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Health Lessons, Book 1

Chapter 59: PRACTICAL QUESTIONS
By Alvin Davison
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About This Book

This work presents elementary hygiene and physiology for schoolchildren, combining clear explanations of body parts and their functions with practical lessons on nutrition, digestion, and food safety, including spoilage and milk hygiene. It emphasizes personal cleanliness, bathing, clothing, breathing, fresh air, exercise, and the roles of blood, muscles, and senses. Communicable disease prevention, insect control, and the health risks of alcohol, tobacco, narcotics, and stimulants are treated plainly, and chapters conclude with guidance on keeping well and basic first aid. Illustrations and examples are used to make scientific ideas accessible to young readers.

Fig. 93 —The germs of diseases. Much enlarged.

It is not always our own fault when we are sick. It may be caused by the carelessness of others who have let germs escape from their bodies so that they are able to reach us. One half of the sickness in our land is catching sickness. That is, it is sickness which passes from one person to another and is caused by tiny germs or microbes. A catching sickness is called a contagious disease. Some of the common catching diseases are sore throat, colds, diphtheria, pneumonia, typhoid fever, measles, grippe, and whooping cough.

How we get a Catching Sickness.—We get a catching sickness by taking into our bodies the germs from some other person. The germs of the sick do not pass off in the breath, but in the spit or anything else which comes from their bodies. This is why the spit and all slops from the sick room should be burned, buried, or destroyed in some way.

Fig. 94 —How the germs of disease start on their mission of death. This sewer carries slops from the houses of the sick and well and empties into a stream used below for drinking water.

We should think it very wicked if a showman should turn his lions and tigers loose in a crowd of women and children. Somebody would surely be killed and others hurt. It is just as wrong to turn loose the germs of the sick by throwing the spit and the slops where they will get into a stream or where the flies may find them and by soiling their feet leave death in their trail wherever they crawl.

How the Germs of Sickness catch Us.—The germs of sickness have no feet to walk and no wings to fly, yet they easily travel from the sick to the well. They are not killed by being frozen, or drowned by floating in water, or destroyed by drying. For this reason they can travel with the ice, water, milk, and dust.

In Buffalo, New York, fifty-seven children caught the scarlet fever in one week by using milk cared for by a boy who was getting well from the scarlet fever.

The germs of sickness are so small that a million can hang to the hands or clothing and not be seen. For this reason they are often left clinging to the fingers, desks, books, and pencils, and travel in large numbers on the feet of flies. The surest way the germs have of getting from one person to another is by the common drinking cup.

Fig. 95 —Photograph of clear beef broth jelly in which a fly walked five minutes scattering germs. Two days later each germ brushed off the fly's feet grew into a city of germs appearing as a white spot.

The Common Drinking Cup is an Exchange Station for Germs.—The most careful examinations have shown that there are thousands of children as well as grown persons who have very light attacks of scarlet fever, tuberculosis, or other diseases and go to school or about their work scattering the germs of sickness in their spit. A child seldom drinks from a cup without leaving on it thousands of germs. Some of these may be germs which will cause sickness. On one drinking cup used in a school, the germs were found to be as thick as the leaves on a maple tree in June.

In an Ohio school one warm day, a boy with beginning measles drank from the cup which was afterward used on the same day by the teacher and all the other pupils. In less than two weeks every pupil and the teacher were suffering from measles. Put nothing into your mouth which has been in another's mouth.

Fig. 96 —A schoolhouse in Morgan county, Ohio, where sixteen pupils and the teacher caught the measles in one day by drinking from a cup which had been used by a boy sick with the measles.

The Golden Rule.—If you have a catching sickness, such as measles, chicken pox, or whooping cough, stay away from others. Since the germs of some diseases, like scarlet fever and diphtheria, remain in the spit sometimes several months after you feel well, don't scatter your spit. Hold a handkerchief before your face when you sneeze or cough. Wash your hands before handling food.

Some Animals carry Sickness.—Mosquitoes carry malaria and yellow fever and some other diseases. Flies carry typhoid fever, grippe, diphtheria, and tuberculosis. Bedbugs and fleas carry the plague and leprosy. Rats carry the plague. Cats sometimes carry diphtheria. Many cows have tuberculosis and the germs of this disease are then sometimes found in their milk. Some children have caught tuberculosis from drinking such milk.

Fig. 97 —A pane of glass held about two feet before the face of a boy who sneezed. The spots are the droplets of spit thrown out. Each spot showed under the microscope from 50 to 1000 germs.

Keeping away Smallpox.—Smallpox was once the most terrible of all diseases. It is so catching that two or three were often sick with it at one time in the same family. Sometimes nearly one half the people of a whole town would have the disease in one year. Over a hundred years ago nearly every grown up person had little pits scattered over his face as a result of having had smallpox.

You can always keep away smallpox by being vaccinated. The doctor can vaccinate you by putting on the freshly scraped skin of your arm some weak smallpox germs from a clean healthy calf which has been vaccinated. Your arm will in a few days get sore and you will not feel well for about one week, but you will be made safe from smallpox for several years.

Fifty nurses were vaccinated in Philadelphia and cared for many sick with the smallpox, staying with them day after day, but not one of the nurses took the disease. Every one should be vaccinated when a year old and again at the age of ten or twelve years.

Colds.—Some colds are catching, but we generally take cold because we have weak bodies or have been careless. If you want to be free from colds, remember these six rules:—

Don't sit still in wet clothes or with wet feet.

Don't sit in a cold draft or in a cold room.

Don't sit on the damp ground or on the ice when you are resting from skating.

Don't cool off quickly after exercising.

Sleep in a room with the windows wide open.

Take a cold bath every morning and draw fresh air to the bottom of the lungs many times every day.

Tuberculosis or Consumption.—This disease is so common and deadly that twenty persons die from it in our country every hour. It is caused by tiny germs (Fig. 63) which lodge in the lungs, glands, bones, or other parts of the body, where they give off poison and hurt the tissues. We take these germs into the body with dust or food, and also by putting to the lips a drinking cup or other things used by a consumptive. Generally the germs will not grow in a strong body, even when they have lodged there.

Preventing Consumption.—Living in poorly lighted houses without much fresh air, working in dusty rooms, using much strong drink and tobacco, eating poor food, losing sleep, neglecting a cough, and taking little or no outdoor exercise weaken the body so that the consumption germs can grow in it. Deep breathing, sitting and walking erect, living in rooms with sunshine, sleeping with the windows open eight or nine hours every night, and eating good food will prevent one from taking consumption and will often cure the disease. Persons with this sickness give out the germs in their spit, which should be caught in a cup and burned.

The Hookworm Disease.—This is a sickness affecting thousands of persons in the South. It is caused by tiny worms half as large as a pin hanging fast to the lining of the bowels. The worm is sometimes called the lazy germ because it destroys the red blood cells and makes the body feel weak and lazy. Children with these worms grow slowly, have a dry skin, and a swollen abdomen with a tender spot below the stomach.

The disease is easily cured by a physician, but it is better to prevent it by killing the germs in the waste from the bowels. For directions, address the Department of Health at the capital of your state. If the germs reach the ground they crawl around and may get into the well, and enter the body again with the drinking water. Generally, however, the worms enter through the skin of those going barefooted, and are carried by the blood to the lungs. From here they go up the windpipe to the throat, and then down the gullet to the bowels. It is their entrance through the skin that causes ground itch or dew itch. Wearing shoes will help prevent the disease.

A Strong Body Wins.—Nobody wants to be weak and sickly. Most all of us could keep well if we would try in the right way to keep the body strong.

To keep the body in health it must have plenty of sleep, enough good food well chewed, plenty of clean water, exercise every day, and an abundance of fresh air. The body is the temple of the soul. Don't hurt it with bad habits.

PRACTICAL QUESTIONS

1. How many people are sick to-day in our country?

2. How can much sickness be avoided?

3. What causes sickness?

4. What is a contagious disease?

5. Name some contagious diseases.

6. How do we get a catching sickness?

7. Why should we be careful with the slops from the sick
room?

8. Tell how children in Buffalo caught scarlet fever.

9. What is the danger in using a cup from which others
have drunk?

10. How can you prevent others from getting your sickness?

11. Name some animals which carry sickness.

12. How can we keep away smallpox?

13. Give six rules to keep away colds.

14. How may the body be kept strong?

CHAPTER XXIV

HELPING BEFORE THE DOCTOR COMES

The Need of Quick Help.—In many places in the country, or when out camping, it is impossible to get a doctor in less than two or three hours. Unless some one at hand can give aid before the doctor comes, much suffering and even death may result when a simple accident occurs. For this reason every one should know how to help in case of such accidents as burns, bleeding, choking, and sunstroke.

Clothing on Fire.—Children should never play about an open fire. A single spark lighting on a cotton dress may cause it to burst into a blaze so that within a few minutes the child is enveloped in flames.

The quickest way to put out such a fire is to wrap the child in a blanket, a piece of carpet, a coat, or any part of your clothing quickly removed. If nothing is at hand to wrap the sufferer in, roll him over and over in the dirt or weeds until the flames are smothered. When your clothing is on fire, you must not run, because this fans the fire and makes it burn.

Burns and Scalds.—If there is clothing on the part burned, it should be taken off slowly so as not to tear the skin. If the clothing sticks, soak it in oil a few minutes until it gets loose. Cover the burned part as quickly as possible with vaseline or a clean cloth soaked in a quart of boiled water containing a cup of washing soda. Let nothing dirty touch the burned surface and keep it well wrapped.

Bleeding.—A person can lose a quart of blood without danger of death and may live after more than two quarts have been lost, but it is wise to try to stop any flow of blood as quickly as possible. Tying a clean cloth folded several times over the cut will in most cases stop the flow. This will help a clot to form and will also close the ends of the cut vessels if the bandage is twisted tight with a stick.

If the cut is on a limb and the blood comes out in spurts, a bandage tied about the limb between the cut and the body may be twisted tight with a stick so as to press upon the artery and close it. A piece of wood or folded cloth placed over the artery under the bandage before it is tightened is helpful.

Nosebleed.—Some persons are troubled frequently with bleeding from the nose. The least knock may cause it to bleed for more than an hour. It may generally be stopped without sending for a doctor.

Sit up straight to keep the blood out of the head and press the middle part of the nose firmly between the fingers. Apply a cold wet cloth or a lump of ice wrapped in a cloth to the back of the neck. Put a bag of pounded ice on the root of the nose. If it does not stop in a half hour, wet a soft rag or a piece of cotton with cold tea or alum water and put it gently into the bleeding nostril so as to entirely close it. Do not blow the nose for several hours after the bleeding has stopped as this may start it again.

Fainting.—Fainting may be caused by bad air, an overheated room, by fear, or by some other excitement. A fainting person falls down and appears to be asleep. The lips are pale and there may be cold sweat on the forehead. There is too little blood in the brain, and the heart is weak.

A fainting person should be laid flat on the floor or on a couch, and all doors and windows opened wide. Loosen all tight clothing and apply to the forehead a cloth wet with cold water. A faint usually lasts only a few minutes.

Sunstroke.—A person with sunstroke becomes giddy, sick at the stomach, and weak. He then gets drowsy and may seem as if asleep, but he cannot be aroused. The skin is hot and dry instead of being cold and pale, as in fainting. The doctor should be sent for at once.

The first aid for sunstroke is to put the patient in a cool cellar or an icehouse, raise the head, and wet the head, neck, and back of the chest with cold water. As soon as he wakens put him in a cool room.

Frostbite.—When out in very cold weather, the end of the nose, the tips of the ears, and the toes and fingers are sometimes frozen. If a person comes into a warm room, these frozen parts will give much pain. The parts should be rubbed with snow or ice water until a tingling sensation is felt.

Breaks in the Skin.—A small cut or tear in the skin may become very sore and cause much trouble if not cared for so as to keep the germs out. If there is dirt in the wound, as when made with a rusty nail or by the bite of a dog, it should be squeezed and washed with boiled water to make it perfectly clean. It may then be bound up in a clean cloth. A little turpentine poured on the wound will help kill the germs which may make it sore. If the dog is thought to be mad or the wound is too deep to be easily washed out to the bottom, a doctor should be called.

Snakebite.—The scratches made by the little teeth of most snakes, such as the milk snake, garter snake, and black snake, do no more harm than the scratch of a pin. The copperhead, the southern moccasin, and the rattlesnake have a pair of long teeth called fangs in the upper jaw. These teeth have little canals in them through which the snake presses poison into the bite.

Fig. 98 —Photograph of a copperhead snake whose bite may cause death.

If a person is bitten by one of these snakes, the doctor must be sent for and help given at once. Put a bandage above the bite and twist it tight with a stick. Make two or three deep cuts into the bitten place to let out the poisoned blood. Suck the wound to draw out the poison and apply ammonia.

Choking.—A hard piece of meat, a bone, or a peach seed may slip back into the throat and press so hard on the windpipe as to cut off the air from the lungs. If the object is not far back in the throat, it may be seized with the first finger. A few smart slaps on the upper part of the back while the body is bent forward may drive enough air out of the lungs to push the object outward.

Drowning.—Every one should learn to swim while young, but no one should venture in deep water. Stiffening of the muscles called cramps often causes the best swimmer to drown.

After a person has been under the water two or three minutes he appears lifeless. He may, however, be brought to life if laid face downward, his clothes loosened, and the lungs made to breathe. A heavy folded coat, a piece of sod, or a bunch of weeds should be put under the chest. Then standing astride of him place the hands on the lower ribs and bend forward gradually so as to press on the ribs and push the air out of the lungs. Then straighten your body and slowly lessen pressure on the patient's ribs so that the air will run into the lungs. In this way make the air go in and out of the lungs about fifteen times each minute.

Poisoning.—Whenever a person has taken poison, a physician should be sent for at once. In most cases an effort should be made to get the poison out of the stomach by causing vomiting. A glass or two of weak, warm soapsuds, a pint of water with a tablespoonful of mustard, or a glass of water with two tablespoonfuls of salt may be taken to make the stomach throw out the poison. Tickling the throat back of the tongue will help cause vomiting.

If a strong acid such as carbolic acid or a strong alkali such as ammonia has been taken, do not cause vomiting. For acids give chalk in warm water and a pint of milk. For an alkali give vinegar in water.

INDEX