, 1861-12-23

AE41Eh ht. As |
To The Editors Of the Chicago Tribune:
come now to speak Of the treatment of
consumption, 4 subject before which, in lm-
portance to science and humanity, most others
sink into insignifcancc.
the truth Of this observation. Of the busy
crowd hurryiug along the great thoroughfarc,
or the quiet congregation assembled for devo-
tion, onc-fourth are under the land Of this de-
sumptiye's grave. With this astounding fact
daily before your eyes, / need add nothing to
enforce the Importance of whatever promises
to diminish this frightful mortality: The sub
Jet is exciting the most intease 9s interest in
Hospitals for the special treatment Of con
sumption are being erected and royalty en-
dowcd, and everywhere We sec growing con
fdence in the curabi!ity Of thls aisease:
and still exists, in the profession, Is that there
are no fixed principles regarding either the M
ture or treatment Of consumption. Physi-
cians Of equal reputation and experience, |
| recommend at one and the same period OF the
| disease, medicine of the most opposite quail |
| tics; and each persists in daily routine, the |
| insufhcieney OF whicA is sustained BY a1 ez-
pericnce. ..
It may safely be said that the most learned. /
! and experienced in the old routine have &C
complishcd no more than temporary paliia-
ton; while the ignorant and inexperienced
lave often FASTENED the fatal termination By
their injudicionB ministratious. So pregnant
| is the very namc consumption with all that is
terrible to the invalid, that few physicians,
| impressed with the idea of its incurability,
have the moral courage to inform the patient
Of LIS danger until longer coneealment Is ILL
possible.
It is no unusual thing to hear designated as
"a mere cold" or "a slight bronchitis"
symptoms which indicate the inception Of q
fatal diEcasc Of the lungs. And the very
remedies employed, under . hundred different
names, for the cure Of cough, # they have any
effect at all, only mask the danger By giving
temporary relief; while the disease itself is
becoming more deeply seated and more Ger
tainly 1at:lin its issue. Thus the poor Invalid
is deceived to the verge Of the grave; when,
becoming alarmed and importunibg for relief,
he is advised IS to visit the country to "take
sea soyagc,'' or to ego toa warm climate for
q season,'' and thus his fears are once more
! allaycd. If be cxpcctoratcs blood, "it only
comes from the throat" Ifit be winter, u he
m ie he Ss 'sts5 eam5 II hs sS snsPg % fRRn" Rs s sGsh
., But too often the A'countrF' referred to is
that which lies beyond the grave; and the
, spring the season that comcth not until
"liics titfn1 fever is over"
That consumption is incur.lbfc bY thc ad-
1ninistration Of medicines by the stomach, has
: | been as clearly demonstrated as any faet can
) bc. Else why this dreadful mortality? Why
the universal belief that it is beyond the reach
! | OF 1neQ1C1HcE. IL Is tuE CDuluOuESt Lu1uE III
! ! the world to hear aged wisdom pride itself on
: holding the good o]d~fashioned, opinion that
:. consumption "can't be curcd.n If the ply
: sician does not believe in his power to cure
. consumption, surely it is worse than folly for
= the patient to expect cure from his prescrip-
6 tions. To do 50 i to shut his eyes to all past
9 experience, and blindly pass on to an ineyi-
Il table doom. Even the simple affections Of the
u u nose, throat and bronchial tubes, have hith-
y erto batflcd all remedies employed by the
fhnca mt n Ia Etr1,
;; means. how can he look for the cure of dis
q ease deeply seated in the lungs, and which has
= resulted from this very failures
. In discussing the forms Of consumption
= ! have endeayored to place the invalid, as il
!. were, before me, and to talk to him in the
- simple language of ordinary conversation.
u Every intelligent person, in the least degree
q interested, and who is not? in the subject
Is should be conycr6ant with the Office Of tht
Il ,5 lungs, the causes Of disease, aud the bes
10 purpose Of selfquaekcry, which IS alway:
=. dangerous, hut to enable him to avoid the i'm
~ positions Of empires, which are still mort
ID dangerous Al my efforts h4Se @ been d1rssss'
" " years to erect the facts on which Inhalation Il
- based, into system Of practice, applicable t.
ct every form of the melancholy and c0mplicatel
III maladies which have their seat in the organ
as = of respiration, and have now the high salts
u faction Of seeing my lnbors rewarded by
Gu success which encourages me to prosecute n
m ne investigations and perseEere IN the good worE
st N Inhalation gives rs aceess to the air passage
cst and cells Of the lungs for the application {
Tse medicines. But it viii at once be seen ths
Or the mere act Of nhaling is in itself no remcd.
By The remedy lies In the medicines which tb
ICE ICE physician prescribes; while the kind OF med
on cine, the strength sud form Of administration
alo must be regulated by his experience and pr
en- fessional knowledge. Ny prescriptions Val
~ according to the peculiar phase Of the discas
ot- do rot confne myself to any one form OF i
halation,, nor TO any temperature Of heat
cold in its administration iuse Wna1e4et
,cd best adapted to the pecu1in1ity OF each cas-
and in such manner IS Is best calculated
ice effect the desired end The 1sdtc7ia n'edicd
'rc as much In rcquisition in the treatment Of co
T, sumption by inhalation, 9s it is in the tre:
'A@ In the usual manner, am desirous Of conyc
the ing to the public correct ldea Of lnhalattol
was Of enabling them to understand that it is
dsx method Of treatment by which the physicE
| is able to reach tho lungs by medicines diret
ou1 ", and thus render that organ as accessible
by bis skill and experience IS any other organ
pau the body.
With reference to the manner of inhaling
w. would observe TINT many substances a1e W
'"n volatile at the ordinary temperature of the a
The that others, and by far the greater number, c
iTasT only be rendered SO by heat. Few mine
&. substances can be inhaled at all AL gaseo
" inhalations are eyapotated by heat into
room aud breathed Mt the tempcrsture OF
oir.
will Our best remedies are vegetable extra
y J. nrodncc 1 vonor % nf the warmth af The brea
tion which, Of ali others, is the most natural o
,tro- grateful to the lungs.
inue of Ae43,,. 1e1's' e'''14A oA0su'o s~ eA~'
nc Of your obcdient eeryant.
,ited JAMES HUNTER, ID. D,
rnft | Physician for tho Throat and Lungs, No.
' Adams street, near Michigan Avenue, Chi
asaas 20, December 81, 1861.
rious Once Of Drs. r. It ]. Hunter, No. 81
/ 18Th street, New York.