A treatise on the preservation of health and treatment of disease : for the use of families and others, as a guide to the proper medical treatment of all ordinary ailments and diseases containing also many valuable prescriptions, a description of drugs and chemicals in common use, with a table of doses, etc / compiled by W. Twinberrow.

  • Twinberrow, W.
Date:
[1863]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the preservation of health and treatment of disease : for the use of families and others, as a guide to the proper medical treatment of all ordinary ailments and diseases containing also many valuable prescriptions, a description of drugs and chemicals in common use, with a table of doses, etc / compiled by W. Twinberrow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    latter respect respiration is similar to the burning of a candle or piece of wood; their carbon and hydrogen unite with the oxygen of the air, to form carbonic acid and water ; in fact, respiration, as a destructive action, is a slow process of combustion. By a wonderful provision of nature, atmospheric air has one constant composi- tion, viz., about one part of oxygen mixed with two parts of nitrogen : this is not liable to much -variation, except from some artificial cause. It is of impor- tance that this composition should he maintained, as any alteration cannot but be prejudicial to health. In ill-ventilated chambers, where numerous people are assembled, carbonic acid gas will naturally form and collect from respiratory action, and if lights are burning, they will, of course, contribute to its formation. Now, it is well known that this carbonic acid gas is a deadly poison. No animal can live in it, and if inspired, even in a very dilute state, it cannot fail to be hurtful. Hence the great importance of ventilation. Carbonic acid gas is abundantly developed by the decay of animal and vegetable substances, and thus a locality may he rendered unhealthy. Fresh-burnt and slaked lime, or even lime-wash, by their chemical affinity, readily attract the carbonic acid gas, com- bining with it to form carbonate of lime or chalk; and the free access of atmo- spheric air, by diffusing and diluting the poisonous fluid, renders it compara- tively harmless. Carburetted and sulphuretted hydrogen are also poisonous gases, which are developed by a high degree of fermentation in animal or vege- table matter, or that which is termed putrefactive action. They are poisonous in the highest degree, and, in a very diluted form, would interfere seriously with respiration. They are generated spontaneously in drains, sewers, and cesspools. Imperfect drainage and want of cleanliness are the chief causes of the genera- tion of these gases, and it may generally be prevented by a free supply of pure air and water, and their due appliance. Many poisons doubtless obtain admit- tance into the blood through the medium of the lungs, and we may almost believe that some infectious diseases owe their propagation to the inspiration of air, in which the subtle and invisible poison is diffused, rather than to any con- tact with the surface of the body. We may assume, therefore, that there is a certain amount of respiration necessary to give the system its due supply of oxygen, in order to remove the carbon, and that if this supply be not afforded, the blood will assume au unna- tural and unhealthy condition. The lungs in health are always full of air, though in variable quantity, but each respiratory effort, consisting of inspiration and expiration, only changes about one-eighth part of the bulk thereof. Ou an average there are twenty respirations per minute, about one to rather less than four beats of the pulse. This, however, is liable to great variation. In the young both the pulse and the respiration are naturally much more frequent, but the proportion between them is still observed. The respiration may be hurried by mere temporary excitement, but if permanently quickened it must ordinarily arise from some morbid state which impedes the access ot the air to the blood, and by so diminishing the influence of each respiratory effort, renders its more frequent repetition necessary. Thus is constituted one of the chief signs of dis- eased lungs. When the air enters the lungs, and is diffused therein under the respiratory influence, it occasions peculiar sounds, which may be heard through the walls of the chest, and which vary in amount, differing materially in healthy and diseased states. On this is founded the use of the instrument called the stethoscope, which is of great service in recognising diseases of the chest By percussing or striking the chest we are also often able to ascertain, by the amount of resonance, whether the air has its due access to the lungs, and is duly diffused through the cells. Unhealthy und diseased states of the respiration may be constituted in various ways. The lining mucous membrane of the larynx, the windpipe, or the