Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1909-01-08
;. ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE AND VIRGINIA ADVERTIZER.
alexandria 6azette.
FRIDAY EVENING, JAN. s. 1902.
THE SoAPLESS AGE.
Health With Neither Sanitation Nor
Rational Medicine.

RNhbn1A NANNiN'fta
Soap was unknown to the classic
oil age both in Greece and Rome,
saws the New York Medical Jour
nal. Pliny mentions a compound
which he cnlls "sapo," made by the
Gauls and Germans, and the ingre-
dents that entered into it, He also
informs us that it was more used
by the men among the latter than
by the women 1t appears, however,
to have been q pOmade for the
hair rather than a soap. Whether
the term is Celtic or Teutonic we
do not positively know, probably
the latter. That the word was later
borrowed by the Greeks from the
Romans appears certain from the
name "sapon," still in common use
among them. The name eventual
ly was adopted by most of the peo-
pie Of Europe, the Turks calling
this article so much in demand In
our day "sabun" and the Firms
"saippio." In its stead the ancient
Greeks used flesh scrapers. These
were so highly esteemed that they
were sometimes made of gold and
given as prizes in athletic contests.
Herein we see how mems ideas OF
the fitness of things change with
the people and the age. Nowadays
one would hardly commend himself
to a friend or an acquaintance by
the gift of a cake of soap or comb.
This can, however, not be said OF
Athens. The mortality does not
seem to have been much greater
than It is in our own day. Five
hund' I'd years before Christ the
ave age of human life was reckoned
az about thirty-three years. We are
often astonished at the enormous
population assigned to some coun-
tries. There were few large cities
in the modern sense of the term.
AS the houses were seldom more
than two stories in height, the pop
ulation cannot have been very
dense. In Athens the reputable wO-
men seldom went out of doors. The
men spent most of their time in the
open air. What effect occasional
overcrowding produced may be
seen from the description of the
terrible plague in Athens near the
end of the fifth century B. C., as
given by Thucydides, when the sur
rounding population was driven
into the capital by the exigencies
of war. AS the countries Of which
we know most we're grouped around
the Mediterranean sea, where the
climate is mild, outdoor life occa-
stoned no discomfort, to say moth
ing Of habit. In some parts OF
Italy whole families still live in
caves. In Spanish cities the tourist
who is out late at night is surprised
TO find the streets Uttered with per-
sons lying asleep. To the natives
it is the most natural thing in the
world. The population Of China is
evidence that filth is not incompati-
BILE with an exceptionally large
number Of inhabitants to the
square mile, notwithstanding the
prevalence Of infanticide. The
writers who have made the most
careful study of the economic con-
dition Of France have reached the
conclusion that the population Of
the country at the close of the mid
die ages was as great as it is now,
It was, however, fearfully cut down
by the Hundred Years war and the
plague. Yet during all this period
there was no rational practice of
medicine. Until quite recently most
of the villages Of continental Eu-
rope were without resident physi-
clan. Such is still the case in many
parts Of the world that are reckon
ed civilized.
While nobody doubts that med
ical practice fills an important want
in modern civilization, there is no
question that it is largely due to
civilization that the want exists.