The Sentinel. [volume] (Trenton, N.J.) 1880-1882, 1882-09-23
Invisible Poison.
How it Works its Way into the Body and
How to Counterfeit it,

been NAL 4ria This isl troubleso treach-
erous in it's nature and so dangerous in
its results as to justly cause apprehen-
sion wherever it has appeared. But
there are 80 many erroneous ideas
upon the subject that q few words are
in order at time when people are
subject to malarial influences.
Malaria, which means simply bad
air, is the common name of class of
diseases which arise from spores of
decaying vegetable matter, thrown off
from stagnant pools or piles of vegeta-
ton undergoing decomposition. These
spores when inhaled with the breath
or taken into the system with water
soon enter the blood and terminating
| there find a foothold, whereby the
whole system is poisoned and the
various functions disordered. When
the germ theory of disease was first
| advanced it was supposed that these
| spores were of animal nature, and like
| the bacteria in diphtheria were propa-
gated in the blood but they are now
conceived to be of vegetable origin,
like tue fungi found on decaying wood
or in cellars The source of this state
of the air is generally swamps or stag
nant pools, which, partially dried by
the hot sun, send forth vapors loaded
with this malarial poison. These va
pors descend to the earth in the night,
cooled by the loss of temperature, and
breathed by sleepers are readily in.
hailed. Hence persons living near
| stagnant pools or marshes are liable to
be afflicted with chills and fever, and
such localities are never healthy,
though they are more SO when the
streams flowing into them are pure,
and also when the water is high.
| Again the drainage of houses, slaugh-
ter houses, barns, etc., are fertile
source of malaria. One will often
notice in coming into the neighbor-
hood of one of these sluggish streams
that pass through almost every village
most villainous smell caused by the
offensive refuse which communicates
its bad odor to the atmosphere, especi-
ally on hot days. This absorbed into
the system by the lungs or taken in
through water, which also absorbs it
from the air, pOisons the blood and
deranges the whole system. This poison
is also developed in force in wells
and springs when they become low,
and the result of drinking these is the
same as breathing the poisonous air.
In time Of drouth the great quantity
of vegetation that dries up in the mead
ows, stubble fields and pastures, the
corn fields and forest leaves, produces
the same tff1uvia. On the prairies
when large tracts of prairie ground are
turned over, the decaying vegetation
is widespread cause of malaria.
The evils which follow malarial pois-
oning are almost infinite. Dis ease of
a ma ignant and dangerous nature,
accompanied by symptoms the most
distressing, are certain to manifest
themselves and life is burden so long
as this poison remains in the system.
The indications of malarial poisoning
are loss of appetite, shortness of breath,
pains about the heart, wasting of flesh
and strength, dependency, nervous
ness, chilly sensations, unsccountable
lassitude, dull pains in various parts CT
the body, headaches, dizziness, a coat
ed tongue and dry mouth, night
sweats, muscular debility, putting I'M
der the eyes, an unusual color, odOr
or sediment about the fluids passed
from the system, etc. Any one of the
above symptoms may be an indication
of maIarial poison in the body which
necessitates immediate and careful at
tentiCn.
But if malarial poison could not find
Judgment in the human body, it
would be just as harmless as the oxy-
gen of the air. The great difficulty is
that, after being absorbed into the
system it produces distractions in the
stomach and lungs, clogs the circula-
ton of the blood, affects the kidneys,
liver and other organs, and brings on
diseases of most dangerous charac-
ter. There is only one known way by
which these diseases may be avoided
or cured after they have once made
their appearance, and that is by keep
ing the great purifying organs of the
body in perfect health. These organs
are the kidneys and liver. No one
whose kidneys or liver are in perfect
condition was ever afflicted by malarial
poison. And when these organs are
disordered, they not only permit, but
invite, these diseases to make their
inroads into the body. 1t is now ad-
mitted by physicians, scientists and
the majority of the general public, that
one medicine, and only one whose
| poUar has bean tested and nr0von hoo