Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-05-01

| III ~. 8 X Il
Jones rushed from the house with fer
vent curse on Jinglebones for not havino
ended his woes by breaking his neck. Oh
course Dox carried the district by acclaim
alton, and Jones left to avoid beino
laughed out Of it. He went into shoe
pegs, made fortune, and now thanks his
stars at having escaped politician s fate
The obliglng relative, we forgot to eX.
plain, was no other than the wretch who
sold sand in his sugar.
Jones, we may add, is still bachelor.
A st. Louis Physician on the Spinal
Meningitis.
A prominent physician writes as follows
to the Missouri Republican:
Having very often for the last two weeks
noticed evidence, in the form of very
| anxious inquiries made to me- that an en-
| urely unnecessary excitement exists among
our citizens in reference to the dread
subject OF spinal meningitis, / offer you
the following statements: ; - Il
| we do know the important facts that
exposure to cold, damp atmosphere is an
exciting and developing cause of the dis
ease, and that all irregular habits of meals,
drink, clothing, sleep, etc, are also excit-
| =
lously avoided. ! have seen the disease in
various parts of our country and in vari-
Gus countries in Europe, in London and
in Paris, and general observation shows it
ITO be more prevalent and more severetin
| those seasons and those climates where the
J temperature OF the atmosphere is the low
est, with the greatest degree of humidity
| or dampness and is most prevalent and
| fatal in cold climates in spring and fall,
| as those conditions obtain most largely at
| those seasons of the year. | have treated
| many cases of the disease in Canada, and
! the most severe were usually in the spring
and fall, showing that the extreme cold
| alone is not as strong an exciting cause as
! dampness. Many OF the worst cases |
| have ever seen were in Georgia in winter
| where the above conditions obtain at that
| season.
| 1t is manifest that an atmosphere which
| is just above the freezing point of water
| and at the same time surcharged with
watery vapOr, is an exciting cause. The
instances above referred to in Georgia oc
| Cured in the winter of 1869 and 1870 1t
was most severe among large cOncourse
Of negroes who assembled for a cOnven-
| ton OF long duration, where they were not
| regularly fed or comfortably housed, and
tillS tildt irregular ndtbllS
| and insufficient protection from cold and
| damp predispose to the disease, or, at
| least are developing causes. 1t is, there
| fore, plain that all should be as regular as
possible in all their habits, and especially
avoid cold and damp atmosphere as much
as possible, especially in the night and
keep well protected with sufficient cloth
ing, especially the feet.
Many real and more tanciful symptoms
have been published, which would lead
many to have the most fearful apprehen-
SlOns that they were about to take the dis
ease when they feel the most trivial and
most common inconvenience or unpleas-
liant sensation from cold or fatigue; from
eating or drinking too much: from too
much or too little sleep, or from any other
cause. Let no one brighten himself into
the conclusion that he has spinal menin-
gifts or spotted fever because he feels the
uncomfortable or even painful results
| usually resulting from irregular habits or
from contracting cold, which have been
presented by several writers as symptoms
OF the disease Cerebro-spinal meningitis
is somewhat prevalent in our city now,
but not in its most severe form and is
| really not at present as frightful here
as the epidemic of smallpox, from
| hence no one need be frightened, even
though he has the real symptoms of the
| disease. Spinal meningitis may be de-
velOped slowly or suddenly. In the former
case the patient generally first complains
of languOr debility, etc. There is often a
| general sense of soreness and stiffness of
| the muscles which soon amounts to pain,
| being very manifest in the head and back
| The patient usually complains of chilly
| sensations, with GOODNESS of the cxtremi-
! ties, which are alternated with flashes of
! heat and developing fever When the
attack comes on suddenly it may be rlshcred
in with a weil-marked chill In some
cases the first symptom Of the disease is "a
| severe pain IN the head and back, followed
| by severe chills or rigors, altcrnated by
| flashes of heat Severe vomiting is an
occasional form Of invasion. Stiffness in
the muscles Of the back of 1he neck fire.
| quently manifests itself early in the disease
and spasmodic contractions ef these mus
| Giles and of the muscles Of the back often
| draw the head backward, and also the
| lower eXtremitics backward and upward
presenting very distressed condition an0
appearance
The above are the ordinary average
| symptoms of the disease, but let no one be
| frightened to death, as they may all have
these symptoms and yet BOT be in much
danger TIE disease is Mot as severe
among us as it has often been in Othcr
| places Of the cases | have attended and
| been called into counsel with different
physicians in this city, | have not seen or
| heard Of any as severe as | have seen and
treated elsewhere, and have not yet had
the misfortune to see case this season
! II. p