Sunlight and health / by C.W. Saleeby ; with an introduction by the late Sir William M. Bayliss.

  • Caleb Saleeby
Date:
[1929]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sunlight and health / by C.W. Saleeby ; with an introduction by the late Sir William M. Bayliss. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the blood without inducing general pyrexia, with its evil consequences. Reading his paper I feel strongly supported in my contention for the value of the combination of light and cold, and in my criticism of Moore’s question as illegitimate. Sonne concludes :— “ The current view that the therapeutic effect of the universal light hath should he essentially due to the ultra¬ violet (or the so-called chemically active) rays has not been sufficiently warranted in spite of assiduous research and numerous experiments. “ Based on a series of various facts concerning the specific absorption relations of the light rays (visible heat rays) during radiation to the human skin, the following theory is advanced : the curative effect of the universal light bath is due to the capacity of the luminous rays, during the light bath, to heat a very essential portion of the aggregate blood volume of the organism to a temperature possibly exceeding the highest fever temperature ever measured without causing the body temperature to rise in any appreciable degree. [Italics in original.] “ According to which the light-bath will be able to produce the inciting effect of fever upon, for instance, the oxidation and the formation of anti-bodies without producing the usual harmful effects of fever upon the organism.3’ Clearly these findings must be examined further.1 Meanwhile we must not forget, if we should seem to be about to discard the ultra-violet rays, that Hess has proved their value in the mercury vapour quartz lamp, and that they are certainly bactericidal —an action of which Sonne himself says that “ in point of hygienics [it] is of the highest importance.” The infamous “ smogs ” which we endure in London and our other cities involve the loss of the cleansing virtues of sunlight and the survival of unthinkable 1 Sir William Bayliss tells me that this is now being done under the auspices of his committee.