Los Angeles daily herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1884-1890, 1886-07-20
CONSUMPTION

CONSUMPTION
Does not begin. as people generally think
usually with debility, weakness, lansuor
dyspepsia, or catarrh. The. most common
and most fatal form fs that In which tuber
Giles are deposited III the substance OF thu
lungs. These are small cheesy kernels. tina
ususlly lie dormant for many MONTHS ever
for years, showing their presence only b.
gholteuias The breath and weakening ak , q,
to walk fast. or far. or work hard.
The young wife, settling Into q decline
leans more heavily on the husband ar m
Once she walked lightly with him step ioi
walks 80 fast. and puts her all out Of breath
She gets better for a " nile In brighter wealth
er, and then withou evident canse sink
lower than before: and thus rises aud sinks
perhaps, many times before the tubereles
she coughs. at first and perhaps for q long
time. dry, hacking cough; then 1t becomes
moist and softer, and she raises matter either
yellow or saltish, and perhaps offensive "a
the white Of an egg. II is usually looked
upon as OF no great account, but treated as a
common GOLD, the patient not deigning Il
call in even the family ply sician. But even
Il be is called he T. apt e make light Of i,
waits and hopes. but Is annoyed to ind she
does not get rid Of 1t; thinks II . bad cold,
that hangs ON worse than any abe ever had
before; coughs worse evenings and morn
Sut cannot snS e sooo unit os more
mon signs Of this form Of consumption |:
First, lassItude. or laneuor. or shortness OF
breath y, VIII dispositS,SR % gasp or sish Or
cured. II the patieat tries the sperometer
he finds that he cannot breathe an average
amount, perhaps by forty or fity inches
not that the tubercies oil 50 much space, but
s aa nsy q s hs % n nv spa
are prone TO lean on the parasol In walking,
as II for cane to support, and are dtsposed
70 loll and sit at ease for any exertion puts
them out OF breath. They like to recline
They relInquish many Of their previous aud
more active pleasures, and voluntarily with
draw from the dance, of skating, or sIiuse-
ments requiring lively or vigorous move
ment, and prefer 70 look on. rarely dreaming
shall even look on no more, and the dance
and the skates will 90 on Just as mefrily
perhaps without them II the lungs be
carefully examined with the proper instru-
the hammer, and give no sound At ali
through the stethoscope over acme one spot,
more commonly over the middle lobe Of the
right lung; or instead OF absence OF the
healthy sound u Is changed int breaking
This sound cannot be detected through the
garments, nor through any Of them, nor can
the dizziness be detected through them with
the hammer. There is no resort IN the prac-
than thstof pretending 70 examine the lungs
with the fingers Of one hand drumming on
those Of the other over the chest; and what
makes 1t still more worthless Ia the
doing Of i over Earments that
than the one for which the practitioner Is
supposed to be listening. Such examine
tons beguile the patients, until the disease
Is 20 deep as 10 pass all hopes OF recovery.
s s " Up ne % eS ne tSe uss oa
with an increasing disposition 10 rest and
sit down while ct work, till the patient is
often considered more lazy than sick"
II application be made 70 q .physician In
one ~ those shiftless. faulty examinations
with his fingers. that the lungs are all right;
only . little irritation of the tubes. oh,
this fatal blindnessi The patient returns
comforted, and tries, perhaps, some 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-
Pspsia brought on Sy the dsprsss,ins cough
are all made Of some drug, which taken IN
larger doscs produce sickness at the atomach
a. sQuills, tpecac, lobelia, ETC. These ex-
psctorants hasten on the disease At much
others that make Il much more dificuit 70
cure. But even q this stage, by . judictous
system Of inhalation, proper diet, habits,
tontcs and change OF air. It y easily brought
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 grave, and In 9TH
err induce dyspepeta, rose cAtarrh or fever:
hay asthma and other troubles indicativeof
. perverted tone Of the mucous membrane.
In the succeeding stages OF the disease the
symptoms Of the prect ding ones arc greatly
arKfayated, and TO these are commonly add
cd some or all Of the following: In the
woman the monthly discharges cease or be-
cspFicious, the hopes being At one moment
unduly elGted, and perhaps the next more
depressed and moody, and there u mark
ed disposition TO shed tears over touching
the slightest absurdities or wltticisms; the
emotions become very sensitive and tender,
and this Is most observable at night, when
q cold, danny sweat awakens the patient
from nnquiet sleep, and gives reins TO the
to be purple or black and dry; fiush fire..
quenfly appears on the cheek; the white Of
the eye becomes of q mOther-of-pear1 ap-
pesrance; the cough deepens aud extends
from morning till night. and from night till
IL
through sleep that brings little refreshmeut;
the spit or sputa Is salt and yellow and of
bad taste. and increases In quantity from
time 70 time, when the patient u said 70
low, OF unduly sonorous; the periods OF ex-
ercise grow shorter with the shortening
breath, and less and less frequently, the
walk OF 4 few rods being su ficient to induce
fatigue; the chest becomes tender even 70
conceded that the patient Is in . decline,
or wasting fever, or perhaps the bold word
Consumption Is used and BY or before this
time the careless exAEhiner-the physician
rho asys ~ pos c S g
has 90 long been dealing, and sdvises
codliver oil, or the supefphoBphntes, or
whisky and cream, OF the last fashionable
folly IN the treatment of this dread disease,
and probably sanotions . plaster TO the
chest or between the shoulders. Or covers
these parts with croton oil or tartarixed an
Hmony. Oh, Il IL pitifui t !, see such help
lessness st such q time. the last precious
hope This soon passes, the patient lies
later and later from day to day, till finally
the whole day IL spent In bed and now the
cough Is SO Harvesting and the discharge 50
copious that the nurse holdsup the patients
cup or bowl, the appetite becomes. very
capricious, the stomach feeble, probably
the tubercies ripen and slough In the bow
els, giving rise TO persistent and exhausting
though mild diarrh9a. There Is constant
sense OF want OF breath that 10 sometimes
called being tired and weary and ia attribu-
ted TO the cough. Even at this late stage the
patient win sometimes sit up In bed and
write words OF love and hope TO some dis
tant friend, and make promises OF visits and
talk OF worldly affairs; If e woman, viii
speak OF what she is to wear when she gets
well, and how she will dress her hair, etc.,
and the ne5& minute may be found In tears.
as she suspects she may never recover. But
why follow this declining life into the deep
darkness to which it 80 swiftly and surely
gone. 1t took years, perhaps, to do the
work, but II Is done. The reason consump-
tion Is 50 seldom cured is that Il Is not rec
oGnixed till its work il 20 far advanced.
70 master i. or having accidentally cured It,