The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-10-22
WEALTH HINTS
For Old and Young.
BY FELIX L. OSWALD. NJ. ID.

SUMNER COMPLAINTS.

preceding chapter. makes il probable that n
time will come when our dwelling houses will
Toe supplied with aTtifcially cooled air in sum
mer, as they are now warmed bv the CON-
busti0n Of fuel in Winter. The improvements
OF freezing miXtures are constantly lowering
the price Of ice, and there is nothing impossi-
bic in the project of the French chemist.
Lampere, who proposes 20 generate cold air in
large municipal refrigeratOTs, aud conduct il
from house TO house by means Of subterfanean
pipes and air forcc.pumps. 10 would be easy
enough 10 regulate such air-currents and re-
duce the atmosphere of a dwelling-room or
Office 10 any temperature best suited to the
comfort Of the occupants. The mere opening
oil valve will change the indoor climate from
July 10 genial October, and our grandchildren
may marvel at our shiftessness aud patient
endurance Of dog-day horrors, as we shudder at
the thought Of the times when fire was known
only in the neighhorhood of active volcanoes,
and the natives Of the higher ATTITUDES had TO
survive the Winter season in dripping caveTus,
like those OF the Jura Mountains, where stone
batchets and arrow heads are still found along
side Of beaT-skulls and the remains Of the
giant elk.
In the meantime highland resorts will re-
main the best refuge from the sitting Mid
summer atmosphere Of our large cOsst-tOwns;
but even in the least sslubrious Of those cities
the risk OF Summer diseases could be greatly
diminished by e1podients rs inexpensive as
tho household remedies Of our frugal ancestors.
One Of those expedients is the sanitary use
Of the early morning hours. A half-hours
walk in the cool Of a Summer morning will do
wonders in countcraeting the effects Of a sultry
day, and, If followed by a cold sponge bath. is
almost sure 60 relieve ordinary cases Of consti-
patton. The breathing Of cool air stimulates
the organism without any of the distressing
after effects too often following the use Of tonic
drugs and cold water applied to the abdomen
reacts on the bowels in manner that would
only need 10 be more generally known 10
diminish the traffic in blue-pills.
In obstinate cases an enema Of cold water
viii bring relief, unless the system has been
weakened by the use Of quack specifics. For
the last three years P0stmastcTs and country
clerEymen have been favored with the circulars
OF a specialist" who for the sum of 81 offered
70 sell 4 new remedy, warranted 90 cure all
sorts OF bowel-cOmp plants, on condition that
the recipient should agree not 10 diyulge tho
secret OF the discoverer. Applicants RENTING
the specified sum receive a pamphlet informing
them that a large number OF digestive disorders
can be cured with injections Of hot water in
large quantities, and that the colon would
hold more than pint Of non-iTritating fluids
Ii has since been proved that the alleged dis
covery was known TO Undergraduates for half a
century, and the editor Of Good Health quotes
numerous passages that refute the claim Of
originality In any detail Of the enema plan;
but besdes there Is a considerable doubt IL
hot water, in that mode of application, can be
considered non-irritatng substance. Daily
clysters Of even Dloderately-warm water are
very apt result in 6stulas, and remember in
stances OF rectal asthenia Inability to restrain
sto0ls) having resulted from the same cause
Cold water, merely tempered 10 the warmth Of
the surrounding air, will lead 20 no such result
II the patient takes the precaution to dfscon-
tinuo the cure as soon as it has answered its
purpose.
Loose bowels are much more easily cured. An
abstemious diet. dry warm air. and pedestrian
exercise, have all decidedly astringcnt effect,
and combined hardly ever fail 10 stop that form
OF diarrhea which in Midsummer often fol-
lows a surieit OF vegetable food. Animal sub
stances Ia warm weather occasionally affect the
bowels In way that suggests the presence Of
an Irritating poison. Not a week passes with
out the report Of serious diseases resulting from
the use Of canned meats, supposed to be tainted
by the metallic alloys Of the soliered tin can,
etc, but similar troubles may follow a meal OF
stale hash kept over night in a stuFy pantry.
lew years ago a company OF United States sol
dters IN TeXAs.was simultaneously attacked by
an acute kind Of cholera morbus ia consequence
Of a dinner Of beefhash kept over from the
supper OF the preceding day and left exposed
% the air Of a more than usually sultry night.
Ia such exceptional cases absolute abstinence
from food IS the surest remedy. Opiates serve
their purpose only by paralysing the bowels,
and may disorder the pestive system in way
deiying all remedies whatever.
The problem Of curing chronic dysentery,"
says medical rcformer becomes more CON-
picated IL the bowels have been tortured with
hstringent drugs. DiRrTheA itself Is an asthenie
condition, indicating a deficiency OF vital
strength, yet nearly every health-e1 hausiing
poison q the vegetable aud mineral kingdom
has been employed TO paralyze the activity,
and, rs u were, silence the protest Of the rebel.
lious organs. Bismuth, arsenic cal0mel opium.
mercury, nux vOmicR, zinc salts. acetate Of lead
aud nitrate Of silver, are among the gentle
aids 10 nature" that have been employed 10
control the revolt Of the mutinous bowels An
attempt 70 control a it Of vomiting by choking
the neck OF the patient would be an analogous
mistake. The prescription operates rs long AS
the vitality Of the bowels il absolutely para
lyzed by the virulcnce Of the drug, but the first
return Of functional energy will be used % eject
The poison. That new protest is sienced by
the satne argument; for awhile the exhaustion
Of the whole system is mistaken for a sign Of
submission, tail fresh revolt calls for a repet-
ton OF the coercive measures. la the mean.
time the organism suffers under command
system OF starvation; the hnmors ara sur
charged with Virulent matter; the whole di-
Restlye apparatus withdTaws its aid from the
needs 81 the vital economy and the flame Of
Iiie feeds on the store Of tissue; the patient
wastes more rapidly than an imprisoned person
would on an air-and- water diet. In carrots.
where the last piece Of furniture had been sold
70 deiray the expenses OF a dircful nostrun. /
have more than once seen victims Of drug pois-
ons In state Of misery which human beings
can reach by no other road: WORKOUT coTpse-
cOloren, emaciated wretches, with that look of
hsiless despair which the eyes of dying beast
sometimes assume on the brink Of NlrvanAD
Aud yet in great plurality Of eases that
misery might have been wholly avoided by a
single fast-dsy. Diarrhea in its iuciBient
stages II by no means an unmanageable COM
plant and frequently proves self-limited l. g.
stops without amy interference whatever by n
spontaneous resumption of the proper digest
I've process as soon as the irritating substance
has been evacuated. short fast however
wlil greatly expedite that contamination. and
In warm weather requires no great effort of
seii-denial. Frequent drafts Of pure, cold
water Will help the bowels 10 eliminate the
Objectionable ingesta, and before the noon Of
the second day the need OF nourishmeut will
have become decided enough TO prevent the
system from rejecting a small amount Of whole.
some food
Warm weather now and then favors the de-
velopment Of cuianeOus parasites, aud skin
diseases can be nipped in the bud by as simple
remedy as good rubbing down with cold
wafer aud SOAP unless the irritating cause
should continue 90 operate in a way which M
last dehes simple remedies Mistakes rs 10 the
true nature Of such causes often lead 10 strange
results few years ago a young man con-
suited me about the possible origin of a cprious