Volume 1

A system of medicine / edited by J. Russell Reynolds.

Date:
1866-1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A system of medicine / edited by J. Russell Reynolds. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    166/976 (page 146)
    My own observation is that no such evil results. The hospital sweepers, whose special duty it is to remove all the discharges, do not suffer out of proportion to others. Dr. Baly’s report on this point lias been already referred to. It may be that decomposing Cholera discharges may be more mischievous, as has been supposed by Pettenhofen If, as supposed by Dr. Budd, the poison is multiplied so rapidly in epidemics as to suffice for the rapid diffusion which takes place in severe epidemics, it ought to be equally powerful when under observation in a sick ward. The mode in which Cholera spreads in wet weather in India seems adverse to its diffusion by the discharges. In dry weather, with a strong wind, it is easy to suppose that the Cholera dust may be spread to a considerable distance ; but in the rains of the tropics and bordering countries we cannot trace this mode of diffusion. All matter infecting the ground must be swept away in the violent falls, to which English rain is but a trifle; it would, one would suppose, be diluted and swept away into rivulets and streams, and ultimately into great rivers. Sometimes it might overflow tanks, but in many parts of Upper India the drinking water is taken from deep wells ; and where there are tanks, the Hindoos especially are careful to keep them pure, so that it is not so probable as may be .supposed that they are often contaminated. And yet it is in the rainy seasons of the Hortli-West Provinces that the severest Cholera epidemics have raged. Although the specific poison of Cholera may not exist in the rice-water stools, it must be admitted that Dr. W. Budd has brought forward strong evidence in support of his views, and the facts which he adduces can, in the present state of our knowledge, be explained only upon the supposition that the evacuations of Cholera patients have, in some state or other, an influence upon the spread of Cholera. There are yet many points that require elucidation to prove that the Cholera poison multiplies in the human body, though perfectly in accordance with the cases of many other epidemic diseases, or that the specific agent is contained pur et simple in the rice-water stools. It would seem that they are the congenial soil for the multiplication of the poison, rather than the direct source. It would be a good thing for mankind that Dr. W. Budd’s views should prove correct. It would then be a comparatively easy thing to prevent the spread of the dire pestilence. Cryptogamic Theories of Cholera.—Chemical analysis of the air has thrown no light on the cause of Cholera. It is possible, however, that prolonged microscopic examination of strained air, as in the method of Pasteur, might be more successful. Dr. Cowdell has advocated the 1 - ’ _ 1 — X' ll, „ 1 fl r\ nnnvnfnl