Explanation: The ancient Romans used the xylospongium or tersorium for wiping purposes - a sea sponge on a stick. How lovely! In public restrooms, they would have been shared, which is probably not all that hygienic regardless of the fact that they rinsed the sponge after each use, or let it soak in vinegar or salt water when idle. Still, civilization! What marvels, right?
It’s funny where observation leads one - the Romans didn’t understand why salt water was good for sanitizing (that most microbes are not halophilic), but recognized by practice that it was good. There’s a bit in De Architectura where Vitruvius discusses how a town dug a channel from the sea to turn the nearby swamps into a brackish marsh, and that disease rates plummeted afterwards. If memory serves he attributes it to ‘poisonous vapors’ being removed by the saline water, while we would recognize it as destroying the ideal environment for mosquitos and other such insects.
Explanation: The ancient Romans used the xylospongium or tersorium for wiping purposes - a sea sponge on a stick. How lovely! In public restrooms, they would have been shared, which is probably not all that hygienic regardless of the fact that they rinsed the sponge after each use, or let it soak in vinegar or salt water when idle. Still, civilization! What marvels, right?
My sphincter winced the most at saltwater rinse.
Better than iodine, I suppose.
It’s funny where observation leads one - the Romans didn’t understand why salt water was good for sanitizing (that most microbes are not halophilic), but recognized by practice that it was good. There’s a bit in De Architectura where Vitruvius discusses how a town dug a channel from the sea to turn the nearby swamps into a brackish marsh, and that disease rates plummeted afterwards. If memory serves he attributes it to ‘poisonous vapors’ being removed by the saline water, while we would recognize it as destroying the ideal environment for mosquitos and other such insects.