The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-08-29
MIDSUMMER MORTALITY.
Relation Between "summsr Conn
piaint'' and the ERECT orHot Wealth
er Upon Foods and Drinks,


(From the London Standard.)
The Thermometer In London recently
registered no less than 81 degrees In the
shade-the highest point recorded this
year. /. The unusual heat has .already De-
gun TO produce marked effect ON the
public health. The Registrar Generals
returns show a distinct, though not large.
rise in mortality for the gseat towns.
This IL not due to any increase of infec-
tious disease, but rather to what are
called "summer complaints" which
chiefly Affect children. It may be said
generally that high temperatures are tho
enemy Of the young, and low tempsra-
lures Of the old. The ttime-honored say
insg that extremes are bad is especially
true Of tho weather. But though the
broad fact 10 plain enough, and In
sense intelligible to overy one, II Is not SO
easyto say why extremes should have
suoh fatal effect, and especially why hot
weather should kill young people. 1t
touches them In a weak spot. no doubt,
for IN children the digestive tract is noto-
riously sensitive and irritable. Il is very
readily thrown out Of gear and becomes
liable to pass Into an In fiammatory con-
dition on the smallest ,provocation. Does
hot weather, then, act by increasing the
liability or by furnishing greater provoca-
tionf The latter Is the generally accepted
explanation.
The Summer Is the fruit season, and
children are very fond of fruit. More
over, fruit Is not always--one might soy
1t Is very seldom--in the right condition;
It Is apt TO be unierrtpe or overripe. and
both states are, :conceivahly, very tad for
the human interior, though the tact can.
not be said to have ever been proved.
There is, however, rather too much as
sumption about the great fruit theory to
be altogethr satisfactory when 1t Is ex-
amined In the light of asoertained facts.
In the first place, there Is fruit at times
and seaons when the par tleular summer
illnessss.of children do not greatly preyail
namely. in-early summer. in sthe au-
tumn, and In cold seasons; and 1t is pre-
cisely at such times that the fruit is most
likely to be unripe, and therefore, more
indigestIble. In the second place, the
great stress OF summer mortality falls
upon infants, who eat little or no fruit.
Other reasons might be adduced fits
doubling the Injurious influence COM
monty assigned to this nrtioIa of diet bnt'
the foregoing will suffice. There Is q
good deal more In the suggestion that
many things 60 eat and drink become I'M
mentation and similar processes. Here
the Indispensable miorobe comes in. Bac-
terial life in general is generated rapid
ly under conditions OF warmth, and
Investigation would probably reveal an
enormous increase In the rate of muitipli.
cation among various micro-organisms
commonly existing In foods and In tine
air.
Milk, which is always swarming with
bacteria, turns sour very quickly. as we
know, In hot weather. This means in
creased activity of bacterial life, and
would, by itself, go long way to ac-
count for the special prevalence of in
fRntile diarrhoea. Whether the micro
organisms produce their malign effects by
mere excess OF mum bers, or whether they
ia keSsome more poisonous properties un-
der such conditions, must for the present
be matter OF conjecture. The moral is
obvious enough. First, treat ali food
with the most scrupulons cleanliness; put
it IN this oven or saucepan If IL Is not be-
yond suspicion; keep all vessels clean and
scald ed out. Secondly, be careful to give
children no milk or tainted meat OF
course coed housewives, mothers aud
nurses do.all these things and, under
their regime summer diarrhosa seldom
makes its appearance In O serious form.
Much can be done in the house, and 1t
10 gratifying to. note that the measures for
insurinR public cleanliness embodied In
our. elaborate and costly sanitary systsm
appear to be exercising a very real effect
In this as in other matters OF health. In
spite OF the hot weather and consequent
increase Of Illness alluded to, the death
rates in our great towns remain remarka-
bly, low, and show great improvement
on past years. In London last week the
deaths we're 23l below the average of the
last ten years, aud though thoss from
diarrhoea rose from twenty eight to sew
enty five, the latter figure was actually
ninety-eight below the average for the
same period.