The National tribune., 1891-01-22
CHRONIC cATARRH-(eontinued.)

The Chinese are said to pay their physicians
by the year. with the understanding that the
amount Of the fee will be propOrtioned 10 the
length Of the time which the family has passed
in tolerable health, and that deduction will
| be made for every case Of sickness.
That may account for the circumstance that
| in many Chinese dwelling houses lattice frames
are used instead Of windows. On our North
American glass window and weatber-strip plan
a physician would be ruined by the terms Of
the contract arrangement. IL might, indeed,
| be doubted il in the northeastern part Of the
| United States two out of 10 persons are now
adays quite exempt from lung disorders. Con-
/ sumption has reached a maximum which it
cannot easily exceed, on account Of the large
| emigration Of tuberculOus invalids, many Of
| whom take their families along and remove
| permanently to some SUMMER locality; but ca
tarrh is constantly getting more prevalent till
| one is almost surprised TO meet an individual
| whose conversation is not occasionally inter-
rupted by barking cough. In city schools
| whole rOomsfull Of youngsters sniiile and cough,
and the trouble seems TO increase with tho
i Improvements" Of our domestic arch itecture
/ The more alright windows and doors can be
made to ft the more successfully the arrange
ment will effect the development of catarrh-
| germs, and the time seems near when the corpse
/ of an adult showing no traces Of lung disease
| will astOnish the operators Of the disscctIug-
| table like prodigy without liver or kidneys
Among all the civilized countries in the
/ world the United States enjoy the greatest
facilities for escaping disease by a change Of
| climate. An Englishman a Swedc, German
cannot reach a completely winterless region
without removing TO a land of foreign speech
/ and foreign customs, but in two days a native
/ of chill Massachusetts, can transfer himself to
| Summerland of southern Florida; in three
| days a traveller starting from waterfall Hi
nois can reach the heart Of the Colorado Sierras
,Iy
such changes Of climate will be seconded by q
change of habits A healthseeker who insists
| on continuing his New England indoor mode of
/ life in a Southern sanitarium might well
| have staid at home. One Of the best-remem-
| bered incidents of my childhood is the ex-
| peTienee of little neighbours boy, who, IN the
/ absence Of his parents, undertook to retrieve a
swarm Of truant bees. The emgrants had
settled in the branches of low appietree, and
/ remembering that his father on such occasions
| always used a suit oil bee-proof clothing, the
| youthful apiarist flung that suit across his
shoulder aud advanced upon the tree like a con-
stable armed with a sheri1's badge. His arms
| his knees, his face, and neck were unprotected
but in the fullness Of his confidence on the
effect OF his talisman he proceeded to tackle
| the bees. and moment later his shrieks Of
| mingled horror and astOnish ment attracted the
largest crowd of neighbOrs ever assembled in
that garden.
| win n slullar calmHeSS OF assurance nun
| dreds of cOnsumptive5 remove their families 10
the neighborhOOd of some healthgiving high
land region and quietly ntinue their wonted
mode of life, relying on il that the effects of
| their indoor confinement viii be cOunteracted
/ by the influence of the miraculous mountains.
Are the natives oil this neighboFhood not said
to be exempt from lung diseases2" they argue
has this climate not been specially recon-
mended by DIR. X. and Prof. SO-and-sO2"
For a couple Of weeks the altered feet of the
exercise unayOidably Incident to their jour
| Dey may really give the heIlthseekers cause
| to hatter themselves with the hope Of improve
| ment. Their appetite is better and they enjoy
| good sleep in the bedrooms of perhaps newly
| built cottage. But those bedrooms soon get sat
| uTated with the lung poison of Initiated air;
defects of ventilation lead TO the same result
| in Colorado as in the Mississippi Valley and at
| the end of a month the refugees old friend
| chronic eatarrh, turns up again with symptoms
| of yigor indicating disposition to make up
for lost time.
At first the relapse is explained away as an
| incidental cold" slight cough that will pass
away with the next change of the weather; but
that cough becomes more and more trouble
some, and at last the sad truth has 10 be admit
ted, with many expressions of surprise, includ-
ing perhaps confession of regret that there is
| not a law to fasten damage suit on the doctor
who could So grossly misrepresent this climate
Sore throat, swollen eyes and nose, cough,
pains in the chest: was it for this we gave up
our home comforts and strained our resources
to pay the expenses Of long railway trip2
There seems no help for it, and they move
again-pOssibly TO the border of the tropics,
where an invalid may at least hope TO melt
away in pleasant manner" Removal is also
suggested by that restlessness which character
ICES chronic lung diseases, aud which, in the
language of instinct, is chiefly an appeal for ex-
ercise--for change from a ssdentary 20 a moro
active mode OF life. The success OF move
| ment cure is, moreover, favored by the oireum
stance that chronic eatarFh generally implies
an immunity from other complaints. The pa
ticnt may feel the facilitating elect Of a long
continued cough, hut his bowels act more
promptly than usual stimulated by the half
fever which often accompanies the severe
attacks Of the cOmplaintl, and appetite rarely
fails, unless confinement in an Oyerheated room
has brought ON fits Of nausea.
One experience may now and then induce
eatarrh-patients 20 reu0unee their attempts ut
| outdoor exercise in Winter, viz, the apparent
asgraystion ia the symptoms OF what is gener-
ally known as Z" a cold in the head" during a
ramble in moist. cold weather. That effect is
unhappily apt 10 be aseribed TO the breathing
OF cold air. but is wholly due to a reflex influ-
enee Of chilled hands and feet which, by exeT-
cisng an irritating effect on the mucous men,
bGaue, causes il to discharge aeeumulatiOns of
phlegm. and thus 10 delude the patient with
the idea that his trouble is taking harder hold
on his system.
A simple ex pertinent would en- able the patient