54 CUTANEOUS ABSORPTION. 



speedily ensue where proper ventilation is thus pre 

 vented, seem explicable only on some such principle. 

 It is believed by many, that marsh miasmata and 

 other poisons are absorbed by the skin, and Bichat 

 considered the fact as established in regard to the 

 effluvia of dissecting-rooms. There are many rea- 

 sons for concurring in this belief. The plague, for 

 instance, is known to be much more readily commu- 

 nicated by contact than by any other means, and this 

 can happen only through the medium of absorption. 

 Again, it is certain that flannel and warm clothing 

 are extremely useful in preserving those who are 

 unavoidably exposed to the action of malaria and of 

 epidemic influences ; and these manifestly act chiefly 

 by protecting the skin. A late writer on the Mala- 

 ria of Rome strongly advocates this opinion, and 

 expresses his conviction that the ancient Romans 

 suffered less from it, chiefly because they were al- 

 ways enveloped in warm woollen dresses. This 

 opinion, he says, is justified by the observation, that 

 since the period at which the use of woollen cloth- 

 ing came again into vogue, intermittent fevers have 

 very sensibly diminished in Rome. Even in the 

 warmest weather the shepherds are now clothed in 

 sheep-skins. Brocchi, who experimented exten- 

 sively on the subject, obtained a notable quantity of 

 putrid matter from the unwholesome air, and came 

 to the conclusion, that it penetrated by the pores of 

 the skin rather than by the lungs. Brocchi ascribes 

 the immunity of the sheep and cattle, which pasture 

 night and day in the Campagna, to the protection 

 afforded them by their wool.* These remarks de- 

 serve the serious attention of observers, particu- 

 larly as, according to Patissier, similar means have 

 been found effectual in preserving the health of la- 

 bourers digging and excavating drains and canals in 

 marshy grounds, where, previous to the employment 



* Edin, Phil, Joum. January, 1833* 



