Chapter VIII (3)

OUTGROWING THE STRENGTH:--"There is sometimes debility or
weakness in rapidly growing boys and girls which is attributed
to this cause. It is popularly supposed that port wine or beer,
is the great remedy; but nothing can be worse. It is true that
gin given continuously to puppies will keep them small, but no
one would advocate the amount of spirit required in proportion
by a lad or girl to produce the same effect. If the growth could
be checked by chemicals it would be most injurious to do so.

"In the treatment of such cases fresh air by day and night is
essential; cold sponging, followed by friction with a rough
towel, and exercise are desirable."

PNEUMONIA.

Dr. Julius Poheman says in _Medical News_:--

"The effect of alcohol upon nearly all the organs of the body
has been carefully investigated. But, strange to say, literature
contains only a few straggling hints upon the action of alcohol
on the pulmonary tissue. It has long been known that the abuse
of alcohol is a predisposing cause of death when the drinker is
attacked with pneumonia. No experimental evidence has been
published of the action of alcohol in producing pathological
conditions in the lungs. In order to determine this action, a
series of experiments was made upon dogs in the winters of
1890-1891 and 1892-1893. The dogs were a mixed lot of mongrels
gathered in by the city dog catchers. They varied in weight from
fifteen to twenty-five pounds, and were apparently in good
health. In all, thirty animals were experimented on.

"The experiments were performed as follows:--A carefully
etherized animal had injected into his trachea just below the
larynx a quantity of commercial alcohol varying from one dram to
one ounce in amount. The effects of equal amounts of alcohol
upon animals of the same weight varies greatly. Two dogs,
weighing twenty-five pounds each, were injected with two drams
of alcohol. One died in one hour, and the other in six hours
after the injection. Four other dogs, two weighing twenty-four
pounds each, another eighteen pounds, and the fourth fifteen
pounds, were all injected with the same amount, two drams. All
four survived, and were as well as usual in four weeks. Another
dog of eighteen pounds died five minutes after an injection of
two drams, while another of fifteen pounds took one ounce and
recovered.

"The symptoms in the dogs were all alike, dyspnea, increasing as
the inflammation increased, until the accessory muscles of
respiration were called into play. The stethoscope showed that
air had great difficulty in entering the bronchi and air
vesicles, and showed also the tumultuous beating of the heart
in pumping blood through the lung. It was impossible to take the
temperatures. Post-mortem examinations showed the lungs dark,
congested and solid in some places. The air passages were filled
with frothy, bloody mucus, even in the dog that died in five
minutes. On section, the lungs were dark, congested, and full of
bloody mucus. This shows how acutely sensitive the respiratory
passages are to the action of alcohol. On microscopic
examination of the lungs, the air tubes and vesicles were found
filled with immense numbers of red and white corpuscles and much
mucus. The same picture was presented as in a slide from the
lungs of a broncho-pneumonic child.

"The striking similarity between the two is enough to prove that
the pathological condition is the same, and that alcohol has
produced a lesion very closely resembling, if not absolutely
like, that of broncho-pneumonia in the human subject. This to
some extent explains why drunkards attacked by pneumonia succumb
more readily than the temperate. The sensitive lung tissue is
enveloped in alcohol--flowing through the capillaries of the
lung on one side, and exhaled, filling the air vesicles and
tubes on the other. The condition must create a state of
semi-engorgement or of mild inflammation, similar to the
drunkard's red nose, or his engorged gastric mucous membrane.
Such a state will reduce the vitality of the pulmonary tissue,
and its power of resistance to external influences. Add to this
an inflammation such as a pneumonia, and the lungs find
themselves unable to stand the pressure."

As previous chapters contain much showing the reasons why alcohol is dangerous in pneumonia, space need not be taken here to do more than indicate briefly some points of non-alcoholic treatment.

Pneumonia is generally supposed to result from a cold; it is ushered in by the symptoms of a chill, followed by fever, headache, shortness of breath, pain in chest, etc. It sometimes occurs as a complication of typhoid fever and other acute diseases.

"It is not a very fatal disease in young and healthy subjects,
but in weak children, old persons and habitual drinkers, it is a
very fatal malady."

_Nature Cure_ recommends a vapor bath immediately upon the appearance of the first symptoms, together with copious drinking of hot lemonade, and a good supply of pure fresh air in the room, together with the application of alternating hot and cold compresses, _and no drugs_.

Dr. Kellogg says:--

"Cool compresses or ice-bags, alternated every three hours by
hot fomentations for ten minutes, should be applied to the
chest, particularly to the affected side, the seat of pain. The
hot fomentations relieve the pain, and the cold compresses check
the diseased process. The compresses should be wrung out of cold
water, and changed every five to eight minutes, or as often as
they become warm. Although the cool compresses are not usually
liked by the patient, they will soon give relief if their use is
continued, and they do much towards shortening the course of the
disease. Care should be taken to keep the patient's body from
being wet except where the treatment is applied. The cold
compress is much used in the large hospitals of Germany. When
the pulse becomes as rapid as 95 to 110 or more, cool sponging,
the wet-sheet pack, the cool full bath or the cool enema should
be employed. When much chilliness is produced by the contact of
water with the skin, the cold enema is a most admirably useful
measure. The amount of water required is from half a pint to a
pint. The temperature may be 40 to 60 degrees. The apartment
should be kept as cool as possible without discomfort, and an
abundance of fresh air should be continually supplied.

"The diet of the patient should consist of milk, oatmeal gruel,
ripe fruit, and similar easily digested food. No meat, eggs or
other stimulating food should be allowed.

"Discontinue the cold treatment after the first twenty-four to
forty-eight hours. If the surface is cold, apply hot sponging or
a hot pack. Avoid causing chilliness."

PRE-NATAL INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL:--"The use of beer as a medicine
during pregnancy is without doubt perilous to the health and
vigor of the offspring. Children born under such conditions are
sickly and feeble, and suffer from disease more severely than
others, or die early. Alcoholic prescriptions to pregnant women
are, from all present knowledge of the facts, both dangerous and
reprehensible in the highest degree."--DR. T. D. CROTHERS,
Hartford, Conn.

"M. Fere, an eminent French physician, recently reported to the
Biological Society of Paris the results of experiments which he
had been conducting for the purpose of throwing light upon this
question. These experiments demonstrate that the exposure of
hen's eggs to the influence of the vapor of alcohol, previous to
incubation, retards the development of the embryo, and favors
the production of malformations. It is evident from these
experiments that alcohol may act directly upon the embryo when
there is no marked influence of alcoholism in the parent."

PAIN AFTER FOOD:--"This may occur in acute or chronic gastric
catarrh, or in a neuralgic or oversensitive condition of the
stomach, or in ulcer or cancer of that organ. In all these it
comes on soon after food has been swallowed; but, if occurring a
long time after a meal, it is probably due to atonic dyspepsia.
Alcohol will undoubtedly sometimes relieve this kind of pain by
deadening the nerves of the stomach so that the pain is not
felt so much; but this effect soon passes off, and if the cause
of the malady is not removed by other means, increasing
quantities of alcohol will be required to give relief. Many
cases of drink-craving have originated in this way. Medical aid
will generally be required. A small mustard poultice over the
pit of the stomach is often useful, especially in inflammatory
cases, or any other outward application of heat. Food should be
fluid, or semi-fluid, and digestible. Ginger tea, or peppermint
water, may serve to disperse gas."

POISON, ANIMAL.

The following by Dr. Chas. H. Shepard, of Brooklyn, who introduced the Turkish bath into America, is taken from the _Journal of the A. M. A._, for Nov. 13, 1897:--

"Animal poison is by no means uncommon, and so quick and
mysterious is its action that a prompt remedy is a vital
necessity. There is good reason to believe that the numerous
remedies that have been recommended from earliest times as
antidotes for animal poison are worthless, as they have not the
properties commonly ascribed to them. The paucity of remedies is
so great that alcohol is the one which comes most quickly to the
mind of those who have been taught in the traditions of the
past, and who are not fully aware of its action on the human
system. We shall endeavor to show that the action of alcohol is
not helpful, but on the contrary is really detrimental; and also
that there is a better way out of the difficulty.

"If we get a splinter in the body, vital energy is aroused to
get rid of the offending substance, inflammation is set up, and
sloughing goes on until the splinter is voided. If the splinter
is covered with acrid material, the same process is intensified,
and nature endeavors to eliminate the offending substance
through the natural excretions. Upon the peculiarity of the
material depends the direction of this elimination.

"It is well known that some poisons are thrown off by the
kidneys, some by the lungs, while others again are attacked by
all the emunctories. The difference in the power of the system
to absorb different substances, appropriate whatever can be
utilized, and throw off whatever can not be used, is sometimes
called idiosyncrasy, but more properly it may be called vital
resistance, and upon the integrity of this power rests the
ability to combat disease in all its forms, whether it be the
absorption of any animal virus or the poison resulting from
undigested food. This ability is in proportion to the integrity
and soundness of every tissue and organ of the body. This may be
illustrated by the fact that with a person suffering from kidney
disease, which necessarily impedes elimination, the ordinary
effects of a poison are intensified; therefore whatever aids in
the promotion of good health, or in other words, the normal
action of all the functions, will contribute to the safety of
the individual in any and every emergency.

"When a person dies from the effect of poisoning, it is simply
because the system was unable to eliminate the offending
substance and was exhausted in the effort. There is a tolerance
of some substances which frequently results in chronic disease,
and again it is shown in what is called the cumulative effect or
acute disease.

"Those who would hold that a substance is at one time a
medicament, and at another time a poison, have much trouble in
drawing the line between the beneficial and the poisonous
effect. The idea that poisonous substances act on the system is
responsible for many grave mistakes, whereas always, and under
all circumstances, it is the system that does all the action.

"There might be some excuse for the idea that disease is an
entity, from the facts that have been brought to light by the
germ theory, but this theory is of recent date, while the entity
theory is as old as superstition.

"Snake poison, which may be cited as a type of other animal
poisons, takes effect through the circulation, and acts by
paralyzing the nerve centres, and by altering the condition of
the blood. In ordinary cases death seems to take place by arrest
of respiration, from paralysis of the nerves of motion. The
poison also acts septically, producing at a later period
sloughing and hemorrhage.

"Dr. Calmette, a noted French scientist, claims that what is
poisonous in the snake's bite, is not the venom absorbed into
the blood, but a principle which the blood itself has developed
out of the poison. This would necessitate very quick action when
the poison is inserted in one of the large veins, as that is
followed by instant death.

"The following cases fairly represent some of the tragedies that
are occurring in our everyday life.

"A man 60 years old falls and dislocates his finger, he goes to
the hospital, where in a short time he dies from blood
poisoning. * * * * * Another man 48 years old, many years a wine
merchant, whose great toe was severely crushed by a heavy man
stepping on it, was taken with blood-poisoning and in spite of
all treatment, even to the amputation of the leg, he soon
succumbed to the disease. * * * * * A young woman 24 years old,
picks a pimple on her chin and at once her face begins to swell.
In vain was all medical treatment, for in a few days she died in
terrible agony. * * * * * About a year ago there died in
Brooklyn, N. Y., a physician in his 38th year, who six days
previously received a slight scratch in his hand while
performing a post-mortem examination. All that medical science
could suggest was done to no avail. * * * * * In the summer of
1896 a young woman 22 years of age was bitten on the leg by an
insect. Several physicians were called in but their treatment
gave no relief; blood-poisoning set in; it was decided to
amputate the leg, but before it could be done she died. * * * *
* In July, 1896, a veterinary surgeon 34 years of age, while
removing a cancer from a horse pricked his finger with his
knife. The wound was so slight that he forgot all about it. A
few days later blood-poisoning set in and in a short time his
end came. * * * * * Some forty years ago a man named Whitney was
teasing a rattlesnake in a Broadway barroom, was bitten by it,
and, though whisky was poured down his throat by the quart, he
soon died.

"Such results seem entirely unnecessary were the proper course
pursued, and at the same time they are a fearful commentary on
the medical resources of the day.

"The latest researches in regard to alcohol reveal it as a
poison to the human system in whatever way it may be diluted or
disguised. Its effect is always the same in proportion to the
amount taken. It is impossible to habitually use it in any form,
even in small quantities, without disease and degeneration
resulting therefrom. When taken into the stomach the action is
the same as with any other narcotic; the meaning of this word is
_to become torpid_. It benumbs the nerves of sensation, and thus
the vital resistance to any offending material is reduced, and
while the patient _feels_ less of any disturbance the real harm
goes on with accumulated force because of the lack of vitality
and non-resistance of the nervous system.

"When the body is in the throes of a vital struggle with a
virulent poison it would seem, to any unprejudiced mind, the
height of folly to further weaken the vital resistance by the
administration of any narcotic, and especially alcohol.

"The eminent German, Professor Bunge, says: 'All the results
which on superficial observation appear to show that alcohol
possesses stimulant properties, can be explained on the ground
that they were due to paralysis.' * * * * * Professors S. Weir
Mitchell and E. T. Reichert, in _Researches on Serpent Poison_,
make this notable statement: 'Despite the popular creed, it is
now pretty sure that many men have been killed by the alcohol
given to relieve them from the effects of snake bite, and it is
a matter of record that men dead drunk with whiskey and then
bitten, have died of the bite.'

"As a great contrast to the weakness of the mass of our people
who are drug-takers and alcohol-consumers, and who are liable to
almost any epidemic that comes along, and quickly succumb to a
serious injury, may be mentioned the Turkish soldiers of to-day,
who know nothing of drugs as we use them and never use alcohol
in any form. During the late controversy with the Greeks, one of
them who was reported as having been shot in the stomach,
remained in the ranks, and afterward walked ten miles. Another
one who was wounded twice in the legs and once in the shoulder,
continued attending to his duties for twenty-four hours, until
an officer noticed his condition and ordered him to the
hospital. The heat was tremendous, but the troops endured it
without complaint, and the doctors were astonished at the
wonderful vitality of the wounded Turks, who recovered with
remarkable rapidity. This, with good reason, is attributed to
their abstemious lives.

"It has been stated that the Moqui Indians handle the
rattlesnake with impunity, and are not inconvenienced by its
occasional bite.

"The rational treatment of animal poison is to endeavor to
prevent the entry of the virus into the circulation and to
neutralize it in the wound before it is absorbed; but when it
has entered the system everything should be done for its
elimination.

"The most powerful aid to the human system, and the most perfect
eliminator known to man is heat. It is used with much advantage,
and great success by means of water, both internally and
externally, but above all is its use by hot air, as in the
Turkish bath, which works in harmony with every natural
function, promoting the action of all the secretions, and more
particularly the excretions. By this means will the system
unload itself of an accumulation of impurities in an incredibly
short space of time, while the heat aids in destroying whatever
there may be of virus therein.

"Calmette, whom we have previously quoted, has shown that
whatever be the source of snake venom, its active principle is
destroyed by being submitted to a temperature of about 212
degrees for a variable length of time.

"In the not remote future thousands of human beings will owe to
the Turkish bath not only an immunity from disease in general,
but also an escape from the horrors of a premature death from
hydrophobia, the poison of snake bite, or the slower action of
infectious disease.

"The mass of testimony that has been accumulating for over
thirty years past is more than sufficient to convince any
reasonable mind that is willing to examine the facts.

"The medical profession has searched the world over and under
for the means of controlling disease, while within the human
body itself lies the vital power which needs only to be
cultivated and exalted to its true function to banish the mass
of disease from the land."

Dr. Shepard states in another article that Turkish baths are now used in London and Paris for the cure of hydrophobia.

Dr. J. H. Kellogg says:--

"A great number of remedies have acquired the reputation of
being cures for snake bites. The partisans of each one of these
have been able to produce a large number of cases, which
apparently supported their claims; the uniform testimony of all
scientific authorities upon this subject, however, is that all
these so-called antidotes are worthless. Prof. W. Watson Cheyne,
M. B., F. R. C. S., surgeon of Kings College Hospital, London,
England, states, in the _International Encyclopedia of Surgery_,
that 'there is no known antidote by which the venom can be
neutralized, nor any prophylactic.' This eminent authority also
remarks further: 'Hence medication with this view is to be
avoided altogether, and the aim of treatment should be to
prevent the poison from gaining access to the general
circulation, and to avoid its prostrating effects if its
entrance has already taken place.' The same writer asserts that
the only aim of the constitutional treatment should be 'to
sustain the strength until the poison shall have been
eliminated.' The idea that the saturation of the body with
whisky to the point of intoxication, if possible, is beneficial
in these cases, is in the highest degree erroneous. Whisky
intoxication, according to Dr. Cheyne, actually 'favors the
injurious effect of the poison. What is required is to keep the
patient alive until the poison has been eliminated.' Whisky will
not do this, but actually aids the poison in its fatal work by
lessening the resistance of the patient, and hence lessening his
chances for recovery.

"The reputation of whisky as a remedy in these cases is due to
the fact that on an average only one person in eight who is
bitten by a rattlesnake is really poisoned; the reasons for this
were fully explained in an interesting paper on 'Rattlesnakes,'
by the eminent Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, and published in the
Smithsonian Contributions to _Knowledge_ for 1860. If the snake
strikes several times before inflicting a wound, the sacs
containing the venom may be emptied, so that the succeeding bite
will introduce only the most minute quantity of poison--not
enough to produce serious, or fatal results. If the part bitten
is covered by clothing, the poison may be absorbed by the
clothing, so that but very little enters the circulation. In
various other ways the snake is prevented from inflicting a
fatal wound. The popular idea, that every bite of a rattlesnake
is necessarily poisonous, is thus shown to be erroneous. It is
not at all probable that the administration of whisky has ever
in any case contributed to the long life of a person bitten by a
rattlesnake.

"Whisky is often recommended by physicians with the idea that it
will sustain the energies of the patient, or will stimulate the
heart, etc.; but it has been clearly shown that alcohol in all
forms is not only useless for these purposes, but does actual
damage, since it lessens the resistance of the patient, weakens
the heart, and helps along the prostration which is the
characteristic effect of the rattlesnake venom. Alcohol has, for
many years, been used as an antidote for collapse under an
anaesthetic administered for surgical purposes, but no
intelligent physician nowadays thinks of using alcohol for such
a purpose; instead, alcohol is given before the anaesthetic for
the purpose of facilitating its effect. Errors of this sort
which have once become established are very hard to uproot.
Probably some physicians will continue to use alcohol for shock,
exhaustion, general debility and similar conditions as well as
for rattlesnake poisoning for another quarter of a century, but
such use of alcohol does not belong to the domain of rational
medicine and is not supported by scientific facts."

"Under the Pasteur method, a man who did not take alcohol was
much more likely to recover from the bite of a mad dog than one
bitten under the same conditions, who used that drug; while in
lock-jaw there was absolute failure to secure immunity if the
patient had taken alcohol. In India it used to be given in large
quantities for snake bite, but it was found that it had a direct
effect in interfering with the processes of repair, and so is
being abandoned."--DR. SIMS WOODHEAD, of the Royal College of
Physicians and Surgeons, London, Eng.

"Nothing could be more irrational and dangerous than the popular
notion concerning the antagonism of whisky and snake-bites, and
Willson reports that several of the fatalities in his series
were directly due to alcohol rather than to the
bite."--_Editorial, Journal of the American Medical Ass'n._

RHEUMATISM:--"Unquestionably, the most active cause of
rheumatism, as well as of migraine, sick-headache, Bright's
disease, neurasthenia and a number of other kindred diseases, is
the general use of flesh food, tea and coffee, and alcoholic
liquors. As regards remedies, there are no medicinal agents
which are of any permanent value in the treatment of chronic
rheumatism. The disease can be remedied only by regimen,--that
is, by diet and training. A simple dietary, consisting of
fruits, grains, and nuts, and particularly the free use of
fruits, must be placed in the first rank among the radical
curative measures. Water, if taken in abundance, is also a means
of washing out the accumulated poisons.

"An individual afflicted with rheumatism in any form should
live, so far as possible, an out-of-door life, taking daily a
sufficient amount of exercise to induce vigorous perspiration. A
cool morning sponge bath, followed by vigorous rubbing, and a
moist pack to the joints most seriously affected, at night, are
measures which are worthy of a faithful trial. Every person who
is suffering from this disease should give the matter immediate
attention, as it is a malady which is progressive, and is one of
the most potent causes of premature old age, and general
physical deterioration. American nervousness is probably more
often due to uric acid, or to the poisons which it represents,
than to any other one cause."--_Good Health._

"Alcohol favors the development of rheumatism. It does this by
preventing waste matter from leaving the system. Beer and wine,
because they contain lime and salts, are said to cause
rheumatism, or at least to aid in its development. These salts
are absorbed into the system, unite with the uric acid, and form
an insoluble urate of lime, which is deposited around the
joints, thus causing them to become enlarged and stiff. * * * * *

"The success of the Turkish bath treatment has been phenomenal.
Of over 3,000 cases treated here at least 95 per cent. have been
entirely relieved, or greatly helped. Some who were treated over
twenty years ago have stated that they have not had a twinge of
rheumatism since. Very few have persevered in the use of the
bath without experiencing permanent relief."--DR. CHARLES H.
SHEPARD, Brooklyn.

"Those having a bath cabinet can have a good substitute at home
for the Turkish bath. Remember that if tobacco and alcohol are
indulged in, there can be no permanent relief."

_The New Hygiene_ says:--

"Under no circumstances take any of the thousand and one
nostrums advertised as sure cures for this disease. Pure
unadulterated blood is the only remedy. This can only be
produced by cleansing the system of impurities, and giving it
the right kind of material out of which to make it. Keep out the
poisonous physic, clean out the colon, strengthen the lungs, and
feed the system with proper food, and this disease will vanish
like a fog before the rising sun."

The same book in advocating the use of the Turkish bath for rheumatism, says:--

"The fact, which is well attested, that when a person enters the
bath the urine may be strongly acid, but, on leaving the bath,
after half an hour, it is markedly alkaline, shows that the bath
has a strong effect upon the system."

Dr. Ridge says of _rheumatic fever_:--

"I would urge most strongly the desirability of avoiding every
form of alcoholic liquor, from the very commencement of the
disease, as affording the best chance for a speedy and safe
recovery. The highest authorities are agreed on this point, but
there is a lingering practice which makes reference necessary in
order to confirm the wavering."

In Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York, the hot blanket pack is used in acute rheumatism, almost to the exclusion of other methods. The pack should be continued two to four hours at least, and may be repeated two or three times within the twenty-four hours with advantage.

_Nature Cure_ says that thorough massage, and half a dozen cups of hot lemonade will cure a severe case of sciatica:--

"The massage should be commenced moderately, and increased as
the patient can bear it. Rubbing and slapping of the muscles
with bare hands will hasten a cure, and be agreeable to the
patient. One to two hours treatment, if _vigorous_, will effect
a cure."

SEA-SICKNESS:--Brandy is a common resort in this trouble, many taking it under such circumstances who would under no other. Yet it frequently adds to the sickness, instead of relieving it.

"Be sparing in diet for two or three days before the expected
voyage. If very sensitive, take to your berth as soon as you go
on board, or lie down on deck; get near the centre of the
vessel, and lie with your feet to the stern. Go to sleep if
possible. Iced water may be sipped, but nothing solid should be
taken at first; after a while a cracker or wafer may be taken."

It is said upon good authority that if two or three apples are eaten shortly before going on board, or before rough water is encountered, sea-sickness is entirely averted. It will be well to partake of no other food for some hours previous to the voyage when trying this.

_Good Health_ says:--

"If any of our readers have occasion to cross the ocean in the
stormy season, we recommend three things; keep horizontal, with
the head low; put an ice-bag to the back of the neck, keep the
stomach clean, free from greasy foods and meats, and eat nothing
till there is an appetite for food. A habitually clean dietary
before going on board is doubtless a good preparation for such a
voyage, as well as for any other nerve strain, or test of
endurance. It pays to be good--to your stomach, as well as in
other ways."

The following is guaranteed by a Russian physician to be an effective cure and a means of avoiding sea-sickness when the symptoms first make their appearance. Take long and deep inspirations. About twenty breaths should be taken every minute, and they should be as deep as possible. After thirty or forty inspirations the symptoms will be found to abate. This is recommended for dyspepsia also.

SORE NIPPLES:--"Alum water, or tannin, used for several months
in advance will harden as effectually as brandy. If there is
soreness on commencing to nurse, put a pinch of alum into milk,
and apply the curd to the nipple."

SPASMS:--"These are caused by flatulence, as a result of
indigestion. A little hot ginger tea, or capsicum tea, may do
all that is required. If these are not at hand, loosen every
tight band, rub well the region of the heart and stomach, slap
the face with the corner of a wet towel, and give sips of cold
water."

SHOCK:--"In shock, or collapse, the state is similar in some
respects to that which is present in fainting. Every function is
almost at a standstill; absorption from the stomach and
elsewhere is at its lowest point, because the circulation of the
blood is so much interfered with. Hence much of the brandy which
is so often given, and to such a wonderful amount, with very
little apparent effect of intoxication, is really not absorbed
at all, and is very often rejected from the stomach by vomiting,
when reaction does occur, if not before.

"The patient should be wrapped up warmly, and put to bed as soon
as possible. The limbs may be rubbed with hot flannels, and hot
water bottles put to hands and feet. In some cases, also, towels
wrung out of hot water may be wrapped around the head. Hot milk
and water, hot water slightly sweetened, or with a little
peppermint water in it, should be given as soon as the patient
can swallow. Hot beverages will warm the skin more rapidly and
powerfully than any alcoholic liquor.

"If the patient cannot swallow, an enema of hot water, or hot,
thin gruel, should be administered, and may be of use in
addition to hot drinks. Beef extract may be added to the hot
water with advantage.

"In the vast majority of cases there need be no anxiety so far
as the shock is concerned; reaction will occur in due time if
ordinary care be taken, and will be more natural and steady if
the system is not embarrassed by the presence of the narcotic
alcohol. In the state of collapse the voluntary nervous system
is depressed; alcohol diminishes the power and activity of the
nervous centres of the brain, hence its action is undesirable in
shock or collapse."--DR. J. J. RIDGE, London.

"No procedure could be more senseless than the administering
alcohol in shock. A stimulant of some kind is necessary in such
cases, and alcohol, instead of being a stimulant is a narcotic.
* * * * * Alcohol causes a decrease of temperature, the very
thing to be avoided in cases of shock."--DR. J. H. KELLOGG.

"I am perfectly sure that a large dose of alcohol in shock puts
a nail in the coffin of the patient."--DR. H. C. WOOD of the
University of Pennsylvania.

SINKING SENSATIONS:--Many women have a feeling of weakness or "goneness" at about eleven o'clock in the morning, and are led by it to the injurious practice of eating between meals. It is often due to indigestion, or to the use of beer or wine. A few sips of hot milk, of fruit juice, or even of cold water will often relieve it, especially if total abstinence is persevered in.

SUDDEN ILLNESS:--"Those taken suddenly ill are likely to fare
best if placed in a recumbent position, with head slightly
elevated, all tightness of garments about the neck or waist
relieved, and a little cold water given in case of ability to
swallow. A mustard plaster on the back of the neck, or over the
stomach, and hot water or hot bottles to the feet, are never out
of place, while vinegar, or smelling salts, or dilute ammonia to
the nostrils is reviving."--EZRA M. HUNT, M. D., late secretary
of New Jersey State Board of Health.

"Both the popular and professional beliefs in the efficacy of
alcoholic liquids for relieving exhaustion, faintness, shock,
etc. are equally fallacious. All these conditions are temporary,
and rapidly recovered from by simply the recumbent position, and
free access to fresh air. Ninety-nine out of every hundred of
such cases pass the crisis before the attendants have time to
apply any remedies, and when they do, the sprinkling of cold
water on the face, and the vapor of camphor or carbonate of
ammonia to the nostrils, are the most efficacious remedies, and
leave none of the secondary evil effects of brandy, whisky or
wine."--DR. N. S. DAVIS.

SUNSTROKE:--"There has lately been a correspondence in the
_Morning Post_ on the subject of 'Sunstroke and Alcohol.' We
quite agree with the statement that 'nothing predisposes people
to sunstroke so much as this pernicious habit of taking
stimulants (so-called) during the hot weather.' As far as this
country is concerned, nearly every case of sunstroke might be
more appropriately designated 'beerstroke.' One effect of
alcohol is to paralyze the heat-regulating mechanism; the blood
becomes overloaded with waste material, and the narcotism, and
vasomotor paralysis, produced by the alcohol, is added to that
produced by the heat. Abstainers, other things being equal, can
always endure extremes of temperature better than consumers of
alcohol."--_Medical Pioneer_, England.

"During the month of January, 1896, there occurred over three
hundred deaths from sunstroke in Australia. When called upon to
offer suggestions relative to its prevention, the medical board
promptly informed the Colonial government that, of all the
predisposing causes, none were so potent as indulgence in
intoxicating liquors, and in its treatment nothing seemed to
have a more disastrous effect than the administration of
alcoholic stimulants."--_Medical News._

The _Bulletin of the A. M. T. A._ for August, 1896, contained the following:--

"Recently a leading medical man, a teacher in a college, warned
his student audience against the anti-alcoholic theories urged
by extremists and persons whose zeal was greater than their
intelligence. He affirmed positively that the value of alcohol
was well known in medicine, and established by long years of
experience.

"Not long afterward a man was brought into his office in a state
of collapse from sunstroke, and this physician and teacher
ordered large quantities of brandy to be administered; the
patient died soon after."

Dr. T. D. Crothers tells of a case where alcohol was administered to a child for partial sunstroke, and says, "there were many reasons for believing that the profound poisoning from alcohol gave a permanent bias and tendency that developed into inebriety later."

"When a person falls with sunstroke (or heatstroke) he should at
once be carried to a cool, shady place. His clothing should be
removed, and cold applications made to the head, and over the
whole body. Pieces of ice may be packed around the head, or cold
water may be poured upon the body. Cold enema may also be
employed. In case the face is pale, hot applications should be
made to the head and over the heart and the body should be
rubbed vigorously."--DR. J. H. KELLOGG.

TYPHOID FEVER.

As many lives are lost by this disease, its treatment must ever be one of intense interest, not only to physicians, but also to all humanity. Since non-alcoholic treatment has reduced the death-rate in typhoid to five per cent., the views regarding such treatment expressed by leading practitioners will doubtless be read with eagerness.

The following is a paper by Dr. N. S. Davis taken from the _Medical Temperance Quarterly_.

"ALLEGED INDICATIONS FOR THE USE OF ALCOHOL IN THE TREATMENT OF
TYPHOID FEVER:--On the first page of the first number of a new
medical journal bearing date July, 1895, may be found the
following statement: 'The question of administering alcohol
comes up in every case of typhoid fever. In mild cases,
especially when the patient is young, healthy and temperate,
stimulants are not needed so long as the disease follows the
typical course. Here, as elsewhere, alcohol should be avoided
when not absolutely demanded. There is, however, generally such
a dangerous tendency toward nervous exhaustion, that in a
majority of cases more or less alcohol is required. The
indication which calls for its use is an inability to administer
enough food. * * * * * Again, the existence of high temperature
nearly always makes it necessary to stimulate the patient, as
does threatened nervous exhaustion and heart failure, for
immediate effect; likewise a weak, small, compressible, rapid
pulse, with impaired cardiac impulse and systolic sound, is a
frequent indication; other remedies may be required, but alcohol
cannot be dispensed with.' The next paragraph continues: 'It is
necessary to give alcohol in serious complications of typhoid
fever, such as pneumonia, pleurisy, hemorrhage and severe
bronchitis or diarrhoea. It is best to begin giving it early
and in small quantities: two to six ounces is a moderate amount,
eight to twelve ounces daily is not too much for adynamic or
complicated cases.'

"The foregoing quotations purport to have been condensed from
one of our recent authoritative works on practical medicine, and
doubtless fairly represent the prevailing opinions concerning
the use of alcohol in the treatment of typhoid and other fevers,
both in and out of the profession. A careful reading will show
that the whole is founded on the following four assumptions:

"1. That alcohol when taken into the living body acts as a
general stimulant, and especially so to the cardiac and
vasomotor functions. 2. That in mild, uncomplicated cases of
typhoid fever in young and previously healthy subjects,
stimulants are not required and no alcohol should be given. 3.
That in a 'majority of cases' the tendency toward dangerous
'nervous exhaustion' and 'heart failure' is so great that the
giving of 'more or less alcohol is required.' 4. The amount
required may vary from two to twelve or more ounces per day.

"In the two preceding numbers of this journal, I have endeavored
to show that the chief causes of nervous exhaustion and heart
failure, in typhoid and other fevers were impairment of the
hemoglobin and corpuscular elements of the blood, deficient
reception and internal distribution of oxygen, and molecular
degeneration of the muscular structures of the heart itself.
These important pathological conditions are doubtless caused by
the specific toxic agent or agents giving rise to the fever.
Consequently the rational objects of treatment are to stop the
further action of the specific cause, either by neutralization,
or elimination, or both; to stop the further impairment of the
hemoglobin and other elements of the blood; and to increase the
reception and internal distribution of oxygen, by which we will
most effectually prevent further fatty or granular degeneration
of cardiac and other structures. The language of the paragraphs
I have quoted, fairly assumes that alcohol is a _stimulant_
capable of relieving nervous exhaustion and cardiac failures,
regardless of the causes producing those pathological
conditions, and consequently its use is necessary in the
'majority of cases' of typhoid fever.

"Can such an assumption be sustained by either established
facts, or correct reasoning? Can nervous and cardiac exhaustion,
induced by the presence of toxic agents in the blood, with
deficiency of both hemoglobin and oxygen, be relieved by a
simple _stimulant_, that neither neutralizes nor eliminates the
toxic agents, nor increases either the hemoglobin or oxygen?
That alcohol does not neutralize or destroy toxic ptomaines, or
tox-albumins, is proved by abundant clinical experience, and
also by the fact that chemists use it freely in the processes
for separating these substances from other organic matters for
experimental purposes. That its presence in the living body
retards metabolic changes generally, and thereby aids in
retaining instead of eliminating toxic agents of all kinds, has
been so fully shown in the pages of preceding numbers of the
_Medical Temperance Quarterly_, that the leading facts need not
be repeated here. That its presence does not increase the
hemoglobin, or favor oxy-hemoglobin or increased internal
distribution of oxygen, but decidedly the reverse, has been
equally well demonstrated by numerous and reliable experimental
researches in this and other countries.

"Then it must be conceded that alcohol is not capable of
fulfilling either of the important indications presented in the
treatment of typhoid fever as stated above. Nevertheless, the
advocates of its use apparently recognize but two ideas or
factors in these cases, namely, the popularly inherited
assumption that alcohol is a _stimulant_, and as the patient is
in danger from nervous and cardiac weakness, therefore the
alcohol must be given, _pro re nata_ without the slightest
regard to the existing causes of the weakness, or the _modus
operandi_ of the so-called stimulant.

"This is proved by the fact that they group together as
stimulants, and give to the same patient in alternate doses,
remedies of directly antagonistic action, as alcohol and
strychnine, or digitalis, etc.

"The accepted definition of a stimulant in medical literature,
is some agent capable of exciting or increasing _vital activity_
as a whole, or the natural activity of some one structure or
organ.

"For instance, both clinical and experimental observations show
that strychnine directly increases the functional activity of
the respiratory, cardiac and vasomotor nervous systems, and
thereby increases the internal distribution of oxygen, which is
nature's own special exciter of all vital action. Therefore it
is properly a direct respiratory, cardiac and vasomotor
stimulant and indirectly a stimulator of all vital processes.
But the same kind of clinical and experimental observations show
that alcohol directly diminishes the functional activity of all
nerve structures, pre-eminently those of respiration and
circulation, and also of all metabolic processes, whether
respirative, disintegrative or secretory. Consequently it not
only acts as directly antagonistic to strychnine, but equally so
to all true stimulants or remedies capable of increasing vital
activity. Instead, therefore, of meriting the name of
_stimulant_, alcohol should be designated and used only as an
anaesthetic and sedative, or depressor of vital activity.

"And a thorough and impartial investigation will show that its
use in the treatment of typhoid and other fevers, while
deceiving both physician and patient, by its anaesthetic effect
in diminishing restlessness, both prolongs the duration and
increases the ratio of mortality of the disease, by its
impairment of vital activity in the organizable elements of both
blood and tissues."

Equally interesting is the following outline of treatment pursued by Dr. W. H. Riley, of the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

"The purpose of the present paper is to give briefly an outline
of the method of treatment of typhoid fever as used by the
writer in a considerable number of cases.

"A consideration of the pathology of this disease does not
properly come under this head, but we wish simply to call
attention to the well-known fact that typhoid fever is a germ
disease. The germ which causes this fever has generally been
supposed to be the bacillus of Eberth. More recent
bacteriological studies rather indicate that the bacillus coli
may also cause the disease. These germs are usually carried into
the body in food or drink, and, lodging in the small intestines,
begin to grow and multiply, and by their life produce poisonous
ptomaines which are absorbed and carried by the circulation to
all the organs and tissues of the body.

"It is these ptomaines, thus carried to all parts of the body,
that are largely the immediate cause of the pyrexia and
attending symptoms. The organisms which produce these poisons
for the most part remain in the intestines, although they have
been found in the spleen.

"The indications for treatment are:--

"1. To remove or destroy the cause (to eliminate the germs and
ptomaines from the body).

"2. To sustain the vital and resisting powers of the patient.

"If the patient is seen early in the disease, it has been my
practice to immediately put him to bed and give a free dose of
magnesium sulphate. This is preferably given in the morning or
forenoon, and may be repeated once or twice on successive days.
Besides this the patient should have a large enema of water at a
temperature of from 75 deg. to 80 deg. F.; and this may be repeated
daily or even oftener, for some time, if necessary, to keep the
bowels empty of the poisonous substances.

"The salines and enemas thus used carry out bodily a large
number of germs and ptomaines that are present in the
intestines; and further, the salines, by producing an increased
secretion of the mucous membrane of the intestines, tend to
disentangle and set free many of the germs that have found a
lodging place in the walls of the intestines.

"For the elimination of the ptomaines which have been absorbed
into the circulation and carried to the tissues, nothing is
better than the internal use of water. From three to five pints
should be drunk during every twenty-four hours. It should be
taken in small quantities--six to eight ounces every hour or two
during waking hours, except when food is taken. I will refer to
this point more in detail later.

"A consideration of the general care of the patient properly
comes under the second head of the indications for treatment as
given above. The patient should be put to bed in a large, light,
well-ventilated room. At least two sides of the room should
communicate directly by windows with out-of-doors, in order that
the room may be properly ventilated.

"All unnecessary articles of furniture, such as carpets,
couches, upholstered chairs, pictures, etc. should be removed.

"The room should be thoroughly cleaned before the patient is put
into it.

"There should be two beds in the room for the use of the
patient. These should be, preferably, narrow and so placed in
the room that there is a free approach to both sides of the bed,
for the convenience of the nurse in giving treatment. Iron
bedsteads are preferable to wooden. The bedding should be firm,
yet soft and smoothly drawn. There should be just sufficient
covering to protect the body. The patient should be changed from
one bed to the other daily. This may be done by placing the two
beds side by side and carefully moving the patient from one to
the other. The sheets on the bed from which the patient has been
taken should be washed and disinfected at each change of the
beds, and all other bedding should be thoroughly aired and
exposed to the sunlight daily.

"The patient should have the care of a thoroughly educated,
careful and competent nurse, one who understands perfectly the
various methods of using water in the treatment of fevers.

"There is no other single remedy that I consider so valuable in
the treatment of fever as the internal use of water. As above
stated, the patient should drink six or eight ounces every hour
during the waking hours, except for about two hours after food
is taken. The water should be thoroughly sterilized, and as a
rule may be taken either cool or hot. Ice water is
objectionable. Hot water is often preferable. This is a simple
remedy, but nevertheless is efficacious. It should be given to
the patient whether he calls for it or not, and it should be
considered an important part of his treatment. When water is
taken into the stomach and absorbed into the circulation, it
throws into solution the ptomaines which have been absorbed from
the intestines and are present in the circulation and tissues,
and thereby puts them in a favorable condition for elimination.
It increases the activity of the kidneys, and thus hastens and
increases the elimination of the poisons in the system.

"In the early stage of the fever, when the pulse is full, and
the action of the heart increased, it is best to give the
patient cool water. Later in the disease, when the action of the
heart is weak, and the patient feeble, it is best to give the
water hot.

"Winternitz, many years ago, demonstrated that hot water taken
into the stomach acts as a cardiac stimulant, and the increased
heart's action is immediate, or at least before the water has
time to absorb, which indicates that the water in the stomach
acts reflexly as a cardiac stimulant. The water after absorption
also increases the circulation by filling the blood-vessels, and
increasing arterial pressure. The writer has frequently noticed
a decided increase in the fullness, and rapidity of the pulse,
after a patient has drunk a glassful of hot water.

"The external use of water also forms an important part of the
treatment. The patient should be sponged off with tepid water
every hour or two when the temperature is 103 deg., or above. When
the temperature is less than this, it is not necessary to sponge
the body so frequently. Sometimes a hot sponge bath is more
efficacious in reducing the temperature than the tepid or cool
bath. The sponge bath reduces the temperature, relieves many of
the distressing nervous symptoms, is refreshing to the patient,
and promotes sleep. The temperature of the body may also be
reduced by the use of cool compresses placed over the abdomen,
and changed frequently.

"The matter of diet is an important factor in the treatment of
typhoid fever. The diet should be aseptic, easily digested, and
should contain the necessary food elements. Probably no one
article of diet meets all these requirements as well as
sterilized milk. The patient should take from two to three pints
daily. The milk is best taken four times during the day at
intervals of four hours, taking eight to ten ounces at a time.
Should the patient become tired of the milk, gluten gruel may be
substituted for the milk.

"The diarrhoea and bowel symptoms, when present, may be
relieved by the application of hot fomentations to the abdomen,
warm or hot enemas and twenty grains of subnitrate of bismuth
given every four hours.

"The patient should be kept as quiet as possible, and should be
turned in bed at intervals, to prevent hypostatic congestion and
the formation of bed-sores. The bony prominences which are apt
to become eroded should be sponged frequently with a solution of
tannic acid in equal parts of alcohol and water; a dram of the
tannic acid to a pint of alcohol and water, is about the proper
strength to use.

"By the methods briefly outlined above--that is by the free use
of water internally and externally, by keeping the intestines
thoroughly emptied of poisonous material by the free and
frequent use of enemas, by proper feeding and the careful
attention of a good nurse to the patient and his
surroundings--the duration of the fever may be shortened and the
severity of the disease lessened; heart failure, and other
complications will seldom occur, and the patient will in nearly
every instance make a good recovery. The best method to pursue
to prevent heart failure is to keep the poisons which are
generated in the bowels and absorbed into the body, and which
are the direct cause of the heart failure, eliminated from the
body. Should the heart become weak, it may be effectually
stimulated by giving hot water to drink, applying heat to the
heart in the form of a fomentation, and the application of
fomentations to the upper spine.

"In the treatment of a large number of cases of typhoid fever,
extending over several years' practice, the writer has never
made use of alcohol internally to support the action of the
heart, or for any other purpose.