Naval Hygiene - v. 8 Author:Joseph Wilson Volume: v. 8 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1870 Original Publisher: Govt. print. off. Subjects: History / General Medical / Transportation Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition ... more »of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: (19.) Lately, ships are built somewhat longer than was for merly the fashion. This peculiarity of form possesses so many advantages in the way of speed that we must do the best we can with it. The keel being straight and the pumps near the center of its length, when the ship is on even keel, nearly level, the water has but little fall from either end and must flow very slowly toward the pumps. If the ship is either by the head or by the stern, there must necessarily be a pool of stagnant water at one end or the other. The remedy for this is simple enough -- a bilge pump at each end in addition to the main pumps. There are stop-cocks in the holds of most ships below the water line. They may be useful in case of accidental fire, b. ut we hope they will not be used much more to introduce water with the hope of thus mitigating the effects of bilge water. (20.) Vegetable matter decaying in a pool of fresh water gives off very large quantities of light carburetted hydrogen, which may readily be collected from almost any stagnant pool and set on fire, for the amusement and instruction of young persons. In a pool of sea water the same process of decay takes place; but, on account of the presence of sulphate of magnesia, or other sulphates, by interchange of elements, the carbon of the gaseous product is replaced by sulphur, forming sulphuretted hydrogen gas, sulphide of hydrogen, a most deadly poison; the offensive material to which bilge-water owes all its important peculiarities. Possibly the poisonous p...« less