San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-03-21
A LECTURE.

ESSAY.
(CoPYRIGHTED)
In giving my two radical reasons, l shall be
as brief as possible. i shall not enter at all
upon the various remedies that have been
used in the treatment of catarrh, but confine
myself to two important points. First, the
method of applying locally the various medi-
cal agents that have been used. and second,
the lack of permanency of these applica-
tions.
The nasal cavities have very irregular and
extensive surfaces, extending from the front
of the nose backward, from the anterior mares
TO the pharynx, or back of the soft palate;
and reaching from below upward, from the
floor of the nose up between and higher than
the eyes. This surface is made very irregular
by three turbinated bones on each side. 1t
also connects with other cavities, the an
trums, the frontal sinuses, the lachrymal
canals, the Eustachan tubes leading to the
internal ear. etc.
EIt would be a waste of time for me to give
a description of the many inventions that
nave been brought out for the purpose of
making complete local application to these
very irregular surfaces of the nasal cavities:
and it must be kept in mind that diseased
UT HdsAl surface is muCn
regular than a healthy M, as many of the
natural passages are almost entirely closed
by congestion, mucuS secretiOns and inflam
matory deposits. The nasal douche forces
medicated water into one nOstril and out of
the other, touching only the lower portions
of the cavity, tearing away the scaOs and
other offensive secretiOns; then there are
steam and various mechanical atomizers for
throwing medicated spray into the head vari-
GUS shaped syringes to use through the throat,
anterior aud pOsteriOr nasal syringes) bottles
and jars with breathing tubes for inhaling air
that passes through medicinal liquids, and
different kinds of snuff, almost without mum
be, used in various ways. have seen snuff
put into little rubber balls or pulled out of a
tube as we use insect powder. have seen it
tied up in rag in the shape of a ball with a
little spring to snap the ball and sIft the snuff
through while the patient shifts it in, But
with all the experiments with a thousand
medicines and the hundreds of ways of using
them, what has the medical profession done in
finding a cure for catarrh? You will get the
answer to this question from any good honest
physician, even if he be catarrh specialist.
He will say, "Catarrh cannot be cured" Why
does the honest physician say it cannot be
cured? Because all the various modes of
treatment that they have hitherto pursued
have failed, and they answer honestly Ca
tarrh cannot be cured" / will now ask this
question: If a disease similar to catarrh in
any of its forms was on some external part of
the body, the thigh, arm, or back, could it be
curedI And the medical profession would an
swer Yes, il could be cured, because we can
easily reach the disease with our remedy
This you will see answers conversely why we
can't cure catarrh. Because all of the previ
Gus named treatments have failed to reach
the diseased mucous membrane of the nose,
especially the upper portion of that cavity.
This is one radical reason.
The second is this: All douches, atomizers,
of medicines and, for the sake of argument
if we admit that they could be placed at the
desired part of the nasal cavities, they would
stimulate the mucous membrane so that it
would throw out or secrete large amount of
saineOus or watery substance of its own, and
thus dilute and wash away in ten minutes all
the medicine we might have applied to the
catarrhal surface. This is my second radics1
season.
Now that we know what they are, how shall
get the remedy to the diseased part a d then
have it say there. 1t is very simple after all.
and so at last we can cure catarrh as easily
as we can an external sore or ulcer.
the vernacuIar, | will now put the cart
before the horse and deal with the second
proposition first What s,rt of vehicle or sub
stance shall we mix our remedy in, so when
once thoroughly applied to the catarrhal sur
face it will not be washed away at once, but
hman in contract with the diseased for
many hours as We would treat an externally
diseased surface TO cure it, You have seen
an engineer on a hot summers day with black
grease on his face and hands: he would per-
spiro hour after hour, the sweat actually
dripping from bis face AID the back of his
hands and running all the time right through
The black grease, and yet it remained
there all day without its being
washed away, because the grease aud
water were incompatible and would not mix
or unite one with the other. So we must mix
our remedy in u suitable grease or ointment,
and then it will not be washed away by the
secretions of the nasal cavities. Now how
shall we get it there? The easiest thing in
the world. If you wanted to fill your boot
with fluid, you would not turn it upside
down and use syringe, or blow it up with an
atomizer; no, you would set it in proper po-
sition and let the fluid flow or gravitate into
the boot; and to get our remedy into the
head, we also make use of gravity by placing
our soft medicated ointment, the size of pea,
in each nostril, then lean forward and tip the
forehead downward so 1t is lower than the
point of the nose; or lay on tie stomach. or