The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-08-06
HEALTH BINTS
BY FELIX Z. OSWALD. II. D.
CXVT
MooTED QUEsTIoSs-lcontinuedJ.

MOOTED QUEsTIOSs-lc Ontinued).
Should the use Of poison5 for medicinal pur-
poses be entirely discontinued? il a question
which most Of our hygienic text books fail to
answer IN an Ineligible manner. There is,
indeed, not a poison mentioned in Wegeuer's
trade-list Of commercial drugs which has not
sometime or other been taken, or mistaken, for
a remedial agent.
Opium, belladona, stramOnium (ths poison
Gus principle Of the thornapple or "jimson
weed plant. mercury, aconite, and even
arsenic and strychniue, still figure on the
medical prescriptions OF the 18th century
Prussic acid and cyanide Of pOtas5ia are en-
pioyed for the same purpose and the deadli-
est blood pOisOns have been bottled and dolib-
erately injected into the human system as
valuable antidotes Could the healing art dis
pense with such alles2
There are two or three kinds Of skin dis
eases" writes one Of my correspondents
which have never yet been cured without
strong mineral Ointments. Those substances
may not be entirely harmless, but they are, on
the whole, a lesser evil. Should not the same
consideration Justify the employment Of other
antidotes-ior instance, Of DIR. Koch's lymph
and Of Jenner's smallpox remedy?'
Sulphur and mercurial ointmenEs have. in
deed, proved 50 invaluable in the cure Of erup-
tive diseases that they might seem to form an
unexplained exception from the general rule
Of hygieniC reform. Still their employment
can be perfectly reconcilcd with the sanitary
principle that diseases should be cured by the
removal Of the cause.
In the case Of such disorders as letter and
itch, the origin Of the trouble can be clearly
indeed yisibly-traeed to the agency Of cuta-
neOus parasites, some Of them large enough to
be plainly seen under the Tense Of an ordinary
microscope. \ mixture Of gIycerine and pow
dercd sulphur cures the disorder By the direct
removal Of the cause; j. e., by the death Of the
parasites, whose organism cannot resist q poi
son which lin that special manner Of applica-
tom does not seriously affect the human sys-
TEN. After the prescription has answered its
purpose, the ointment can be thoroughly re-
moved By means Of warm water, soap, and a
piece Of flannel the human skin is none the
worse for the temporary influence of the irri-
tant and the net result Of tbs process is a clear
gain.
But that result differs widely in the ease Of
internal medication. In the sO-caIIed germ lis
eases the cause Of the trouble has. with tOler-
able certainty, been traced to the influence Of
" microbes .; i. e., minute organisms chat have
somehow fastened upon the human system,
and by their constant and portentOusly rapid
propagation endanger the life of the patient.
Why should we not suppress tubercle microbe
by means Of the Koch lymph as the itch-insect
Is suppressed by means of a sulphur Ointment2
The answer is that, in the case Of the pro-
posed consumption cure, the remedy either
fails TO reach the seat Of the affection,
or answers its purpose only by inaicting an
iAcurable injury upon the vital organs Of the
patient. After q few hundred patients had
been treated on the Koch plan, the greatest Of
living Psychologists, DR.. Eirchow, of Berlin,
managed 10 get hold of the bodies Of several
charity patients who had died in spite Of the
alleged remedy, and proved by ocular demon
stratiOn that not the lungs only, but the liver,
the kidneys and the muscular tissue of the
victims had been affected By the poisonous
principle Of the lymph, which, in fact, is de-
rived chiefly from the pus Of tubeTcle sores.
The same objection applies 70 the proposed
inhalation Of poisonous vapOr5. The remedy
might affect the comfort of the microbes, but
undoubtedly does injure the vitality of the
patient and rarely fails to lead to after effects
almost IS bad as the original disease.
In other words, the remedy fails to remove
the cause, except by q process which, at the
same time, inAicts a desperate injury upon the
affected organ. It is a ROstopchin expedi-
ent," as q German physician aptiy expressed
it.
A few days ago the st. Louis press described
the adventure Of gentleman whose house had
been robbed several times by burglars who
seemed TO possess the art Of entering q build
ing without the least noise. One evening the
proprietor Of the place came home little later
than usual, and just before opening his gate
happened TO catch sight of a figure crouching
in the recess Of a second story window and be-
labOring the sash by means Of mutilcd drill
The victim Of many previous r0bberies pulled
a revolver. and by q single shot dropped the
burglar dead upon the sidewalk. His WE'LL
aimed bullet cured the trouble by a direct re-
moval of the cause.
The aIIu5ion to "RostOpchin expedient"
on the other hand, is founded upon an episode
of the first NapOleOn's campaign in Russia.
During the second week of the disastrous re-
treat from Moscow the officers of Marshal Mu-
rat took quarters in fine country seat, where
they hoped to enjoy days rest from the
fatigues Of a desperate march, but their hopes
were baffled by the cOnilIgratOn of the build
ing. To leave no doubt about the origin of
the fire the owner, Gen. Fedor Rostopchin, had
affixed a card to the gate:
=" For many years have / embelished this
residence and lived happily in it with my
family; / devote il to the flames that i5 may
not be polluted with your presence"
FOR many years has my soul inhabited this
body" desperate cOusumptive might address
his microbes " / now devote it to the lymph Of
DIR. Robert Koch. rather than have it polluted
by your presence" That plan Of revenge might
prove effective, but also very expensive.
IsostOpchin's house was burned on November
=
would have forced his guests to hasten their
departure in westward direction before the
dreaded pollution could proceed to any damag-
ing extent
Consumptives too might find that alterna-
tive a safer plan. Cold air is Natures specific
for the cure Of germ diseases, consumption by
no means excepted. In the Polar regions tu-
berculosis is not only rare, but entirely uu-
known. The Esquinaux spend large part of
their long Winter in underground novels Of the
fOulest sort in an atmosphere of the very kind
that should be supposed to insure the deyel-
Opnent of lung diseases, and which further
south would unquestionably lead to that result.
But the icy temperature of the outdoor air
(Which even women and children are obliged
to breathe at least q few minutes of every day.
counteracts all such dangers. It freezes out
the tubercle microbes as fast rs they can man
age to effect Judgment in the tissue OF the
lungs, and as effeetually yellow fever microbes
arc frozen out by the first Noyember frosfs Of