The Arizona sentinel., 1888-02-25

ing process and thereby aids the disease to defeat nature in her struggle of life and death. Also there are the physical inconven- fences of a damp atmosphere, laden with fog a great portion of the day, which try even the most healthy, much more so the invalid. The healthy, vigorous business man may be too busy to give 1t much thought, but not so is the case of the poor invalid, far away from home and sensitive to every ex- hausting influence which lessens his or her fund of strength and vitality.
 Why a warm climatei When a person is suffering, for example, in the second or third stage of acute pulmonary phthisis Quick con- sumption) and only portion of each lung, and sometimes of but one lung, can do good lung work, the poor sufferer lies gasping for breath in a close room which probably has double windows, and contains fire, a light, and several other persons besides the patient, with a necessarily vitiated condition of the atmosphere of that room. To open the door or window would cause cold draft and exposure, to leave them shut means asphyxia (suffocation) to the patient, from the double embarrassment of i'm perfect lung work in an impure atmosphere. How invaluable, then, would be warm climate, where you could swing open the doors and windows and let the pure atmosphere revive the suffering patient gasping for breath of fresh air!
 The advantages of mild, even climate are so patent as to need but a passing mention. Any person who has experienced the ftfulness of the weather of the New England and Middle Atlantic States and then compares that experience with the mild, even winter climate of Yuma, will, I can assure them from my own experience, be more than delighted.
 In looking over my college notes of years ago on the climatic treat ment of consumption, taken from the lectures of my preceptor, Dr. Samuel B. Ward, Professor of Pa thology, Practice, Clinical Medicine and Hygiene, in the Medical De- partment of Union University, AL bany, N. T., and President of the Medical Society of the State of New York, find the following:
 "In climatic treatment of phthisis, the prime object is to secure for the patient pure air, with such climatic conditions that he can pass the largest amount of time out of doors. The amount of exercise must be judiciously limited according to the patients strength. A good rule is: That amount of exercise, the fa- tigue from which can be completely overcome by one nights rest, is, I have found, the prudent limit"
 There is another condition which has decided influence upon the salubrity of a place, namely, the character of its soil. Dr. Alfred l.. Loomis, Professor of Practical Med icine in the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York, says: "The atmosphere of a region with loose, porous, sandy soil, through which the water filters, and whose surface dries quickly, is never damp; hard, com pact, rocky, or clayey regions that drain but slowly and imperfeetly, hold the moisture and cause 8 dampness which is strong predis- posing cause of phthisis."
 Dr. La6nnec, the great French diagnostitian, and the father of auscultation and percussion, says that the dampness arising from such conditions of soil, as above mentioned, is one of the most cer- tain developing causes of phthisis, and he makes mention of locality having such soil, in which the dampness was so constant and of such a character that twO-thirds of the resident population died of phthisis.
 As to elevation, Dr. Loomis says: "In my experience, catarrhal phthi- sis is not benefited by regions of very high attitudes. It is during, or before, the stage of consolida- tion that persons with this variety of phthisis are to be benefited by climatic influences, and a careful analysis of each case is important before directions can be given as to the region most likely to suit the special requirements of each case. The patient must not wander around till he hits upon the place which suits him; much valuable time is thus lost"
 Inregard to atmospheric pressure the same author says: "A slight diminution in atmospheric pressure produces no palpable changes. But great diminution (say One-quar- ter) produces serious disturbances of nutrition, developing a condition which favors rather than retards T