AbstractsMedical & Health Science

In all of the folk-lore that has been preserved, diseases were said to be due to supernatural causes, the displeasures of the gods, or to the entrance into the body of some malign spirit or demon. Acrid and aromatic substances were used as a means of driving away the evil spirits. It is quite likely, however, that primitive man in many instances was successful in combating the spread of infectious diseases, since some of the substances he selected were good disinfectants. It seems strange, however, that present day practices of disinfection appear to have been founded upon early religious rites of purification, rather than on the age-old knowledge, that meats and ether putrescible materials are protected from spoilage by certain substances. Our present practices may be described as a summation of the following:- 1. A curious mixture of early religious rites. 2. Knowledge derived from centuries of empirical observations. 3. Information obtained from the critical testing of various substances which possess disinfectant properties. An example of this may be seen in that ancient Persian laws directed that drinking water be kept in bright copper vessels. Whether or not observation had shown that there was less disease when drinking water was kept in this way, or whether the law has some entirely different basis is not known.[...]