5. Water.
There is no beverage so wholesome, or, to the unperverted taste, so agreeable, as pure water. It is the natural drink of man, is highly favourable to digestion, and may always be taken in moderation when thirst is present. It enters into the composition of the tissues of the body, forms a necessary part of its structure, and performs such important purposes in the animal economy as to be absolutely indispensable for life and health. Water enters largely into combination with our food; and articles that we take as food can only afford nourishment by being dissolved in it. It also acts as a vehicle to convey the more dense and less fluid substances from the stomach to their destination in the body. To prove how essential water is for the development and maintenance of the animal body, we may here state that a calculation has been made which shows that a human body, weighing 154lbs., contains III lbs. of water. Such a fact suggests the necessity for obtaining water pure, and taking it unpolluted by animal and mineral ingredients.
Water may be obtained tolerably pure in rain or snow collected in suitable vessels in the open country, away from crowded dwellings and manufactories, where process are constantly going on which tend to its deterioration. Spring, river, sea, surface, well, and mineral water, all contain various substances dissolved in them, which render them often unsuitable for drinking, or even to be used in the preparation of articles of diet. Even for cooking purposes and bathing, the purer water is the better. The purest water is obtained from deep wells, bored through the earth and clay down to the chalk (Artesian Wells).
It is most important that the receptacles for water- tanks and cisterns should be carefully examined and thoroughly cleansed at regular seasons, especially after a time of drought, and before the approach of winter. Much mischief is done, and often disease induced, by allowing cisterns to fill up after they have been dry or the water in them low; the quantity of sediment and filth is often very great, and if not carefully washed out becomes mingled with every fresh influx of water. The deleterious consequences that ensue from neglect of this duty are often alarming, although the source of the evil be unsuspected. At the same time it is an error to believe that the mere use of any kind of filter renders water fit for drinking. There are few filters that are not liable to do more harm than good, and where they are in use they require periodical and frequent cleansing. Filters of the Berkefeld type are satisfactory if the candles are periodically sterilized by boiling. In most large towns to- day the general water supply is above suspicion. If there is any doubt felt at any time or place, mineral waters, such as Malvern water, which contain very little inorganic material, or Salutaris water can be taken. To boil water will kill the germs that may be in it, but boiled or distilled water is very unpalatable until it has been aerated by passing through charcoal.
It is a fallacy to suppose that surface-well water is purer than that obtained from deep wells, because it is more sparkling and often cooler and clearer. The sparkling of these waters is due to the presence of carbonic acid gas, and that acid may be derived from the decomposition of animal and vegetables substances.
From this kind of impurity the water of deep wells in London, and of wells cut into rocks which bring their water from a distance from town, are entirely free. They frequently contain inorganic salts in abundance, but they do not contain organic matters; hence, for drinking purposes, they are far preferable to the waters of surface-wells (Lankester).
6. Air.
Sir Isaac Newton, it has been stated, only made one speech in Parliament it was in the form of a request that some one in the gallery would open the window. It was a speech worthy of the philosophic mind, which had discovered some of the profoundest secrets of Nature. A proper supply of pure fresh air is essential to the preservation of life and health, as well as to the maintenance of cheerfulness of spirit and the consequent enjoyment of life. Although life may not be destroyed suddenly by breathing an impure atmosphere, still the vital energies are thereby slowly but surely impaired this is especially the case with growing children and persons suffering from disease.
Impure Air.- The impurities of the air may be ranked under two heads gases, and matters held in suspension. From the soil are wafted into the air particles of every chemical substance it contains. Near the dwellings of men, particles of carbon, hairs, fibres of cotton and woollen fabrics, etc. abound. The vegetable world contributes seeds, spores, germs, pollen, and light floating bodies. From the animal kingdom there are also germs, and particles of worn-out tissues. The organic vapours arising from the decomposition of animal and vegetable products all deteriorate the air.
Air Spoiled by Breathing.-In the process of breathing, the air loses a third part of its oxygen, the life giving principle and receives in exchange carbonic acid gas, a gas not only incapable to suppurating life, but actually destructive to it. Such is the change effected by a solitary act of breathing; and if this process goes on in an ill-ventilated room where several human beings are gathered together the carbonic acid gas accumulates, through deficient ventilation. Pure carbonic acid gas, chemically produced, can be tolerated much better than the products of respiration. But the carbonic acid gas in any atmosphere affords a convenient measurement of all the impurities there in contained, for the others bear a fixed ratio to this one impurity. The fact can scarcely be too strongly stated that efficient ventilation cannot be secured unless sufficient space be made for the egress from the upper part of a room of the impure air, and provision in the lower part for moderate but sufficient access of fresh air from the surrounding atmosphere. In the greater number of dwelling-house no direct provision at all has been made for this purpose, and the only ventilation obtained is due to the imperfect fittings of the windows and doors. On the contrary, the floors are covered with carpets, the windows and doors made as impervious as possible to the air, and in the ceiling no apertures exist for the escape of carbonic acid gas. In this way all classes of the community suffer almost equally.
Airy Sleeping Rooms.-The fact that carbonic acid gas is inimical to health and life shows the importance of making provision for its uninterrupted removal from our houses and places of assembly, and, above all, from our sitting-rooms and sleeping- rooms. Airy, well-ventilated sleeping apartments should be ranked with the most important requirements of life, both in health and disease. Bedrooms, in which about one-third of human existence is passed, are generally too small, crowded, and badly ventilated. The doors, windows and even chimneys are often closed, and every aperture carefully guarded so as to exclude fresh air. The consequence is, that long before morning dawns, the atmosphere of the whole apartment becomes highly injurious, from the consumption of its oxygen, the formation of carbonic acid, and the exhalations from the lungs and the relaxed skin. In an atmosphere thus loaded with effluvia the sleep is heavy and unrefreshing, partaking more of the character of insensibility. There are some diseases in which the cause of death is simply an accumulation of carbonic acid gas in the blood; and this condition obtains, in some degree, in a badly ventilated bedroom. If provision were made for the admission of fresh air, and the escape of impure air, the sleep would be lighter, shorter, and more invigorating. The open bedroom window is not only harmless, it is beneficial. A direct draught on to the sleeper can generally be avoided, but if it cannot it is preferable to closed windows. If there is free ventilation in the passage, the open door can sometimes replace the open window. To let the temperature of the bedroom fall unduly is sometimes of danger to the aged or infirm, so that in cold weather, some provision for warmth may need to be made, but there is no condition of life wherein a free supply of oxygen is not beneficial. A current of air may be prevented from playing on the face of the occupant by placing the bed in a proper situation, or by suspending a single curtain from the ceiling. During thick fogs or severe winds the apertures directly communicating with the external air many be closed, and ventilation secured from the adjoining landing.
Unpleasant as it is to dwell on such a subject, it is yet true that the exhalations from the human lungs and skin, if retained and undiluted with a continuous supply of oxygen (the active agent in all disinfectants) are the most repulsive with which we can come in contact. We shun the approach of the dirty and the diseased; we hide from view matters which are offensive to the sight and the smell; we carefully eschew impurities in our food and drink, and even refuse the glass that has been raised to the lips of a friend. At the same time we resort to places of assembly, and draw into our mouths air loaded with effluvia from the lungs and skin and clothing of every individual in the promiscuous crowd; exhalations offensive to a certain extent, from the most healthy individuals, but which, rising from a living mass of skin and lung in a state of disease, and prevented by the walls and ceiling from escaping, are when thus concentrated, in the highest degree deleterious and loathsome (Bernan).
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."