Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-10-08
ONE OF NATURES LAWS.
COMPENSATION FOR THOSE WHO
 SUFFER PHYSICAL APARTMENTS.

One May Live Q Long Time with Heart
 Disease-One Lun.: May Do the Work
 of Two for Many Years-Nature's Jus
 tice.
 Nature has imposed upon the world of life her storms, earthquakes. etc, which are called sublime manifestations of her su- preme power" She has exposed her children to accidents, which through no effort of their own can they escape. She has also fixed penalties for voluntary transgression and violation of her laws. But beyond that, in her infinite mercy, she has established a law of compensation for all unfortunates who | suffer, and nowhere else is its application more clearly evident than in the victims of physical impairments She has provided that, within certain limits if any part of the system function of man becomes de- ranged or disabled-unable to do its work properly-other parts, through their reserve power, shall do additional work and so com pensate for the infirmitv.
 Take, for instance, the heart. When dis ease, say of the valves, first begins to show itself, at once other changes in that organ commence to obviate, in great measure, the | lmperfection In using pump, if the valves are sound, less effort is required by us than l if they are imperfect, and allow some of the water to fall back into the well. lnasmuch as they inefficient just so much harder
 
 we must work and take % many more strokes of the pump, if We w0u!l keep un the same flow of water winch u,e cuuli raise if the 1 valves were in perfect condition So it is when the valves Of the heart Go not close tightly, but allow some of the blood to re- cede; it must labor all the harder. For such condition as this nature has provided. She causes the walls of the heart to grow thicker, and hence makes that organ more powerful By thus com,TnsatilIc3 for the vaIvular dis ease, the general condition of the person may for long time be but little changed. He may even enjoy comparatively good health | for years, and bis infirmity only be discov- | cred by accident
 l This law of compensation is clearly evi- 1 dent ill what are called hunchbacks As O | rule, they are so frail looking one would not expect them to be able to fight severe dis ease, and yet they have resistant and reac- 1 tive power which is simply wonderful I Strong, robust children taken down with 1 disease often succunlb when these deformed | unfortunates, prostrated with an attack of the same and of equally severe type, recover
 Where there are two like organs in the l body, if one is ill jured the other takes on a | greater activity and strength, and assumes | additional burden. If one lung is crippled | by an accident, in time the other may be So changed it will do very well the work de | signed for both. Cases are not infreouent 1 where one kidney has become absolutely use- | less, and has even been removed, and yet the l person suffered little or none, apparently, l from its loss. This law of compensation the | physician and surgeon meets at every turn" as he labors for his patients. It is one on which he must rely much. We have said that perfection of health is purely ideal; that 1t never actually exists. The average man is far from the enjoyment of perfect health 1 Were human bodies transparent, there would 1 be revealed abnormalities in all, and even in 1 some of those apparently fairly well there would be found diseases which it would seem must soon prove fatal, and yet tho victims of | them resist death for years.
 It is popular belief that if the lungs once become even in slight degree affected, con- sumption is sure to result, and yet it is safe to say that there is scarcely person living | who has perfectly healthy lungs Nearly all, | if not all, have some time or other during | their lives suffered from trouble in those | important organs, which have healed and | become perfectly sound again. The extent 1 to which the liver may be diseased, and yet | the general health remain fairly good, is | something to marvel at. For instance, cir rhosis of the liver, or, as it is sometimes called, ''gin liver," is a degenerative change
 i'll that organ, which, if not arrested, which l is rarely possible. ultimately destroys it and l life The disease is usually very far ad- | vanced before the victim fully realizes that | he is failing in health. The other organs in the system do the liver's work, and it's par tial loss is scarcely felt Diseases of the | stomach, as a rule, soon make themselves | apparent, and yet some remain concealed, or | their presence is merely suspected, for years. 1 Physicians who are employed as examiners 1 for insurance companies, endowment socie- | ties and the like will testify that diseases of | the kidneys-as Bright's disease-are ill very many cases first disclosed by their analysis, | and while the victims believe themselves to be in good health, never having had a symp- tom which led them to even suspect that | dread complaint.
 And so We might so oH, calling attention to each organ of tic body separately, and telling how little evidence of even serious | impairment is sometimes offered to the vic | tim. Were this condition of things changed, l Gil nature less faithfully observe her law of l compensation and conceal existing inflrni- | ties, it might be better for some, but certainly not fo. others. ''U-hcre ignorance is bliss" e:c. It ii soElcti1IGs well that VIC sAoul not | l--.ow CUT weaknesses. If we were the victim ut cI iEcurab.e disorder many of US would prefer to I've on in ignorance until the fact dawled CIoA Cs
 | There arc but few diseases which. if recog- rized carly and Iropcr treatment is applied. cannot tc l.ermaaently arrested. if not wholly cured. None is moro dreaded than consumption; yet thct disease-popularly supposed to be fatal-cau pos. lively be cured if taken in time Those who do die of it rarely consult q physician until ''too late," being kept back from doing so through fear of being told the wM'st;" they prefer the condition of doubt to that of grave ccr- tainty. One who is deaf, and, still more so, one blind, exc;tes intense pity in all Still, specialists in diseases of the ear and eye will testify that in almost all their incuraEle cases tho victims arc long sufferers tefore they seek relief. Truly, ''procrastinatlon is the thief of Jime," and when health is threatened there are but few who do not give evidence l that this grievous fault for once, at least, is l theirs.
 AS we have said, the average man is con- pelled to travel through life in a condition of health far below the perfect standard. The 1 deviations-the ailrnents-are not only in very many instances self inflicted, but they | can, ill a great measure, be overcome. The | one fault lies deep The knowledge of how