Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The atmosphere in relation to human life and health. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.
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![mucli more severe, altLougli tliey came upon a population to some extent protected. At the same time there can be no doubt that an epidemic may occur in any climate and in any weather. The tropics are not exempt. An instructive instance of the subtle diffusion of influenza occurred in a village of Central Africa, which was attacked immediately after the arrival of two natives from an infected place far distant. But outdoor life and less constant communications prevent the quick diffusion and wide i^revalence which belong to civilized nations in temperate climates. The manifest, at present the only iDracticable and yet difficult, meas- ures for i^reventing these great and very destructive epidemics are: Precautions against the introduction of the pest by travelers and by articles sent from infected districts; immediate comx)u]sory notification, without fee, of all cases occurring in a district to the medical officer of the district and through him to the central board; isolation so far as can be arranged of all the early cases in a district at the homes of the patients; prohibition of attendance of infected persons at any assem- blage; and publication of the importance of ventilation, and of living, warmly clothed, as much as possible in the open air, unless actually stricken. During the period of illness, and for some time after recov- ery, the greatest care is required to avoid chill, which often induces pneumonia or other evils. The fresh outer air can only be safely breathed when the symptoms have subsided and when the strength has partially returned. It is remarkable that cold air alone, however pure, seems capable of causing a relapse when the system has been greatly enfeebled and the breathing organs left in a highly sensitive condition. COLDS. Colds and sore throat have never received the attention they deserve from an etiological point of view, owing probably to the slight character of the majority of cases. Yet they are important, first for their wide diffusion, endemicity, and frequency, and secondly for their effect in giving opportunity for the attack of more serious disorders, among which may be mentioned diphtheria, measles, pneumonia, bronchitis, and consumption. Close observation for many years has led the jires- ent writer to the conclusion that though primarily a chill, that is exposure, insufficiently clad, to a draft or cold air, is very frequently sufficient to give a slight cold or sore throat, or the feeling of one, yet severe colds are caught in general either (1) in marshy or low and damp situations, or in conditions somewhat similar to those which produce malaria; or (2) by infection from persons after the manner of other infectious diseases. It would appear as if the microorganism, or one species of microorganisms, which sets up a sore throat and severe cold, inhabits the upper layer of earth, especially in damp or marshy places, where decaying vegetable matter abounds, and i)asses into the air, especially in summer and autumn evenings when the earth and water](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21208724_0082.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
