Los Angeles daily herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1884-1890, 1886-07-02

CONSUMP TION
Does not begin, as people generally think,
with cough OF soreness Of the lungs. but
ssspy w on Tss %o.t sas@Sr
aud most fatal form Is that in which tuber-
cles are deposited Ia the substance OF the
lungs. These are small oheesy kernels. that
usually lie dormant for many months even
for years. showing their presence only by
shortening the breath and weakening the
frame, aud inducing languor and inability
TO walk fast. or far, or work hard.
The young vile, setting INFO n decline,
leans more heavily ON the husbands arm
Once she walked lightly with him step for
step; now she leans, aud complains that he
walks so fast. aud puts her all out OF bfesth.
She gets better for while Ia brighter wealth
or. and then withou evident cause sinks
lower than before: and thus rises and sinks,
perhaps, many times before the tubercles
ripen and rot the tissues around them, when
time, dry. hacking cough; then IL becomes
moist aud softer, and she raises matter either
yellow or ssltish. and perhaps offensive to
the taste. OF IT may be frothy or Elairy like
upon as Of n no great account but treated as
common GOLD, the patient not deigning to
call Ia even the family physician. But even
II he is called he is apt 20 make light Of 1t,
waits and hopes. but Is annoyed tn Gnd she
does not get rid Of IT. thinks 1t q bad cold,
that hangs on worse than any she ever had
before; coughs worse evenings and morn
but cannot account for It.
The following are the more COM
mon signs of this form Of consumption:
first, lsssitude. or languor. or shortness OF
catch for breath. At this stage 1t is easily
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 fill so much space, but
that they weaken the power OF Initiation and
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
them out of breath" Thev like TO recline
on the sofa, or lounge in q rocking chair.
They rellnquish many of their previous and
more active pleasures, and voluntarily with
draw from the dance, or skating. or amuse-
ments requiring lively or vigorous move
ment, aud prefer 10 look on, ely dreaming
that the time is fast approaching when they
shall even look on no more. and the dance
and the skates Will go on just as meIrily
perhaps without them. II the lungs be
carefully examined with the proper instru-
ments at this stage they sound dull under
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
healthy sound, IL Is changed into creaking
called orepitalion,but very faint.
garments, nor through any Of them. nor can
the dizziness be detected through them with
the hammer. There Is no resort In the prac-
tice Of medicine morea absurd and pernlcious
than that OF pretending 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 to be listening. Such examine
lions beguiie the patients, until the disease
Is so 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, TIL the patient is
often considered more lazy than sick"
II application be made TO a physician In
common located practice, he declares after
one OF those shiftless, faulty examinations
with his fingers. that the lungs are all rig hit
only little irritation of the tubes. oh,
this fatal biindnessl rhe patient returns
comfort; d. and tries, perhaps. some cough
drops or expectOrant to loosen the cough,
and begins TO raise the "phlegm much
more easily but after while com plains OF
some nausea after eating, and hollow ness
when hungry-the early symptoms Of dys
pepss. 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 at the stomach
az squills, ipecac, lobelia, etc These ex-
pectorants hasten on the disease at a much
accelerated rate; and compticate II with
others that make IL much more dificult to
cure. But even at this stage. by a judicious
system of inhalation, proper diet, habits,
tonics and change OF air. 1t Is easily brought
under control. We cannot too deeply con-
denim and deplore the free use OF lrOches,
| cough drops, and expectorants of all kinds,
| They hurry many to the 81 ave, and In 9th
| ers induce dyspepsia, rose catarfh or fever.
| hay asthma and other troubles Indicative OF
| perverted tone OF the mucous membrane.
| In the succeeding stages OF the disease the
| symptoms of the prect ding ones are greatly
| aggravated, and to these are commonly add
| cd some or all OF the following: In the
| woman the monthly discharges cease or be-
| come scanty: the mind becomes, SO to say,
| capricious, the hopes being at one moment
unduly elated, and perhaps the next more
| depressed and moody, and there is mark.
| scenes aad stories. and to laugh heartily at
| the slightest absurdittes or witticisms; the
emotions become very sensitive and tender,
| and this Is most observable at night. when
| . cold, ciammy sweat swakens the patient
| from unquiet sleep, and gives reins to the
widest fancies. The lips are often observed
| TO be purple or black and dry; flush fire..
| quently appears on the cheek; the white OF
the eye becomes Of a mother-of pearl ap-
| pearance: the cough deepens aud extends
kom morning till night. aud from night till
morning. even sometimes continuing
through sleep that brings little refreshmeut;
| the spit or sputa In salt and yellow and Of
| bad taste, and increases in quantity from
| time to time, when the patieut Is said to
| catch cold; the voice becomes huskyor hol-
low, or unduly sonorous; the periods OF ex.
breath. and less and less frequently, the
| walk OF few rods being su 1icient 10 induce
| fatigue; the chest becomes tender, even 10
q slight percussion, aud It is now generally
conceded that the patient is In decline,
| or wasting fever, or perhaps the bold word
| Consu mption Is used, and by or before this
time the careless exsminer-the physician
who says consumption caunot be cured
recognizes the foe with which he
has SO long been dealing, and advises
| codliver oil, or the super-phos pilates, or
| whisky and cream, or the last fashionable
| folly in the treatment Of this dread disease,
and perhaps change OF air 70 the south,
| and probably sanctions a plaster to the
| chest or between the shoulders, or covers
these parts with croton oil or tartarized an
timony. Oh, Il is pitiful {, see such help
lessness at such q time, the last precious
days in which there may be ground for
| hopei 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 is SO harrsssing and the discharge so
| copious that the nurse holds up the patients
head that the sputa may be thrown into
cup or bowl; the appetite becomes very
capricious, the stomach feeble probably
the tubercies ripen and slough in the bow.
els, giving rise 70 persistent and exhausting
though mild disrrhea. There is q constant
sense of want Of breath that is sometimes
| ted to the cough, Even at this late stage the
patient will sometimes sit up In bed and
write words OF love and hope 20 some dis
tant friend. and make promises OF visits and
talk OF worldly affairs; IL woman. will
speak OF what she is to wear when she gets
well, and hos she will dress her hair, ETC.,
and the next minute may be found In tears,
as she suspects she may never recover. Bot
why follow this declining life into the deep
darkness to which II so swiftly and surely
tends2 All ground for hope Is long since
gone. Ii took years, perhaps. 10 do the
work, but IL is done. The reason consump-
| tion is so seldom cured is that IL is not rec
ognized till Its work Is so far advanced.
Physicians close their eyes 10 II till too late
to master II, or having accidentally cured It,
get credit for what they have done.
INHALATION.