Outlines of naval hygiene / by John D. Macdonald.

  • Macdonald, John Denis, 1826-1908.
Date:
1881
    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
    notliing in the wLole range of !N^aval Hygiene wliicL. more imperatively demands scientific supervision. The pollution of surface well-water with organic matters percolating through the soil is a fruitful source of disease; and very frequently epidemics of diarrhoea and dysentery occurring on board ship have been traced unequivocally to the use of such water. The medical officer should make himself acquainted with the several modes of condensing water on board ship, and in particular the principle of Dr. Normandy, by which an ample supply of well-aerated sweet and inodorous water can be obtained, at a trifling cost, even if specially produced. Under the head of Food we shall have to consider, by way of retrospect, the former systems of victualling adopted in the navy, which will conduct us to the scale at present in use, and the estimation of the quality of the articles supplied. Inefficient ventilation, which was formerly the rule rather than the exception in ships of war, exerts its influence first upon the blood, which is not only imperfectly oxygenated, but rendered still further impure by the absorption of eff'ete mat- ters emanating from neighbouring bodies closely crowded together. As a consequence, the appetite becomes impaired, but little food is assumed, and, simply in keeping with the observed results in bygone days, the scheme of diet was considerably below that required by the present excellent standard of health, arising from the more general adoption of hygienic principles. The subject of cookery is naturally associated with that of diet, and worthy of more attention than has hitherto been paid to it. Eor we know that there must not only be variety in the food itself, but also in the mode of its preparation, to give zest to the appetite and facilitate digestion. As the constitution of the sailor is ordinarily submitted to the operation of every grade of climate, temperature, and humidity, often with remarkable vicissitudes of each or all, the regulation of his diet, and the amount of physical exer- tion of which he may be capable without infringing on his