Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-07-09
CONSUMPTION

with cough or soreness oil tue lungs, bu
| dyspepsia, or catarrh. The most common
| and most fatal form Is that In which tuber
| cles are deposited in the substance OF tn,
| lungs. These are small cheesy kernels, tina
| usually lie dormant for many months, ever
| for yeers, showing their presence only b,
| shortening the breath and weakening lhs
| frame, aud inducing languor aud inabilit,
| to walk fast, or far, or work hard,
The Young wife, settling iuo decitns
leans more heavily on the husband arm
Once she walked lightly WITH him step fol
step; now she leans. ntlo complains that ht
walks so fast, and puts her all out oil breath
She gets better for awhile 10 brighter wealth
er, sud then withou evident cause sinks
lower than hefoIei and thus rises aud sinks
perhaps, many times before the tubereles
ripen and lot the Tissues around them W hen
she coughs. at fiIst and perhaps for long
moist and softer. aud She raises matter either
yellow or saltlsh. and perhaps offensive 70
the taste. or II may be frothy or glairy. like
the white OF an egg II is usually looked
common cold. the patient not deIgniDg to
call In even the family physician. But even
II he Is called he IL apt to make light OF II,
and advise some simple thing The Patie,li
does not get rid Of 1t: thinks IL bad cold
that hangs on worse than any she ever had
before; coughs worse evenings and morn
ings, and fears she has caught more cold,
Uut chuuut dCeUuul iuf II.
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 OF sigh or
catch for breath. AZ this stage it is easily
cured. u the patient tries the sperometer
he finds that he cannot breathe an average
amount, perhaps by forty or fifty inches
not that the tubercles I'LL so much space. but
that they weaken the power Of imitation 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
20 Toll and sit at ease, for any exertion puts
them out OF BREATH They like to recline
on the sofa, or lounge in rocking chair.
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. RAJ 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-
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, it Is changed into o crea king
called crepitation-but very faint
This sound cannot be detected through the
garments. nor through any OF them. nor eau
the dizziness be detected through them with
\
tice of medicine more absurd aud pernicious
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 It still more worthless is the
would utterly obscure much louder sound
than the one for which the practitioner Is
supposed TO be listening. Such examina-
lions beguile the patients. until the disease
Is so deep as To pass all hopes of recovery
Still, up 10 this time the ordinary
duties Of life are carried ON VS. usual only
with an increasing disposition to rest and
sit dow n while at work, TIL the patient is
often considered more lazy than sick"
II application be made 10 physician In
common located practice, he declares after
one OF those shiftless. faulty examinations
with his fingers. that the lungs are all right:
only 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; hut 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, OF troches, or expectorants, which
are all made OF some drug, which taken in
larger doses produce sickness at the stomach
as squills. ipecac, lobelia, etc. These ex-
pectorants hasten on the disease at n much
accelerated rate; and complicate IL with
others that make 1t much more difficnlt to
q
system Of inhalation, proper diet. habits,
tonlcs and change OF air, 1t is easily brought
under control. We cannot too deeply con
demn and deplore the free use of troches,
cough drops. and expectorants OF all kinds
They hurry many to the gave. and in 9th
| ers induce dyspepsia, rose catarrh 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 preet ding ones are greatly
| aggravated and to these are commonly add
| ed 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 az one moment
| unduly elated, and peFhsps the next more
depressed and moody, and there is mark
ed disposition to shed tears over touching
scenes and stories. and to laugh heai THY at
the slightest absurdities or wiuicisms, the
and this Is most observable at night. when
cold, ciammy sweat awakens the patient
from unquiet sleep, and gives reins to the
" ~ g. sPa nsS
quentlY appears on the cheek; the white of
the eye becomes Of mother-of pearl APP
pearance; 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 aud yellow and OF
bad taste, and increases In quantity from
time TO time, when the patient Is said to
low. or unduly sonorous; the periods OF ex
ercise grow shorter with the shortening
breath, and less and less frequently, the
walk OF a few rods being sufficient to induce
slight percussion. and 1t Is now generally
conceded that the patient Il in q decline,
or wasting fever. or perhaps the bold word
Consumption 10 used, and by or before this
who says consumption caunot BE- cured :
recognizes the foe with which he
has so long been dealing, and advises
codliver oil, or the Super1phosphates Or
WHISKY and cream, OF the last fashionable
| folly In the treatment of this dread disease
and perhaps a change of air to the south,
and probably sanctions q plaster to the
chest or between the shoulders. or covers
these parts with croton oil or tartarized an
timony. Oh, II is pitlful t. see such help
lessness at such time. the last precious
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 is so harrassing and the discharge 50
copions that the nurse holdsup the patients
head that the sputa may be thrown into a
cup or bowl the appetite becomes. very
e n npsn anS oSsh 6e So&
els. giving rise to persistent and exhausting
| though mild diarrhoa. There Is constant
sense Of want Of breath that Is sometimes
called being tired and weary and is attribu-
| patient viii 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; II woman. will
speak Of what she Is to wear when she gets
we'll and hoS 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
| darkness TO which II so swiftly and surely
| tends9 All ground for hope is long since
gone. IL took years. perhaps, to do the
work, but 1t Is done. The reason eonsump-
| ton Is so seldom cured is that il is not rec
ognized till its work is SO far advanced.