The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-14

Nt~I ence is playing havoc
with many of the cherished beliefs of the
last generation. Few things are more gem
orally accepted than the causative connec-
ton between dampness of air and soil and
the prevalence of rheumatic fever; yet DIR.
Newsholme, an English physician, now
states before the Royal College of Physi-
clans that dampness has nothing to do
with it. There is, doubtless, rheuma-
tism, a painful condition of Joints, liga-
ments and tendons which is extremely sus-
ceptible to damp. There are hobbling old
men who, by virtue of their malady, become
trusty village storm signals, ana their NAL
ady is rheumatism; but that is a very diff
ferent thing from rheumatic fever. This
disease is found to vary more or less in
versely with the rainfall; and comparing
the yearly and quarterly local rainfalls
with the incidence of rheumatic fever, as
shown by hospital statistics, it is noted
that a heavy rainfall is usually associated
with a low amount and light rainfall
with an excessive amount of the disease
although no exact proportion was observed
between them. Even more at variance
with what has been so commonly ac-
cepted were the results of observations in
regard to the relation between the level
of the ground-water and the prevalence of
the disease. The theory of dampness
would lead one to expect greater preva-
lence of rheumatism at times when the
subsoil water approached nearer to the
surface of the ground. Just the opposite
is the case Although the lowering of the
ground-water is not always accompanied
by a rise in the rheumatism curve" it
has constantly been remarked that an ex-
cessiye prevalence never occurs when the
ground-water is high. Another novelty is
the theory that rheumatic fever comes in
epidemics, analogous to those of infectious
diseases. 1t is, indeed, probable that the
fever is, like them an infective disease
not necessarily infective directly from man
to man, but by way of the house, or the
soil, or the surroundings, and that among
the conditions favorable to its spread is
that state of soil which accompanies a
prolonged lowering of the ground-water-
in other words, the exposure to air of a
subsoil usually lying in water. The gist
of Dr. Newsholme's structures is that
rheumatic fever is a ground air disease,
and that much more care should be taken
than is commonly done in the construc-
ton Of houses to prevent the ground air
being drawn into our dwellings.
SHOULD CHIMNEYs "RocK"? - English
builders have been trying to solve theques-
ton, should lofty stacks rock?" A large
stack was blown down during gale and
five people were killed. The builder of the
chimney had made the remark while it
was in course of construction that it was
one of the finest square chimneys he had
ever put up. The inquest showed that the
chimney was struck broadside and the
wind pressure was equal to 216 pounds to
the square yard. If the wind had been
blowing against the angle the accident, in
all probability, would not have happened.
The engineering ultimatum on the discus
sion arising out of the question is that a
square chimney with a square foundation
is utterly wrong in principle, for while the
fiat side offers much greater resistance to
the wind than a corner would, the founda-
ton gives least support to the structure
when the wind acts on the side; on the
other hand, if the wind acts upon a corner
presenting the least resistance, the founda-
ton provides the greatest amount of sta
bility. A round chimney, with q round
base and circular foundation, is claimed to
be the only legitimate form of structure.
and, incidentally, it is the cheapest. This
case has reopened the old controversy.
Some hold that the swaying of the lofty
structure from its base is an essential con-
dition of safety, while others contend that
every time chimney rocks the mortar is
loosened; that the loosening of the mortar
leuS tne wet lHIO bHe luterStlceS, ana JnaI
these swell with the frost and thus gener7
ally weaken the whole structure. There is
a strong tendency among builders to the
belief that rocking is delusion, and a
dangerous one, and most manufacturers
now prefer chimneys which are so stanch
as to have no swaying motion.
INTERPLANETARY OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
fists who have been welded to the theory
that we shall one day be able to commune
ate between one planet and another must