Huntsville gazette., 1882-02-11
why We Cough and How We Cough.


s,ss sSssss ssssg ssasss e ss.s e.ass sad
saoss 1s esssss iSs SIC %aRS shs ps1pts si%s. Mas
persons suppose that cough
Is a cougA-the world over, and
that what will cure .one-wil- anoth.
~ er; and 50 they prescribe for them
selves and their friends all sorts OF sir
ups, home made or proprietary, with the
-se7s cons ding assertion, :; that it can't do
any hurt, ii it don't do any good.-''
=. 81 How do You know it can't do any hurt!
-. Do YOU know it ingredients And If 80,
sn,. have YOU studied their effects upon the
~ system in health and in disease? Do yOu
...o.. know the condition of the patient you
..I... are prescribing for--his constitution, his
-e@.,o habits in life, his past history? Let u
,yiiGl see phat, a. cough is. 1t is sudden
". y'and forcible expulsion of the air from
-siia the lungs preceded by a temporary
phi ,fclo osttte5f THE windpipe to give addition
al impulse to the current OF air. The ef
feet of these spasnfodic expiratiOns i
the removal of whatever may have &C.
cumnlated in the air tubes, whether .
si.is foreign body from without, as when 5
10 particle of food finds It's way into the
10 ~ wi1dpipe, or an accumulation of mucus
- ''"' secreted by the air passages. themselves.
-: Coughing Is in part voluntary act.
+. - We can cough whenever we wish to, but
l..l frequently we are compelled to cough
:. aJ.when we don't wish to. Nerves are
.oho .diYldad into. two classes, sensOry and
al Z motor nerves. The former carry intel
. 4ligence to the brain; they report any
~ ,,disfurbanc on the frontier to headquar
-s@ ters..i Tie motor nerves then carry back
<ko 30 o,f
!to'Y You tickle your friend s ear with straw,
. and his hand automatically proceeds to
scratch the Itching member. A tick.
: =, ling sensation is produced in the throat
n,t BIZ any cause w whateyer; the brain then
..,5.zsends back orders to the muscles con.
sosicerned to.act so as to expel the heintruder;
,..; in other words, to cough. The source,
,e91of she impression may be various. Ere.
hsiiqaendy it is due to an irritation Of the
!" respiratory organs by foreign bodies.
.iso4i! lust AID acfid yapors, admitted with
'9D.-the air in health, or, to damp cold air
H. - Itself, if the organs are particularly SEN
- sitiVe, or to. the presence Of mucus, 5pds
80. or blood in disease. Inflammation, from
4 whatever cause, acts as a. sort of un.
n,1seasueSS. .s..5aI buss .lj1Ow Cd - elii III
Oh bnThere are, sweiall know, many diff
yib4ferent kinds of cough. Thus, we have,
.aaithe dry cough, without approximations
and the moist cough, with expectora-
Lsltion. 1--WE have the short, hacking
blatcough, resulting from slight irritation,
land the violent, spasmodic and conyul-
sive cough, caused by a greater degree
70 of irritation or some peculiar modifica-
ton thereof. Then there are the occa-
sional, the incessant and tbs. paroxysmal
.G c5ug4h,S terms that explain themselves.
lHoarse, wheeling, barking and shrll
L. coughs are-dne to the tension or capaci-
ty Of the rim Of the windpipe, or other
portion of the tube. The hollow cough
owes its peculiar sound to resonance in
the enlarged tubes or the cavities in the
+ lungs, if such exist. Sometimes the
~ exciting cause of a cough lies not in the
l,,lungs and respiratory organs, but in the
stomach, liver or intestines. In other
leases there seems to be no real cause;
it is purely nervous or hysterical
Cough remedies should be suited to
1.-The kind of cough in question, and at
.-,tempt,.if possible, to remove the cause
s..It,isl evident a cough may be lessened
o..either by removing the source of irrita-
ton .sor by diminishing the excitability
8 of the nervous mechanism through
(which it works. Both methods are gen.
orally employed, and most of the popu-
- lar cough medicines consist of an ex-
yipectorant and a sedative, in some muci-
.laginous or saccharine n1enstruum.
Sedatives lessen the excitabilty of the
& nerve center through which the, act1of
.leieht- quantities will stop ANY cough.
but if. the secretion goes on accumulat-
ing, the patient must be allowed TO
olceagh or he dies of suffocation. Glu-
tinous and saccharine substances lessen
irritation. and as it frequently happens
thaenfaeh Of She irritation which occa-
sions the cough exists at the root of the
U,tongue, and in portions OF. the throat
(Which can be reached by troches and
Ulozenges slowly dissolved in the mouth,
hence these often afford relief, es-
especially ri dry, hacking coughs and the
so-called tickling in the throat. Ice
land moss, marshmallow and gum
arabic, belong to this class. Their
spowerois probably due to their covering
the inhamed and irritable surface di-
rechy with a -mucilaginous coat and
thus protecting it from the action of
the air and other irritants.-
An inf1amed surface, whether within
or without, is rendered worse by fric-
ton; therefore, in BRONCHIAL troubles,
'tife-inf AIMED surfaces are greatly irri-
tated by the very act of coughing.
Hence, persons are advised to 'shold
inI3 er7tFy1te refrain from coughing.
AEcpughing beyond what is absolutely
necessary for the removal Of the accu-
mulated macus- should be avoided, be-
cause It injuries the parts affected by
frietion, and because it, exhausts the
pStisnt; !; for the muscular exertion in
VOWED IN q violent fit of coughing is
very considerable indeed, and the mus
:chlar effort exerted by a patient with
a bad cough during the twenty-four
hours is really more than equivalent to
that Of many man in a days work.
Both sedatiyes and mucilaginous SUBJ
stances can be em6lOyed. then, TO check