Those who live in a rarefied atmosphere or who ascend, like aviators and mountain climb ers, to great altitudes, often suffer from air hunger, from pneumonia and other diseases of the respiratory organs, and from heart troubles. The experience of the great European War shows however that immunity may quickly be gained even for great heights, and ability to work severely and think rapidly and in telligently may be acquired.
Workers in chemicals are particularly sensi tive to diseases of the lungs and skin and in clude bleachers who work in chlorine, sulphur and acids, aniline dye workers, starch makers and workers in ammonia and many other chemicals. Athletes and those who work in strained and trying positions like miners and tunnel drivers suffer from diseases of the heart and lungs. In the case of pugilists, gymnasts, circus performers and other professional ath periods of training are often followed by periods of the grossest and coarsest dissipation, and collapse and early death are the frequent and logical result.
Rupture and aneurism are not of uncommon occurrence in occupations in which there are great and sudden strains, frequently repeated, porters, blacksmiths, draymen and longshore men often being victims of these accidents, and they are the more likely when, as is so frequently the case, the tissues are debilitated by syphilis or other venereal disease.
Those who are exposed to loud noises, like boiler-makers and riveters, are sufferers from deafness, and hundreds and thousands of the soldiers in the European War, particularly those who are in the artillery service, suffer in this way. Those who work under intense light, particularly if it is shifting and uncertain, suf fer from eye diseases, especially impairment of vision. The workers under intense electric light in power houses and elsewhere can hardly escape the bad effects of this unusual experi ence. Brewers and saloon keepers suffer, in great numbers, from the excessive use of alcohol, the lungs, liver and kidneys being the organs most often attacked. Flat feet, vari
cose veins and constipation are acquired by those who are constantly on their feet, like cooks, waiters, house servants, policemen and salesmen. Glassblowers, potters, and band players on brass instruments often suffer from emphysema of the lungs, a distressing and often serious trouble due to rupture of the lung tissue and escape of air into the chest cavity. Those who work in india rubber and inhale carbon bisulphide and those who inhale benzine and turpentine vapors often suffer from headache, poor sight and hearing and intestinal Cramps.
Indigestion is a very common ailment with those whose eating and drinking habits are irregular, notably cabmen, various classes of public officials, and commercial travelers. In strument players, typewriter operators, stenog raphers, bookkeepers, and all others who are constantly writing are subject to cramps and palsies. The disease called scrivener's palsy was once very common in England and has its counterpart in the classes of workers above mentioned. Sedentary workers, shoemakers and tailors are great sufferers from hemor rhoids, constipation and indigestion, as might be expected, from insufficient use of their muscles and want of stimulus to the circulation.
The list which has been given is far from complete but is sufficient to show the suscepti bility to disease from ordinary occupations and emphasizes the importance of good habits and proper diet in all these pursuits. These diseases in many instances are preventable, and inas much as health is the most valuable asset of the industrial worker, it behooves him to look after it with the greatest care. No constitution is so rugged that it may not be broken down prematurely and with absolute certainty if the laws of hygiene are persistently disregarded.