Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1893-03-02


should be wrung out OF the water df in
winter, and II In summer put directly
upon the ice. and then applied external
ly TO the throat, and as fast as one cloth
gets warm another should be ready TO
take its place, writes Q. G.. ID. Klopbel,
M. d., in contemporary. II the child
complains of being cold, its feet and
hands should be bathed in as hot water
as it can stand. When the child is very
young, it may readily be ascertained II
ii be cold or not by feeling its hands and
head. Under no circumstances should
hot applications be made TO the throat.
If the child is old enough, it may be
given broken ice to suck constantly, even
II the water is spit out. The cold APP
plications inhibit the growth Of the mi
crobes. The patients hands should
be washed frequently-and here let
me say so should those of the attendants
and the vessel used for the purpose
should not be used by any one else.
The patients clothing needs protection in
front. This may be done by pinning back
of the neck large piece OF linen or cot
ton fabric, which will cover the whole
front of the child and reach as far as the
knees. A material should be used which
can easily be boiled or burned when
soiled. The little patient, IL old enough,
will want to spit, and for a spittoon a
small wooden box, with an inch OF saw
dust on the bottom. is capital. Fresh
sawdust should be supplied at least once
day-three times day would be better
and that which has been used should be
emptied upon good hot fire, and thus
burned at the time the change is made.
| II there are any flies about, the box
| should be kept covered, and as matter
| of course, only uncovered when the pa
t;ent desires to spit; otherwise, the flies
alighting upon this spittle, would carry
the germs of the disease with them, and
then alghting upon the family's food anG
| drink, necessarily infect them, and thus
indirectly infect the whole family. This
is by no means chimcrical, but we'll
established fact.
HEALTH AND LIvING.-Thc prevalence
| of pneumonia and consumption, as
shown by the mortality records OF large
cities, is a startling fact which ought to
arrest the attention of medical societies
and of the public, says the Tribune
This is year when sanitary questions
will be constantly discussed, owing TO
widespread apprehension of an outbreak
of cholera. Public opinion will sustain
the most radical measures for the protec-
tion of the country against the Asiatic
scourge. 1t is not our purpose to call In
question the necessity for a rigorous
quarantine and systematic regulation OF
immigration as safeguards against pestl-
lcnce. What we desire to emphasize is
the fact that whether cholera is let in or
kept out, New York and other cities are
already ravaged by scourges which escape
public observation. In proof of this as
sertion we have only to refer tC
the mortality statistics for this city dur
ing the last decade. The average annual
mortality from pneumonia, phthsis and
bronchitis is 13, 245, or 29t per cent. o
the entire death list. That is an alarm
ing exhibit, which ought to be seriousl.
considered in the sanitary discussions o
n cholera year. The first inference TO b
drawn from the increasing prevalence
these diseases is that they may be re
Carded as infectious or contagious unde
certain conditions. Certain forms o
, pneumonia have indeed been shown to b
communicable. Recent reports of medl
cal officers to the Local Government
Board in London have tended to contirr
this opinion. There was moreover,
striking illustration of the spread of thi
! disease in Vienna year ago. The Gran
/ Duke Heinrich died of pneumonia
his room attendant was seized with tn
, same disease; thea his aide-de-camI
Colonel Copal, and finally his physician
l This instance of pneumonia In an II
I fictitious form is vouched for in "Publ
( Health Problems" recent Englis
3 work. As for phthsis, there is steadi
growing opinion among medical me
4 that it is contagious disease. One
the best-known cases was that OF FrenC
dressmaker who had three apprentice
The Young women took turns in stayir
overnight and shared her bed with he
She had consumption and died Of /
The apprentices, who had been vigoro'
% Young women in perfect health, all co
II tracted the fatal disease. Such instanc
y as these point to infectious or contagio'
u conditions which are ordinarily disr
l. garded. Another deduction which ms
: be grounded upon the terrible mortal
q of these diseases is that their develo
u ment is promoted by existing condition
e of living. The reforms in sanitation
I, houses, which have had mark'
} effect in diminishing the ravages of d
u seases like diptheria and typhoid feve
l. do not appear to have affected pneumor
9; and phthisis. These reforms have be-
q confined mainly to improvements
'r plumbing and drainage and to faciliti
/ for ventilation, especially in teneme
&c houses. II there has been any mark
IS change during the last thirty years
"a the conditions of living and ordina
re business in cities, it is in the climate i
d doors, especially from Octooer to Ma
"a BY means of eam-heat, hot-water sy
+ TENS and improved furnaces the tempe
a AZURE of houses, Offices and stores Il
rs been considerably raised during the wi
Oh ter months. 1t is at least an open out
IN ton whether overheated houses and I
sc fees are not to a large extent responsil
for the prevalence of the class OF disea'
e. which we have been considering.
u is certainly natural inference that t
n artificial climate indoors is {
ct bilitating, and that those who pass &C
lg stantly from overheated parlors, stor
~ offices, churches and theatres to n mu
or lower temperature outside are expos
n to radical changes from heat to col
We have no space in reserve for discu
ing other predisposing causes to In
disease, such as lack of outdoor exerci
4. ill-ventilated sleeping-rooms, inju'
~ cious diet, and unnatural habits
% breathing. The subject is one of W
~ ,reat ;mnortance in view of the ov