Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-06-09

the body; but the danger of the patient
depends, not on the severity Of these
sympathies, but on the extent of the dis
ease in the lungs r.
We have said that the blood IS always
impure in Consumption. What is the
nature of the impurity2 Chemistry de-
monstrates that the Oxygen is always
diminished and carbon always in excess.
Carbon being a poison most inimical to
life, we regard this element as the true
cause of tubercle2 The analysis Of
Schrerrer provrs that ftty.four per cent
of it is pure carbon, and the remaining
forty-six per cent. made up of the elements
of disintegrated tissues of the lungs in
which it is deposited. r
If the reader has atsentively followed
US through the causes of Consumption
he will now understand that the first steT
toward its cure must be an effort to restore
tho function of the lungs. The blood
cannot be restored to its purity until thi:
is done. Hence, if the air-tubes are OBJ,
structed by mucus, or diminished in size
by t~hickening of their lining membrane,
we must first attack these Ifthe patient
is exposed to a dusty atmosphere, he must
be removed out of it, or the good accom-.
plished one day will be undone the next
If the air he is compelled to breathe be
confined and impure, proper ventilation
must be combined with the other means
employed for his cure.
These are the plain principles upon
which our practice is based. Will any
physician pretend that it is wrong to ex-
| pei the obstructing mucus from the tubes
to soothe the inlamed air-passages, and
increase the purity of the blood We do
not think so, unless you can find within
the pale Of the profession some one WHO'S
by nature both a bigot and a fool. We
will not be uncharitable enough to think
so meanly of the understanding of even
the humblest of our medical brethren (;
and yet, if they admit that these objects
are desirable, all that we claim is admit
ted, for by nc other means can they be at
tanned except by the direct application Of
remedies to the lungs by aHedieated iHhdia-
tions.
Since we commenced the publication of
these letters, many inquiries have been ad-
dressed to us regarding the influence Of
'tobaceo,' "ardent spirits" the "dust of
railway travelling" etc, in the production
of Consumption. By rendering the mu-
cous surfaces irritable, these are often ex-
citing causes of that form of catarrhal
diseases which too frequently ends in Con-
sumption; but they are never the direct
cause of tubeTcles, Whoever is addicted
to the use OF Understanding or chew
ing-knows that it irritates the
throat and Injuries digestion. Intemper-
ance in like msnnar, byrendering the sys-
tenn inflammable, strongly predisposes to
cBtarrh disease of the air-passages. Free
indulgence in the use of ardent spirits is
given by most authors on this disease as
one of its causes; but it is only an indirect
cause, like tobacco. There is a pre-
vailing impression among the people
that alcoholic drinks prevent Consump-
ton. This idea is false and most per
nieious. No one will escape this dis
ease by adopting snch means, while some
may produce if, and not a few will GER
tainly induce a moral malady more to be
deplored than the physical disease they
seek to avert.
Travelling by cars is beneficial, in the
change of air and the exercise it affords,
but injurious by reason of the coal-dust to
which ii subjects US. Still, it is not in this
respect materially worse than other modes
of conveyance.
NoTE.-Dr. Ramsey can be consulted
either personally or by letter at this ofiiae
"a and % Monument Square.