Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-07-14

l
| tario, Etc.
SPHCIALTxs
Diseases Of Ear, Nose Throat. Lungs.
Diseases Of Women, as well as all Chron.
ic Complaints.
CONSUMPTION
Does not begin, as people generally think,
| with cough or soreness OF the lungs. but
| dyspepsia. or catarrh. The most common
| aud most fatal form Is that In which tuber
| Giles are deposited In the substance OF the
| lungs. These are small cheesy kernels. that
ususlly 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
| 10 walk fast, or far, or work hard.
The young wife, settling into decline.
| leans more heavily on the husband arm
| Once she walked lightly with him step for
| step: now she leans, ano complains that he
| walks SO fast and puts her all out OF breath.
| She gets better rawnile In brighter wealth
| err, and then with0u evident cause sinks
| lower than before; and thus rises and sinks.
| perhaps, many times before the tubercles
ripen and lot the tissues around them. when
| she coughs, at first aud perhaps for long
| time. dry, hacking cough them u becomes
moist and softer. and she aises matter either
the taste, or il may be irothy or glairy, like
| the white OF an egg. II is usually looked
| upon as OF no great account. but treated as
call In even the family phi ysician But even
/ II he fs called he is apt to make light OF 1t,
and advise some simple thing. The patient
waits and hopes, but Is annoyed to ind she
| does not get rid OF IL; thinks 1t a 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.
bat cannot account for II,
| mon signs OF this form OF consumption:
First, lassitude, or languor. or shortness OF
breath, with disposition to gasp or sigh or
| 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 I'LL so much space,bpt
| expulsion OF air. Young girls, at this stage,
| are prone TO lean on the parasol In walking,
| as II for cane to support. and are disposed
e loll and 50 at ease, Tor any e ne, ,pnts
| on the sofa, or lounge In a rocking chair:
| They relinquish many Of their previous and
more active pleasures. and voluntarily with
ments requiring lively or vigorous move
ment, aud prefer 10 look on, rarely dreaming
that the time is fast approaching when they
shall even look on no more. and the dance
perhaps without them, II the lungs be
carefully examined with the proper instru-
ments at this stage they sound duh under
tse hammer, and give no SOU. soun o. az al
more commonly over the middle lobe OF the
right lung; or instead of absence of the
healthy sound, it Is changed into breaking
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
the hammer. There isno resort In the prac-
tice of medicine more absurd and pernici0us
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
is so deep as to pass all hopes OF recovery. |
Still, up TO this time the ordinary |
duties OF life are carried on as usual only /
sit dow while at work, till the patient is
often considered more lazy than sick"
II application be made 10 physician In
common located practice. he declares after
with his fingers, that the lungs are all right;
only o little irritation OF the tubes. oh,
this fatal blindness The patient returns
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-
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 much /
accelerated rate; and c0mplicate IL with /
others that make 1t much more difftcult to |
cure. But even at this stage, By. 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 troches, |
They hurry many to the grave, and In 9TH |
ers induce dyspepsia, rose catarrh or fever. |
hay asthma and other trou bles indicative of !
3 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 |
ed some or all of the following: In the /
woman the monthly discharges cease or be- /
capricious, the hopes 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 witticsms; the
emotions become very sensitive and tender,
and this Is most observable at night. when
q cold, ciammy sweat awakens the patient
from unquiet sleep. and gives reins to the
wildest fancies. The lips are often observed |
to be purple or black and dry; flush fire..
the eye becomes Of a 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 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 Hnduly sonorous; the periods of ex- i
ercise grow shorter with the shortening |
breath, and less and less frequently, the |
walk Of few rods being su fncient to induce |
fatigue; the chest becomes tender. even to
slight percussion, and 1t is now generally |
conceded that the patient Is In q decline, |
or wasting fever, or perhaps the bold word |
Consumption is used, and by or before this |
time the careless e1aniner-the physician
who says consumption caunot be cured
recognizes the foe with which he /
has so long been dealing, and advises |
whisky and cream, or the last fashionable
folly In the treatment of this dread disease,
and perhaps change OF air to the south. |
and probably sanctions plaster to the /
these parts with croton oil or tartarized an |
timony. Oh, it is pitiful /, see such help |
lessness at such time, the last precious |
days In which there may be ground for
later and later from day to day. till finally /
the whole day is spent In bed; and now the L
cough Is so harrassing and the discharge SO |
copious that the nurse holds up the patients
cup or bowl; the appetite becomes very
eapricious, the stomach feeble; probably |
the tubercles ripen and slough in the bow
els, giving rise TO persistent and exhausting /
though mild diarrhes There is constant
sense of want of breath that is 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 OF visits and |
talk Of worldly affairs; II awoman, will |
speak Of what she is TO wear when she gets
well. and hox 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 declits1g life into the deep |
darkness to which it so swiftly and surely |
tends2 All ground for aope ~ t5ng slnce
gone. II took years, perhaps, to do the |
work, but II is done. The reason consump- |
ton IL so seldom cured is that IL 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 1t, /
get credit for what they have done.
INHALATION.
For years have relied mainly for treat
ment Of lung affections on the inhalation of |
medicsted vapors-the drawing Of the med |
icines into the lungs and throat directly /
N NON tho hraafh and with resu1fs a uni- |