A Survey of Human Progress (London: Longman, Green, Longman & Roberts, 1861) View on health and causes of disease Arnott was a strong advocate for a natural view of health and on the causes of various diseases. In his paper “On the Fevers Which Have Prevailed Edinburgh and Glasgow,” Arnott noted “It gives remarkable simplicity to all inquiries respecting health, to know that among the things and influences around man on earth, in regard to which he can exercise control, there are only four which he needs to obtain, and two which he needs to avoid, that he may have uninterrupted health for as long as the human constitution is formed to last; in other words, that only by some want or misuse of the requisites, or by the direct agency of the noxious agencies can his health be impaired or his life be shortened.” Arnott believed that the four items that needed to be obtained in order to be healthy were fit air, temperature, aliment, and exercise of the mind and of the body, and that if an individual had access to all four of these items, while avoiding violence and poisons (items that Arnott believed caused disease and therefore were to be avoided), that the individual would have no issues when it came to health throughout their life and would be able to live for as long as the body permits one to live, and that by surrounding oneself with the four essential items, the human bodily makeup would slowly become modified by “kindred circumstances not deemed diseases but called temperaments and varieties, compatible with health and long life.” Arnott also referenced the findings of the report made to the Poor Law Commissioners in his paper Sanitary Inquiry-Scotland, and regarded the contents of this report as facts, making note of the claim that malaria was caused by the exhalation released during putrefaction or decomposition of animal and vegetable substances. Inventions From his earliest youth, Arnott had an intense love of natural philosophy, and to this added an inventiveness which served him in good stead in his profession. This inventiveness helped him to design the Arnott waterbed in the 19th century that was devised to prevent bedsores in invalids. The bed was composed of a bath of water with a covering of rubber-impregnated canvas, on which lighter bedding was placed. However, Arnott didn't patent his design, and without a