A contribution to the climatological study of phthisis in Pennsylvania.
- William Pepper
- Date:
- 1887
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A contribution to the climatological study of phthisis in Pennsylvania. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
62/96 page 48
![treatment for a long time for palpitation and hypertrophy of the heart, havins; been afflicted previous to marriage. Mother of five children, youngest, one year old, developed, after weaning tliis child, a. quick con- sumption. Autopsy reveale<] extensively diseased lungs. The husband survived her one year, dying in New Mexico of consumption.’’ No. 5. Emlenton; population, 1,100; elevation, 850 feet. The town is sheltered; west winds prevail; the air is damp and fogs occur fre- quently. There are woods about the town, hut not much shade in the streets. The country is hilly and the soil is poor. There are sudden clianges of temperature. The people are occupied in farming and mining for oil. They are larirely of American descent. Consumption is prevalent and chronic; hereditary in one half the cases. Malaria is becominji preva- lent; rheumatism and pneumonia prevail; Bright’s disease does not. Dr. J. E. Hall writes that the town is situated in a narrow valley and on a side-hill on the east bank of the Allegheny River, 89 miles above Pittsburgh. The town is sheltered from west winds by a hill covered with hemlock on the west bank of the river. Acute j)hfhisis is rarely seen. The doctor thinks that the gas from the oil-wells is injurious to persons in whom consumption is well marked, but is perhaps beneficial in the early stages; also in bronchitis. However, the gas is not considered an especially valuable therapeutic agent. Group III. Blair County.—One reply. Hollidaysburg; population, 5,000; ele- vation, 953 feet. Sheltered. West winds prevail. The air is cool and dry. Fogs are infrequent. There is a medium amount of snow. There is shade in the streets. Soil good. Not theast winds troublesome to con- sumptives. The people are engaged in factories and in mining, and of various nationalities. Phthisis not prevalent, but is more frequent atm mg Americans and negroes; hereditary and chronic malaria not prevalent nor associated with phthisis. Rheumatism and pneumonia prevail in winter and spring. Bright’s disease not prevalent. The town is situated on a hill-side. Rock. limestone. There are several sewers. No ponds or marshes. Meadows are dry. The town is surrounded, at a distance of one to ten miles, by an “amphitheatre of mountains.” Clearfield County.—Four replies. Two from Clearfield ; popula- tion, 3.000; elevation, 1,103 feet. The town is exposed and cold, though sheltered on east and west. Fogs occur frequently in the autumn. The site of the town is nearly level, having been at one time a swamp. The streets are shaded, so as to make the air rather cool and damp. 'I'he soil is of medium quality. There is an alluvial deposit ten to fifteen feet deep. At the bottom is a substratum of gravel; rock below and sand above. East winds are very troublesome to consumptives. There are sudden changes of temperature. The difference between noon and night is often very marked. The mid-winter temperature is steadily low. The](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28270538_0064.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
