18th + 19th Century Flashcards
vaccines
A substance that is given to someone to stop them getting a disease
Germ theory
The scientific theory that showed disease and infection are caused by germs and bacteria.
Antiseptic
Kill bacteria and stops growing
Anaesthetic
A drug that sends you to sleep and stops the body feeling pain
Antibodies
Particles inside your body that identify and help to fight off and remove germs in the body
Cowpox
A disease causing red blisters on the skin similar to smallpox it can be transmitted from cows to humans
Aseptic surgery
Surgery where microbes are prevented from getting into a wound in the first place as opposed to being killed off with an antiseptic
Inoculate
Deliberately infecting oneself of the disease in order to avoid a more severe case of it later on
Laissez-faire
It is used to describe to governments who do not get involved in the day-to-day lives of their population
Small pox
A viral disease that could cause considerable scarring and kill victims
Cholera
A deadly bacterial disease that spreads to dirty water causing dehydration and vomiting 
When did edward jenner descover a vaccine for small pox
1798
James simpson uses chloroform as an effective anaesthetic
1847
When did Florence nightingale improves conditions in scurtari hospital during the crimpson war
1854
When did John snow remove the handle from broad street pump
1854
When did louis pasture creates germ theory
1861
When did jhoseph lister use carbolic acid as an antiseptic
1867
When did robert koch develop the ability to identify specific bacteria
1882
Why was smallpox considered a major threat to the health of britain in the 18th century?
11 epidemics in london
(The worst) In 1796 - 3548 people died
Plague killed more children than any other disease at the time
What was inoculation
Where u give the same disease to someone to help prevent the disease (small about)
- preventative methord
Why was inoculation used?
Only protection available
Why was inoculation popular with doctors?
Profitable
What did edward Jenner discover?
A vaccine for smallpox
What opposition did Jenner face?
- inoculations
- anti Jenner propaganda
- royal society
- church
- parliament slow to accept
What short term affect did Jenner have?
Less people died
What long term impact did Jenner have?
- eradicated small pox around the world
- influenced others
Who did Jenner influence?
Koch, pasteur
What were the limitations with Jenner discoveries?
Only worked with small pox and not other diseases
Where and when did Jenner publish his findings.
1798
An enquiry in the causes and effect of the varoila vaccinae
How many lives around the world did Jenner save by 1800
100,000
What was one of jenners problems
He couldnt explain how his vaccines worked
Evidence to show parliament were slow to act on jenners discovery
Wasn’t until the 1840s that vaccination was made free and inoculation was banned
What (old ideas) methods were used by people to try and stop the cholera in 1854
Burning barrels of tar
Smoking cigars
Praying or wearing lucky charms
Cleaning houses
Burning victims clothes
What (new ideas) methods were used by people to try and stop the cholera in 1854
Cleaning houses by scattering chloride of lime
What is an epidemic
Outbreak of disease
What are the characteristics of a cholera infection
Diarrhoea, sickness, dehydration
Fatal - Die between two and six days after falling sick
Blood would be thicker + rupture blood vessels under skin - turn the skin blue
Spreads from person to person or water contaminated with faeces
When did cholera reach Britain
1831
How many died in the 1832 cholera epidemic
21,000
Who was John snow
A surgeon who moved to soho in 1836 and became London’s leading Anaesthetist.
Gave queen Victoria chloroform during birth of prine leopold in 1851
Popular and well respected
What did John snow notice in 1848 -49 during the cholera epidemics
Cholera could not be transmitted by miasma - effected the guts not the lungs
Drinking water was being contaminated by cholera hidden faeces being put into city drains
Concluded cholera was transmitted by dirty drinking water
Where did John snow record his findings following the epidemic of 1848 - 49
On the mode of communication of cholera
What prompted snow to investigate cholera
The 1854 outbreak in soho (where he lived)
There were 93 deaths in his local area
How did John snow prove that cholera was spread by water
Removed the handle on the pump
Preventing locals from pumping water
And cholera outbreak went away
Why did John snows work have limited impact
Parliament - response was slow as sewage system improvements would have been expensive
Many rejected snows work as people who lived far away from the pump still got infected
The general board of health stuck to the miasma theory + rejected his findings
There was no scientific evidence to show what caused the disease
What did John snow do as a part of his broad street investigation
Interviewed all in soho area (door to door)
Found people who died all went to the same water pump
Brewery in broad street had no brewers die but they had a drinking well in the brewery
When he found anomalies he interviewed to see why
True or false
The local council permitted him to remove the handle on the pump based on his evidance
True
Why was the water on board street contaminated
The lining of the cesspit had a leak
So human waste was leaking into ground into water pump stream
What was spontaneous generation an alternate theory to
The 4 humours theory
What was spontaneous generation
That microbes could just spontaneously appear
When did people believe in spontaneous generation
1855
What did spontaneous generation theory lead to
Increased Urge to avoid bad smells
Louis pasture was employed by a French wine industry to investigate why barrels of wine were going off in 1857 what did he find
He found that barrels were full of microorganisms he then went on to prove that these microorganisms caused the wine to go bad
they were causing the decay not produced by it
Why did Louis past year gets motivation to try and prove or disprove spontaneous Generationtheory
In 1860 French Academy of Science challenge scientist to come up with evidence to prove or disprove the theory of spontaneous generation
When did Louis Pasteur produce germ theory
1861
What were the four key points of Louis Pasteur
The air contains living microorganisms
Microbes in the air cause decay
Microbes are not evenly distributed in the air
Microbes can be killed by heating them
How did Louis pasture prove his germ theory was correct and when
1864
Developed a swan neck flask experiment which prove that gems must exist in the air and are not produced by decay
Pasta also theorise that as Germs were causing decay they might also be causing what
Disease in the human body
He observed one particular type of microorganism killing of France’s silkworm population which seemed to prove his theory
When did Pasteur publishes germ theory of infection
And why was it this long after his initial discovery
1878
He could not identify which bacteria caused which disease
Why was pasteurs discover so important
His development in causes of disease
Increased Medicare knowledge
Became an influential figure to other scientists and inspired other theory’s and development
Who was Robert Koch
German doctor
What did Robert Koch do (descoveries)
Discovered that specific bacteria that cause anthrax in 1876
Discovered bacteria causing tuberculosis 1882

What impact did Robert Koch have on other scientists and doctors
The process of isolating specific germs could be used by other doctors to produce vaccines this led to many doctors and scientists
(+ pasture who developed chicken cholera vaccine) 
What developments aided Roberts Kochs discoveries
Development in Scientific technology
Development of petri dishes with agar jelly let him cultivate bacteria and dyes letting him identify specific bacteria
photography also allowed visual recordings of his findings
How did Robert Koch make his anthrax discoveries
He did it by extracting the anthrax bacteria from an infected sheep and into a mouse mouse caught the disease he repeated it many times (scientific methord)
What was Robert Koch motivated by to make his discoveries
Rivalry between Germany and France
he wanted to compete with pasture
How significant was the discovery of Germ theory? (Progress) 
Joseph Lister use pastries ideas to develop antiseptic’s for use in surgical operations
A physicist called John Tyndall triedto link pastures and listers work together by claiming that he found small organic particles in the air
Koch work finally prove the work of Joseph Lister correct as he Identified cholera and showed it was present in water supplies
Kochs work built on pastures And there was a realisation that the microbes causing disease needed to be dealt with rather than symptoms
1883 the microbes that cause diphtheria was discovered by scientist. Amil von behring Managed to develop a vaccine for both tennis and diphtheria by 1900s
How significant was a discovery of germ theory (little impact)
Pasture was a scientist and not a doctor so people didn’t initially accept the link between his work and disease and illness it required other scientist to develop his ideas to be used on humans
Open till late 1870s Dr Henry Bastin was one of the most influential doctors in Britain and still promoted spontaneous generation he wrote many articles of the British medical journal
Pastures ideas were dismissed as new telescopes allowed doctors to study the body And they found microbes all over the body even in healthy people
In 1884 the British government still believe that cholera outbreak in Calcutt India was due to miasma brought about by the rainy season
Who ran 18 century hospitals
Some doctors offered the services free of charge so they could practice the skills
Wealthy donations from new middle classes (eg. Lawyers + business)

Who worked in 18th-century hospitals
Doctors visited patients regularly
surgeons or apothecary on site for daily treatments
small staff of untrained nurses to care for patients
How had hospital care changed from earlier centuries
Hospitals became places where sick were treated
Who went to hospitals for treatment during the 18th century
The sick
Working-class
deserving poor (ment poor had access to trained doctors)
Who didn’t receive treatment in hospitals in the 18th century
Rich as they receive medical treatment and surgery in their own homes
Why were hospitals unsanitary in the 18 century
More people started to attend
Less strict about Turning away infected people
there were separate words for patients but doctors went from patient to patient without washing their hands or changing clothes as they didn’t understand disease
During the Crimean war what did Florence Nightingale take death rates from and too
42% to 2%
Why was Florence Nightingale prompted to improve care
She took a team of 38 nurses to scatari hospital during the Crimean war to find that they were appalling with no blankets or decent food
What was Florence Nightingale elected as the first woman member of
The Royal statistic society
What was Florence Nightingale known as
The lady with the lamp
How did Nightingale improve care
In 1859 she published her notes for nursing which was practical advice for nurses and hygiene and professionalism
What were the main differences in hospitals between the 13th and the 18th century
Sick now allowed in
doctors nurses and surgeons ran them instead of nuns and monks
not run by the church in the 18th century
provide treatment not just rest and prayers
it was sanitary in the 13th century but unsanitary in the 18th century
What were the three main problems in surgery in the 1800
Infection
blood loss
pain
What drugs were used as an anaesthetic before 1847
Ether
nitrous oxide (laughing gas)
What were the problems with using ether as an anaesthetic in surgery
Highly flammable
Irritated patients throats and made them trash about and cough during surgery
What were the problems with using nitrous oxide as an anaesthetic during surgery
Only mild pain relief
What new drug did James Simpson discover that could be used as an anaesthetic and why was it an improvement
Chloroform which was more effective
What serious side-effects did chloroform have
Some patients didn’t wake up it’s slowed all body cells and as it were quicker on brain cells it would knock you out quicker it also slowed the heart and too much would stop it they did not know the dosage
How did they control dosage of chloroform
They put it in an inhaler to control how much someone would breathe in to limit death
Who and when was the inhaler developed to control chloroform dosage
John Snow developed the inhaler in 1848
Why did some people oppose Simpson’s discovery
Unnatural to feel no pain and interfere with God’s plans for the body
Worried it would be dangerous as women have died from overdose during operations for injured toenail
Why did some people oppose Simpson’s discovery
Unnatural to feel no pain and interfered with God’s plan of the body
worried it would be dangerous as women have died from overdose during operation for an ingrown toenail
Whose work was Joseph Lister influence bye
Pastures germ theory
What chemical did Joseph Lister decide to use and why
Carbolic acid
As of the effect it had on sewage work in carlsile in 1864 it killed the germs in sewage
he wanted to use on wounds and encourage it in hand wash
How did listers discovery affect surgical practice
Developed antiseptic spray and wash for wound and later led to a septic surgery (which was removing all germs for the operating theatre)
instruments with steam sterilised and operating theatres thoroughly cleaned
surgeons wore gowns face masks and rubber gloves
How did Joseph Lister’s discovery of carbolic acid impact the nature of operation?
It was now possible to remove an appendix and to do heart surgery 1896 however there was still no solution to blood loss
Why did some people oppose listers discovery
Many were slow to start using carbolic acid as they were sceptical of pastors germ theory they only began to accept the idea that koch began to prove pateurs theory.
What does laissez faire attitude mean
They believed it was not their jobs to get involved in peoples everyday lives by passing laws about things like housing sewage and water supply
What motivated James Simpsons discoverey
He was a professor of midwifery
He wanted to find a better anaesthetic to help women during childbirth 
What was an example of a time where chloroform was used
During Queen Victoria’s birth of the eighth child in 1857
Why did chloroform lead to more deaths due to blood loss and infection
Doctors who used it attempted more complex operations as they felt they had more time without their patients screaming
What time period was known as the black period in surgical history due to high death rates
eighteen fifties to early 1870s
In what year did Edwin Chadwick undertake his report
1842
What did Chadwick suggest should be done to improve public health
Improve living conditions for the poor
Why did Edwin Chadwick produce his report
Wanted workers to be healthy so they could work and earn more wealth
What did snow recommend should be done to improve public health
To rebuild the sewage systems
How did the government respond to both Chadwicks and Snow’s findings
Still believed in laisser faire and also it would cost a lot of money to build and people wanted to avoid paying more tax
Why was another public health act introduced in 1875
The second referendum act in 1867
Campaigners
Arrival of cholera and the work of John snow
The great stink
Pasteurs germ theory
Royal sanitary commission is 1870 to 71
Vaccinations
Why was another public health act introduced in 1875 (attitudes)
The second referendum act in 1867 meant that 1 million additional male voters were added to the electorate working men in towns were given the right to vote for the first time and the number of votes are doubled the politicians wanted to win elections then they have to promise laws which would win the votes of working-class men
The work of campaigners such as Charles Dickens and Octavia Hill publicise that conditions were like in poor areas so that the elctorate new about it
The Royal sanitary commission propose that the country should be divided into Santry areas with offices to oversee the sanitation of them
Why was another public health act introduced in 1875 (insitutions)
In August 1858 that being the great stink in London hot weather has exacerbated the smell of untreated human waste in the river prompting the parliament to take action parliament had decided to fund the building of a large network of modern sewers which opened in 1865 did show the positive impact of government action
While the government has said in 1852 it was compulsory to have the smallpox vaccine they did not in force it however the government realise that they had to start enforcing it in 1871 the government employed its own doctors to carry out vaccinations and 1872 they started to force the compulsory vaccination they showed a positive impact of government action if they moved away from laissez-faire 
Why was another public health act introduced in 1875 (science and technology)
Pastors germ theory - Pasteur have proved that there was a scientific link between dirt and disease idea of miasma was proven incorrect faced with scientific proof people are more likely to pay taxes to cover the cost of public health reforms is
The number of people killed by cholera and the confirmation of Jon Snow’s research by the emergence of germ theory that people want to start improving living conditions in cities

How and why did the government get involved in the public health after the second great reform act
They needed to respond to the needs of the newly franchise voters they did it by successfully developing a modern sewage system in London in 1865
What actions had shown that the government involvement in public health could be effective
Enforcement of compulsory smallpox vaccines in 1872 showed that the public health could be improved by direct government action
Why was the 1875 public health act more effective than the 1848 public health act
It was made compulsory for local councils to provide public health
How did the government follow up the 1875 public health act
Further laws to improve living conditions such as
1875 artisans dwelling act
1876 River prevention act
In addition to legislations what other developments help to improve public health by the end of the 19th century
New vaccinations continue to develop with government support
Tetanus vaccine
diphtheria developed in 1890 by Emil von behring 
What examples of public health services provided by local councils were there in the 1875 new public health act
Clean water to stop diseases that was spread by dirty water
disposing of sewage to prevent drinking and washing water from becoming polluted
building public toilets to avoid pollution
ensuring new homes were better quality to stop damp and overcrowding
provide public parks for exercise
inspecting lodging houses to make sure they were clean and healthy
creating street lights to prevent accidents
checking the quality of the food in shops
