Sir Arthur Newsholme

“ Physiological Considerations.—In the strict sense of the word, exercise signifies the performance of its functions by any part of the body; thus, digestion is exercise of the stomach, respiration is exercise of the lungs, thinking is an exercise of the brain. But the term is usually applied chiefly to muscular contraction, and restricted to contraction of voluntary muscles. Involuntary muscles, which are concerned in the carrying on of the unconscious organic functions of life, are not directly controllable, and so their growth and state of nutrition cannot be regulated. ”

“ Man is not an eating machine; he requires food which is easily converted into the body substance, and this is supplied by the flesh of animals, milk and eggs, with a due proportion of non-nitrogenous food; sheep and oxen work up indigestible vegetable materials into easily assimilable mutton and beef. The greater convenience of animal food as a supply of proteid is shown by the following examples of foods after the removal of water:—
On the other hand, vegetable foods are a cheaper source, not only of carbohydrates and fats, but also of proteids as well. ”

“ The cubic space of a room is really of less importance than the capacity for frequent interchanges of air. Even the largest enclosed space can only supply air for a limited period, after which the same amount of fresh air must be supplied, whether the space be small or large. Thus, supposing that as large a space as 10,000 cubic feet per head were allowed, the limit of purity would in the absence of ventilation be reached in three hours, and after that time an hourly supply of 3,000 cubic feet of air would be just as necessary as if the space were only 200 cubic feet. ”

“ The dryness of the house is a most important matter. If a damp soil means also a damp house it must favour consumption and other chest affections. Damp air, like water, rapidly abstracts heat from the body. Compare, for instance, the discomfort of sitting clad in water at a temperature of 65° F. with the comfort of sitting clad in a dry room at the same temperature! The domestic fowl is naturally immune to anthrax; but by being kept for a few hours with its feet in cold water, it can be rendered susceptible to inoculation with this disease. ”

“ Classification of Foods.—Inasmuch as milk supplies all the food necessary for health and growth during the first year of life, it may reasonably be expected to afford some guidance as to the necessary constituents of a diet for the adult; although the conditions of life being altered in the latter, we can hardly expect the same proportions of the different materials to hold good. In the infant rapid growth and building up of new tissues and organs are going on, involving the necessity for a larger proportional amount of nitrogenous food than in the adult. ”

“ Washing is the most efficacious means of removing infection. It is a mechanical means of removing the particular matter of which the contagium consists from the person or article to which it adheres into the water, which subsequently enters the drain, in the same way as do urine and fæces. Washing is an absolutely efficient means of purifying articles that can be completely submitted to it. A consideration of the physical laws governing the spread of infection will make this clear. The contagia are passive. When contained in a liquid they cannot escape from it under ordinary circumstances. ”

“ Objects of Cooking.—Food may be taken in its crude condition, as directly derived from the animal or vegetable world, or after it has undergone a preparatory process of cooking. Man is the only animal who cooks his food. Many foods, in the uncooked condition are almost entirely incapable of digestion by him—such as the proteid and farinaceous materials contained in the seeds of cereal and leguminous plants. But cooking, as a preparatory help to the digestion of food, is not equally required by all foods. ”

“ A supply of water prolongs the duration of life, to as much as three times what it would otherwise be. Good nourishment doubles the power of resisting disease; while deficient food prepares the way for many diseases. A large share of the decline in the English death-rate during the last forty years is due to free trade, and the great cheapening of wholesome food which has resulted from it.
An ill-balanced is more frequent than a deficient diet. Deficiency of fat is more serious than deficiency of carbohydrates, and deficiency of proteid is most serious. ”

“ The Outfall of a sewer requires to be large and perfectly free in order that the progress of the sewage may not be impeded. When the sewage is discharged into the sea above the low water level, it becomes backed up in the main sewers when the tide is high. The same condition of things has occurred when the outfall is into a river below the water line, or into a tank out of which the sewage has to be pumped. In all these cases the ventilation of the sewers requires to be perfect, and great precautions taken to prevent obstruction of the outflow. ”

“ The wind will pass through wood, and even brick and stone walls. When it is allowed to pass directly through a room, as from window to door, it produces a more powerful effect than can be produced in any other way. The average rate of movement of winds in this country is 10 feet per second, or about 7 miles an hour. If the surface which a man exposes to this average wind = 6’ × 11⁄2’ = 9 square feet, then 90 cubic feet of air flows over him in one second, and 324,000 in an hour. ”

“ A damp house is certain to be an unhealthy one. It is this for two reasons:—1st, it is a cold house, as damp walls, like damp clothes, conduct the heat of the body away much more rapidly than dry walls; 2nd, if the pores of the bricks are occupied by water, air cannot pass through, and thus the ventilation and purification of the house are greatly impeded. Damp may arise from the ground on which a house stands, or from the rain beating against the walls, or from a defective roof. Unless special means are taken to prevent it, moisture rises by capillary attraction through brick after brick. ”

“ The provision of sufficient surface-drains to carry off ordinary water and storm-water helps in drying the soil of urban districts.
Vegetation tends to diminish dampness of soil by causing rapid evaporation, and at the same time uses up the organic matter in the soil. Certain plants are more active in producing these effects than others: the Eucalyptus genus, including many species, and represented by the well-known blue-gum tree of Australia, is noted for its power in this respect; and the common sun-flower, which is very easy of cultivation, has a powerful influence in the same direction. ”

“ A moist air prevents excessive changes of temperature due to radiation. It protects the earth from too great intensity of the solar rays by day and from too rapid loss of heat by radiation at night. The inhalation of a dry air plays an important part in the cure of consumption. When the air is almost saturated with moisture, evaporation from the skin and lungs is diminished, and there is a feeling of oppression and disinclination to work caused by the interference with the tissue changes of the system.
Rainfall is caused by over-saturation of a column of moist air. ”

“ The infectivity of enteric fever has been underrated in the past. When patients with this disease are nursed at home by relatives who do not appreciate the full importance of the necessary precautions, it is rather the rule than the exception for them to fall victims to its infection. Probably, sometimes the infection has been scattered as dust, owing to small particles of fæces or of urine having become dried on bed linen. The most absolute cleanliness is essential in nursing this disease. In hot climates there is reason to believe that infective dust may be blown about from privies. ”

“ The records of experience under certain conditions have, however, been so extensive, as to lead to trustworthy results. It has been abundantly proved that prolonged muscular work is best undergone during total abstinence from alcohol; and that the extremes of heat and cold and the exposure and exertions of marching armies, are best borne under similar conditions.
The artificial character of town life is commonly adduced as an argument for the moderate use of alcohol. In the case of healthy workers, this does not hold good; many of our hardest workers and thinkers take no alcohol. ”

“ An obligate parasite can develop only within a living host; while a facultative parasite can, according to circumstances, lead either a parasitic or saprophytic form of existence. The fact that certain contagia are completely, and others only partially, parasitic brings out important differences in their life-history. Thus, so far as we know, the contagia of scarlet fever, measles, small-pox and hydrophobia do not multiply outside the body. Hence there is a reasonable prospect of annihilating them by measures of disinfection and isolation. The position of diphtheria is doubtful. ”

“ An accurate statement of population forms the natural basis of all vital statistics. Thus the comparison of the number of deaths in one with the number of deaths in a second community has no significance unless we know also the number living out of which these deaths occurred. Even then our knowledge would be defective, without further particulars as to the proportion in each population living at different ages, and the number dying at the corresponding ages. ”

“ Strenuous efforts are made to ensure a supply of food, and water is commonly filtered or otherwise purified before drinking; but many are content to live in an impure atmosphere, which hardly suffices for the preservation of life, and certainly not of health. Deprivation of food, or even of water, only kills after several days or weeks; deprivation of air kills in a few minutes. Only about three pints of water are required daily, while at least 1,500 gallons of air are necessary every day for carrying on the vital functions. ”

“ Certain foods do not directly serve either as tissue or energy producers, but are useful in aiding the assimilation of food. Such are the various condiments which may be classed as adjuncts to food. Salt is so necessary to the assimilation of food and to the composition of the various tissues, that it may be ranked as an important food. Water, again, though already oxidised, and so not an immediate source of energy, is absolutely necessary to the assimilation of food, to the interchange between the various tissues and the blood, and to the elimination of effete products. ”

“ That the power of purification of sewage by soil is due to the micro-organisms in the latter, can be proved by the fact that when the soil is baked, it loses for a time its purifying power.
The Air contained in the Soil varies greatly in amount with the character of the soil, and with the level of the ground-water. As the ground-water rises, the ground-air is driven out. Thus, after a heavy rainfall a large proportion of this air will be displaced. Variations in barometric pressure, and a rise or fall of temperature, cause movements in ground-air. ”

“ If we use the word in its widest sense, to include these various groups of substances, we find that all condiments are taken with the object of improving the taste or flavour of food, or of assisting its digestion; but that they are not foods in the sense of supplying any elements towards building up the body or maintaining its heat. The only partial exception is lemon-juice, the salts of which have a quasi-medicinal use.
Taste is usually a compound sensation, the organs of which are the nerves of taste and smell. True taste is confined to the appreciation of sensations of bitter and sweet ”

“ If the slopes of a hill are covered with trees the temperature of its sides and base are considerably increased, as the trees obstruct the descending currents of cold air. The frosts of winter are felt most severely in localities where the slopes above them are destitute of vegetation, and especially of trees. It follows that in any given locality, the best protection against the winter cold is ensured by a dwelling situated on a slope a little above the plain or valley from which it rises, with a southern exposure, and sheltered by trees planted above it. ”

“ Carnelley and Haldane found that the air of the sewers of the Houses of Parliament and of certain sewers of Dundee was not very impure, containing a smaller number of bacteria than external air. There is reason to believe that the emanations from well-ventilated sewers, possessing a good gradient, so that the contents of the sewers are hurried away to the outfall, are free from danger. The chief source of possible danger would be the escape of the bacteria of such diseases as enteric fever or diphtheria, which had been discharged into the sewer from patients suffering from these diseases. ”

“ Warming by Hot Air is only applicable on a large scale, and should only be used in association with a system of ventilation by propulsion (page 153) , in which the temperature, humidity, and freedom from dust of the entering air are carefully regulated.
Warming by Electricity both for cooking food and for warming rooms has a large future, but in most districts the supply of electricity is not hitherto sufficiently cheap to be used for these purposes. By its means the atmosphere will be prevented from becoming impure, labour will be reduced, and life rendered more pleasant. ”

“ The disposal of house refuse constitutes a problem of increasing difficulty. Unfortunately in the suburbs of many towns it is deposited on low-lying land in disused quarries and brickfields. When land has been thus levelled, it often next appears as “an eligible building site.” A very common practice has been to excavate gravel and sand upon the site of proposed dwellings, and allow the excavation to be filled with dust-bin refuse. Before building on such a soil it is necessary to excavate down to the virgin earth, and to render it impervious by a layer of cement concrete. ”

“ Dust is formed, which contains the living tubercle bacilli, and with the mere shaking of the handkerchief or the disturbance of the dust on the floor these are inhaled, and often cause consumption. The person thus infected may be a new patient. Often also it is the consumptive patient who is thus re-infected. Consumptive patients tend to recover. But if the patient’s disease is daily recruited by fresh doses of the tubercle bacilli inhaled with the dust of previous expectoration, fresh centres of disease are produced, and thus the patient is unwittingly helping to cause his own death. ”

“ To ensure good cooking, perfect cleanliness of all apparatus is indispensable. The use of the frying-pan, gridiron, spit, and oven has been sufficiently indicated under the description of the different methods of cooking. The form of stove to be used for cooking meat is gradually being settled against the old open stove. Although this secures a somewhat more savoury joint than when meat is baked, it is extravagant in working. The closed kitchener in which coal is employed is less economical than a gas stove at the present price of gas, if the latter is carefully used. ”

“ With the view of preventing contamination of milk, no person suffering from an infectious disorder, or having recently been in contact with a person so suffering, is allowed to milk cows or take any part in any stage of the business of a milk-seller. The milk of a cow suffering from cattle plague, pleuro-pneumonia, or foot and mouth disease must not be mixed with other milk, must not be sold or used for human food, nor for food for swine or other animals, unless it has been boiled. ”

“ In ill-fed or old animals, connective tissue is more abundant, and the meat is tougher. Well-fed and fattened meat contains for equal weights much more nutritious matter than non-fattened meat, the fat which is deposited in the muscle replacing water and not proteid. Hence the gain in nutritive value is an absolute one, and is not attained at the expense of the proteid part of the meat. Young animals, again, contain more water and fat and a larger proportion of connective tissue than the full-grown, and are consequently not so nourishing. ”