Rural Hygiene

by Henry N. Ogden

Effects of dirt.

At one time it was thought that diseases could spring up in the midst of dirt, and one of the strong arguments for keeping houses clean, for removing manure piles, and cleaning up back yards, was the fear that without such care diseases might be induced in those living near by. This is possible in a certain sense, but unless the seed or germ of the disease is present in a pile of dirt there need be no fear of the disease being developed. There is, however, a probability that by the organic decay and the consequent pollution of the atmosphere the vitality, energy, and resistance of the individual in the vicinity may be weakened.

It is well known, for instance, that prisoners confined in damp dark cells lose vitality, and when released, have but little of their former physical strength. In the chapter on Ventilation, it has been shown that persons confined in a small room and breathing their own exhaled air may in time become unconscious and die, and therefore it is reasonable to believe that persons living in the immediate vicinity of decaying animal or vegetable matter will suffer a loss of vitality and will have less resistance to disease.

Blood resistance.

It is well known that there are present in the body certain agencies which act as guardians of the body against disease; that there are certain corpuscles of the blood and certain liquids circulating through the system which immediately attack and if in sufficient numbers or strength drive out the advancing enemy, so that "taking a disease" in most cases means that the activity of these resisting organisms is not forceful enough to successfully combat the germs of the disease. These agencies, whether circulating liquids or cells or corpuscles, are most active in the healthy body, and anything that tends to reduce the general health, such as exposure, overexertion, imperfect nourishment, overeating or overdrinking, or lack of sleep, tends to diminish their activity and so makes the individual more susceptible to disease.

Cell disintegration.

Although disease is caused by the attacks of germs, another and far more important cause of disease is the breaking down or overstimulation of some particular organ. This is very plainly seen in diseases involving the stomach or intestines, where habitual excesses in eating lead, sooner or later, to consequent inflammation, disease, and death. This is also true of the lungs; merely living in an atmosphere full of dust will irritate the lungs to such a degree as to cause inflammation. Cancer is presumably the result of local inflammation, although the cause of the original suppuration is unknown. Similarly, appendicitis starts from some irritating cause, resulting in inflammation and the formation of pus. In very many cases the cell-disintegration seems to be a matter of heredity.

Heredity.

Heredity, the second of the indirect causes of disease seems to be assuming less importance as it is more studied. Probably in but few cases is heredity more than a chance factor in the causation of disease. Heredity, formerly considered to be the most important cause of consumption, is now understood to have little to do with this widespread epidemic, although it is agreed that children brought up in the family with a consumptive mother and father are more likely to contract the disease than if they were segregated.

It is a providential arrangement that children inherit the tendencies of both father and mother, and that the good qualities of one parent are known to offset the bad qualities of the other; probably for this very important physiological reason marriage between near relatives, where both parents would be inclined to the same weaknesses, has always been proscribed. However, even with the characteristics of the father offsetting peculiarities of the mother, it is possible for the traits of a parent to be reproduced in children, and this applies to mental traits as well as to physical. In some families there exist tendencies toward nervous diseases, such as epilepsy and insanity, although it is not accurate to say that either disease is naturally inherited. It has been observed that a tendency to cancer, to scrofula, and to rheumatism runs in certain families, but this is hardly more than saying that in certain families, where the predisposition in this direction by one parent is not offset by the tendencies of the other parent, the physical condition of the child is such as to encourage the development of diseases.