The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-04-14

| al especial burial ground having been
| devoted 10 such service. Every house IN
| which patient had been i'll with choi-
era was thoroughly disinfected by hot
water, steam or dry heat and other aisln-
| fecIahtS.
Acting OF the belief that cholera was
introduced into the system through the
food eaten and the liquid drunk. all the
| tood was thoroughly cooked, and the
water boiled, as a safeguard against It.
"A temperature of 80 degree, kills choi-
era germs. The observation, experience
and practical tests of the medical author
| ties of the highest standing obtained
| during this epidemic i'll Russia, led these
authorities 10 believe that the system of
dlsinfection as generally understood and
| practiced, was of little or no practical
i value. excepting such disinIection as
properly comes within the domain OF
thorough cleanliness.
One of the most prolific sources of dis
| trlbutlon o. cholera germs Is the COM
mon house flies When patient is at
tackled with cholera, flies are apt TO ac-
cumulate around the eXcrement and get
| these germs upon their wings and feet,
and then a!ight upon the food about the
| house that the people eat, CT IN other
places. On that account they ordered
that all the food eaten by the people
should be thoroughly cooked, and all
! the water boiled.
A similar system of prevention and
sanitation was adopted i'll Moscow and
| in St. Petersburg. Moscow is generally
considered city whose sanitary ar
rangements are such as to naturally
lead to tie propagation of this disease,
as its sewerage is imperfect, but the
authorities TOOK it in hand, and the city
was thoroughly cleaned from one end to
the other. The same system was prac
ticed in St. Petersburg, and the result
| was that there were not many cases III
| either of these cities, and those that
| did appear were quite effectually con-
trolled and the germs stamped out, with
| but few fatal results.
| Late news from Europe indicates that
| the cholera germs are rapidly developing
in different localities, and with consider
| able virulence. The authorities in the
! principal cities of the United States
| ought to begin at once to prepare for the
| advent OF cholera here. Thorough clean
lineSs of the streets, sewers. water clos
cts, back alleys, yards, stables and sur
roundings cannot be begun too soon.
Tie food that people eat and the fluids
| they drink must be fresh and healthfuI,
and the houses and grounds and all sur
roundings should be made perfectly
clean. Ii this be done early, the danger
of an epidemic of cholera will be very
greatly lessened. The people should
also take baths, keep the skin clean and
active, and see that the alimentary canal
is Invested of all impurities that might
give rise to seed bed for cholera germs.
The discoveries of DR.. Koch in regard
to the nature of this disease have also
led to an entire change in the methods
of treatment of cholera. 1t is found that
thorough cleaning by irrigation of the
alimentary canal is one of the most
effective methods of treating cholera.
When persons are attacked with this
disease. the authorities being notified,
take charge of the case at once. If there
is a hospital prepared for them, the
patient is removed to the hospital. The
first thing done after entering the hos
pitaI is to put them into a warm BATH
where they will be hathed and rubbed
vigorously for fifteen to twenty minutes.
All their clothing is destroyed. They
are put into warm f1annels and new gar
1icHlo GU III tiC pul
pose are placed upon them. The treat
ment practiced in Russia consisted sub
stantially % of hot water and hot air
baths; (2) simultaneous injections in the
abdominal walls, of distilled water con-
tanning about half of one per cent. solu-
ton of common salt; 81 injection in
the lower bowels of tannic acid and
opium; a. hypodermic injections of
diuretin, for inactive kidneys; (5) inter-
nal administration of salol, bismuth,
opium, cocaine and castor oil, as indi-
Gated g. hypodermic injections of NOR.
phia.
During the prevalence of the epidemic
of cholera in Russia, DR.. Lee, the resi-
dent physician of the Palmer house,
Chicago, was sent by the authorities of
that city to take observations and make
experiments in regard to cholera and its
treatment, with a view to prevent the
spread of this disease in Chicago during
the worlds fair DR.. Lee was admitted
into the hospitals of Russia, and was
given permission to treat cases on the
plan proposed, which was that of irri-
cation of the alimentary canal. During
his stay there he treated - patients, "a
of whom recovered under the treatment
His system of irrigation was simply that
of introducing a long elastic rubber tube
into the alimentary canal as far as across
the transverse colon, having jar hold
ing two or three gallons Of distilled
water, heated to about 100 or 105 de-
grees, with CASTLE soap IN solution ele-
waited above the patient. The jar filled
with water was connected by rubber
pipe with the tube introduced into the
colon, with a stop-cock to regulate the
flow of water which was allowed 10 pass
to the upper end of the tube and work
its way back into vessel. This irriga-
ton was continued until everything was
washed out, and the aimentary canal
thoroughly cleaned, all the disease germs
removed. and the water returned clear.
In many cases single irrigation OF this
kind was the means OF restoring the
patient TO health, and IN other cases 1t
would require three or TOUR tunes. OF
the twenty-seven cases, ten received one
treatment; nine received three; three re-
ceived four, and three died.
tfter they began the irrigation treat
ment in Russia, the physicians began TO
watch more carefully the use Of their re-
madies. and some OF those they
thought were most efficacious in the
treat slleat they have doubts about nov.
and the impression Is that most OF Tie
old remedies will be discarded.
They found very great relief IN treat
ing these cases from the use Of hot
water and hot air or Turkish baths. \
small crate was placed over the bed,
over which blankets were laid 10 cover
tbs crate and the patient. y small piece
of lin pine was inserted under the cloth
ing, under one end Of which, outside Of
the bed. was placed common kerosene
lamp, and ptefuse perspifation was