Other Causes. — The air from marshy or newdy -broken ground is apt to produce ague. Workmen exposed to the dust arising from various occupations are liable to lung dis- ease. Lead poisoning not unfrequently oc- curs from lead dust from dyed goods ; wool sorters occasionally get a fatal disease called anthrax from germs coming from the wool of animals which have been similarly af- fected , and various other diseases arise from the unhealthy air of work-rooms. Diseases Due to Impure Water. Water is another fertile source of dis- ease, many organic and inorganic impuri- ties making their way into it. It is to the 562 former that its unhealthfulness is generally due. Nearly all water from the earth con- tains some mineral ingredients, few of which are harmful, some of which are healthful. The waters of many mineral springs serve as remedies for serious dis- orders of the system. The chief source of water pollution lies in organic impurities, which are carried through the soil from cess- pools, manure heaps, and similar sources into wells, or are emptied by sewers into the rivers from which many cities now de- rive their drinking water. The lack of sufficient water may also be a cause of disease. The person and clothes are not properly washed, houses and streets are dirty, and the sewers become clogged with filth. As a result there is a general lower state of health of the community, and typhoid fever and diarrhoea may be preval- ent. Vegetable Impurities. — Peaty water, in the absence of a better supply, may be used without much harm, but if the amount of solid matter is great it may even produce diarrhoea. Under this head w^e must include water containing germs, for although they generally get into the water from the excre- tions of animals, yet, as we know, they are vegetable in nature. Here we shall meet with the most dangerous kinds of water, causing many fatal epidemics. Cholera. — Chief among these is cholera, whose germs are now thought to be con- veyed only by water. The great epidemic at Hamburg in 1892, was traced to sewage water from cholera patients getting into the river Kibe, which supplies the city with water. The constant outbreaks of cholera which occur amongst the Mecca pilgrims every year are due to the fact that they wash in and drink out of the same wells, thus leading to an enormous mortality. This frequently, perhaps almost wholly, comes from a like distribution of the bacterial germs of the disease by water. Typhoid fever has been traced to this cause in numer- OLis instances. This was the case at Over Darvven in 1874, when a drain containing the excreta of a typhoid patient was blocked, and its contents got in the main pipe of the water supply. As a result, out of a popu- lation of 22,000 there were 2,035 cases of THE FAMIL Y DOCTOR 99 typhoid fever and 104 deaths. In Bangor, in 1882, there occurred an epidemic of typhoid fever, affecting 540 'persons out of a population of 10,000, of whom 42 died. This was found to be caused by the excreta HOW PEOPLE DKINK SRWAGK. of a single typhoid patient getting into a small stream wliich discharged into the river supplying the town with water.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Other Causes. — The air from marshy or newdy -broken ground is apt to produce ague. Workmen exposed to the dust arising from various occupations are liable to lung disease. Lead poisoning not unfrequently occurs from lead dust from dyed goods ; wool sorters occasionally get a fatal disease called anthrax from germs coming from the wool of animals which have been similarly affected , and various other diseases arise from the unhealthy air of work-rooms. Diseases Due to Impure Water. Water is another fertile source of disease, many organic and inorganic impurities making their way into it. It is to the former that its unhealthfulness is generally due. Nearly all water from the earth contains some mineral ingredients, few of which are harmful, some of which are healthful. The waters of many mineral springs serve as remedies for serious disorders of the system. The chief source of water pollution lies in organic impurities, which are carried through the soil from cesspools, manure heaps, and similar sources into wells, or are emptied by sewers into the rivers from which many cities now derive their drinking water. The lack of sufficient water may also be a cause of disease. The person and clothes are not properly washed, houses and streets are dirty, and the sewers become clogged with filth. As a result there is a general lower state of health of the community, and typhoid fever and diarrhoea may be prevalent. Vegetable Impurities. — Peaty water, in the absence of a better supply, may be used without much harm, but if the amount of solid matter is great it may even produce diarrhoea. Under this head w^e must include water containing germs, for although they generally get into the water from the excretions of animals, yet, as we know, they are vegetable in nature. Here we shall meet with the most dangerous kinds of water, causing many fatal epidemics. Cholera. — Chief among these is cholera, whose germs are now thought to be conveyed only by water. The great epidemic at Hamburg in 1892, was traced to sewage water from cholera patients getting into the river Kibe, which supplies the city with water. The constant outbreaks of cholera which occur amongst the Mecca pilgrims every year are due to the fact that they wash in and drink out of the same wells, thus leading to an enormous mortality. This frequently, perhaps almost wholly, comes from a like distribution of the bacterial germs of the disease by water. Typhoid fever has been traced to this cause in numer- OLis instances. This was the case at Over Darwen in 1874, when a drain containing the excreta of a typhoid patient was blocked, and its contents got in the main pipe of the water supply. As a result, out of a population of 22,000 there were 2,035 cases of typhoid fever and 104 deaths. In Bangor, in 1882, there occurred an epidemic of typhoid fever, affecting 540 'persons out of a population of 10,000, of whom 42 died. This was found to be caused by the excreta HOW PEOPLE DRINK SEWAGE. of a single typhoid patient getting into a small stream which discharged into the river supplying the town with water.

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