitted from time to time into the premises between the hours aforesaid until the nuisance is abated or the works ordered to be done are completed, as the case may be.
"Where an order of abatement or prohibition has not been complied with or has been infringed, the local authority or their officer shall be admitted from time to time at all reasonable hours or at all hours during which business is in progress or is usually carried on into the premises where the nuisance exists, in order to abate or remove the same.
"If admission to premises for any of the purposes of this section is refused, any justice on complaint thereof on oath by any officer of the local authority (made after reasonable notice in writing of the intention to make the same has been given to the person having custody of the premises) may, by order under his hand, require the person having custody of the premises to admit the local authority or their officer into the premises during the hours aforesaid; and if no person having custody of the premises can be found, the justice shall, on oath made before him of that fact, by order under his hand, authorise the local authority or their officer to enter such premises during the hours aforesaid.
"Any order made by a justice for admission of the local authority or their officer on premises shall continue in force until the nuisance has been abated, or the work for which the entry was necessary has been done.
"Any person refusing to obey a justices' order for admission of the local authority or their officers is liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds. Power of entry at _reasonable times_ is given to the medical officers of health and inspector of nuisances to inspect food, &c. Penalty for obstruction, five pounds and under."
=ENURE'SIS.= See URINE.
=EPHESTIA ELETELLA--The Chocolate Moth.= The larvæ of this moth frequently cause serious damage to cocoa, flour, or biscuits when these are stored. Professor Huxley proposes to guard against the ravages of the insect by the adoption of the following precautions--
1. Have no cocoa stored in any place in which biscuits are manufactured.
2. Lead up all biscuit puncheons as soon as they are full of the freshly-baked biscuit.
3. Coat puncheons with tar after they are leaded up, or at least work lime-wash well into the joints and crevices.
4. Line the bread-rooms of the ships with tin, so that if the Ephestia has got into a puncheon it may not infest the rest of the ship.
5. If other means fail, expose the woodwork of puncheons to a heat of 200° F. for two hours, or they might be destroyed by driving into the puncheon a stream of carbonic oxide, and afterwards exposing it well to the air. Weevils in biscuit have frequently been exterminated by this method, and there appears to be no reason why this treatment should not be equally efficacious for getting rid of the larvæ of the _Ephestia Eletella_.
=EPHIAL'TES.= See NIGHTMARE.
=EPIDEM'IC.= Common to many people. In _pathology_, an epidemic disease (EPIDEMIC; EPIDEMY) is one which seizes a number of people at the same time and in the same place, but which is not dependent on any local cause, but on some extraordinary condition of the air. When a disease is peculiar to a people or nation, and appears to depend on local causes, it is said to be 'ENDEMIC' or 'ENCHORIAL,' Thus, Asiatic cholera may be taken as an example of the first, and the agues of low countries, and the goitre of the Alps, as examples of the other.
Epidemics may be divided into indigenous and exotic. Amongst the former may be included scarlet fever, measles, hooping-cough, influenza, typhoid; whilst the latter embrace such as are imported, viz. Asiatic cholera, plague, &c.
No year passes without the prevalence of an epidemic of one kind or the other in this country.
The following enactments for the prevention of epidemic diseases are now in force:--
"Whenever any part of England appears to be threatened with, or is affected by, any formidable epidemic, endemic, or infectious disease, the Local Government Board may make, and from time to time alter and revoke, regulations for all or any of the following purposes, viz.:--
"(1) For the speedy interment of the dead; and--
"(2) For house-to-house visitation; and--
"(3) For the provision of medical aid and accommodation, for the promotion of cleansing, ventilation, and disinfection, and for guarding against the spread of the disease;--
"and may by order declare all or any of the regulations so made to be in force within the whole or any part or parts of the district of any local authority, and to apply to any vessels as well as arms or parts of the sea within the jurisdiction of the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, or the Commissioners for executing the office of the Lord High Admiral for the time being, for the period in such order mentioned, and may by any subsequent order abridge or extend such period." (P. H., s. 134.)
"All such regulations, &c., made by the Local Government Board are to be published in the 'London Gazette,' and such publication is to be held as conclusive evidence." (P. H., s. 135.)
"The local authority of any district within which, or part of which, regulations so issued by the Local Government Board are declared to be in force, shall superintend and see to the execution thereof, and shall appoint and pay such medical or other officers or persons, and do and provide all such acts, matters, and things as may be necessary for mitigating any such disease, or for superintending or aiding in the execution of such regulations, or for executing the same, as the case may require. Moreover, the local authority may from time to time direct any prosecution or legal proceedings for or in respect of the wilful violation or neglect of any such regulation." (P. H., s. 136.)
"The local authority and their officers shall have power of entry on any premises or vessel for the purpose of executing or superintending the execution of any regulations so issued by the Local Government Board as aforesaid." (P. H., s. 137.)
"Whenever, in compliance with any regulation so issued by the Local Government Board as aforesaid, any poor-law medical officer performs any medical service on board any vessel, he shall be entitled to charge extra for such service, at the general rate of his allowance for services for the union or place for which he is appointed, and such charges shall be payable by the captain of such vessel on behalf of the owners thereof, together with any reasonable expenses for the treatment of the sick.
"Where such services are rendered by any medical practitioner who is not a poor-law medical officer, he shall be entitled to charges for any service rendered on board, with extra remuneration on account of distance, at the same rate as those which he is in the habit of receiving from private patients of the class of those attended and treated on shipboard, to be paid as aforesaid. In case of dispute in respect of such charges, such dispute may, where the charges do not exceed _twenty pounds_, be determined by a court of summary jurisdiction; and such court shall determine summarily the amount which is reasonable, according to the accustomed rate of charge within the place where the dispute arises for attendance on patients of the like class as those in respect of whom the charge is made." (P. H., s. 138.)
"The Local Government Board may, if they think fit, by order authorise or require any two or more local authorities to act together for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to prevention of epidemic diseases, and may prescribe the mode of such joint action, and of defraying the costs thereof." (P. H., s. 139.)
"Any person who--
"(1.) Wilfully violates any regulation so issued by the Local Government Board, as aforesaid; or,
"(2.) Wilfully obstructs any person acting under the authority or in the execution of any such regulation shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds." (P. H., s. 140.)
=EPIGAS'TRIC.= In _anatomy_, pertaining to the EPIGAS'TRIUM, or the part of the abdomen over the stomach.
=EPILEP'SY.= _Syn._ FALLING SICKNESS; EPILEPSIA, MORBUS CADUCUS, L. The popular name of this disease arises from the patient, when attacked by it, suddenly falling to the ground. The other leading symptoms consist of convulsions, stupor, and, generally, frothing at the mouth. It comes on by fits, which after a time go off, leaving a certain amount of lassitude and drowsiness behind. Sometimes certain peculiar symptoms precede the attack. Among these, a sensation of coldness or of a current of cold air from the extremities of the body towards the head (AURA EPILEPTICA), palpitation, flatulency, stupor, and an indescribable cloud or depression, are the most common. The occurrence of these symptoms are not, however, uniform, even in the same patient; but it generally happens that the party falls down suddenly, and without the slightest warning.
Epilepsy is often symptomatic of other affections, as excessive irritation of the primæ viæ from worms, indigestible or noxious food, or poison; or it depends on local injuries, particularly those of the head, accompanied with lodgments of water on the brain, tumours, pressure, &c. Violent affections of the nervous system, sudden frights or fits of passion, violent mental emotions, the sudden suppression of old evacuations, and, in childhood, difficult teething, are also common causes of sympathetic epilepsy. Occasionally it arises from mobility of the sensorium, induced by plethora, or by excessive debility. In such cases the treatment must be energetically directed to the removal of the exciting cause.
When epilepsy occurs as an idiopathic or primary affection, or when it cannot be referred to any apparent cause, more especially when the attack commences about the age of puberty, and the fits are frequent, it is generally hereditary, and there is great danger of its terminating either in apoplexy, or lunacy, or imbecility.
The treatment of idiopathic epilepsy is principally directed to the improvement of the general health, and the diminution of nervous irritability by sedatives and tonics. Among the first, camphor, ether, henbane, hemlock, musk, oil of cajeput, opium, and morphia, and, more recently, hydrocyanic acid, have been principally relied on. Among the second, bark, cascarilla, quinine, strychnia, valerian, the sulphate of iron, zinc, and copper, arsenious acid, and nitrate of silver, have each their zealous advocates. The objection against the last preparation is the danger of its disfiguring the patient, by tinging the skin of a permanent dull, leaden hue. In cases accompanied with plethora, a low diet, daily out-of-door exercise, and the frequent use of aperients, with occasional blistering, cupping, and other depletive measures, are indicated; whilst in those marked by inanition and debility, an entirely opposite course must be adopted. When the disease is complicated with syphilis, a mild course of mercury may be given; and when with scrofula, iodine, iodide of potassium, or cod-liver oil, assisted by sea-bathing, will be proper.
Among other methods of treatment may be mentioned the administration of an active emetic or purgative, twice weekly, in the morning, when the stomach is empty. The first has now few supporters; but the second is said to be often productive of great benefit.
During a fit of epilepsy the only thing that can be done for the patient is to prevent the sufferer injuring himself, and to loosen every part of his dress that presses on his head, neck, or chest. When premonitory symptoms occur, a brisk emetic, a large dose of laudanum and ether, a cold plunge or shower bath (when not contra-indicated), or anything else which gives a sudden shock to the system or raises its tone, frequently prevents the accession of the fit.
Epilepsy more commonly attacks children than adults, and boys than girls. "Its returns are frequently periodical, and its paroxysms commence more frequently in the night than in the day, being somewhat connected with sleep. It is sometimes counterfeited by street impostors in order to excite the charity of the passers-by.
_For Animals._ All animals are subject to attacks of epilepsy, more particularly dogs and pigs. The animal seized with the fit loses the senses of sight and hearing, and falling down exhibits the same symptoms as those which accompany the disease in human beings. Cattle, although they bellow greatly during an attack, rarely die from it; but it not infrequently suffocates dogs, and is in them a not unusual cause of sudden death. The fit, which lasts from ten to fifty minutes, when it passes off, leaves the animal dull, and is apt to return. Epileptic fits are a frequent accompaniment of distemper in dogs. They are often induced in cattle by tough and indigestible food, and in these as well as in dogs, by intestinal worms. Hot weather and excitement, especially in dogs, are a frequent cause of an epileptic fit. By energetic treatment after the first attack the further course of the malady may often be arrested. The best treatment is to give, when the fit is over, a brisk purge, with an ounce of oil of turpentine in horses or cattle, and twenty to forty drops in dogs. If the disease is caused by worms give the medicines ordered in such cases.
=EPISPAS'TICS.= See BLISTER and VESICANT.
=EP'ITHEM.= _Syn._ EPITHEMA, L. Any external liquid medicine for local application; as an embrocation or lotion. Some writers confine the term to those preparations which are intended to be applied by means of a cloth dipped into them. See LINIMENT, LOTION, &c.
=Epithem, Astrin''gent.= _Syn._ EPITHEMA ASTRINGENS, L. _Prep._ 1. Powdered ice, 7 dr.; powdered catechu, 1 dr.; mix.
2. (Brera.) Powdered bole and rhatany, of each 1 oz.; vinegar of roses, q. s. to form a paste. Both are applied to the nostrils and forehead to stop bleeding at the nose.
=Epithem, Gly''cerin.= _Syn._ EPITHEMA GLYCERINÆ, L. _Prep._ (Mr Startin.) Glycerin, 1 oz.; rose water and lime water, of each 3 or 4 fl. oz.; powdered gum tragacanth, q. s. to form a thin mucilage. In scalds, burns, and excoriations.
=Epithem, Vermifuge.= _Syn._ EPITHEMA VERMIFUGUM, L. (Hoffmann). Wormwood and centaury, beaten up with aloes and colocynth, and applied over the belly.
=Epithem, Vesica'ting.= _Syn._ EPITHEMA VESICATORIUM, L. _Prep._ 1. (Alibert.) Rye or barley meal, made into a paste with vinegar, and 30 to 40 gr. or more of powdered Spanish flies sprinkled over the surface.
2. (Ph. L. 1746.) Spanish flies (in fine powder) and wheat flour, equal parts, made into paste with vinegar, q. s. As a blister.
=Epithem, Vol'atile.= _Syn._ EPITHEMA VOLATILE, E. AMMONIÆ, L. _Prep._ (Ph. L. 1764.) Common turpentine and water of ammonia, equal parts. An excellent counter-irritant; either with or without the addition of a little olive oil.
=EPIZOOTIC DISEASES.= These are diseases which attack different species of domestic animals in the same manner that epidemics do man. These maladies ravage large tracts of country, frequently causing great mortality amongst the various animals inhabiting the localities visited by them; different animals being assailed by different forms of epizootic disease.
For instance, there is the rinderpest, or plague peculiar to cattle, the typhoid or gastric fever which prevailed so largely amongst horses in this country in 1854, and 1861 and 1862; the smallpox of sheep; the diphtheria affecting oxen, sheep, goats, and pigs; the influenza of horses, and the charbon of pigs. Dogs, cats, tame and wild birds, fish,[277] silkworms and bees, each suffers from a special variety of epizootic disease.