A Civic Biology Part 39

"It is believed that the largest number of accidents in shops and mills takes place on Monday, because the alcohol that is drunk on Sunday takes away the skill and attentive care of the workman. To prove the truth of this opinion, the accidents of the building trades in Zurich were studied during a period of six years, with the result shown by this table":--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Shaded, non-alcoholic; black, alcoholic, accidents. (From Tolman, _Hygiene for the Worker_.)]

Another relation to efficiency is shown by the following chart. During the week the curve of working efficiency is highest on Friday and lowest on Monday. The number of accidents were also least on Friday and greatest on Monday. Lastly the a.s.saults were fewest in number on Friday and greatest on Sunday and Monday. The moral is plain. Workingmen are apt to spend their week's wages freely on Sat.u.r.day. Much of this goes into drink, and as a result comes crime on Sunday because of the deadened moral and mental condition of the drinker, and loss of efficiency on Monday, because of the poisonous effects of the drug.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Notice that the curve of efficiency is lowest on Monday and that crimes and accidents are most frequent on Sunday and Monday. Account for this.]

Effect of Alcohol upon Duration of Life.--Still more serious is the relation of alcohol as a direct cause of disease (see table).

It is as yet quite impossible, in the United States at least, to tell just how many deaths are brought about, directly or indirectly, by alcohol.

Especially is this true in trying to determine the number of cases of deaths from disease promoted by alcohol. In Switzerland provision is made for learning these facts, and the records of that country throw some light on the subject.

Dr. Rudolph Pfister made a study of the records of the city of Basle for the years 1892-1906, finding the percentage of deaths in which alcohol had been reported by the attending physician as one cause of death. He found that 18.1 per cent of all deaths of men between 40 and 50 years of age were caused, in part at least, by alcohol, and this at what should be the most active period in a man's life, the time when he is most needed by his family and community. Taking all ages between 20 and 80, he found that alcohol was one cause of death in one man in every ten who died.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Another study was made by a certain doctor in Sweden, from records of 1082 deaths occurring in his own practice and the local hospital. No case was counted as alcoholic of which there was the slightest doubt. Of deaths of adult men, 18 in every 100 were due, directly or indirectly, to alcoholism.

In middle life, between the ages of 40 and 50, 29; and between 50 and 60 years of age, 25.6 out of every 100 deaths had alcohol as one cause, thus agreeing with other statistics we have been quoting.--From the _Metropolitan_, Vol. XXV, Number 11.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The proportion of crime due to alcohol is shown in black.]

The Relation of Alcohol to Crime.--A recent study of more than 2500 habitual users of alcohol showed that over 66 per cent had committed crime.

Usually the crimes had been done in saloons or as a result of quarrels after drinking. Of another lot of 23,581 criminals questioned, 20,070 said that alcohol had led them to commit crime.

The Relation of Alcohol to Pauperism.--We have already spoken of the Jukes family. These and many other families of a similar sort are more or less directly a burden upon the state. Alcohol is in part at least responsible for the condition of such families. Alcohol weakens the efficiency and moral courage, and thus leads to begging, pauperism, petty stealing or worse, and ultimately to life in some public inst.i.tution. In Ma.s.sachusetts, of 3230 inmates of such inst.i.tutions, 66 per cent were alcoholics.

The Relation of Alcohol to Heredity.--Perhaps the gravest side of the alcohol question lies here. If each one of us had only himself to think of, the question of alcohol might not be so serious. But drinkers may hand down to their unfortunate children tendencies toward drink as well as nervous diseases of various sorts; an alcoholic parent may beget children who are epileptic, neurotic, or even insane.

In the State of New York there are at the present time some 30,000 insane persons in public and private hospitals. It is believed that about one fifth of them, or 6000 patients, owe their insanity to alcohol used either by themselves or by their parents. In the asylums of the United States there are 150,000 insane people. Taking the same proportions as before, there are 30,000 persons in this country whom alcohol has made or has helped to make insane. This is the most terrible side of the alcohol problem.

REFERENCE READING

ELEMENTARY

Hunter, _Laboratory Problems in Civic Biology_. American Book Company.

Overton, _General Hygiene_. American Book Company.

The Gulick Hygiene Series, _Emergencies, Good Health, The Body at Work, Control of Body and Mind_. Ginn and Company.

Ritchie, _Human Physiology_. World Book Company.

Hough and Sedgwick, _The Human Mechanism_. Ginn and Company.

XXIV. MAN'S IMPROVEMENT OF HIS ENVIRONMENT

_Problems.--How may we improve our home conditions of living?_ _How may we help improve our conditions at school?_ _How does the city care for the improvement of our environment?_ _(a) In inspection of buildings, etc._ _(b) In inspection of food supplies._ _(c) In inspection of milk._ _(d) In care of water supplies._ _(e) In disposal of wastes._ _(f) In care of public health._

LABORATORY SUGGESTIONS

_Home exercise._--How to ventilate my bedroom.

_Demonstration._--Effect of use of duster and damp cloth upon bacteria in schoolroom.

_Home exercise._--Luncheon dietaries.

_Home exercise._--Sanitary map of my own block.

_Demonstration._--The bacterial content of milk of various grades and from different sources.

_Demonstration._--Bacterial content of distilled water, rain water, tap water, dilute sewage.

_Laboratory exercise._--Study of board of health tables to plot curves of mortality from certain diseases during certain times of year.

The Purpose of this Chapter.--In the preceding chapters we have traced the lives of both plants and animals within their own environment. We have seen that man, as well as plants and other animals, needs a favorable environment in order to live in comfort and health. It will be the purpose of the following pages first to show how we as individuals may better our home environment, and secondly, to see how we may aid the civic authorities in the betterment of conditions in the city in which we live.

[Ill.u.s.tration: How I should ventilate my bedroom.]

Home Conditions.--The Bedroom.--We spend about one third of our total time in our bedroom. This room, therefore, deserves more than pa.s.sing attention.

First of all, it should have good ventilation. Two windows make an ideal condition, especially if the windows receive some sun. Such a condition as this is manifestly impossible in a crowded city, where too often the apartment bedrooms open upon narrow and ill-ventilated courts. Until comparatively recent time, tenement houses were built so that the bedrooms had practically no light or air; now, thanks to good tenement-house laws, wide airshafts and larger windows are required by statute.

Care of the Bedroom.--Since sunlight cannot always be obtained for a bedroom, we must so care for and furnish the room that it will be difficult for germs to grow there. Bedroom furniture should be light and easy to clean, the bedstead of iron, the floors painted or of hardwood. No hangings should be allowed at the windows to collect dust, nor should carpets be allowed for the same reason. Rugs on the floor may easily be removed when cleaning is done. The furniture and woodwork should be wiped with a damp cloth every day. Why a _damp_ cloth? In certain tenements in New York City, tuberculosis is believed to have been spread by people occupying rooms in which a previous tenant has had tuberculosis. A new tenant should insist on a thorough cleaning of the bedrooms and removal of old wall paper before occupancy.

Sunlight Important.--In choosing a house in the country we would take a location in which the sunlight was abundant. A shaded location might be too damp for health. Sunlight should enter at least some of the rooms. In choosing an apartment we should have this matter in mind, for, as we know, germs cannot long exist in sunlight.

[Ill.u.s.tration: This map shows how cases of tuberculosis are found recurring in the same locality and in the same houses year after year. Each black dot is one case of tuberculosis.]

Heating.--Houses in the country are often heated by open fires, stoves or hot-air furnaces, all of which make use of heated currents of air to warm the rooms. But in the city apartments, usually pipes conduct steam or hot water from a central plant to our rooms. The difficulty with this system is that it does not give us fresh air, but warms over the stale air in a room.

Steam causes our rooms to be too warm part of the time, and not warm enough part of the time. Thus we become overheated and then take cold by becoming chilled. Steam heat is thus responsible for much sickness.

Lighting.--Lighting our rooms is a matter of much importance. A student lamp, or shaded incandescent light, should be used for reading. Shades must be provided so that the eyes are protected from direct light. Gas is a dangerous servant, because it contains a very poisonous substance, carbon monoxide. "It is estimated that 14 per cent of the total product of the gas plant leaks into the streets and houses of the cities supplied." This forms an unseen menace to the health in cities. Gas pipes, and especially gas c.o.c.ks, should be watched carefully for escaping gas. Rubber tubing should not be used to conduct gas to movable gas lamps, because it becomes worn and allows gas to escape.

[Ill.u.s.tration: During the summer all food should be protected from flies.

Why?]

Insects and Foods.--In the summer our houses should be provided with screens. All food should be carefully protected from flies. Dirty dishes, sc.r.a.ps of food, and such garbage should be quickly cleaned up and disposed of after a meal. Insect powder (pyrethrum) will help keep out "croton bugs"

and other undesirable household pests, but cleanliness will do far more.

Most kitchen pests, as the roach, simply stay with us because they find dirt and food abundant.

Use of Ice.--Food should be properly cared for at all times, but especially during the summer. Iceboxes are a necessity, especially where children live, in order to keep milk fresh. A dirty icebox is almost as bad as none at all, because food will decay or take on unpleasant odors from other foods.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The wrong and the right kind of garbage cans.]

Disposal of Wastes.--In city houses the disposal of human wastes is provided for by a city system of sewers. The wastes from the kitchen, the garbage, should be disposed of each day. The garbage pail should be frequently sterilized by rinsing it with boiling water. Plenty of lye or soap should be used. Remember that flies frequent the uncovered garbage pail, and that they may next walk on your food. Collection and disposal of garbage is the work of the munic.i.p.ality.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The culture (_A_) was exposed to the air of a dirty street in the crowded part of Manhattan. (_B_) was exposed to the air of a well-cleaned and watered street in the uptown residence portion. Which culture has the more colonies of bacteria? How do you account for this?]

School Surroundings.--How to Improve Them.--From five to six hours a day for forty weeks is spent by the average boy or girl in the schoolroom. It is part of our environment and should therefore be considered as worthy of our care. Not only should a schoolroom be attractive, but it should be clean and sanitary. City schools, because of their locations, of the sometimes poor janitorial service, and especially because of the selfishness and carelessness of children who use them, may be very dirty and unsanitary. Dirt and dust breed and carry bacteria. Plate cultures show greatly increased numbers of bacteria to be in the air when pupils are moving about, for then dust, bearing bacteria, is stirred up and circulated through the air. Sweeping and dusting with dry brooms or feather dusters only stirs up the dust, leaving it to settle in some other place with its load of bacteria. Professor Hodge tells of an experience in a school in Worcester, Ma.s.s. A health brigade was formed among the children, whose duty was to clean the rooms every morning by wiping all exposed surface with a damp cloth. In a school of 425 pupils not a single case of contagious diseases appeared during the entire year. Why not try this in your own school?

Unselfishness the Motto.--Pupils should be unselfish in the care of a school building. Papers and sc.r.a.ps dropped by some careless boy or girl make unpleasant the surroundings for hundreds of others. Chalk thrown by some mischievous boy and then tramped underfoot may irritate the lungs of a hundred innocent schoolmates. Colds or worse diseases may be spread through the filthy habits of some boys who spit in the halls or on the stairways.

Lunch Time and Lunches.--If you bring your own lunch to school, it should be clean, tasty, and well balanced as a ration. In most large schools well-managed lunch rooms are part of the school equipment, and balanced lunches can be obtained at low cost. Do not make a lunch entirely from cold food, if hot can be obtained. Do not eat only sweets. Ice cream is a good food, if taken with something else, but be sure of your ice cream. "Hokey pokey" cream, tested in a New York school laboratory, showed the presence of many more colonies of bacteria than _good_ milk would show. Above all, be sure the food you buy is clean. Stands on the street, exposed to dust and germs, often sell food far from fit for human consumption.