Outlines of naval hygiene / by John D. Macdonald.

  • Macdonald, John Denis, 1826-1908.
Date:
1881
    AUTHOEITIES. The more important works more or less bearing on tlie subject of Naval Hygiene are tlie following:— ENGLISH WKITERS. Dr. Lind On the Health of Seamen. On Scurvy. On Hot Climates, and other writings, published towards the close of the last century. The Dissertations of Sir Gilbert Blane, Bart., 3rd Edition, 1803. The works of Trotter, Fletcher, Tnrnhull, and Einlayson may also be consulted with advantage; but from that remarkable epoch onwards to the present time, but few original writers on the subject of Naval Hygiene have made their appearance in this country. Hygienic, Medical, and Surgical Hints for Young Officers of the 'Royal Navy and of the Merchant Navy. By W. M. Saunders, M.D., Surgeon, E.N. London, 1856. Observations on Naval Hygiene and Scurvy. By Alexander Armstrong, M.D., E.N. London, 1858. The Annual Bejports of the Health of the Navy, Merchant Shipping Acts, and Admiralty Instructions for Transports, <^'c. AlVIERIOAN WRITERS. Naval Hygiene. By Joseph Wilson, Surg., U.S.N. Washington, 1870. Practical Suggestions in Naval Hygiene. By Albert Leary Grihon, A.M., M.D., Surg., U.S.N. Washington, 1871. Hygiene of the Naval and Merchant Marine. By T. J. Turner, A.M., M.D., Ph.D., Med. Director, U.S.N., 1879. Medical Essays compiled from the Reports to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. By Medical Officers of the U.S. Navy. Washington, 1872, and onwards. Valuable information may be derived iroTs\\hQ Bulletins of the National Board of Health in relation to Contagious and Infectious Disease and Quar- antine Regulations. Published weekly in Washington. The author cannot speak too highly of the liberal kind- ness of the ' Bureau ' and the National Board of Health in
    furnisliing him from time to time witli copies of their valuable publications. It is indeed sincerely to bo desired that our own public spirit would receive a fillip from the zealous and praiseworthy efforts of the American authorities in giving to the world the wealth of their scientific experience, instead of merely hoarding it in the archives of the ofSce. FRENCH WRITERS. In particular, the Traite d'Hygiene Navale. Par le Docteur Fans- sagrires, Professeiir, &c. Paris, 1856. Hygiene Navale. Par ie Docteur Mahe. Paris, 1874. Modern Naval Hygiene. By Dr. Leroy de Mericourt (Chief of the Statistical Department of the French Navy). Translated from the French by John Buckley, St. S., R.N. London, 1875.
    NAVAL HYGIENE mTRODUCTION. NATURE OF THE SUBJECT, AND PLAN OF ARRANGEMENT. Naval Hygiene may be defined to be the application of the principles of general hygiene to the conditions and exigencies of naval life, and its importance to the State is daily becoming more apparent. The old habit of trusting rather to precarious cure than to more certain prevention is now felt to be a mistaken policy even in a financial sense. The internal economy and organisation of ships of war, as prescribed by law, have benefited much from time to time by the suggestions of science. To the labours of Lind, Blane, Trotter, Fletcher, and other medical men connected with the navy, we are greatly indebted not only for the correction of many of the evils existing in their own time (namely, towards the close of the last century), but for having handed down to us, in their writings, the preliminary chapters, as it were, of Naval Hygiene as a distinct branch of scientific inquiry. From its material constitution, the human frame is sub- ject to physical injury on the one hand, and internal derange- ment on the other. This has naturally given rise to the division of the ars medendi, or restorative art, into medicine and surgery; the latter embracing the necessary manipu- '-^ B
    lation and tlie use of mechanical means to assist natnre in her reparative efforts, and the former devoted to the cure of the varied forms of ill health by the adoption of all requisite sanitary measures, and the exhibition of medicines. The sanitary measures here mentioned are the ties that bind hygiene to medicine. The hardships and vicissitudes of the maritime life render sailors susceptible of certain ailments and injuries not commonly incident to landsmen ; otherwise it would appear to be only in the adoption of rational hygienic principles that any essential difference can exist in the treatment of the ' sick and hurt' on board ship, as com- pared with ordinary practice on shore. The triple aim of hygiene, whether civil or naval, is to preserve health, to obviate the occurrence of disease, and to correct external morbific conditions already presents It thus presents itself to us under three aspects, namely—1st, Con- servative ; 2ndly, Prophylactic ; and Srdly, Corrective; the special bearing of each of which will be farther shown in the following introductory remarks. Division I.—CONSERVATIVE HYGIENE. Conservative Hygiene is not only opposed to the infriuge- ment of every avowedly sanitary observance, but enables us to use our own judgment intelligently in the recommendation of new measures, or the remodelling of old ones where such may be found necessary. It should, therefore, tend to keep the human system in wholesome working order, enjoining the supply of good air, good food, good water, all in sufficient quantity, suitable clothing, exercise, recreation, and rest. A sailor's habitation is, of course, a ship, and, for many reasons, a certain knowledge of the structure and internal economy of ships should be made a primary desideratum in the study of Naval Hygiene. Without such knowledge, it would be quite hopeless to attempt the application of even the simplest principles of ventilation; and it is equally obvious
    that the details of whatever system is to be adopted should form part and parcel of the original design. It is too often the case that other leading particulars, or some new require- ments in keeping with the progress of the art of war, so absorb the mind of the naval architect when he is projecting his plans for a new vessel, that he is unmindful of any efficient provision for ventilation. It is thus left for others to discover, when it is too late, that due attention to the health and com- fort of the inmates, in this respect, would be productive of much more happiness in times of peace, and greater success in war. Seeing that the pulmonary mucous membrane, in efiPect, presents a superficies of about twenty square feet, lining the walls of some five or six millions of air-cells, such a great extent of surface for absorption must admonish us to use every precaution to ensure an ever-changing supply of fresh air to the various compartments of a ship, in which it is so likely to stagnate and suffer contamination. It is easy to perceive that the flatness of the bilges through so considerable an extent of the flooring in ships of modern construction must favour the lodgment of isolated pools of water beyond the influence of the pump-suckers. The propriety, therefore, of occasionally washing out the limbers or water-channels is very obvious. Moreover, the establishment of a current of air through them is now rendered possible in many ships by the provision made for communication with the ash-pits of the furnaces. The recommendation of a judicious opening for the venti- lation of a cul de sac, such as may be found in the lower regions of most shijDS, the addition of a few feet more to a rather short wind-sail, or giving one a cunning curvature where its force may be oppressive, trimming cowls to the wind, and drying up the moisture between decks as quickly as possible, all appertain to Conservative Hygiene. To this division of the subject also belongs the water supply for drinking, cooking, and washing purposes, and there is perhaps