The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-27
A OUACK'S MISTAKE.
A Novel Method for Curing Consumption
that Did Not Work.
Philadelphia Times.

that Did Not Work.
Philadelphia Times.
A party of men sat in the wine room of the
Continental Hotel, last night, telling stories.
One of the number was a young doctor, who is a
resident physician at the Pennsylvania Hos
pital, and had just returned from a vacation
trip to the caves of Luray. When it came his
turn to tell a story, which was supposed to he
founded on an incident in his own experience,
he said:
Il am too young in the profession to give you
any startling experience of my own. but I can
relate a cIfous incident that occurred in Vir-
ginia during my visit there. 1t happened in
Rockbridge county,, not many miles from Lex
ington, and was told to me by a thoroughly
reputable and veracious citizen. "A few weeks
ago. he said, a long.haired individual
drove into town, and engaged two rooms in the
leading hotel. That night he visited the local
printing office, and the next morning the town
was flooded with dodgers announcing the arrival
of DR.. Surecure, who guaranteed to cure all
cases of consumption by his great and improved
compressed air treatment. | was curious to
know what the treatment consisted of, and called
on the Doctor the next day. In the meantime
he had constructed a small, right compart-
ment in the corner of his Office. When l arrived
he was adjusting a pump-like arrangement to a
brass bound hole in one of the partitions Of the
compartment. When he had finished his work
he turned to me and said: Nov, sir, I am
ready for work"
81 explained to him that I was not a con-
sumptive, but had simply called to investigate
bis method of treatment out of curiosity. He
was very urbane and accommodating. He ex-
planned to me in scientific language that con-
sumption was simply a collapse and drying up of
the air cells of the lungs, and that the only thing
needed to restore the breathing apparatus to it's
normal state was the opening of these cells.
"'This sounded reasonable enough to me and ]
asked him how he was going to bring about this
result. "By compressed air" he said, Shaping
his palm against his chest. Compressed air is
the only sovereign remedy for consumption"
He then showed me the air-tieht compartment.
which was lined with plates of tin, and explained
that the apparatus on the outside was an air.
pump. His treatment was simple and consisted
of placing the patient in the compartment, into
which would be injected a certain number of
cubic feet of pure air. The air would force it's
way into the cells of the lungs and initiate them
as a bladder is inflated by a quill. This treat
ment, he argued, if continued long enopoh,
would restore the diseased lungs to their normal
condition.
1.-THE doctor had hardly finished his exposi-
ton before a young man, with the seal of the
fell disease stamped in his sunken cheeks and
hollow eyes, entered. He told the doctor that
he wanted a dose of compressed air. The doc
tor conducted him to the adjoining room and
told him to divest himself of everything with
the exception of his undershirt. In the interval
the doctor threw up every window in the room