Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-05-15
Corrosive Sublimate.
\ Physician says il Will Cure Diph'
theria as Well as Kill IsrdbuE-.

experimenting With IL lltW cure lOf
diphtheria - inquired a reporter
of Il Brooklyn physician the other day.
" Do >ou mean the beg bug cure y
asked the doctor, with winkle in
ms eve.
No news of the btd-hug cure
has reached me" was lie reply,
d" but | head that You had been eX-
perimenting with corrosive subll-
mate.
Same thing" said the doctor.
cit is no invention or discovery of
mine. 1t has beeu known to the
reading and intelligent portion of
the medical fraternity about a year. "
"But why do you call it the bed
bug cure?'
Because the use of it for diph-
liberia came about in this way: A
physician in Pennsylvania a country
doctor, had patient, child, very
ill with diphtheria. The case had
advanced very far before he was
called. He found the disc ase SO far
advanced that he had little hopes
of the child's recovery. He gave
a prescription and told the child 5
mother not to send for him
unless there was some marked
change. As he was leaving the
house the mother asked him to tell
her what to use for bed-bug poison.
He gave her the form of q solution
of corrosive sublimate and went
home. The mother came to him
subsequently and said the child was
doing we'll. He told her to continue
the treatment. The next day he
called to see the child, and found it
much better. He was a little aston
ished, but concluded that it would
be safe to continue the treatment,
and said to the mother, " will give
you another prescription" The
mother replied, " That is not neces-
sary. / have plenty of the other
left" Not necessary" said the doc
tor with surprise, " Why l only left
you dose for day" "WelI, have
big lot left" continued the moth
er. i Let me see it, said the doc
tor. Then the mother bought out
the bed-bug poison. The doctor
looked ut the bottle first with horror
then with amusement, and finally
with interest.
Are you sure you gave the chllI
that = he asked.
Il an sure, and the child begar
to get better immediately" persisted
the mother.
We'll, 60 on with the treatment.
said the doctor. The mother did Sc
on. and the child got we'll.
d" The mother had got Hurried
and had mistaken the one solution
for the other. The doctor was ;
thoughtful man. He remembered
the circumstance the next time HI
got a diphtheria patient, and KEEP
on trying until he concluded he haC
hit upon an almost certain cure. ID
had the manliness and humanity Il
give his dicovery 10 the worl'
through paper read before Penn
sylvania medical society. Then tn
medical journals took hold of il
and for the last year many physic
iens in all parts of the world hav
been paying attention 20 it. L
Germany the blood has been photo
glaphed in every stage of the dis
ease, and the improvement unde
/ the bed-bug treatment actuall
shown by series of pictures.
, But, is not corrosive sublimat
an active poison n?'
Yes; SO are arsenic, morphin
Y aud strychninc, and lots of othe
medicines known to he of inestim,
, bic value in medicine and surgery
They are useful when they are prol
erly used"
"How do you account for the SUI
cess of the medicine e?'
1t is simply germanicide, or th
, killing of tho germs of the disease
a We know that in diphtheria ther
arc countless germs called bacteri,
They permeate the blood. The col
!, rosivo sublimate begins to kill thes
germs at once, and soon disposes {
them altogether. Now you will rec
+ ollect that the corrosive sublimai
: was intended to kill a very small il
s sect. The mothers mistake simpl
: Tavo the bacteria the dose intende
for the bed-bug. When you com
a to think of it, it is not SO very SUI
q prising that q medicine that Will ki
o bed-bug or a man will also ki
!. bacteria"
. But is there not danger that IL
use of such n medicine will poiso
people" 2"
: Yes, the same danger that thel
J is i'll using any other powerful rem
q dial agent. 1t must be used wit
II care and intelligence. 1t SO hal
IL pened that the mother who first use
|. it did not do any harm. Othe
S might not be so fortunate"
: "Have any physicians tried IL
o new remedy and abandoned it?'
@ Yes; but think that has gene
n ally been tho result of timidit
}. Diphtheria is terrible disease al
o requires heroic remedy. The trea
ment heretofore has been to bra
, up the patient with tonics. Warrior
: Investigations have shown that
=. per cent. of diphtheria patients d
" " of exhaustion. The new renee
~ ~ eradicates the disease speedily
n. Y. Sun.
- In several of the Southern Stat
= there are fewer cows and fewer she,
D. then there were in 1880.