The morning call., 1893-12-10
THAT is bad cough you have"


in the least serious. It amounts to moth
ing-nothing at ALL"
Sometimes the second speaker is fairly
right, sometimes he is wholly wrong 1t
may be generally said. however, that his
tendency to take serious view of his ''bad
cough" is in inverse proportion to the
seriousness Of his affliction. Your neurosal
c3ugher, whose little. hacking. punctuation-
mark OF cough shifting the ear with such
exasperating regularity is due purely and
simply to nerves, is far more apt to take
alarm al his condition and seek the physi-
clans advice than is the coDsumptive,
even when the latter is in the last stages
OF his malady. In fact. there is always q
peculiar buoyancy and hopefulness which
has come to be inseparably connected in
the physicians mind with phthisis, W hirh
keeps up the spirits and hope Of the victim
almost to the end. He is sure be is going
TO get well. That last remedy the doctor
has prescribed is working like charm
the spring will bring health, or in the fall
he will go south and soon be all right.
The winter was too severe for him, or the
summer heat has been too wearing. Or,
perhaps. it is when father or mother, or a
favorlte brother, sister or cousin, or may
be the
Nearer still, and dearer one
Yet than ali other,
Ut matters not who the absent one may be
so affection seems TO buoy up bope), re-
turns. he will begin to pick up again and
be all right. Any excuse or none serves
for hope to build upon and rear a wall of
faith to shut out the grim shape ever
standing near.
The nervous cough. on the other hand, is
depressent. The victim fancies he is
going into a decllne-even does so on oc-
casions, frightened TO death as literally as
though he had been subjected to sudden
deadly terror.
Strictly speaking there is no such thing
as tri1ing cough. A cough is never a
thing to be trifled with. When 1t does not
mean serious organic mischief it means
serious mechanical mischief and should
be seen TO at once, whatever its cause.
This may be one of many things. There
are many kinds OF coughs aud OF varying
natures.
The consumptive cough is hacking, in
the incipient stages, deep and distressing
as the disease tightens its hold upon the
victim. Tne nervous cough is dry, hollow,
hacking, very similar at times to the cough
of early phthisis, but distinguished in later
stages of the latter malady. The nervous
cough is very apt to appear in children
and young girls, and | have seen hack
ing, coughing, pale-faced girl actually cured
of what her alarmed friends were at first
inclined TO mistake for quick conSump-
ton BY the severe but necessary measure
OF rldicule and imitation of the principal
symptom OF her supposed malaGy.
There is the stomach cough" of dyspep-
ties. Irritating TO the mucous mem branes
and exhausting to the system. Like unto
IL Is the llyer-cough, with its sharp "catch
in the side" as the women call it; and
every mother knows the 'cradle-cough" of
abdominal Irritation during those mysteri-
Gus months when the welcome little visitor
Is awaiting the full time for his advent.
Worms and teeth are TWO familiar causes
tor coughing In children, but there is also
an ear cough recognized among English
authorities. Heard in connection with
roaring In the ear, giddiness often to the
point Of staggering, and occasional nausea,
1t points TO mischief in the inner ear, and
an aurist should be seen. Trouble with
the tonsils and uvuia may cause dry,
hacking cough. Elongation Of the uvula
produces a hack very like that Of early
consumption.
The morning cough" of hypochondriac
and people troubled with bronchial catarrh
is produced by slight chilling of the blood
on getting out Of a warm bed. A little
brisk exercise will soon dissiDate it in the
case OF the former class of sufferers. while
for the latter 1t serves the useful purpose
OF dislodglng the overnight accumulation
OF mucus. The cough of bronchitis, after
tHO ul1s ilL4ldIL III 81 SldRt, is lOtSI, OlIen
with a resonant roll that sounds very
alarming, and scTapes along the mucus
mem brane in a way 10 cause acute pain,
aId leave taste of blood in The m outh for
some time after 1t is rarely, however,
that blood appears, and when 1t does it is
IN minute Quantltle diluted with saliva.
Hemorrhage from tie lungs, on the con-
trary, is bright red. In diseases of she
laryDX and lrachea the cough is shrill and
hoarse, while the guardian of children well
knows the strident, piercing cough of the
crouDy child.
The genuine, original, take-no-other
cough sui generis, however, is the whoop-
Ing cough. This differs from other coughs
ln being lnspiratory rather than exploratory.
"Ihe coughing fit begins with long
Drawn, clear. piping sound, (produced as
the air is slowly drawn into the CONSTRUCTED
glOttis). Then follows series of short,
rapidly interrupted, exploratory coughs.
and this is succeeded by the Growing, long
drawn. inspiTatory act. the 'whoop' telling
that the paroxysm is over. The descrip-
tlon is uDmlstakable.
The hiccough is a spasm of the da-
phragm, annoying and unpleasant, but
usually harmless save when so prolonged
as to produce exhaustion, when death is
known to have been caused by it. In old
age. however. persistent hiccOughing be-
comes significant and serious symptom,
its cause referable TO the brain or heart
wbooplng cough, hiccough is in spiratory.
Any sort of cough, long conunued, is
productive of serious mechanical mischief.
A cough should never be neglected.
Whether the cause be intra or extra
thoracic-that is, whether caused by dis
ease in lungs or broDchia tubes, or refer
able to throat, stomach or lIvef-there is
scarcely an organ in the body that is lot
injured by 1t. The vocal chords are thick
ened and injured; the larynx ard glottis
suffer, and the diaphragm becomes relaxed
and iDelastic. Digestion is impaired. the
liver and kidneys sustain mischief. and in
women very serious abdominal difficulties
may often be traced to slight cough Ii
is also eXhaustiDg to the system, the BODY
wrenching cough of consumption leaving
the sufferer worn out and suffused with
perspiration. Besides all these the society
of the iDcassant cougher is ANYTHING but
an uDmixeG pleasure to his friends. The
sound Of his affiictlon is very irritating.
AS general thing the victim does not
wish to cough. We have long since passed
the time, though our fathers ana mothers
may remember il. when TO be delicate waG
fashionable aud invaids were deemed in
teresting. People no longer "enjoy poor
health" as the quaint phrase runs, a relic
of the days when all i'll as we'll as all good