The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-09-06

not begin till the end, when death ap-
proaches.
are treating the patients now with
tho salt-and-water remedy know as by po.
dermoclysi Sis. We inject a weak solutior of
salt and water, about one part of salt to
100 of water. warmed up to the tempera-
ture of the human body. As fast as the
fluid matter of the blood leaves the pa
tIents we renew il by injecting this solu-
tiOD under the skin. We use enormous
quantities of il. sometimes giving q patient
twenty TO thirty litres q day. This keeps
the blood going. Then. TO check the diar-
rhea. injections of the solution are put into
the stomach. We use about two or three
quarts a day for each patient. 1t not only
checks the diarrhea. but also produce
coma in the bacteria and kills them The
vomiting. which 10 so marked 3 feature of
the disease. Is particularly distressing to
the physicians. because It precludes the
possibility of Introducing medicines
through the mouth. and the stomach. fur
therInore. will retain nothing. The general
treatment. besides the INFECTIONS. is TO adj
minister such drugs as give relief. with
brandy and water to keep up the vitality
OF the system. Tn patients are kept quiet
as much as possible aud their a bdomens are
kept warm and dry.
The symptoms of the patients on the
steamer are those of Asiatic cholera" said
Dr.. Byron. The dead people had all the
appearance of cholera dead. Their eyes
were sunken sieepily in their sockets: their
skin was dry and like parchment. so it
could be pulled out from the body. and so
1nelastic 1t would stay that way. and their
frames were, of course. wasted away so that
they looked like skeletons with the skin
stretched over them"
Were their faces of the blush black hue
of which We have heard so much as being
the characteristic symptom OF cholera i'll
a dead patientf
That bluish-black hue is due only to the
fact that what is left of the venous blood
has become cosgulated. and there is so little
leftof il that the arterial blood blood shows
through the blue arteries. which produces
a peculiar livid hue. and makes cholera
dead look particularly awful"
The patients who died Saturday night
were taken TO the crematory and burned.
The furnaces there have been kept under
great heat ever since the plague ships ar
rived. The incarceration lasted several
hours. and no vestIRe of the dead was left
after IL was finished. Dr. Byron was asked
whether all the dead, If there shall be more,
will be burned. He said. of course, crems.
tion was considered the safest thing, but
that many people had a great horror of it,
and If the relatives of any who might die
should object tn this mode of dlsposing of
the bodies, another method would be used.
Swinburne island has the necessary appli-
ances for embalming bodies. and. If Beces-
sary to satisfy relatives, the bodies of
cholera dead can be embalmed. The
method of embalming used in their
case. however. will be radically diff
ferent from that nsed in ordinary cases
of embalming. 1t will be much like the
ancient method employed by the Egyp-
tians in preparing their mummies. The
bodies become dried mp entirely and look
much like mummies. They can he preserved
for q long time. These are the only two
methods to be used in the case of cholera
patients. 1t would, of course. be utterly
ont of the question to bury them. for that
would invite q spread of the Infection.
After they are embalmed they will he kept
in q special vault on Swinburne island for
a certain length of time to make assur-
ance doubly sure.
The first cabin passenger of the Nor
MAMMA, Jacob HegemRnn. Who died on Aug.
81. and whose disease was first reported as
cholera. really died from diabetes. In cases
of diabetes the bowels are often affected.
and no doubt he showed some symptoms
which naturally looked suspicious, espe-
cially when Asiatic cholera was on board"
SAID DR.. Byron.