San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-03-20
A LECTURE.

Failed to Cure Catarrh.
Also Why 1t Can Now be
Easily Cured.
TERsE, PHILosoPHIC AND CoNviNoING
ESSAY.
(CoPYRIGHPED.)
In giving my two radical reasons, 1 shall be
as brief as possible. l shall not enter at all
upon the various remedies that have been
used in the treatment of catarrh, but contne
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-
tons.
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 Eustachian tubes leading TO the
internal ear. etc.
Git would be a waste of time for me to give
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 cavlties
and 1t must be kept in mind that a diseased
or catarrhal nasal surface is much more ir-
| regular than healthy one, as many of the
natural passages almost entirely closed
by congestion, mucus secretions and infiam
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 and posteriOr nasal syrinpes) bottles
and jars with breathing tubes for inhalng air
| that passes through med cnal liquids, and
| different kinds of snuff almost without mum
| be,r used in various ways. have seen snuff
| put into little rubber balls or pulled out of u
| tube as we use insect powder. have seen it
! tied up in a rag in the shape of ball with
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 a catarrh specialist.
| He will say, "Catarrh cannot be cured" Why
does the honest physician say it cannot be
| GU ed? 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 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
cured? And the medical profession would an
! swer Yes, it 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,
! sprays, etc, are watery or aqueous solutions
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 il
! would throw out or secretc 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 radical
season.
Now that we know what they are, how shall
| we overcome these two difficulties ? / mean,
get the remedy to the diseased part a. d then
| have it ay 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 vernacular, l 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 wll not be washed away at once. but
remain 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 his face aud the back of his
hands and running all the time right through
| he black grease, and yet it remained
| there all day without its being
| washed away, because the grease aud
water were incompatible BILE and would not mix
| or unite one with the other. So we must mix
our remedy in a suitable grease or ointment,
| and then it will not be washed away by the
| secretons Of the nasal cavities. Now, how
shall we get it there? The easiest thing in
the world. If you wanted to fill your boot
| " tn fluid you would rot turn 1t upside
down and use syringe. or blow it up with an
atomiEer; no. you would set it in proper po-
| sition and let the fluid flow gravitate into
| the boot; and to get our remedy into the
| head we also make use of gravity by placing