The spirometer, the stethoscope, & scale-balance : their use in discriminating diseases of the chest, and their value in life offices; with remarks on the selection of lives for life assurance companies / by John Hutchinson.

Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The spirometer, the stethoscope, & scale-balance : their use in discriminating diseases of the chest, and their value in life offices; with remarks on the selection of lives for life assurance companies / by John Hutchinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    62/88 (page 58)
    probably be below tlic meaTi weigbt of our table, tliougb not necessarily so, and may be still losbg weigbt, because, a man with excess of weigbt, may be losing, and passing by, tbe mean weigbt when Ave examine bim, but tben his weigbt is not constant, a point absolutely necessary to bealtb. 127. A slow and gradual loss of weigbt, is more serious than a rapid and irregular loss of weigbt. A person may lose weigbt, but he cannot do this gradiudly without exciting serious suspicion. A steady loss of weigbt always precedes consumption, tlierefore, w^here there is an hereditary predisposition to consumption, with a loss of weight, in from 3 to 5 months, such Ufe we feel must be rejected. A deficient weight tends to show deficient nutrition. 128. An annual and periodical oscilation of weigbt generally tends to show that his vocation is affecting him, and this Mill tell upon his constitution in time. All weight is considered lost weight which is below our mean or Ms usual weight; the condition of losing weight speaks seriously against our accepting such lives. We have oftentimes rejected a man from the element of weight alone, paiticularly when it is not constant. 129. D.—If lie have gained Weight.—By weight gained, we mean weight superadded to oiu- mean weight or tbe applicant's iisual weight, but, if a man has lost weight and is making tlais up again, such we do not consider as '^gained weight. 130. Excess of weight, when it has extended to 7 per cent, above the mean weight, tends to diminish the power of the lung-s; for instance, (Table XII.) if a man weigh 1581bs. instead of 1481bs., beyond this line, breathing begins to be affected, (22). A person suddenly gaining weight, to corpulency, is a dangerous case for assurance; they threaten apoplexy, but from a person constantly and moderately corpulent, we think little danger is to be apprehended, because this is his nature; there is, however, a limit to this; an excess of 451bs. or 501bs. is a strong objection to assurance. We mentioned tbe case of the clerk (109) who suddenly gained weight and suddenly died at his desk. 131. V^ien the weight increases from the closing up of an old discharging sore, the individual is likely to die prematurely; and, in