OCR Text |
Show In his paper concerning "The resistibility of the human body against epidemic diseases and the power of constitution," Professor Jaeger has proved that the specific gravity of several individuals if very different, and that he state of health of those individuals is closely connected with their specific gravity. The greater the weight of the human body in comparison to the space which it occupies, i.e., the greater its specific gravity, the more it is able o resist epidemic diseases. Persons of a low specific gravity are taken ill from very insignificant causes, such as a cold, and are very susceptible to contagious diseases. Such persons have usually a certain fullness of body, and are even corpulent, but just that which gives them a great size is useless ballast, namely, fat and water. Those substances endow the heaviest bodies with a comparatively low specific gravity, giving at the same time to the constitution little power of resistance. |