The National tribune., 1889-11-07
CHAPTER XII.
AsTuMA-(continued).


than cure" is most strikingly illustrated in
the pathology OF asthma. With ordinary pre-
cautions, and in bracing, sunny climate
| undoubtedly often aided by the sunshine of
domestic happiness-asthmatics may forget the
very existence of their disorder for months
together; but the diathesis, as physicians call
the predisposition to any chronic complaint,
being once revived, the trouble continues to
smoder like a hidden fire, apt to blaze out at
the first opportunity.
Such traes as half IN hours hard work after
dinner or brief fit of anger are sufficient to
bring on a sudden relapse OF the distressing
complaint Experience may teach the patient
to control his temper with scrupulous care, but
in practical life it is wholly impossible to avoid
all causes Of incidental provOcatiOn-a truth
confirmed with almost comic pathos in the
letter of one Of my West American correspond
ents: "To give trouble a wide BERTH" he
writes II had rented cottage in quiet suburb
of our town, and for weeks did my own sweep
ing and fire-lighting. / took my meals at an
| out-of-the-way restaurant got my mail adj
| dressed to letter box, aud never opened q let
ter without mental precautions against posi-
bic disappointment. My few personal aequaiBt-
anCes did not get chance to bother me, because
| kept out of their way, aud / congratulated
myself on having solved the problem Of per-
manent equanimity, when one evening. on
going home, l caught sight Of fat cow, wad-
ding down the lane toward my little flower
garden, which she had spoiled more than once
by jumping the COW hedge and helping herself to
all the leafy vegetables in sight. Hoping to pre-
vent her present intentions, l tried to head her
of by slipping along under cover of darkness,
but just as passed her quarterback she caught
| sight of mo and broke out in tearing gallOp,
gaining start which at once demolished the
chance of stopping her this side of the garden.
l reiinquished the chase, and turned home
sOul-sick and world-weary, for in less than five
seconds after the commencement OF that gal
| lopade a well known feeling about the pit Of
my respiratory apparatus left me no doubt
| that, though l had failed to catch that COW,
| / had completely succeeded in catching some
| ting else, viz, q frst-class spell of spasmodic
| asthma"
Change of climate generally secures an IN
mistakabe improvement in the symptoms of
| chronic asthma, but only for so brief a period
as TO suggest the conjecture that the act of mt
| grafton, viz, the exercise and outdoor life
! incident to a protracted journey, have large
share in accomplishing the cure. Outdoor
workers. with rare exceptions, enjoy an envia-
bio immunity from the fortunes of asthma, a
disorder which, indeed. seems to be aggravated
by any cause of physical debilitation. such as
| sedentary work in vitisted atmosphere, bad
insufficient food, indigestion, sexual excuses,
and slceplessness
II know ono specific said an old doctor of
efficacy of all other asthma cures but for the
circumstance that it eau be recommended only
to o community of monks, viz, absolute con-
Thence"
There arc chemical specifies" which can be
relied upon TO paliiate il not to eradicate the
complaint, such rs medicated ciRarets consist
ing of mixture Of tobacco aud stramOnium
leaves The secret Of their effectiveness is the
circumstance that Nature cannot fight more
than one enemy at time, aud in stress of
concerted attack is apt To patch up truce with
one foe In order To turn the strength of all her
resources against the other. Asthma has been
described IA an effect of the abnormal contrac-
ton of the minute air-cells of the respiratory
organs aud the hidden physiological cause of
that contraction can be temporarily overcome
by tho influence OF certain gaseous poisous.
For noviees In the habit of smoking tobacco
alone would generally answer that purpose. but
its narcotic potency Is more than doubled By an
admixturc of STdHIoaiuLl. The Datur4 strand
Mum, or thorn apple (the jamestown weed I"
OF our North American waysidesl, contains q
strong poison. which in large doses produces
dryness Of the throat, delrium, commissions
and other premoBitory symptoms of death by
narc0tzatiou. Its fumes are indeseribahly re-
pulsiye aud nauseatiug, and iTritate the lungs
even Of n healthy person in way often result
ing in n choking cough; but that same poison
smoke has an almost magic effect in breaking
asthma generally occur in the night and awaken
the patient with a sense of imminent suffoea-
ton, construction of the chest muscles and an
agony of pulmonary distress as the lungs pant
and hcave in their Intellectual struggle for life
air. Sitting up in bed, with the fists elutching
the sides of the bedstcad, mitigates the<atliic-
ton only for seconds, but at the first wifi Of
the sickening poison fumes the demon appears
TO relax its grip, the beaving lungs move more
freely, and in rapid gasps inhale new lease of
life
Other remedies are landanum, ether and
strong, black coffee. swallowed cup after cup
till tho stimulant induces a sort OF nervous
fever but such expedients should be employed
only as Il last resource when nil other plans fail.
One excellent rule for the prevention of severe
attacks is To postpone going to bed on nights
when certain we'll known premonitions indi-
cats an approaching relapse. BY manual labor
or interesting literature the patient may sue
coed in keeping awake till midnight. and if at
last seeking his bed at the demand of feeling
of irresistible seepiness, he may generally count
on a good nights rest. A soldier OF the French
army who had served in Mexico under Bazaine
once told mo that ihe most ominous symptoms
of an impending asthma fit had, in his case,
been more than once beiied by thecountcracting
effects of forced march, and on one occasion
where he would have staked his soul on the
certainty of a suilocating spasm awalking him
before daybreak. he volunteered to accompany
patrol that did not come back till an hour
after midnight, and on his return to camp he
got the Sergeant to excuse him from morning
roll-call, and after smuggling his blankets to
the top of nice, dry hayloft, he finally lay
down and slept nearly eight hours like log,
without dreaming. without coughing aud with
out tho slightest sensation of distress.
After that night his trouble did not reeur for
nearly year; and spasmodic asthma, indeed,
often disappears IA suddenly and with as little
apparent cause rs it is apt to come. In Que of
It's forms the dgspH9d. difficulty in breath
ing continues for weeks, without actual
paroxy sm perhaps, but still impressing the pa
tient with tha distressing certainty that he is
unable to get more than 40 or 80 per cent. of
his fair share Of lfeair by any available
method of respiration. But some fine day, on
u clear morning in November, perhaps the suf-
ferer happens to take walk IN the open fields
| and inmates breath of morning air purified by
the first frost. or By the SHOWS of neighboring
highland region, aud in that moment the block
AIDE Of his respiratory organism seems TO have
been raised he finds 10 his glad surprise that
he can breathe down TO the very bottom of
| his lungs" and before many hours his whole
system feels the effects of the happy change;
| his iidgety pulse becomes more regular. his di-
gestion more satisfactory, his thoughts clearer
| aud less pessinistie.
Confluence, avoidance of all occasions for
anger and strict observance of morning exer-
else aud after-dinner rest, may keep the fend
| ut bay for months; and individual experience