The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1881-11-24
Msefnl aud Curious.
SULPHUR AND DIPHTHERIA.
A Newspaper speeiac Remedy which Physi-
cinns will Net Use.

The Princess Alice and one Of her children have
inst died of diphthera, and nearly all of her fam
lily has been Frustrated by the same disease, in
spite of all that medical care could do for them.
And now that the season usually marked by an
increase in the number of cases of diphtheria
has come, and public attention abroad and ut
home has been eventually directed TO that disease,
the question as to the most successful treatment
Of it has again arisen The latest newspaper
suggestion is that sulphur, in the form ordinari-
~ known FLOWERS of sulphur" be given ill.,
ternslly, if it eau he swallowed, or blown into
the nose and throat through quill. This plan,
Of the secular journals occasionally say, has
been tried in this country with success, and ae-
counts of the mode of treatment having reached
England, experiments were made there as TO the
efficacy of sulphur as n cure for diphtheria. Mr..
John ). Wiles a surgeon of Dorset, wrote to the
London Times recently tina. he had to contend
with outbreak of diphtheria Of the most ma
lignant type on a large dairy farm, and began
by applying to the fungus growth in the throat
and nostrils the usual eausties and astringent
preparations of iron and the ike; but two cases
out of nine or ten having proved fatal, he was
led ut the suggestion of the mother OF the
patients, TO try sulphur. He gaya the wo-
man liquid preparation composed OF sulphur
and glycerine, and directed that each child
should swallow, according to age, a teaspoonful
& more of the liquid three or four times day,
and that little should be applied to the nostrils
with sponge. Mr.. Wiles was so impressed with
the efficacy of the remedy, he said, that he adop-
where the remedy was used at the earliest stage
Of the infection. For infants Mr.. Wiles used the
''milk of SULPHUR" and for older children and
adults the ''howers of sulphur
A World reporter was tempted to inquire if the
remedy was a genuine one. Professor Alfred l..
LOOMS said he had a dim remembrance of having
read somewhere at some time that the admins
tration of sulphur had been recommended in
diphtheria. He had heard physicians discuss
the supposed remedy, but he did not know of
any ybs. hai nsaIi n he had usali
himself '.Indeed," said DIR. Loomis, 81 don't
know why / should it. Its only property
would be that of an antiseptic, aud there are
many much better-carbolic acid, salicylic acid,
etc.r
''what is diphtheria'"
at is an infectious disease-that is, one capa-
bic of being transmitted from one to another.
Opinions, further than this, are divided about
equally. Some hold that il is n purely local
disease in which the throat only is concernd,
while others claim that it is disease of the
whole system, the membrane or emulation in the
throat being one of its expressions
'.What is your opinion''
81 believe diphtheria to be disease of the
whole system. In different epidemics the types
| differ. Sometimes You will fiuG the throat affec-
tion to be the most severe, causing death by me
chanical obstruction of the air passages; and,
again. you will find that the constitutional
| symptoms, which are of depressing and exhaus-
| tive nature, kill the patient before emulation
| has advanced far
SIS there any reason why diphtheria should be
| most prevalent in the winter season."
'Only that ut the opening of winter people
| begin to shut themselves up in their houses and
4 so surround themselves with imperfect hygienic
conditions, and inhale more sewage gas than
ordinarily, Diphtheria is by no means a disease
of cold climates for il is found in tropical conn
| tries There atmospheric conditions that
| tend to make diphtheria epidemic, but what
| those conditions are is not readily understood.
1t is certain, however, that they have nothing
| to do with the change of the seasons"
'Is diphtheria very prevalent nowi"
al have not found it as yet this winter.
And you cannot judge much as to the relative
mortality of different seasons under given treat
| ment, because Mt one time the disease takes on
| the exhaustive farm, and ut another time the
| deaths are largely faom the obstruction to the
air passages"
s'what is the best plan of treatment, In your
opinioni"
| al work upon the principle that the diphthe-
| rite membrane is the result of very low grade
| of inflammation, and that when higher degree
| of Inflammation is set up around about the diph
| theritic patches, those patches are prevented
| from extending. This is found to be the fact in
| practice. l endeavor, therefore, to excite this
| higher degree of inflammation, and do this by
causing the patient to inhale large quantities of
| the steam of pure water. Then of course, use
local antiseptics, such chlorate of potash, and
/ for the constitutional trouble, i give iron and
/ the most nourishing food. Quinine / do not use
| much as that is most valuable when there is a
high temperature, and that is seldom found in
diphtheria."
| Inquiries at drug store where many prescrip-
| tons prepared showed that sulphur is never
used as n remedy in diphtheria excepting In n
few cases where it is burned in the rooms of pa
tents suffering from the disease. The records of
| the Board of Health show that diphtheria is less
prevalent in this city at present than it was dn-
| ring a corresponding period last year. For the
| two weeks ending December IL, ls77, there were
reported l2l cases of dphtheria, of which -
died. For the two weeks ending December II
of the present year, there were lO.' cases, of
| which 40 died.
VINEGAR As A PREvESTIvEoF SMALLPox.-The