Excerpt from Principles of Sanitary Science and the Public Health: With Special Reference to the Causation and Prevention of Infectious Diseases
With the single exception of the change effected by the acceptance of the theory of organic evolution, there has probably been no modification of human opinion within the nineteenth century more wonderful, or more profoundly affecting the general conduct of human life, than that in our attitude toward the nature, the causation and the prevention of disease. The modern conception of the living body, whether plant or animal, as essentially a physical mechanism, is largely the result of discoveries in the domain of physics and chemistry begun, indeed, but not perfected, before the recent century. The modern conception of disease as due to imperfection, misbehavior or disturbance of a physical mechanism depended for its development on an acquaintance with the physiology of the body and its microscopic structure which did not exist before the introduction, in the third decade, of the achromatic objective. The microscopical renaissance which began with this pregnant invention speedily led to discoveries of the first importance in the normal structure of organized bodies; disclosed in abnormal tissues the material ravages, and, in some cases, the parasitic origin of disease; brought into full view a flora and a fauna hitherto unseen or only half seen; and, by the end of the fifth decade, was throwing a new and increasingly powerful light on the long-vexed question of the relation of ferments and fermentation to decomposition, putrefaction and disease.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Principles of Sanitary Science and the Public Health (William T. Sedgwick)