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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1915)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION Notes on Health and Sanitation 6 MONF.V DISEASE DISTRIBUTOR. AMONG the numerous evil3 for which money has long been held responsible is Included that of trans mitting disease. On general princi ples it seems that an old, begrimed, greasy bill must be loaded with dead ly disease germs, particularly when we remember the questionable com pany it keeps during its peregrina tions. And yet some exhaustive in vestigations made recently prove that even very dirty money is not an un desirable commodity, at least from a sanitary standpoint. ".Theoretically," runs the report of this investigation, "dirty money, espe cially paper currency, handled by all kinds of people and by people suf fering from or in close contact with contagious diseases, should transmit disease; but it has not been found to do so. Bank men and Treasury De partment men who handle large amounts of gold and dirty money do not contract disease. This does not excuse the disgusting practice of putting coins in the mouth, or of wet ting the fingers with the tongue in counting bills." Apparently, then, the diseases that money engenders are of a moraj, rather than of bacterial nature. It is true, however, that many kinds of bacteria are found on bills; and also on stairways, balustrades and car straps. But fortunatelySuch bacteria are of the harmless variety almost without exception. Sugar in the Antarctic. Sir Ernest Shackleton, the antarc tic explorer, has recently reported some interesting things about foods and diseases observed in the Antarc tic. He has this to say: "To show you how valuable sugar is to the explorer, there was an oc casion when we marched 321 miles, drawing laden sledges, in 14 days and a half. Every two hours we each took two or three lumps of sugar. Within 10 minutes of eating them we could feel the heat go through our bodies. The highest temperature of that march was 62 degrees below zero. " 'Catching cold' is almost un known in the polar regions. The only time we ever suffered from colds was just after we had opened a bale of English clothes to serve them out for Winter wear. The germs, ap parently, were lying dormant among the clothing. They 'woke up' on be ing heated. The men whose duties took them into the open recovered in a day. The others suffered for four or five days." Contagion From Body Eruptions. Since the skin eruptions of certain diseases such as smallpox transmit the contagion, it is a natural as sumption that most of the other erup tive diseases are also transmitted in this manner. Such does not appear to be the case, however. Thus the desquamated skin of scarlet fever during the "peeling" process has long been supposed to be peculiarly infective; and the fine scales from the eruption of measles were also strongly suspected. But it seems pretty clearly determined now that the infections of these two diseases are only transmitted through the discharges from the membranes of the nose and throat, and suppurating ears. The discovery that diseases are transmitted almost exclusively by di rect contagion makes it certain that clothing and baggage are rarely, it ever, agents of such transmission. The only reason for fumigating such objects, therefore, is on the supposi tion that they may have come in contact with some of the secretions of infected persons. Poisoning From Cheap Dentistry. Besides being responsible for un necessary extractions, improper treatment, and disfigurements, In competent and unscrupulous dentists are responsible also for a still more dangerous condition, copper poison ing. This poisoning may be caused by bridge work or crowns made of gold and copper alloy of inferior quality. There appears to be no danger when the alloy contains the usual percentage of gold. But when the amount of gold is small there is danger of copper poisoning in a chronic form, which Is a serious con dition not readily detected. Profes sor Erich Hamack, of Germany, has Just reported cases of this type of poisoning which resulted from the absorption of copper from bridge work made of an alloy which "was only eight carat fine." When this cheap bridge work wag moved, the symptoms of poisoning quickly disappeared. FMU'R AND APPENDICITIS. A FEW years ago when the epi demic of appendicitis started In America, later to become almost as prevalent in Europe, all manner of things were suggested as causing the Infection. None of these was satis factory; and the actual cause of this prolonged epidemic is still puzzling the surgeons. Recently attention has been called to the fact that the ap pendicitis epidemic began just after the Introduction ot "new process" flour in America that is, flour made with steel rollers instead of the old fashioned millstones. And that as this new American flour made Its way into Europe, appendicitis became increasingly prevalent there. The question has been raised, therefore, as to whether this new kind of flour is responsible for the epidemic, and if so, In what way? A writer in the Medical Record has recently offered an explanation. Since in the process of making the flour by the new method, minute par ticles of steel must Inevitably get Into it, he suggests that possibly these particles lodge in the appendix occa sionally, or in Its Immediate vicinity, and form foci of Infections which re sult in appendicitis. It should be understood, of course, that the case against the steel roll has not been proven, and is offered only as a tentative suggestion. Never theless it Is a fact that the popularity of steel-rolled flour and appendicitis developed at about the same time. Cause of "Gift Spots." Most persons know that the little white spots found In the fingernails are known as "gift spots." But the cause of these familiar little glftlets is often a mystery. In some Instances these spots ap pear to be congenital, and have no significance whatever so far as can be ascertained. In other cases the spots make their appearance after severe illnesses, such as typhoid fever, malaria, or certain types ot nervous diseases. . Many cawes appear to be caused by assiduous manicuring, where the cuticle knife Is used rather too freely. In such cases the spots disappear when the severe manicuring Is dis continued and sufficient time is given the nails to grow out. However, there are certain cases that cannot be accounted for on the score of severe illness or manicuring cases In which the spots make their appearance, and persist, with out any apparent cause, in nails that have been free from them hitherto. But It is strongly suspected that In these Instances the spots are an in dication of a rheumatic or gouty tendency, as the spots sometimes disappear when the underlying con dition Is treated. A Case of Superherolsm. . William Mitchell, an Englishman, was drowned recently in the Thames, while attempting to save a fellow countryman. The British- Medical Journal calls his act one of super heroism, and for this reason: Mitchell was a consumptive who had been undergoing treatment for several months, this treatment con sisting of having nitrogen gas pumped into his thorax a painful, tedious operation. He had undergone 11 of these treatments, the last one just before he took the fatal plunge. It was not a case of a doomed man risking a life already forfeited, how ever, but quite the contrary. For Mitchell had just been told by his physician that no more treatments were necessary that his tubercu losis had been conquered. He had left the doctor's office, therefore, with a new and hopeful outlook on life, although he was still so weak that he could not make any unusual exertion without shortness of breath. Yet he did not hesitate to plunge to the aid of a drowning man an act which he must have known meant certain death. WE ARE SO SURE OF THE QUALITY OF Gold Shield. Coffee That we ask you to give Gold Shield a trial, feeling that you will then insist on Gold Shield when buying coffee. SCHWABACHER BROS. & CO., Inc. Importers and Router, of Coffee Seattle, Wash. Mid-Winter Term Opened Monday, January 4, 1915 New CiaspesWill Start Next Week ENROLL NOW UNITS BUSINESS COLLEGE TILFORD BLIMJ. A, T. LINK, I'HI.Vt ir.tl, Telephone Main S0S3. PORTXAN D, OHECOX Boys and Girjs Here's your chance to make money. Easy, Interesting and profitable work. 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