Catherine,
During the 1940's, and to 1950 at least, the Canadian Mines Act
required that all cookhouses feeding miners should provide one quart of
milk per day per miner as a means of combating silicosis. This turned
out to be a fallacy, because we were told that milk only masked the
beginnings of silicosis on X-rays. The Consolidated Mining and Smelting
Company ( later Cominco) also blew aluminum dust in the dry. Supposedly
this coated the silica particles so that they would be expelled naturally
from the lungs. I assume that this last was tested and proven.
Catherine Mills wrote:
> Hello
> I wonder if any one can help or point me in the right direction?
> I am looking for references to self help medical remedies, the 'old
> wives tales', used by the 19th and early 20th century metal miners to
> combat respiratory disease.
> Many thanks
> Catherine Mills
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|