Suggestions for observations on the influence of cholera and other epidemic poisons, on the lower animals / by W. Lauder Lindsay.

  • Lindsay, W. Lauder (William Lauder), 1829-1880.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Suggestions for observations on the influence of cholera and other epidemic poisons, on the lower animals / by W. Lauder Lindsay. 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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    he found that mice were seized with fatal cholera on swallow- ing evacuations only on the lapse of a certain period after evacua- tion.^ Some experimentalists hold that the cholera poison resides in the fixed, others^ in the volatile, products of decomposition of the evacuations ;^ while some regard these dejections as wliolly innocuous. This contrariety of opinion—this opposing testimony of experimen- talists—is only one instance of the necessity of endeavouring to decide the question by observation on cholera among the lower animals. It may also be here mentioned, that there are recorded cases of men having accidentally or intentionally swallowed large or small quantities of the evacuations of cholei'a patients without subse- quent bad effects ; they are, however, of comparatively little value. Tlie primary heads of inquiry are the following :— I. Is cliolera essentially human ; or is it common to the lower animals along with man ? II. Is it contagious among the lower animals ? III. Is it transmissible to and from man, and between different species and genera of the lower animals 1 IV, Is it preventible and curable among those animals ? The chief questions with which we start the inquiry will probably be:— I. Are sporadic and epizootic diseases of the lower animals, which have been observed prior to, during, or immediately subsequent to, epidemic cholera in man, not equally common at other periods, when there is no presumptive evi- dence of any cholera poison existing in the atmosphere 1 If so, wherein do they differ from, or resemble, the same diseases occurring during the prevalence of cholera in man. II. What is the precise connection between coincident epidemics in plants, the lower animals, and man, in regard to causation? Is it merely coinci- dental, or are they really due to a common cause ? And. if so, what are the laws which regulate the influence of the same atmospheric poison on these dif- ferent classes of organized beings ? In regard to Etiology, many most important questions arise. But here it is specially necessary to be cautious in accepting facts, that are not thoroughly established, as the basis of theory; for there has been more loose reasoning, more speculative argumentation, without adequate data, on the nature of the cause of cholera, than on any other branch of its natural history. Among etiological problems, I would propound the following :— I. Do known chemical poisons—atmospheric, or otherwise—produce the same effects on animal life as the unknown cholera poison '] Under this head, it is advisable to learn the influence on the lower animals of tlie poisonous emanations from chemical manufactories, putrid organic matter, and similar atmospheric contaminations, whose effects on man and on vegetation can be taken as a standard. II. Origin and mode of diffusion of epizootic cholera: wherein it resembles or differs from the diffusion of cholera in man. 1 Medical Times and Gazette, November 18 and 2.5, 18fi4.