Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-07-04
CONsUMPTION

Docs not be8in, rs people generally think
usually With debility, weakness, lanruor
dyspepsia, or catarrh. The most common
and most fatal form Is that In which tnbef
cles are deposited IN the substance Of tn,
lungs. These are small cheesy kernels, tina
for years, showing their presence only D,
shortening the breath and weakening Thu
frame, aud Inducing languor and inability
to walk fast. or fsr. or work hard. 80.
leans more heavily on the husbands arm
Once she walked lightly with him step fol
step now she leans. sno complains that he
walks so fast, and puts her all out Of breath
She gets better for " nile In brighter eath
sr. and then withou evident cause sinks
lower than before. and thus rises and sink s
perhaps, many times before the tubercles
ripen And rot the Tissues around them, W hen
time. dry, hacking cough; then It become
moist and softer. and she raises matter either
lie taste. or Il iiy Be fotSy or slsiry. ike e
pon ms as 81 % 10 ss Sas related
common cold, the patient not deigning to
call In even the family physician. But even
II he fs called he Is apt to make light of It,
and advise some simple thing. The patient
does not get rid Of tt; thinks 1t bad cola,
that hangs on worse than any she ever had
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 OF
breath. with disposition to gasp or sigh or
cured. II the patient tries the sperometer
he finds that he cannot breathe an average
amount, perhaps by forty or fifty inches
not that the tubercles Ill so much space, but
that they weaken the power Of imitation and
are prone to lean ON the parasol In walking,
as II for cane to support, and are disposed
to 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, or skating. or amuse-
ments requiring lively or vigorous move
that the time - fast approaching when they
shall even look on no more. and the dance
and the sksies will go on Just as meirily
perhaps without them. II the lungs be
carefully examined with the proper instru-
the hammer, and give no sound at all
through the stethoscope over some one spot,
more commonly over the middle lobe OF the
right lung; or instead of absence of the
called crepitation--but very faint.
This sound cannot be detected through the
garments, nor through any of them, nor can
the dullness be detected through them with
tice Of medicine moreabsurd and pernicious
than that Of pretendingt to 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 is the
would utterly obscure much louder sound
than the one for which the practitioner is
supposed 70 be listening. Such examine
lions beguile the patients, until the disease
q an n a q IN v,o-a ali Nor at
Still, up to this time the ordinary
duties of life are carried on as usual only
with an increasing disposition to rest and
sit dow while at work, till the patient is
often considered more lazy than sick"
II application be made TO physician in
common located practice, ne declares a fter
one OF those shift1ess, faulty examinations
with his fingers. that the lungs are all right;
only a little irritation. Of the tubes. Oh.
comforted. and tries, perhaps, some cough.
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
as squiiis. ipecac, iobeiis, etc. These ex.
pectorants hasten on the disease at a much
sccelereted rate; and compiicate It with
others that make 1t much more difficult to
cure But even e this stage. BY judicious
system Of inhalation, proper diet, habits,
tonics and change OF air. It Is easily brought
under control. We cannot too deeply CON
denim and deplore the free use Of troches,
cough drops. and expectorants of all kinds.
ers induce dyspepsia, rose catarrh or fever.
hay asthma and other troubles Indicative of
q perverted tone Of the mucous membrane.
In the succeeding stages OF the disease the
q s ,ns dag are
ed some or all Of the following: In the
woman the monthly discharges cease or be-
come gcanty: the mind becomes. so to say,
capricious. the hopet being at one moment
unduly elated. and perhaps the next more
depressed and moody, and there Is mark.
ed disposition to shed tears over touching
scenes and stories. and TO laugh heal tily at |
the slightest absurdities or witticisms the |
emotions become very sensitive and tender. |
and this is most observable at night. when |
: cold, clammy sweat awakens the patient |
from unquiet sleep, and gives reins to the |
widest fancies. fhe lips are often observed |
quentIy sppears on the chesk; the white Of
the eye becomes of ulother-ofpearl ap-
pearance; the cough deepens and extends
from morning till night. and from night till
morning. even sometimes continuing
the spit or sputa IL 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-
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
that the patient is In a decline,
or wasting fever, or perhaps the bold word
ts used, and by or before this
time the careless exaininer-tbe physician
who says consumption caunot be cured
has so long been dealing, and advises
codliver oil, or the per-phosphates, or
whisky and cream, or the last fashionable
folly In the treatment of this dread disease,
and probably sanctions plaster to the
chest or between the shoulders, or covers
these parts with croton oil or tartarized an
timony. Oh, L is pitlfulto see such help
days In which there may be ground for
hopel This soon passes; the patient lies
later and later from day to day, till finally
the whole day Is spent In bed; and now the
cough IL so harrassiDg and the discharge so
head that the sputa may be thrown into
cup or bowl; the appetite becomes very
the stomach feeble; probably
the tubercles ripen and slough in the bow
though mild disrrhea. There is constant
sense OF want of breath that 10 sometimes
called being tired and weary and is attribu-
ted to the cough. Even at this late stage the
patient will sometimes sit up In bed and
write words of love and hope 10 some dis
tsnt friend, and make promises ofvisits and
talk Of worldly affairs; II woman, will
speak OF what she is to wear when she gets
well, and how she will dress her hair, etc,
and the next minute may be found In tears.
as she suspects she may never recover. But
why follow this declining life into the deep
to which 1t so swiftly and surely
tends7 All ground for hope is long since
gone. 1t took years, perhaps, to do the
work, but It is done. The reason consump-
ton is so seldom cured Is that 1t Is not rec
ognized till its work is SO far advanced.
Physicians close their eyes to II till too late
to master 1t, or having accidentally cured II.
get credit for what they have done.
uAnal Al -n@An