The National tribune., 1891-01-29
WEALTH HINTS
For Old and Young.
BY FELIX L. OSWALD, " ~.
Author OF Physical Educatiou": '' Household
Remedies. The Bible Of Nature" etc
CHAPrEE XCIX.


NhAflEE ANiAs
WINTER DISEASES.
In the course Of the last 100 years summet epi.
denies have become considerably less frequent
and Winter diseases somewhat more prevalent
and also less durable. There was a time when the
streets Of European cities were IN such an out
rageOus condition Of unceauliuess that febriIe
diseases broke out in every warm season. and
those were the luckiest who got through with
their trouble at the earliest time Of the year,
whence the pTOyeTb that a fever in Spring is
phys.c for a King" Cold weather. however,
generally stopped such complaints, or. 40 least,
the effects Of every mans sanitary sins were
confined to himself or to his own household
Nowadays civilized nations have come to
consider Spring fevers rs altogether dispensable
luxurics, but in Winter they have often reason
10 regret the byg0ue acc or sleigh mounted
stage-cOaches and snow bound villages The
same railways that transport iuva.ids from
New England to the tropics also carry con-
tagIOus luDg-diseases from the south to the
higher ATTITUDES, and from town 90 town, by
means Of arrangements admirably adapted for
the preservation Of tho infectious germs
Grapes shipped at Malaga FOR the United States,
are rarely delivered in more perfect condition
than cataTrh-seeds conveyed by rail from
New Orleans 10 a northwestern town, which
thus far had perhaps prided itself on its immu-
nifty from lung-diseases.
The grippe epidemics," which this year
again are so often mentioned in the ucwspa-
peTs, do not all come from the other side OF the
Atlantic, and the name influenza has come
To be applied 10 tTo clearly distinct kinds Of
contagious catarrh. The true Eastern grippe
begins with a feeling Of Iauguor. loss Of appe-
title, soreness about the throat aud chest, and
four or five days very troublesome cough, often
combined with fever, but ending with the re-
turn Of appetite about the sixth or seventh
day.
\ more lingering form Of influenza is As IN
doubtedty contagious as the other kaG, bet IS
less sClflmilcd," and may torment the
patient for weeks with a cough indicating a
Geep-scated inflammation Of the lungs, and
often complicated with various other com
plants. One Of those complications is an in
tcrmitteut sort Of ear-aChe. The patient. in the
midst Of cOughiug-it, becomes conscious Of a
sharp pain IN one Of his ears livery rarely in
both at once, which subsidies before long
but gradually becomes more permanent and
may continue, like a bad tooth. ache for five or
six hours, especially in the earlier part Of the
night.
4 simple household remedy i the app!ica-
ton Of piece Of cloth wrapped about wire
aud dipped into hot water. A puruleHt dis
charge VIII generally relieve the pain, and can
III more obstinate eases be promoted by means
Of yapOr bath. Get tin cup holding about
a quart of stcaming-hot water, and cover it
with piece Of tin or stout pasteboard, with
hole in the center, and wrapped round about
with thick towel, leaving a small opening in
the middle. On that cover make the patient
rest his head for, say, three or four minutes TO
allow the steam 10 find its way 70 the inner
chamber Of the ear. The effect in promoting
the opening Of an abcc,s IS similar 20 that Of
imm2rsiug a swollen hand ia warm water or
covering boil with a hot pOuIt;cc. The eyacu-
alton Of pus, in such cases, is generally initial
ed by a coughing tit, but sometimes also, more
unexpectedly, BY a sudden shock or fall. j re-
member the case OF l0-year old boy Who COM
planned of rar-ache5 for nearly a week, and cx-
Ferenced only transient relief from variety
Of popular remedies some of them applied By
means %. an car syTlngel; but one day, ~ the
absence Of his parents the little fellow man
aged 10 slip from the house and Join his play
mates or a neichboriHg coasting hill lie
bad no sleigh Of his own, but Kept sliding about
till he suddenly slipped and struck his head
violently against the harl frozen ground. The
moment he fell he had a sensation rs if some
thing bur-t ia thc inside OF his head, +" and stag
gcT.Eg home be fOuud his skull-cap al wet
with matter discharged in a few minutes from
hi, left ear His bumped head felt sore for an
hour or So but his ear-achc was efTectually cured
and never came back.
Diurrhea is another trouble which 'alternat-
ing with constipation often appears rs 4 com
plicatiOn Of . malignant caiarTh, but il is a
curious fact that tEe con yalesceut stage Of
nearly all lang disorders affords a temporary
immunity foI TeinieetiOn. While bad cough
Is subslding the patient may feel sure that no
new cataTrh viii be contracted even under
conditions otherwise specially apt TO result in
such affections. He may trust himself into
crowded street-cars or stutIy public libraries;
his lungs seem, temporarily, stoeled against in
lection, as If the organism had found a way 20
resist the approach Of 4 new trouble while rid
ding itself of the old one.
On that circumstance, by the way, DIR. Koch
OF Berlin, seems 20 have founded the compost
ton vi his famous lymph. The careful analy-
sis by a French chemist proved the boosted
specific 10 consist Of chloride Of gold mixed
with the ptomaiu (the purulent matter Of tu-
bercle sores That matter is almost ~ virulent
as ratilesuake poison bat the Berlin Doctor
probably hoped to utilize il, in certain forms Of
application, as an antidOte Of lung diseases
caused by microbes which Judging from the
aforementioned experience of eatarrh- PIT
tients) are not able to effect a lodging in an or
gauism protected by the terminal stage of a
former eatarTh. IN the completeness Of his
confidence ia the efficacy OF his specific the IN
vent0r is said to have dOsed himself with his
own remedy before entering consumption hos
pitals aud may thus really have secured immu-
nifty from contagiOu but the effect Of his lymph
Oh confirmed cOusumpttves Is a very different
question. The specific might prevent rcinfec-
ton but utterly fail to expurgate tuborcio ba-
cIlli which have already gained firm hold on
tie lungs of the patient. It's direct effect is
facilitating "a depressing reaction following "A
brief fever and under the influence Of that cx
haustiOn eight consumptiyes have undoubtedly
died: three Of them in France. two in Vienna
and three in North German hospitals.
On American patients the prescription has
thus far had no decidedly injurious effects,
owing possibly 20 change in the original COM
position OF the lymph but of its remedial
value there IS still less direct evidence and the
rush Of patients 10 the Capital of the North
German Empire would be hard to explain if il
were not for the previous high reputation Of
the inventor. This consumption cure seems
destined to share the fate of Pasteur'5 hydro
phobia cure, bat he certainly viii transmit his
name 10 posterity rs the inventor Of "a most
ingenious process for making the tubercle-m mi
erobes visible by the use of microscopes and
cleyerly applied eoloring substances and thus
furnishing an ocular proof that consumption.
the most fatal Of all diseases Of our l4tter-day
world, is really caused By the agency Of micro
seopic parasites.
tTo te eontiHuedJ
Monument for West Virginia.