Page 13 - April-May 2020 Neat

What People Used Before Toilet Paper 13

Everything we know about

coronavirus immunity and

antibodies — and plenty

we still don’t

Continued from Page 11

I’ve heard reports of reinfection or
“reactivated” virus. What’s going on
there?

Health officials in some countries have said
they’ve seen examples of people recovering
from Covid-19 only to test positive for the virus
again — what they’ve taken to calling
“reactivation,” to differentiate it from a second
infection.

But experts are skeptical that either is occurring.

While no possibility can be eliminated at this
early stage of the outbreak, they say that there
are more likely explanations for a positive inscribed on it. The same shards would often be
diagnostic test coming after a negative test. Shared sponges on sticks
used as a means of voting people out of towns
Privacy and proper sanitation were scarce based on whose names were written on it. While
For one: The tests used to diagnose Covid-19
luxuries in the ancient Romans’ public the ancient Greeks didn’t have to worry about
look for snippets of the virus’ genome, its RNA.
restrooms. Their outdoor communal restrooms, the same modern-day plumbing issues that we
But what they can’t tell you is if what they’re
called “latrines,” had no dividing walls, and do, like trying to figure out which toilet paper is
finding is evidence of “live” virus, meaning
people’s cleaning methods would certainly not the best (and the worst) for your pipes, it’s likely
infectious virus. Once a person fights off a virus,
hold up to sanitation standards today. Each that regularly using such abrasive objects often
viral particles tend to linger for some time.
individual would use the same communal led to irritation.
These cannot cause infections, but they can
cleansing sponge that was attached to the end of
trigger a positive test. The levels of these
particles can fluctuate, which explains how a test a long stick, also called a tersorium. To clean the Dried corncobs
sponge after use, it would sit in a container filled
could come back positive after a negative test.
with saltwater or vinegar. In addition to being When they arrived in colonial America, the
But it does not mean the virus has become
exposed to an unsettling amount of bacteria on British had to get creative with their personal
active, or infectious, again.
that communal sponge, the Romans had to hygiene choices. First, they used dried corncobs
worry about spontaneous hydrogen sulfide and as their form of toilet paper. Then, as
And two: the diagnostic tests typically rely on
methane flames exploding from beneath them newspapers and catalogs started being circulated
patient samples pulled from way back in their
while using the toilet. If you find that in the late 18th and 19th centuries, many
nasal passages. Collecting that specimen is not
fascinating, here are another 100 interesting Americans began using pages from the Farmers’
foolproof. Testing a sample that was improperly
facts about practically everything. Almanac and the Sears, Roebuck and Company
collected could lead to a negative test even if the
person has the virus. If that patient then gets catalog. Fun fact: Manufacturers often created
Personal-hygiene sticks and extra- holes in the corners of their papers so they could
another test, it might accurately show they have
the virus. large scented paper be easily hung and used in outhouses. While
we’re talking about hanging toilet paper, you’ve
probably been hanging yours in the wrong
As Jana Broadhurst, the director of the Nebraska The Silk Road, a network of ancient travel and
Biocontainment Unit’s clinical laboratory, said, trade, had many of its own latrines scattered direction all along.
“garbage in, garbage out.” throughout Ancient Asia. In fact, archaeologists
discovered “personal hygiene sticks” in one that Medicated paper
was located on the outskirts of the Tamrin Basin,
believed to date back to the Han Dynasty around Finally, in 1857, Joseph Gayetty started to
This Is What People Used 2,000 years ago. The sticks were crafted out of manufacture his own “medicated paper,” which
bamboo, with one end of it wrapped in fabric for he made out of hemp and aloe vera. This not-so-
Before Toilet Paper wiping. Things eventually evolved, though. The painful alternative inspired others to try to sell

Existed first documented use of toilet paper was in 6th their own versions, such as the Hoberg Paper
century China. In 1391, a Chinese emperor Company of Green Bay, which was later
ordered the production of two-by-three-foot renamed as Charmin. Many companies
by Brittany Gibson experimented with different colors, but here’s
scented sheets of paper that he and his family
used in the restroom. why most ultimately decided to go with the
Toilet paper is selling out quicker than ever bright white toilet paper we know and love
before, and as we scramble to find it in stores,
Stones and ceramic today. []
we’re left wondering: What did people do
without it in the first place? While we’re
The Ancient Greeks used harsher methods to THANK YOU
definitely not suggesting that you resort to these
maintain hygiene: stones, called pessoi, and
options, here are some personal hygiene items FIRST RESPONDERS
ceramic pottery shards, called ostraka.
that our ancestors used before commercially AND ALL ESSENTIAL
Sometimes, as a form of vengeance, the broken
produced toilet paper hit the markets in 1857.
shards would have the names of enemies WORKERS