The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1881-09-22

be due to summer travel and secondly to
the increased use of ice water. The lat
ter suggestion is supplemented by men
ton of an instance in which malarial te-
yer was induced by the use of impure wa
ter. Though the writer does not profess
to be an expert, what lie says is worthy
of attention
Admitting that the origin of malaria can not be
accurately determined, there two circumstances
in recent phases Of our social life that may in part
account for the greater prevalence of the fever
arising from it. Summer pleasuring is one of the
circumstances to which We refer A lmost every
body now travels in the summer months, or
changes his residence during that period The
seashore, the mountains, the valleys, are all crowd
ed with people from the cities and towns; and as
these people are unacclmated, as their habits are
not so judiciOus as those of permanent residents,
exposing themselves continually to night air and
hot suns, sickness becomes very common among
them Every physician in the large cities knows
how many families that have gone to spend the
| summer III the country return in September i'll
with fever. A great many eases of malaria that
have fallen under the writer's observation have
been contracted in this way. The stranger in any
section is naturally much more susceptible to local
influences than those who have always lived there,
and hence malarial fever may very naturally ap-
pear among strangers III places where it has
scarcely been known before. An observing coun-
| tryman once said to the writer ''We never get
fever and ague, but city people who come here are
continually falling sick with 1t They are fond Of
moonlight rides and moonlight sails and night air,
| everybody but city people knows is bad for the
health 1t is certain that fever is frequently con
| tracted by town people in country places, and it is
just possible that the apparent spread of malaria
may be largely due to this fact. A great many
people in the city of New York are suffering from
it, and we do not know case of malaria urIiug
in the older part OF the town that did not its
origin in the way we have mentioned
The other circumstance to which We referred is
the greatly increased use of ice water This will
probably strike many persons at first as simply
fantastic. but there are some good grounds for the
theory. Every one is aware OF the dlsagreeable
flavor of ice when melted, and has detected in it
the evident presence OF earthly matter. Frozen
wa er seems to hold particles OR substances which
do not obviously affect the taste when the water is
ice cold, but which become apparent as soon as
the temperature is heightened Whether this
earthly matter is unwholesome or not must depend
upon its character and this Is exclusively within
the province of the chemist to determine. We
wish simply to suggest the possibility that nala
rial poison may Turk in ice water in view of re
cent occurrence in England In 1879 a sanitary
commission was appointed by Parliament to in
quire into the water supply in many urban dis
trics Ill England Some significant facts We're
ELECTED by the commission. In little village in
orkshre the health of the inhabitants had al
ways been good, and especially free from zymotie
disease, until owing to a failure of the water sup
ply, the villagers forced to make use of the
ice which had collected on little stream on the
outskirts OF the village They melted the ice and
used it Tor drinking purposes. and shortly after
ward a low maaria fever became prevalent OF
| course, it can be said, that this probably due
to the character ofthe water in the stream, and Of
this fact the report does not speak We have had
instances in this country of sickness produced by
the use Of impure ice it needs. indeed no paria
mcntary rOlnmis siOn to convince that impure
ice is unwholesome. But the apprehension excited
by the report is that Zee supposed t" be pure may
contain the seeds Of N .ari poison