The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-30

d
They Are Performed - Diphtheris
and Manure-Most Common Cause Of
-Children's Winter Clothing
4 Strange Disease - To Prevent
Acute rheumatism.
From the Boston Herald
Cases OF diphtheria IN which the disease
has invaded the upper part of the windpipe
are always desperate. aud only a small per
cent. of them recover. This passage is mar
rOwed either by Inflammation or by diph-
theric membrane and most Of the victims
die of suffocation unless some means is en-
ployed to keep it open.
| A few years ago the one measure OF re-
lief was the operation known as tracheot-
omy, which consis in making al opening
| in the lower part of the neck. at the front,
extending into the windpipe, and through
this bent tube is passeI, and sfterward
! fixed in place. Instead of breathing through
the mouth, the patient then breathes
through the tube.
A few yeas ago physician conceived
the idea of passing a tube By the way Of
! the mouth down into the larynx-the upp
part OF the windpipe-and by this mea s
| keep it open. This procedure b S nov
gained the CO fidence of physical S, and
has largely displaced the old operation,
| tracheotomy.
Intubation, as it is callel, Of course re-
qui Is "a good dealof skill, but tho accom-
| uishsd surgeon finds it comparatively easy
In most cases And strangely enough, he
operation is generally well borne, even by
very young children.
There are some objections 70 tracheotomy
which do not appear III intubation. The
mere mention of the former opera 10 is
sufficient to terrify relatives; besid S, there
is some loss of blood, which the little patti
ents can seldom spare. Serious a unex
Dected accidents are also quite likely to
happen after it. Moreover, while breathing
through the tracheotomy tube, unless the
air is warmed, as it is hen il passes through
the m luth, there is danger of lung trouble
being set up in consequence of its low tenn
perature. When the fact is considered that
nursing in tue majority OF families is much
below the requirements, the last named
objection to the operation is a serious one.
1t appears to be generally accepted that
in very young children i0tubation promises
better than tracheotomy. l. promises bet
ter, also. in patients who have been much
weakened by disease. Tracheotomy is
almost always resisted by relatives until
they are made to realize that il is the st
that their consent to the operation generally
comes only after it is extremely likely to
prove unsuccessful. As intubation does not
call for the use OF the surgeons knife it is
never so strenuously resisted therefore it
ca ususually be employed early, ID so the
patient be prepared for the time of greatest
need.
Again, there is a certain class of cases,
notably Of Group following me sizes, in which
tracheotomv is scarcely ever. if ever, sue
cessful. In some OF these cases there is
slight chance of intubati N bel success full.
OF course, in every case f diphtheria or
Group the surgeon consulted must be lett to
choose between tracheotomy and intuba-
tion. There is no rule for him TO follow,
Notwithstanding what has been stated. L
some cases in whic', theoretically, one
ope alton wonld seem to promise best, it is
contra-indicated by the preseAce of unusual
symptoms
Here it IS we'll TO say that parents are
responsible for not a few deaths from PHI
liberia. Many of them cannot be made to
| appreciate the fact that their physicians
know better than .ey what treatment
their children need; and thi perhaps, aD-
pears oftenest when their removal to hos
pitfalls is advised.
Against these institutions in the minds
| OF many, there exist the most sane ideas;
| they are always associated with cutting"
/ carving and experiments" IL people
did but know it, in no private home, no
! matter how luxurious it is, or how good the
nursing furnished, a case Of iphtheria or
Group requiriI & trachetomy or i tubation
has not near the chances of recovery that
good hospital treat nent affords
When parents have fixed this fact in
their minds, and are ready to do at once
| what their phys clans advise them to do,
then there Will be noticeable fall in the
death rate from all diseases. and especially
| from desperate cases of diphtheria and
Group.
| DIPHTHERIA AND MANURE,
| DR.. Airy, in a recent report to the local
government board on a 4 Gu b eak of dipn-
iberia in the Sanford rural sanitary dis
trict Of Suffolk, England, has show that in
a particular viii GO in the district the out
break was Immediately preceied by the
passage through it of a CARLOAD of London
| manure landed from barge near by. Sew
eral children re, urning homo from school
| complai led of the stencil from the cart and
| sickened soon after. These ca es set others
going, ard the d sense was then disseminated
by school attendance aud the like
Though, as Dr.. Airy suggests, the foul
| effiuvia of the manure may have acted
Oily by Fastening the growth Of the diph-
| liberia, vet he consider some weight should
earlier cases were, in some way or other.
due to the introduction of manure.
DIR. Alry's suspicious as to tine ability OF
manure to convey disc se. further saws the
| Medical Press. are confirmed by the medi-
cal officer of health, DR.. Elliston. who has
observed scarlet fever to develop in certain
places after the deposit of London manure
Similar experience is also forthcoming from
Strood, in Kent.
"The whole question CT this association
bet Seen infectious di eases and manura
| refuse deserves the attention of sanitary
| workers aud observers. Whether the so
citation is one of coincidence only, or is trul,
causatiye, extended Inquiry alo can deter
mine And, il the latter is the case, it will
vet have to he said whether the infection i
a direct one, that is, whether the poison con
tained in the manure is derived from toxi
animals discharge or secretion; or whethe
the Injecting manure acts only as indus O
multiplying ground for the resting forms G
a certain specific contagia which may gal
access to 1t"
BERI-BERI.
is a curious disease which is occasionally er
couutered by ph) sicians living in seacos:
towns. 1t appears to be confined to sailor
and although the causes have never been d,
termined, it seems safe to attribute j
largely, at least, to poor food and bad SAM
tary conditio s. Other causes have bee
suggested; and since fisherm N are by ia
|, The most frequent victims Of the trouble,