The Crimean War : the British Army and Miss Nightingale / by Charles Shrimpton.

  • Shrimpton, Charles, 1815-
Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Crimean War : the British Army and Miss Nightingale / by Charles Shrimpton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    the functions of organic life receive their impulse from the quality of the air we breathe; whence arises the ne- cessity of continually renewed pure fresh air for the sup- port of life. If the air we breathe be more or less unfit for the support of life, all the functions of the human frame must be more or less impaired. In all cases of illness, then, pure fresh air must be procured, to re- animate organic life, before any kind of medication can be attempted. We may be told that there is nothing particularly new in the discovery that we live by the air we breathe. This is true, but it is true also, that though pure fresh air is admitted by every one to be [hepabulum vilce, vast numbers of sick, in every class of society, suffer greatly, and very frequently die, from the stupid precautions which are taken to deprive them of the breath of life. . We will now pass on to the second question. By what means were better and more comfortable quarters obtained, putting an end to the crowding together of the men, and procuring good ventilation ? By the construction of huts on good hygienic principles, and in a sufficient number. Monsieur Baudens, in general terms, speaks very highly of these huts, and on ex- amining them more attentively, we shall find that the plan of their construction provided at once for all deficiencies. The English huts were all formed of wood, after the same plan, the interior being made comfortable for the men, and more particularly so for the sick, They were placed on elevated spots, and isolated from each other, so that the external air circulated freely round them, and they were all provided with moveable boarded floors. Such conditions require no comments. The huts were spacious for the number of men, and even more room was given to the sick. Three hundred and
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