The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-04-18
Too Much Nourishment.

@My most remarkable professional
experience p repeated the physician
ih0ughtfully, knocking the ashes of the
end Of his cigar, and addressing a re-
porter. That Is a hard question to
answer of hand, but can tell you Of an
extremely old occurrence in connection
with ny practice recentiy-
at was 2 case ofpneumonia- A young
lad was sick with the complaint out in
Tenleytown. The father, poor man
and a carpenter by trade, was an old
acquaintance Of mine, having done odd
Jobs for me occasionally. He insisted OF
employing my services, though | recon-
mended a practitioner near at hand, be-
cause could 10. possibly get out there
to visit the patient more than once
day.
The disease had already reached
critical stage when was first summon
ed. After writing a couple Of prsscrip-
tons and giving directions as to other
matters, called the father and request
Ell bis attention to certain instructions
respecting food. said to him
Take this quart whisky bottle and
put into it one pound Of finely chopped
lean beef. cork it tightly, place It IN
pot Of water, and let it boil four hours
That viii make the strongest kind Of
extract-a highly concentrated form Of
nourishment- Give TO the boy one Ia
blespoOnful Of il every hour
Il went away satisfied that every
thing was provided for. The next day
I returned to find my patient in state
Of collapse. In haste l called for brandy
and milk, and managed to revive him.
For the life Of ne I could not account
for the situation Of Affairs summon
ed the father, Who was nearly distract
ed with anxiety. and questioned him.
"'Haye you given him the beef ex-
tract ordered . I asked.
~'Oh, yes, sir, be replied.
Every hour .
@'Yes, SIR
"'YOu pat pound Of ehopped raw
beef into the bottle and boiled it
Yes, sir. Corked II up and boiled
it four hours in pot OF water He's
had tablespoonful Of the stuff every
hour since you we're here last
1t beat me- said. Why, I could
have supposed that the boy was exani-
mate from sheer inanition. Bring me
some Of the beef extract and let NE see
it.
Presently half a tumblerfll Of the
preparation was brought and submitted
to me for examination I could hardly
believe ny senses. II looked ike va
ter; it tasted Ike water it was water,
and nothing else.
What does this mean % I demanded
angrily,
That's the stuff you ordered, SIR
replied the father, confidently. 4 made
it myself, according to your own direc-
tions-boiled the bottle Of beef Just as
you said. But I must confess that I
thought it was a pretty weak kind Of
broth for sick boy
II stared at him for a minute or two
in wonder. Then a light began to dawn
on me- gasped and said
Bring me the bottle
He did 50. Its contents had eyi-
IDENTIFY not been disturbed. I poured
from It a tablespoonful of thick and
nourishing fluid and AL ninistered it TO
the patient.
The father looked on as Il awe struck
Why said he, you never told me
that You said to cork up the bottle,
but you did not tell ne to uncork it; 50
I thought that you meant shoIId give
him the water it vas boiled i'm
so that vas what my patient had
been fed on for 24 hoursL5oiIed water
and nothing more. No wonder that
found hin in state Of collapse. He
recovered, bu. It vas a narrow squeeze.
I assure YOU - Washington Sur