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THE RELATION OF BODILY MUTILATIONS TO LONGEVITY.
539 these acids are combined with potash and hence a free diet the war up to 1890 5621 soldiers died out of the original of fruit preserves a healthy alkaline condition of the blood 13,052, or 431 per 1000. In the first five years the percentage .and there is consequently a reduced tendency to the was, as we have said, nearly 22. In the last it was only 7 ’58 depositing of acids in the tissues. Peaches and that of those alive in 1885. As regards abdominal sections, Dr. .delicious and delicately flavoured fruit the nectarine Homans says that they all increase risk to life, principally on - contain quite a small quantity of sugar and this, coupled account of the chance of ventral hernia at one time or with the fact of the tenderness of their pulp, makes another setting in, but removal of small portions of the them suitable for the gouty and diabetic. There can be bowels is, he thinks, not likely to shorten life. Dr. Homans has raised a very interesting point and one which might be no doubt that the juice of sound ripe fruit is an ideal means of assuaging the intense thirst of hot weather- further studied with advantage.
.cooling, refreshing, and of an agreeable flavour. It is a .common experience that the more a person drinks to satisfy the demands of thirst in hot weather the worse he feels. The temptation is to gulp down huge quantities of fluid with the result that excessive perspiration sets in .and a very uncomfortable and unrelieved feeling follows. On the other hand, a judicious amount of sound, ripe, juicy fruit, whilst containing all the water necessary to assuage thirst, would lead to no such distress and would exercise other ’healthy effects on the bodily functions.
THE RELATION OF BODILY MUTILATIONS TO LONGEVITY. IN the Boston Medical and 9uricl Journal of August 8th Dr. John Homans of Boston has an interesting article ’upon the subject of the Relation of Bodily Mutilations to Longevity. Dr. Romans is the medical director of the New .England Mutual Insurance Life Company and so he writes from one point of view as an expert. But, so he says, there is but little known about the subject and, so far as he knows, ’there are no statistics on the matter. The only figures which are illustrative are those concerned with men who lost their limbs in the Civil War and who afterwards applied for the ’Government artificial limbs. In general, says Dr. Homans, the deprivation of any part of the body would make a man’s .chance of longevity less than that of sound, unmutilated persons, but in many instances there are ameliorating .circumstances which would render such mutilated persons .as good lives as most other people of the same age. Loss of the upper extremity increases in importance as regards longevity the nearer that the amputation has been made to the thorax. There is also a certain amount of ,mental depression attaching to the loss of the whole or part .of a limb. Dr. Romans points out that the loss of an .arm might affect the respiratory power of the thorax in .certain positions, and naturally the loss of both arms would be even more injurious. The late Dr. W. Brinton, who in 1856 gave some lectures at the.Royal Free Hospital on 41 Examinations for Life Insurance,remarked that" amputation of a limb for disease is said to confer an increased risk of visceral-especially of pulmonary-disease." In our own opinion the loss of a limb would increase risks to life ,from injury. Obviously, a man with only one leg is more likely to fall than a man with two, and a man with only one arm would not be so likely to save himself if he did .fall as a man with his full complement of limbs. Dr. Homans gives some figures showing that the deathirate among soldiers who had served in the American Civil War and who had lost a limb or limbs was very high, but, as he says, these statistics are not altogether trustworthy, for many men who had lost a limb had also sustained other injuries. Some five years after the war the Government of the United States offered an artificial limb, or its commuted value once every five years, to all soldiers who had lost a limb in the war. At the close of the war there were 13,052 recoveries from amputations such as would have entitled the sufferers to apply for an artificial limb. In 1870, when the Act of Congress came into operation, only 10,187 applied, so that presumably 2865 maimed soldiers had died, beingvery nearly 22 per cent. of the total. From the close of
THE
NEW CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR CAPE COLONY.
WE have had sent to us from Cape Town copies of a newspaper published in the colony and called Greater Britain, in which letters are appearing commenting seriously upon the appointment of Dr. Gregory to the post of principal medical officer of the colony. We have been asked to express an opinion upon the appointment, which, we are informed, has not been favourably received by the medical profession ; indeed, from the letters published by our contemporary, the medical profession do not consider that Dr. Gregory has any proper claims to the post. We are not in a position to say much upon the matter. Probably those who appointed Dr. Gregory had good reasons for thinking that he was a fit man to fill a difficult and responsible position, for we cannot imagine a more serious offence to the community than the appointment as guardian of its public health of a gentleman of inadequate qualifications. Dr. Gregory seems to have spent the greater part of his time in the co’ony not so much in acquiring a knowledge of sanitary matters and administrative experience in the details of public health as in one of the departments of Cape Town Colonial Office. In the current issue of the Medical Directory we are unable to find his name, but in the South African Medical Directory of 1896 there is a Dr. Gregory residing in the colony, but he is not given as a D.P.H. The public health of Cape Colony at the present moment is of paramount, even imperial, importance ; and we certainly think that no one should be appointed to the position who is not hall-marked as an expert in sanitary science. Dr. Gregory may be this, for all we know. We are not reflecting upon him, but stating a truism. -
OZONE IN THE
RAILWAY
CARRIAGE.
THE air of
a railway carriage is seldom without an it has a peculiar characteristic ; indeed, objectionable The atmosphere may be tainted by smell of its own. the much-used upholstery or by varnish or oil, or the grime deposited by the engine on the seats and hat rails and in the various crevices, of which plenty are usually available for the process. Of course the windows may be flung wide open to get air as possible, but then dust, as much change of It is, smut, and draughts invade the compartment. in fact, difficult to keep the air of a railway carriage in a satisfactory state, and how bad it gets sometimes may easily be ascertained by entering a crowded compartment at the end of a journey. Railway headache is without doubt largely to be attributed to the impure and rebreathed air of the carriage. Many contrivances exist for the ventilation of railway carriages, but the majority of them act
with limited success.
Nothing sweetens or freshens stale air better than ozone and now that most of the railway companies have successfully adopted a system by which each carriage on its journey develops by means of a dynamo attached to the axle-trees its own current of electricity for lighting purposes there is no reason why the same current should not be utilised at the same
.cooling, refreshing, and of an agreeable flavour. It is a .common experience that the more a person drinks to satisfy the demands of thirst in hot weather the worse he feels. The temptation is to gulp down huge quantities of fluid with the result that excessive perspiration sets in .and a very uncomfortable and unrelieved feeling follows. On the other hand, a judicious amount of sound, ripe, juicy fruit, whilst containing all the water necessary to assuage thirst, would lead to no such distress and would exercise other ’healthy effects on the bodily functions.
THE RELATION OF BODILY MUTILATIONS TO LONGEVITY. IN the Boston Medical and 9uricl Journal of August 8th Dr. John Homans of Boston has an interesting article ’upon the subject of the Relation of Bodily Mutilations to Longevity. Dr. Romans is the medical director of the New .England Mutual Insurance Life Company and so he writes from one point of view as an expert. But, so he says, there is but little known about the subject and, so far as he knows, ’there are no statistics on the matter. The only figures which are illustrative are those concerned with men who lost their limbs in the Civil War and who afterwards applied for the ’Government artificial limbs. In general, says Dr. Homans, the deprivation of any part of the body would make a man’s .chance of longevity less than that of sound, unmutilated persons, but in many instances there are ameliorating .circumstances which would render such mutilated persons .as good lives as most other people of the same age. Loss of the upper extremity increases in importance as regards longevity the nearer that the amputation has been made to the thorax. There is also a certain amount of ,mental depression attaching to the loss of the whole or part .of a limb. Dr. Romans points out that the loss of an .arm might affect the respiratory power of the thorax in .certain positions, and naturally the loss of both arms would be even more injurious. The late Dr. W. Brinton, who in 1856 gave some lectures at the.Royal Free Hospital on 41 Examinations for Life Insurance,remarked that" amputation of a limb for disease is said to confer an increased risk of visceral-especially of pulmonary-disease." In our own opinion the loss of a limb would increase risks to life ,from injury. Obviously, a man with only one leg is more likely to fall than a man with two, and a man with only one arm would not be so likely to save himself if he did .fall as a man with his full complement of limbs. Dr. Homans gives some figures showing that the deathirate among soldiers who had served in the American Civil War and who had lost a limb or limbs was very high, but, as he says, these statistics are not altogether trustworthy, for many men who had lost a limb had also sustained other injuries. Some five years after the war the Government of the United States offered an artificial limb, or its commuted value once every five years, to all soldiers who had lost a limb in the war. At the close of the war there were 13,052 recoveries from amputations such as would have entitled the sufferers to apply for an artificial limb. In 1870, when the Act of Congress came into operation, only 10,187 applied, so that presumably 2865 maimed soldiers had died, beingvery nearly 22 per cent. of the total. From the close of
THE
NEW CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR CAPE COLONY.
WE have had sent to us from Cape Town copies of a newspaper published in the colony and called Greater Britain, in which letters are appearing commenting seriously upon the appointment of Dr. Gregory to the post of principal medical officer of the colony. We have been asked to express an opinion upon the appointment, which, we are informed, has not been favourably received by the medical profession ; indeed, from the letters published by our contemporary, the medical profession do not consider that Dr. Gregory has any proper claims to the post. We are not in a position to say much upon the matter. Probably those who appointed Dr. Gregory had good reasons for thinking that he was a fit man to fill a difficult and responsible position, for we cannot imagine a more serious offence to the community than the appointment as guardian of its public health of a gentleman of inadequate qualifications. Dr. Gregory seems to have spent the greater part of his time in the co’ony not so much in acquiring a knowledge of sanitary matters and administrative experience in the details of public health as in one of the departments of Cape Town Colonial Office. In the current issue of the Medical Directory we are unable to find his name, but in the South African Medical Directory of 1896 there is a Dr. Gregory residing in the colony, but he is not given as a D.P.H. The public health of Cape Colony at the present moment is of paramount, even imperial, importance ; and we certainly think that no one should be appointed to the position who is not hall-marked as an expert in sanitary science. Dr. Gregory may be this, for all we know. We are not reflecting upon him, but stating a truism. -
OZONE IN THE
RAILWAY
CARRIAGE.
THE air of
a railway carriage is seldom without an it has a peculiar characteristic ; indeed, objectionable The atmosphere may be tainted by smell of its own. the much-used upholstery or by varnish or oil, or the grime deposited by the engine on the seats and hat rails and in the various crevices, of which plenty are usually available for the process. Of course the windows may be flung wide open to get air as possible, but then dust, as much change of It is, smut, and draughts invade the compartment. in fact, difficult to keep the air of a railway carriage in a satisfactory state, and how bad it gets sometimes may easily be ascertained by entering a crowded compartment at the end of a journey. Railway headache is without doubt largely to be attributed to the impure and rebreathed air of the carriage. Many contrivances exist for the ventilation of railway carriages, but the majority of them act
with limited success.
Nothing sweetens or freshens stale air better than ozone and now that most of the railway companies have successfully adopted a system by which each carriage on its journey develops by means of a dynamo attached to the axle-trees its own current of electricity for lighting purposes there is no reason why the same current should not be utilised at the same