Hygiene: a manual of personal and public health (New Edition)

Vital Statistics is the science of numbers applied to the life-history of communities. Its significance is similar to that of the more recently coined word—Demography—though the...

(1) Some can only be propagated by _inoculation_—the introduction through an abraded surface of a minute quantity of the poison; as in glanders and hydrophobia. Others, again, _...

NITROGENOUS ANIMAL FOODS.—These are divided into two groups, the one containing gelatin, and the other all the proteid or albuminoid substances, which are taken in the flesh of...

=Properties of Water.=—When pure, water =is colourless=, or bluish when seen in large quantity. It should be quite =inodorous=. If, after keeping it for some time in a perfectly...

=The Removal of Impurities.=—In order that health may be maintained in any inhabited house, it is essential that the impurities produced by animal life should be removed. These...

=Properties of Alcohol.=—When a saccharine solution is subjected to the influence of warmth and moisture, and exposed to the air, it rapidly undergoes a process of =fermentation...

CONDIMENTS, ETC.—The name condiment is used in various senses by different writers. In its strictest sense it is a substance containing a volatile oil or ether, which may be tak...

The following formula enables many problems relating to ventilation to be solved. Let p = the amount of poison (carbonic acid) in every cubic foot of fresh air, viz. ·0004 cubic...

By disinfection is meant the destruction of the active cause of each infectious disease. A disinfectant is therefore synonymous with a _germicide_. Disinfectants must be disting...

The three last requisites have already received consideration. Of those still to be considered, =dryness= is the most important. A damp house is certain to be an unhealthy one....

5. The nature of a surface—its aspect, shelter, slope; the colour of the soil or rock, the reflection from rocks or sheets of water, and the influence of vegetation.

Different gases are also often associated, and so produce modified results. It will be convenient to consider, first of all, certain well-marked gaseous impurities, and then oth...

In most houses no special means of ventilation are provided, windows, doors and fire-places being trusted for ensuring a sufficient supply of fresh air. These do not suffice in...

=The Varieties of Soil.=—The following facts summarise what is regarded as the relative healthiness of various sites for dwellings. The differences between different sites may,...

OBJECTS OF COOKING.—Food may be taken in its crude condition, as directly derived from the animal or vegetable world, or after it has undergone a preparatory process of cooking....

=Uses of Water.=—Water is a prime necessity of life. In its absence life can only exist in lowly organised beings, and in them only in a dormant state. From a hygienic point of...

Consumption (also called _phthisis_ or _phthisis pulmonalis_) in the year 1899 caused a recorded death-rate of 1,336, and tubercular diseases of other parts of the body a death-...

=Parasites= (Greek, _para_, upon, and _siteo_, I feed), in the broadest sense of the word, are living organisms, which derive their nourishment from other living organisms. They...

=Physiological Considerations.=—The average temperature of the surface of the body in man is 98·4 to 98·6°. The maintenance of a tolerably uniform temperature is an essential co...

The importance of a duly proportioned and sufficient dietary is shown by its great influence on health and constitution. An ill-proportioned or deficient diet is certain to lead...

=Physiological and Physical Considerations.=—The warmth of our bodies is naturally kept up by the oxidation changes constantly going on in the system. In Chapter XL., p. 265, ar...

=Physiological Considerations.=—In the strict sense of the word, exercise signifies the performance of its functions by any part of the body; thus, digestion is exercise of the...

Many occupations are the source of considerable danger to the workers engaged in them. They are chiefly injurious by the inhalation into the lungs of some foreign agent, which p...

We are confident from the actual discovery of the micro-organisms causing certain infective diseases, that the other diseases of an analogous nature are similarly caused by livi...

(1) _The flesh of animals which have not been slaughtered_ should be prohibited from sale, whether death has resulted from accident or disease. The meat from diseased animals is...

The prevention of disease depends largely on a knowledge of its causes. Disease may be due to a personal life not in accordance with physiological laws; or to some cause or caus...

The refuse to be removed from a house consists of fouled water, which is at least equal in quantity to the water-supply of the house; the excreta of the inhabitants; and “dust,”...

Pure air being essential to life and health, it is important to ascertain the character and origin of the impurities of air. Innumerable substance—in the condition of gases, vap...

=The Amount of Air required.=—Ventilation is chiefly concerned with the removal of the products of respiration, just as sewage is chiefly concerned with the removal of the solid...

Tubes of two kinds open on the surface of the skin, penetrating at their deeper ends into the cutis, viz. sweat or _sudoriparous glands_ and _sebaceous glands_. The sudoriparous...

The Royal Meteorological Society recognises stations for the making and recording of observations of three kinds: (1) _Second Order Stations_, at which observations are taken tw...

When a public water-supply is provided, it may reasonably be expected to be furnished pure and fit for use; but this, occasionally is not so. The reports, for instance, of the c...

PHYSIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS.—All substances are foods which, after undergoing preparatory changes in the digestive organs (rendering them capable of absorption into the circula...

There are various methods of ascertaining the quality of the air in enclosed spaces, of which not the least useful is the information furnished by the _sense of smell_, on enter...

An abundant supply of fresh air is necessary at all times. And yet its importance is commonly ignored in practical life. Strenuous efforts are made to ensure a supply of food, a...

1. =Those Received at the Source.=—The character of water varies with the geological structures through which it has passed; with its origin from the subsoil or cultivated land,...

The terms =Sewer and Drain= are used somewhat confusedly. The term _drain_ should be used to designate the pipes bringing the sewage from the house into the street-sewer, or any...

The methods of storing and delivering water will vary with its source. In rural districts, deep wells and springs are the best sources of supply; but in large towns they are fou...

The water-carriage system of sewage is, as the late Dr. Parkes put it, “the cleanest, the readiest, the quickest, and in many cases the most inexpensive method.” But when the se...

=Constitution.=—Health may vary in degree without the presence of actual disease. This fact is expressed by the use of such terms as “perfect,” “strong,” “feeble,” “delicate,” i...

In this country walls of houses are usually built of brick, stone, timber, or concrete, of which the first two are the most important. Timber is, owing to its inflammability, on...

In addition to the artificial measures which will be discussed in the next chapter, various natural agencies are constantly at work for the removal of the impurities discussed i...

The common =domestic fly= (_Musca domestica_) is the unwelcome companion of man in nearly every country. The eggs are usually laid and the larvæ undergo their development in exc...

Lord Bacon said: He who builds a fair house upon an ill seat committeth himself to prison.” The first considerations, therefore, in choosing a house are those of aspect, surroun...

=Physiological Considerations.=—Life is made up of alternations of rest and action. The exercise of any organ is followed by a necessary period of repose, during which the oxidi...

=Ventilation by the Burning of Coal.= In winter and at any time of the year when the out-door temperature is below 50° Fahr., the warming and ventilation of a room are necessari...

In order to prevent deposit of solid matter, sewers should be constructed with a sufficient gradient, and of a shape which presents the least surface for friction in proportion...

In classical mythology, Æsculapius was worshipped as the god of Medicine, while his daughter Hygeia had homage done to her as the sweet and smiling goddess of Health. The temple...

The =removal of house refuse= constitutes an important part of municipal work. In most towns it is carried out weekly, sometimes less frequently, while in some towns removal twi...