Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-07-26
IN. G. T. u. NOTES.
THEORIES AGAINST FACTS.
By MarH A. 4lLen Nh


By Mary a. -Allea, II. ID.
TFszA Not long ago, theory
&4HkI waspromulgated through
GVMEE3 the papers that lying with
NN3%AA the head low is cure for
4KW sieeplessness.a and immed-
lately pople troubled with
insomnia, no matter from what cause,
began to lower the head of their beds.
A few found sleep promoted, but mui-
titudes found themselves more sleep
less than ever. Alas for the facts that
will conform to theory! The theory
will be corret for those whose brains
have too little blood i'm them, but will
prove entirely the opposite for those
whose brains are already sur-charged
with blood. The ar9mic brain may
be quieted by being placed so that the
circulation i'm it is increased; the con-
gested brain needs to be elevated, that
the pressure of blood may be lessened.
The theory that alcohol is valuable
remedial agent has taken such hold
upon the average mind that it has be-
come an almost universal remedy for
diseases, no matter how opposite their
origin. Tie man in fever, and ore
with Il chill; the man whose heart has
faltered in its work, and the one whose
heart is beating like trip-hammer;
the man who has no appetite and who
eats too little, and the one who has too
much appetite and over eats; the deli
cate woman who faints because of lack
of blood in the brain. and the man who
falls with apoplexy because OF too much
blood in the brain; the man whose
nerves are in a constant CULVER, and he
whose nerves are paralyZed, are all
treated with alcohol, indiscriminately
given, without regard to quantity, or
intervals between doses, or appropriate
ness of condition. IF the patient sur
wives, it is because of the alcohol; if he
dies, it is because he did not have
enough alcohol. There is no question
that alcohol, like other drugs, may be
judiciously employed to produce certain
effects; and it is equally true that other
remedies can be substituted that will
produce these effects as certainly, and
with less moral danger.
No person without a scientific knowl-
edge of the actual effects of alcohol up
on the body should attempt to admin
lister it, for by its use he may be only
increasing danger. Alcohol produces
congestion of the capillaries of the
brain; it is then self-evident that it
should not be given in apnplexy. 1t
copgests capillaries of the lungs; it is
then apparent that it should not be
given i'm pneumonia. 1t paralyzes both
nerves Of sensation and motion; it can
then serve no useful purpose in paraly-
sig. 1t precipitates the pepsin of the
gastric juice, and thus interferes with
digestion. What good, then, can it
possibly do in indigestion from lack or
from surfeit? 1t interferes by its action
upon the brain with coordination, so
it cannot give steadiness of nerve; 1t
increases tie action of the heart, so it
cannot be of use in fever; it cools the
body by radiation from the surface, so
it cannot be of avail in chilliness. In
fainting. it may arouse the heart, and
increase circulation in the brain, but
the person who faints needs only to be
placed in a recumbent position, with
clothing Ioosened, and nature will re-
store the circulation without the aid of
a remedy so dangerous as alcohol.
The testimony of DR.. Nichols, editor
of the Journal of Chemistry, is peril
nent and conclusive as a theory based
upon a scientific knowledge of facts.
He says: eff the vinous Preventative
process were to cease, and the art of
distillation become q lost art, not life
would be sacrificed, not case of dis
ease retarded in process of cure, and
not one of the art process would suf-
fer"