The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1888-06-29


boards OF health held in Cincinnati last
May decided, after comparison Of expert
ences and observation, that typhoid fever
and cholera could be, and doubtless often
were, communicated by the dejecta Of
those affected Herewith being scattered
along the railroad track and carried into
tho water courses, and II was suggested
that railroad officials could greatly rein
force the work OF the various health orgah-
izations by using closed aud movable re-
ceptacle for their closets, and at given
places replacing the one used by
clean one, the contents 10 be burned.
The winter cholera" OF Minneapolis
which prevailed hast winter was attributed
by a local physician lin the Medical IHorid)
TO catarrhal condition OF the stomach
and bowels, probably produced by the at
mospheric changes, that condition being
aggravated by the improper and pernicious
water supplys rs well as the noxious
effluvia emanating from the frozen con-
duits, shallow, OVERLOOKING vaults and bad
sanitary condition Of the city generally.
The Mississippi river, from whence Minne-
apolis takes its supply Of water, is q hot
bed OF organic rottenness and decay, in
winter confined beneath mass Of ice sew
erai feet in thickness, only 70 be dealt out
in the water 1t contaminates wholesale
through the mains to hundreds Of families
who drink-and die" The State board OF
health OF Wisconsin attributed the typhoid
fever epidemic at Waterford, in that State,
last winter to filth storage in cess pools
in close proximity to wells and
cisterns, and consequent pollution Of the
water. The health officer Of Syracuse,
N. Y, an otherwise delightful city,
reports the sewerage to be in crude state,
ali the sewers emptying into a creek which
runs directly through the city, and subject
to the constant retention OF sewage in q
state ot putrefaction; cess-pools and privy-
vaults are still numerous and foul. and
there are yet many wells-not one OF which
Is there that Is not probably polluted wi
sewage-still in use for drinking wateS
promoting sickness and increasing tho2
death rate, despite the utmost efforts OF
the health service. The cities OF Newark
and Jersey City suffer from an increased
death rate due to the water supply from
the Passaic river, which is OF increasing
impurity, in proportion with the increase
OF the amount OF sewage discharged into II
above the intake, and measurably accounts
for the large proportion OF deaths from filth
diseases, particularly typhoid fever. New
York City complains Of the pollution OF the
Croton river from which Il procures Its
water supply, and Cincinnati suffered last
winter from typoid fever, the result Of the
water from the Ohio, polluted by sewage
flowing from n sewer but little way above
the water intake. II is hard TO cell what
one is drinking in water from polluted
wells. cistcrns and rivers. Tn eggs OF the
tenia echinococus, n terrible parasite do
rived from dogs, and therefore more or
less injecting all waters to which dogs have
access. is the most recently developed
horror. II appears TO have an unequalled
facility OF passage 10 all parts OF the human
system. The New York Medical Journal
quotes from German publication the par
ticulars OF u case in which the eye was
thrust out OF its socket by an echinoc-
occus cyst in the rear, discovered
by surgical exploration and extracted.
Pure water is OF the first importance TO
health and life, but pure water cannot be
had from a contaminated and filth satu-
rated soil like that complained OF BY the
health commissioner Of Rock Island, ILL.,,
who said in 4 recent report, that previous
10 and ut the time his department was or
ganized. disease prevailed 10 an alarming
cxtent. The city was nitby, and on damp
nights the earth exhalcd the poison with
which its thousands OF vaults were filed,
Good citizens left US, he says, ''becausa.
they had 20 much sickness; the tray0
public avoided us for fear they would get \
sick; work at our manufacturing establish
ments and shops was constantly being In
teriered with ON account OF the sickness Of
the men. The United States engineer
corps left US on account OF the unhealth-
fulnezs Of the city, and ourdeath rate wasas
high ~ any published report OF any city
anywhere In Rock Island, a. every
where else. what was eyerybody's bus
mess was nobody's. Without
board Of health there was no organized
plan Of sanitary work and every house.
holder suited himself as 10 the disposal OF
filth, most Of them satisfying themselves
with surface cleanliness, forgetting the filth
vault, the undrained lots, the damp cell
lars and polluted water, and the livery and
private stables wreaking with stencil and
disease. What these last are capable OF
let Kleba, Fcrrand and Tcssier, the well
known experts, tell. From direct obserya-
ton they show that manure heaps play a
considerable part In propagaiing diphthc-
ria. An army surgeon, NJ. Longuet has
collected the following facts lSdniiary
Record, London, Eng, January, 1851:
In the French army the deaths from diph-
iberia In tho cavalry regiments arc treble
thoso In the infantry. II Is most prevalent
| In the cavalry barracks In Paris, which are
In tho vicinity Of stables belonging 10 tho
Paris Omnibus company, and Of largo
depot for manure. In tho German army
The proportion Of cases Of diphthcria
among the cavalry, as compared with tho
| infantry. IA the same m In the French
army. In IN, Austro-H Hungarian army
cases OF diphtheria are rare, but they occur
principally among the cavalry regimenu
sAxrrATIox ny yfRK-
What, you will AJAX, u the safest means
| Of escape from all these sources OF disease.
answer Gro. II N the only SURF mcanS
Tho atmosphere purifies itself BY diflusiop,l
heat, cold, the driving force Of the via
the lall Of rain and discharges Of electricity. 4
but water cannot, II 10 now known, be
purified In streams running over gravel
and sand. The earth swcas and throws
OF the poison Of the filth II cannot digest
OF a1imilaic, and man tails prey 10 tho
nasty civilizations Darwin and, lnisr.
| Pasicur have demonstrated beyond qucs-
ton the danger Of dcpositing animal mat
tor In the earth. Tho experiments OF tho
latter show that splenlc lever, which IL
propagated by n specific germ cmanating
irom the dead bodies Of animals victims OF
this disease, u renewed and spread by
thcse germs bcing brought 10 The surface
through tho labor Of earth worms. Many
instances are on record Of cpidcmics OF
a. L..