The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-07
CUNNING OF SICK PEOPLE.
Queer Dodges That Are Tried By Pa
ii ents to Deceive the Doctor.
From the Vashgno+or ctar

From the Washington Star.
"Say7 There is nothing slyer on earth
than sick woman"
1t was Washington physician who
said it, and he added;
81 have to be continually on the look
out for tricks that my women patients
play on me. Not only do they try to get
ahead of me in all sorts of ways, as diet
and other matters, but they will invent
every conceivable dodge Just for the sake
of entertainment. For example, yester-
day was taking the temperature of a
young Lady with continuous fever. She
held the thermometer in her mouth five
minutes, as usual And by the way,
women always object to that performance,
because it prevents them from talking
One of my patients says that she invaria-
bly, thinks OF something important to say
the moment after the glass tube has been
placed between her lips, and she inevita-
bly, forgets what it was by the time the
instrument is removed.
But, as l was going to remark, this
patient underwent the ordeal, at the con-
clusion of which she withdrew the Their
momeUer and handed it to me. 1 noticed
a covert grin as she did so, and wondered
what she was smiling at. But declare
that I was positively startled when |
81 degrees Fahrenheit. If that had been
her actual temperature she would have
been dead; but, on the contrary, she exhi-
bited every other symptom Of rapid con-
valescence.
"The fact was, that just before gave
her the thermometer, she had taken sip
of water from glass, and had incident
ally secreted chunk of ice in her mouth.
Naturally that affected the record of the
f11ha The nafinnf Pxnlqiund that che
had become so disguised with waiting for
ner temperature to come down to nor
mali that she had thought little artifice
would be both appropriate and eXcusable.
But that is nothing compared to an
other recent experience of mine. A girl
of about II was recovering nicely of an at
tack of iaundice. In fact, she was get
ting so much better that her sister insist
ed on resuming her ordinary habit of
sleeping with her. | would have pre-
ferred not, but there was really no seri-
Gus objection.
zone night, having been detained, got
around rather late. II was after 10
O'Clock p. m. l walked upstairs to the
sick room and found the sisters both in
bed, the well one apparently sound asleep.
The light burned rather dimly. l felt the
! pulse, which had been quite high in the
morning of the same day. To my surprise
it was full, regular and quite normal as
to beats tried it second time with
the same result.
Now, what do you suppose the trick
was in that case2 You would never
guess The two girls had so arranged
themselves in bed that the arm of the
well sister was under the sick one and
| projected in such a manner as to make it
appear as if it belonged to the latter. [
had been feeling the pulse of the wrong
lady No wonder it was healthy.
The matter of diet is most difficult for
the physician to control. His instruc-
tions are always apt to be disregarded,
and he must contend NOT only against the
reluctant patient. but also with lnJudl-
cious relatives and friends, who give her
things sheshould not eat on the sly. One
woman whom | attended in serious ill
ness got hold of a bag of pears, brought
to her by sympathetic acquaintance,
| and secreted them under her bed. She
ate them all, and the fact that she did
not die was simply due to her remarkable
cons titution.
"But I will tell you of little exper-
fence of that sort which met with quite
recently. There was a little girl in
Georgetown, about IL years of age, who
was on the point of convalescence after
typhoid fever She had been on a liquid
diet for weeks, and her appeals for more
satisfactory food were pitiful. She said
the Stops that prescribed for her made
her sick.
''Well. one morning, when 1 came to
the ouse and was walking upstairs to
! the sick room, happened TO meet the pa
TENTS grandmother. She stood aside to
| let me pass, and l noticed that she ap-
peared TO conceal something behind her
back stopped short.
MADAM said, let me see what you
are hiding
AFTER a brief demur she produced it.
1t was piece of bread.
''You were going TO give that bread to
Nellie7' said sternly.
ayes she confessed. The poor child
has been crying for it.
81 took the bread from her without
further remark and sought an immediate
interview with her son, Nellie's father.
"'Mr. y l said, you must SEND
your mother home TO Baltimore at once.
| The next express starts at p. m. she
must take it,
but, DOCTOR objected the father,
much astonished, this is a severe demand
| on YOUR part. l cannot understand the
| reason for it and l am very reluctant 70
comply
You must take your choice, / replied;
between your mothers presence ana
your daughters life. A moment ago L
| caught her in the act Of trying 10 convey
a slice of bread to the patient. II she had
succeeded in doing so unobserVed, Nellie
would probably have been dead Wltnln
forty-eight hours
Then the old lady went back to Balti-
more that afternoon. As for Nell!ei |
/ met her IN the street to-day ana noticed
| that roses bloomed In her cheeks"