The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-06-04
Written for THE NAr1oyL TRrsUxE.I
WEALTH HINTS
For Old and Young.
By FELIX Z. OSWALD, ". D.
CuArrER 81.
EPInE,rfcs--c nntinue-N.

An american NQuOrloG INFORMS Us LuAG MS
father-in-law used 10 veto Irritation sleigh
rides, because experience had taught him to
dread them as preparatory steps to an elope-
mcnt"
1t would be well If every oFeuse against
san JtITy cleanliness could tins be- stopped rs
the preparatory stage Of an epidemic Typhoid
fever, for instance, often assumes the form of q
contagious plague so suddcu,y-as n week ago
in New York City-that the health police is
apt to ascTIbo 10 20 an infection imported from
other localities. The truth is that the symp-
toms Of the fever may appear in every degree
OF VirulenCe, from a sick headache 70 de-
structive epidemic. "I.assituds and stupOr
are only aggravated forms Of the unexplained
WEAKNESS which at certain times Of the year
makes life burden TO the residents Of river
side Sums, and there is a halfway develop
/ ment known as walking case Of typhoid
fever, when all the characteristic symptoms Of
the disease stop just short Of the point where
the patient would have 20 take to his bed.
/ That stage Of the complaint may at any time
assume a more serious form, but is apt to sub
side in consequence OF the removal Of the
cause, or a favorable change Of weather. rs from
| damp 70 clear and cool and the prompt adOp-
| ton OF the proper remedies-artlhcial rctrig-
GRAFTON, etc, has in numerous cases nIpped the
mischief in the bud, in spite Of rather uniayor-
bic atmospheric conditions.
Where the imperfect development OF other
| symptoms leaves the true character Of the COM
| plant doubtful, expert physicians often resort
/ TO the expedent Of making the patient talk,
| and IN the course Of conversation watch the
expressions Of his countenence. In true ty-
| phOid that expression becomes vacant and con-
| fused, the eyes stare in a sort Of helpless be-
wilderment, as il the mind was unable 20 con-
centrate its attention on the topic Of converse
| ton; replies 10 simple question become strik-
| ingiy, and often ludicrously, irrelevant.
|. In the course Of few days that mental con-
fusion often betrays itself in a still more evil
/ dent manner; the patient talks to himself as
IN reply to imaginary questions, or starts up IN
sudden alarm and makes an attempt TO get out
Of bed. The fever accelerates the pulse and
increases the temperature ftful chills are fol-
| lowed by perspiratiOn; darrhea soon super
| yenes and the strength Of the sick man is eX-
/ hausted by hemOFrhage from the bowels, which
| in most fatal cases prove the least manageable
| Of the complicated symptoms. A post norton
| examination in such cases generally reveals
the fact that the bowels have been perforated
/ by ulceratiOus-a risk which in the earlier
| stages OF the disease could often have been OBJ
/ waited by reducing the patient TO a fluid absO-
lutely non-stimulating diet, such as rice Cruel
with a little milk and sugar or a panada of
biscuits dissolved in cold sweet water. Meat IN
| der such circumstances appears 10 irritate the
/ bowels, and the strong beef-tea formerly rec
commended TO revive the falling strength Of the
| patient is apt TO increase the distress Of the
| digestive organs.
| The feverish symptoms in severe cases should
| be relieved By means Of ice congresses applied
/ TO the spine and head. Antiseptc drugs oper-
/ ate much less promptly, and, besides, are apt to
| be followed by distressing after-efects. " In
| the treatment Of large number Of cases OF
/ this disease" says the manager Of the best
\ American hygienic institute eve have had no
/ 90 Lo mi IF srtnh forero
doses Of quinine as have been recommended by
certain German physicians. In a few cases in
/ which we have given this remedy trial. the
| benefits derived from its use, as shown by the
/ decrease Of bodily temperature, were so insig-
nifcant when compared with the effects which
| could be obtained by the employment of other
measures, that we have no desire whatever to
resort to it again"
/ Moreover, the use Of quinine in large doses
rarely fails to aggravate the symptoms Of meu-
| tai confusion which have often been noticed
among the lingering after-effeCts Of typhoid
| fever. Ringing in the ears, severe ear-dches,
| dizziness, and aversion 70 mental labor fire.
/ quently reCur again and again whenever the
| weather gets more than usually warm, and it
/ is, indeed, question if quinine can ever be
| completely eliminated by the sefregulating
| process OF the human organism. Like mercury,
it fingers in the tissues for years, and only a
few days ago / was consulted by the parents OF
| a little lad who five years ago was Over-dOsed
\ with quiniue and who has ever since been
| subject to excruciating ear-aehes, which in
| spite Of all treatment, occur about once month
! and have given his face an expression Of pre-
| mature age.
For month or so after the patient has left
his bed dietetic precautions ought 70 be con-
tinued. at least IN regard to meat and stimu-
/ lating drinks hot, strong Coffee ETC. ] and the
bedroom should be kept as cool as possible, to
prevent a relapse in the next spell Of warm
weather
Prevention, as elsewhere, is, however, better
| than cure, and the prevalence of typhoid fever
could be reduced three fourths by the dissent
nation of knowledge on certain points of hygiene
which seem to have been pretty well under
stood by the city builders Of antiquity. Ty-
phoid fever has been so often and so clearly
| traced TO the contamination Of drinking water,
that it is almost inc0mprehensble why the
| simplest precautions in that respect are not
more generally observed. In the suburbs Of a
large city Of the Ohio Valley a medical friend
| a few week ago called my attention 10 q ne
| plus-ultra case Of that kind in the arrange
ment Of a tenement colony, adjoining a large
| manufacturing establishment. Some thirty
cottages each with a bit Of garden ground and
| a separate fence had been built along the slope
| Of a gravelly bill, and the landlord had even
gone to the trouble of putting out shade-trees
/ anu DOrucFlN4 lhc DIlCk Walk III lIOuJ OF tut
row with a fringe Of green sOds. The pOrches
were prettily painted, and there were windows
| enough to secure ventilation in any change OF
| wind; in short, the little colony from a dis
lance, might appear an ideal of sanitary ar
| rangemeut, but in every case, without q single
| exception the water.c. closet had been put up on
higher ground and directly above the cistern,
| in the rear Of each cottage. All in all there
| were. believe, - such closets, and no matter
| in which direction the gravclly soil carried the
drainage it could not help coming in contact
| with the pits Of some of those Cisterus, and the
least imperfectiOn in the cement of those pits
| was sure to atllict the tenants of the adjoining
cottage with q more or less contagious form Of
| cess pool fever.
Another very strange phenomenon is the
prevailing indifference TO unsanitary localities
as seen in the choice oflOw and damp building
sites In a little Tennessee highland town,
/ where real estate has not much advanced above
the prices paid by the original settlers, q num-
Der of the prettie5t dwelling-hOuses have been
grouped about bog formed by the obstruction
at the mouth of a small brook. Masses Of rub
bish have been dumped over the bank of a
larger stream Just above the junction of that
brook. and by sliding downward and sideward
| those dump piles have formed q sort of dam,
forcing the little tributary to make its way
down BY circuitous ways and form a series OF
poOls which in Midsummer form as many pes
tiferous slime-pits. And the immediate vi
cinity of that miasmatic delta has been chosen
for the fashionable boulevard Of the little burg,
while all around the terrace-lands of the hills
| with we'll heal fhipr