Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-07-07
CONSUMPTION


| H0M Slim 0TnnM
Does not begin. as people generally thinl
with cough or soreness OF the lungs, b.
dyspepsia, or cstarri The most commo
and most fatal form is that In which tube
Giles are deposited In the substance of u
lungs. These are small cheesy Kernels. th'
usually lie dormant for , many months. eve
shortening the breath aud weakening th
frame, aud inducing languor and inabilit
to walk fast, or Tar, or WORK hard,
The young wife, settling mo 2 decliu
leans more heavily on the husband arm
Once she walked lightly with him step e
step; now she leans. ano complains that h
walks so fast, aud puts her all out Of breatl
She gets better fora while ~ brighter weati
er. and then .withou evident cause sink
lower than before; and thus rises aud sink
perhaps. many times before the tubercls
ripen aud rot the tissues around them, whe
she coughs, at hrst and perhaps f0r Ion
time, dry. backing coug b; then \ become . n
| moist and softer, ana she raises matter eithe
yellow or saltish. and perhaps Offensive
the white of an egg. II Is usually locke
upon as OF no great account, but treated as
call in even the family physician. But eve
II he Is called he Is apt to make light OF Il
and advise some simple thing. The patieu
waits and hopes, but Is annoyed TO md sh
Il
that hangs on worse than any she ever ha,
before; coughs worse evenings and morn
| ings, and fears she has caught more cold
but cannot account for It..
The following are the more Com
mon signs Of this form OF consumption
| First, lassitude, or languor. or shortness o
bre ath, with disposition to gasp or sigh o
catch for breath. At this stage Il is easil!
ssr Sd Il hs tries hs
amount, perhaps by forty or atty inches
not that the tubercles Ill so much space blu
that they weaken the power Of in fiation ant
expulsion OF air. Young girls, at this stage
are prone to lean on the parasol in walking
as II for a cane to support. and are disposed
to loll and sit at ease, for any exertion put
them out of breath" They like to reclin,
on the sofa, or lounge in rocking chair
mors Active and Holuntsry with i
draw from the dance, or skating. or amuse
ments requiring lively or vigorous move
ments aud prefer TO look on, rarely dreaming
that the time Is fast approaching when they
shall even look on no more. and the dance
and the skates will 60 on just as merrily
perhaps without them. II the lungs bt
carefully examined with the proper instru
ments at this stage they sound dull unde
through the stethoscope over some one spot
more commonly over the middle lobe of tn,
right lung; or instead of absence Of tn,
healthy sound 1t is changed into creakint
This sound cannot be detected through tn,
garments, nor through any OF them, nor cal
the dullness be detected Though them will
the hammer. There Is no resort In the prac
tice OF medicine more absurd and perniciou
than that of pretending 70 examine the lung
with the fingers of one hand drumming Oh
those OF the other over the chest; and wha
mskes 1t still more worthless is thu
doing OF II oyer garments tina
would utterly obscure much louder sount
than the one for which the practitioner Il
supposed to be listening. Such examine
tfons beguile the patients, until the disease
is go deep as to pass all hopes OF recovery
duties Of life are carried on as usual only
with an increasing disposition to rest and
sit down while at work, till the patient Is
often considered more lazy than sick"
II application be made 70 physician in
one Of those shiftless, faulty examinations
with his fingers that the lungs are all rig ht
only little irritation OF the tubes. oh,
this fatal blindnessl fhe patient returns
drops or expectorant to loosen the cough,
and begins to raise the .phlegm" much
more easily; but after while complains of
some nausea after eating, and hollowness
when hungry--the early symptoms OF dys-
pepsia, brought ON by the depressing cough
drops. or troches. or expectorants, which
are all made OF some drug, which taken in
larger doses produce sickness atthe stomach
as s9uills. ipecac. lobelis, etc, These ex-
pectorants hasten on the disease at a much
accelerated rate; and complicate It with
others that make 1t much more difficult to
cure. But even ut this stage, by a 1udicious
system Of inhalation, proper diet, habits.
under control. We cannot too deeply con-
denim and deplore the free use Of troches,
cough drops, and expectorants OF all kinds.
They hurry many TO the g. ave, and In 9th
ers induce dyspepsia, rose catarrh or fever;
Asthma
perverted tone OF the MUCOUS membrane.
In the succeeding stages of-tbe disease the
symptoms OF the prect ding ones are great
aggravated. and to these are commonly add.
woman the monthly discharges cease or be-
come scanty: the mind becomes, so to say.
caprfcious, the hopes being at one moment
unduiy elated, and perhaps the next more
ed disposition 10 shed tears over touching
scenes and stories. and to laugh heai tfly at
the slightest absurdfties or wittictsms the
emotions become very sensitive and tender,
and , this y most Observable at night, wnea
from unquiet sleep, and gives reins to the
wilde Il fancies. fhe lips are often observed
70 be purple or black and dry; lush fro
quentiy appears on the cheek; the white OF
the eye becomes OF mother-ofpearl APP
pearancei the cough deepens and extends
from morning till night. and from night till
morning. even sometimes continuing
through sleep that brings little refreshment /:
the spit or sputa is salt and yellow and OF
bad TASTE, and increases In quantity from
time to time, when the patient is said to
catch cold the voice becomes husky or hol-
low, or unduly sonorous; the periods OF ex-
ercise grow shorter with the shortening
breath, and less and less frequently, the
walk Of few rods being sufficient to induce
fatigue; the chest becomes tender, even to
a slight percussion, and II Is now generally
conceded that the patient Is in decline,
or wasting fever or perhaps tho bold word
Consumption is used, and by or before this
time the careless examiner-the physician
who says consumption caunot be cured
recognizes the foe with which he
has SO long been dealing, and sdvises
codliver oil, or the super-phosphates, or
whisky and cream, or the last fashionable