Superstition regarding Chimney-Sweeps

Excess mortality among Swedish chimney sweeps.

In a cohort study of 5464 union organised Swedish chimney sweeps employed at any time between 1918 and 1980 mortality was studied from 1951 to 1982 with national statistics used as a reference. Follow up was possible for 98.6% of the individuals: 717 deaths were observed against 540 expected. There was an increased mortality from coronary heart disease, respiratory diseases, and several types o...

Excess of cancer in Swedish chimney sweeps.

The incidence of cancer was investigated among 5266 Swedish chimney sweeps employed for any period between 1918 and 1980. An analysis of the mortality has been reported earlier and showed an increased number of deaths from coronary heart disease, respiratory diseases, and lung, oesophageal, and liver cancer. Excess risks for cancer of the lung and oesophagus were confirmed in this analysis. Amo...

Soot, as Found in Occupational Exposure of Chimney Sweeps

For hundreds of years, chimneys have been swept with long steel brushes inserted manually into the chimney from the top and from the bottom. Chimney sweeps are exposed to soot, with concurrent exposure to sulfur dioxide and arsenic (Bagchi & Zimmerman, 1980). Soot is black particulate matter that is formed as a by-product of combustion or pyrolysis of organic (carbon-containing) materials, such...

Superstition in the pigeon.

Superstition and Rational Learning by Superstition and Rational Learning

We argue that some but not all superstitions can persist when learning is rational and players are patient, and illustrate our argument with an example inspired by the code of Hammurabi. The code specified an “appeal by surviving in the river” as a way of deciding whether an accusation was true, so it seems to have relied on the superstition that the guilty are more likely to drown than the inn...