The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1867-02-07
DE- MES HUNTER



8 DR. JAMES HUNTER
F LATE or NkW YoRg cirs :
i On Hnzl1e1 ConS,sss. esa.
- shs Easiorao1 s .iS1 a gqlldh
4 sfns~l III my last letfef toileI n,leIi rs as
Iservntione on diseases Of TIE n06s throat
8 3 ihrynx n "A bronchial tf3bee and soW com,
& : to speak ST pulmnnaf3 eonsnInp i0r. thai
dread maiady g which these Ions ~
Earlaely e1a. G. e nsslss!ss g. ngs p19pe1,
ease ii the 1ons catalogue 81 bui.lY nice
Il ticns, aud hence appeals more strong than
ans other to the p|ay ieian for tic infe11e6
tion Of q carf b period Of life Is exempt
s. from this tcanTge AE occurs at AL aees and
Il IS eers stRn seIecfing its etixns from fIlf
most t5 1tNa, inte1es1 ing and Useful Aaen'
beTs et sl's community
Ssary l0nE which Iz.I fon| aIslss Tie
deep interest are sIt{4b ttan6s nf 81 8.
thing Sllic 6l5i So s. llsIi gate its t;Ex.
s s ;zss ea3. iron zafe % dse7e inaS
Hxse.3 perss 11lf - ppint p 81
flle Sc ~ q t.fke Who lSzf
|eI9ssed the sge 81 pa liberty, fully one in every
tlIfee person. 6e meet g the great thor.
4 ougll fares pf business and pleasure is nndef
the ban Of this terri bile disease end ests tsfaed
i to fall sacrifice to it, unless ayed through
/ tho prompt adoption of mere rat ional means
of prevention than any usually epployed,
/ No man, however strong of constitution, Is
proof against its silent and treacherous ap-
Iproaehes.
In this and subsequent letters shall ex-
plain every thing on which it is necessary for
i the public to be informed regarding the ma
ture and theory Of this disease the causes
which produce il; the synspt toms By = hich it's
/ approach may be known; the several stages
| and forms it assumes; the ages, classes aud
cuIlings most predisposed to 1T; and lastly,
those principles of practice which, il adopt
i ed in time, and faithfully employed, viii
i lead to lis prevention when not yet estab-
lished, and, when it is, to its cessful treatr
i ment. -
CONSUMPTION is caused by tubercles in
1.-THE lungs. For along time the term con-
sumption was applied indiscriminately to
all diseases of obscure nature, attended by
wasting or emaciation of the body. They
were called consumption because the body
slowly consumed away. When the study of
pathological anatomy-that is to say, the
anatomy of the organs in diseasc-became
more general, it was soon discovered that
disease of the lungs was more frequently the
cause of wasting. than all other chronic dis
eases combined, and hence from this time
consumption of the lungs attracted more att
| tention, and in the course of TINE, the ap.
| plieation of the term was limited to pHlmo-
nary disease alone. When, therefore, use
| the term consumption, wish the reader to
remember that mean not only disease Of
| the lungs. but particular kind of disease,
4 in their substance. I
| TUBERcLEs are little granular bodies de-
posted from the blood. They are most FREE
/ quently located beneath the mucous men,
brane of the air-tubes, but they are also de-
posted in the air-cells, and on the free sur
face of the mucous membrane. When they
are formed on the mucous membrane of the.
air tnbes it is not uncommon for small par
| ticles to become detached and expectorated
BIZ the patient long before any liberation
HAS -taken place III the 4a19g TubeFeles are
found in three different stages. In the first,
they are grayish, halftransparent, and feel
firm and rough when the finger is passed
over them.
They vary in size from millet-seed to
| common pea, and are known in medical par.
lance by the name of military tubercles. In
this stage they cause very little disturbance
of the system. All we ordinarily find is.
that the breathing is slightly shortened, and
perhaps there is disposition to hack and
clear the the throat frequently, but beyond
these indications the patient has no warning
OF what is going on in the lungs.
Second Stage-The military tubercles in
crease in size by the accretlon of fresh par
ticles thrown off from time to time by the
blood, and also undergo a change in color.
They were in the first stage halEtranspa-
rent; they are now Opaque, and becoming
yellow. IF we cut through portion of the
lung in which tubercles in the second stage
exist, we find it studded here and there
with what looks precisely like Jumps of
cheese. You can separate these, and they
of old cheese. In size, tubercles in the sec
ond stage vary from pea to fiIbert, but it
is also common to find here and there a tu-
bercle of much larger size. 1t there are a
great many tubercles, there will be a good
deal of shortress of breath or secretion, and
some loss of flesh. Tubercles cause short
ness of breath by closing the aiT-tubes and
cells of the part of the lung in which they
are situated. There may also be cough and
mucous expectoration arising from the irri- |
tation they produce.
Third Stage.-Haying reached the stage of
ekeesy or crude tubercle, the disease may
remain stationary for weeks, months, OF even /
years, awaiting sufficient exciting cause |
to carry it on to the last change Sooner or )
later, the pressure and irritation produced I
by the tnberculous matter, or q fresh cold
produces Inflammation in the surrounding T
Tissues, and the whole breaks down, forming
an ulcerous excavation, or cavity, in the /
part of the lung diseased The matter or 1
pus formed by the destruction of the walls /
of the air-tubes and cells, and by the sof- /
tened tubercle, is poured out into the bron-
chial tubes and coughed up and expectora-
ted. AS all the tubercles are not formed at T
the same time, but in successive crops, so
softening does not take place in all at the /
same time. After the first shock to the sysz 1
TEN caused by the liberation and breaking I
down of part OF the lungs has passed, +