On preservation of health in India : a lecture addressed to the Royal Indian Engineering College at Cooper's Hill / by Sir Joseph Fayrer.

  • Fayrer, Sir Joseph, 1824-1907.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On preservation of health in India : a lecture addressed to the Royal Indian Engineering College at Cooper's Hill / by Sir Joseph Fayrer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ]9 As to smoking. It may be pleasant, but it is un- necessary. To many, in moderation, it does no injury; but what is moderation ? It often injures the nervous system, interferes with digestion, depresses the mental as well as the physical, and muddles the intellectual powers. If you must smoke, let it be the mildest tobacco, and as seldom as possible—only after eating, and never in the morning or till after lunch. This view about alcohol and tobacco will not, perhaps, meet general approval, but I undertook to tell you what is good for you and not what is merely agreeable. They are not always synonymous. These are matters that I have studied for many years. I have heard all the arguments on either side, have made my own observations and some experiments, and what I have told you is the result. The drinking water is a matter of great importance, and attention to obtaining it in a state of purity is a prominent hygienic duty. Its impurity is the reputed cause of many diseases, and probably none is more potent for evil. A variety of complaints—cholera, fevers, diarrhoea, dysentery, goitre, and some others, including certain parasitic diseases, with which the human race may be affected—are ascribed to it. Water should always be filtered, and it is well to boil it; heat dissipates certain impurities, and tends to render others innocuous. An ordinary sand or charcoal filter is therefore a desirable addition to your house- hold furniture. The sources of water supply are wells, tanks, rivers, and rain ; wherever you take it you should ascer- tain its probable freedom from contamination by organic im- purities before you drink it. iErated drinks are not always free from impurities, for the water of which tbey are manufactured may not have been either filtered or boiled.—Take note of turbidity, smell, taste, as these indicate the possible nature of substances with which water may be impregnated. I cannot go into the subject of analysis, but I may just say that you should submit it to the following simple tests :—It should be free from smell and ought to be soft, dissolving soap easily ; if not, there are too many lime salts present in it. It should be clear.