St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-12-01
DIPHrHERrA.

OF Neuville-C Champ d'Oisel, about
nine miles from Rouen, made An
important experiment last year,
which may be the means OF saving
many lives il the knowledge Of it
comes to be widely diffused, says
the Independent. A violent cpl
demic Ut diphtheria broke out, and
the deaths were appalling::y nuraer-
Gus and his usual methods Of treat
ment seemed . total failure. He
remembered that the English had
used petroleum ~(kerosene) rs an
antispasmodic and a%ntiseptic; hc
determined tn try it on . little girl
Of !, whom he had given up. He
explained to the parents that, with
their consent, I've would make an ex-
pertinent, and at once he began
swabbing the throat with the petro-
lcum. He was careful not to have
an excess Of the material ON his
brush. rs to drop ton much might
strangle in the disabled cOndition Of
the throat and larynx. To his
establishment there was improve
ment after the first application.
He continued the treatment. and
the child recovered, and he used
it successfully with many patients
xfterward i'm fact he lost none.
Lest this should turn out to be
too good news to be true, and it
should prove that lie had been
treating false d%iphtheria, which so
closely resembles the true that only
examination BY IN expert bacteri-
ologist can determine its nature, he
sent portions Of the expect0rated
membrane TO Prof. Francois Hue,
bacteriOlOg,st OF the Medical fOl-
lcge Of Rouen, aud he reported the
presence Of numerous bacilli oi
d%iphtheria.
A little observation And re1ec.
ton show how the potent fluid
works. The membrane of diph-
liberia consists Of . most rapidly
growing plant. and among the other
elements in petroleum is . large
amount u sulphur, which is very
inimical to diphther's membrane.
Did you ever notice how efHectually
. handful u salt will kill = tuft 81
thrifty grass? There Is something
in this oil that is just as fatal to the
diphtheria plant At once the mem.
brane seems 10 become thinner, !.
it ceases to grow, and that which
had attended its growth breaks
down under the s"fteuing II the
oil, and eventually disappears.
We ar. thus careful in detailing
the use Of this remedy. tor sup
posing q person, far from . physi.
clan, is attacked with some malady
which produces ''white spots o: the
throat" Whether it is false u
true diph:heria, it is an undesirable
inmate, very liable to be commune
Gated to others, fnr it only wants
= throat slightly indamed by = cold
tn find its natural Labitat-a soil
where it will thrive.
OF course, the family has kero-
sene in the hsuse, anil = bit ri soft
old cloth wrapped about . smooth
stick will answer in the absence Of
the camel's hair brush always
recommended In regulation articles
on applications to surfaces: the
point Is to get that oil onto the
white spots and kill the bsc-
terial growth then and there. The
Iopesstion shOnld be repeated once
An hour. tbs careful Kidding Of the
brush or swab OF any sulsrQYQus
drop prevents choking.
The person applying the oil
should he careful W stand = little
at the side, 30 that should the
patient cough NO particle OF expec-
torsted material can get into the
eye 1T the operator, Is the human
eve Is Of all culture mediums for
diphtheria bacilli about the moot
favorable, and to-day many > lost
eye j. owing to want Of carefullnes..
It is said that the patteqts sfpeFl-
ence relief q the FIRST application,
end II the brush j. properly shaken
before using the only discomfort
they experience u . ~dissgreeable
taste for . short time.
We wish that . warning word
migat make people more vigilant
~ to tive care to keep the disease
confined to the original sufferer.
Among the ignorant aud poor.
where comforts { scarce. it Is
spread hy using the same hand
kerChief TOT the sick aud we'll,
allowing them Ill Ia drink from
the same glad, etc.
A German family IT five children
we're swept off within nine days
by simple carclessness in these
matters; but let every one remem.
Der that d~iphtheria is the most
orsilr communicated NJ all the