The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1878-11-07
THE YELLOW FEVER.
ITS TREATMENT.


ard Medical Association of Memphis, near the
close of the recent epidemic, by DR.. W. l.. Cole
man, of San Antonio. Texas, one of the most In
telligent and most successful practitioners that
had been serving In that city:
In giving my views on the treatment OF TINS
dreadful scourge, yellow fever shall ehuhavod5 etod
to confne myself entirely to facts gathered
obtained by actual observation a. the bedslde OF
the sick and as facts in regard 10 yei3" % leeer eyer
are very scarce. [ shall necessarily pc very
brief, and trust will not weary the @ phllehce VI
any member of the society. | will premise L py
and viii a I feel that am very thoroughly fixed
In my ideas of the disease yet am oten 70
conviction, and if facts are addufed that VIII
nrove nv o. sition wrong, am ready to change.
- I have been compelled to DO IN the past tor
when graduated wrote my thesis on yellow
fever. which contains vieWs that have heard
expressed and advocated by distinguished
medical gentlemen of this society. but
whien / noF utterly repudiate and abhor, be-.
cause they have not been sustained by actual
clinical observation.
But before proceeding to my subject proper.
the treatp Mt abou w, whiGh shall h1ve I've but IT.
ted, in order to be clearly understood, to record
very briefly, my views upon the origin ana
nature of the disease; and in order to be con
that these views are facts which have not been
successfully cont overted by the profession.
First-That the materies morbi the germ
of this dieenee, is specific poison, sui gene
ris,' producing q specific disease with specific
The m expericnccd p physician, and that this poison
never produces typhus, typhoid or malHral
fever, smnll-po or any other disease but yell
low fever. and yellow fever, only. the world over
The failure Of The medi al profession to recog
nize this fact has been the ono fruitful source
of error in the past and the cause OF much
wrangling at the commencement OF every cpl
demic.
Second That this specific poison is an exotic,
and is not indigenous to the United states. but
Is habitant Of the torrid zone. originating
under q combination Of circumstances Of which
we have no knowledge, but 1t can be easily
transported in woolen and other goods the
holds of vessels, and in the persons of travel
ers; not, however, in state to render 1t in any
sense contagious: that Is this germ is living,
organized existence whether animal or veget-
able is not to our purpose now! req11r1ng a
certain condition of atniosphere in order that
ond person may become affected by it. If this
condition Of atmosphere does not exist. then
an indeflni to number OF cases may be taken to
On the other hand, II the atmosphere is in q
condition to ;afford, the necessary pabu!um
for the germ the ntroduetiqn int m OF the s%alles
tamination OF the whole. and all persons
living in and brea hing TIA that air. who have meyer
me illustrate this idea for o moment. The cities
Of Galveston and Houston, Texas, have been as
severely scourged in years past as the city of
Memphis is now. and yet there have been years
in which numbers Of cases were ia ken to those
points and it would not spread-it could not
because it did not find the necessary food In the
it's existence. Hence while the poison is of for
eign origin, and can be transported. 1t Is de-
to enable it to live and propagate itself # the
whole mass Of yellow fever poison in the city of
Memp phis could be transported to place where
the air was perfectly pure, the germs would all
die and no one in that place would take tn e dis
ease; while. on tho other hand, the smallest
portion imaginable might be carried in the
overcoat or clothing Of a physician to a spot
where the air was ripe for / and it would give
rise to fearful epidemic: Ia fact It would like
sticking q lighted match to the lint room of o
cotton lin, only more rapid in its action. In
The Rr,at majority of tepidemics that have oc-
Cured in the United States since 1893, its i'm
portaton can be clearly proven, and | am salts
fed it could have been proven in every In
STANCE if the proper observations and records
bad been made It appeared first in the United
States In 1893. at Boston: afterwards, In 1899 at
philadelphia and Charlt ston then in New York
for the first time in 17o2; ,Aean in Philadelphia
IN @ s n On NsT ec0r 9rd that Wa5 all
from some point in the West Indies. and the
disease, was never known to the civilized world
Columbus The germ Of this poison, which
has laid waste and devastated the cities and
towns of the valley of the Mississippi this year
Part q May in 1s7s It vas b bro"ght e"s ITO to
Havana on the fourth Of July and i"i7R Il had ID my
records here could rs clearly prove and give
the date OF its importation in tour ffths Of the
century. But | proceed to my third PROPOSE
tion. which is that this potion is pre-eminenly
13h the bood w6cb is he
and vittating that stream, upon the purity of
which all the organs of the wonderful machine
functions, rendering it wholly unfit for nutri-
tive PURPOSES. The great organs of secretion
and elimination are not. at fault until the in
yHder has entered the citadel of life, and they
fail to receive healthy blood to enable them to
perform their functions; hence the folly of CIV
ing remedies to gond these organs to action:
n ant 1Dpf A1,n
said before [ have but little to say on that
point, tor the results of this epidemic prove
oQnddent-no antidote Or abortive treatment has
been discovered by the physicians in spite of
al that young and ineNperienced physicians
spect to the gentlemen who differ from me- ex-
perience compels me to say we need no calomel
or qu1in1n,e no gelseminum, digitalis, vera
or afterlhl sedatlve lit the treatment Of this
ffcourge. They only add to the enemys forces.
that this il she will admit
teVer OF one paroXysm, lasting generally sew
enty,tWo hours: and from & careful record of a
hundred eases I i'm prepared 10 say the pulse
reaches IT. acme in the first twelve hours, and
then begins to descend and will continue to
descend without any help, from the physician,
unless mpicatfOns take place, such as ca
plllary congestion of some internal organ or
some local inflammation externally. The tenn
ITS a acme in the first q hours, in another third
IL 48 hours. and in still the other third during
the third day; and If after the pulse and tenn
perature begin to descend they both rise sud |
denly the physician may confidently look for
congestion of the stomach kidneys or brain.
name them In the order in which [ have OBJ !
epidemic. '''' 'N'A~
/ now propose simply to give my plan of
treatment. and the number Of cases treated here |
IN Memphis, with the termination OF the same |
In the first place have the bowels thoroughly |
evacuated during the first a bours, with castor
Oil or saline cathartic. and my reason for do |
Ing SO Is. that the heart is 50 weakened by tie
disease that 1t is dangerous for the patient to be
by rising up after that time, aud in
sist that the most important thing in the
treatment is to keep the patient In q |
horizontal, position. | use mustard foot
baths and .sponging with hot wafer and
whisky during. the not stage TO reduce the
temperature, giving internally half teaspoon-
Iull spirits nitre and three drops Fowler's Solu-
[lon In watermelon seed tea every two or three
hours. in more than half the cases. In the more
Iefious I cases with tendency to suppression,
: Iake AZ soda hyposulph., ammoni;e phosph, aa
or. IL syrup or. i; aQum cz. V. Mix
/ UEe,tahlespoonful every two hours, and at the
same time have a cloth saturated with snirits
turnnDfin6 laid In |