Page:George Archdall Reid 1896 The present evolution of man.djvu/298

286 strikingly common occurrence of phthisis in nunneries, seminaries, and such-like institutions, in evidence whereof a number of observations have been brought forward by Fourcault; also in the Oriental harems, not only among the women but among the children also; again, among badly-lodged troops, of which we have evidence from England, France, Turkey, and India; and, above all, in prisons.

"Among many surgeons there is complete agreement that cases of phthisis are least common in soldiers when they are leading an active life in the open air, on the march, or in manoeuvres and campaigns; and that the cases mount up as soon as the troops enter on their garrison life, as, for example, in winter, and spend their time in ill-constructed, crowded, filthy, and badly-ventilated barracks. Welch, who treats of this matter with reference to the British army, says that 'nearly half of army consumption is connected with vitiated barrack atmosphere,' a similar opinion having been expressed by earlier writers such as Tulloch and Maclean, the latter including in his statement the British and native troops in India. With respect to its frequency in the French army, we find a similar reading of the facts in the papers by Champpouillon, Tholozan, Viry, Lausies, and others.

"'L'augmentation considérable des décès qui pèse sur l'armée en temps de paix,' says Tholozan, 'est surtout occasionnée par les lésions pulmonaires d'un caractère particulier; les lésions sont l'effet d'un vice spécial, d'une diathèse spécifique de l'économie qui se développe dans des conditions d'encombrement, d'agglomération, de vie en commun, particulières aux casernes.'"—Hirsch, vol. iii. pp. 221-8. {[dhr}} We see, then, that tuberculosis is essentially a disease of crowded and ill-ventilated habitations, and that bad as are the conditions under which we normally live, they may in relation to it be made infinitely worse. That they are yearly growing worse in the world at large, in consequence of the increase of the population,