The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1895-12-21
al About Railroad Kidney, Telephon'
T1nn!tns. Electrical Sun-Strokc, 1'cic-
scopic Eye and Numerous Other
w-Eanglcl Ailments.

As every pleasure in life brings It's
corresponding pain or bitterness, so it
may be said that every civilized aid tc
existence devised for human kind do.
vclops an agency for introducing new
ills to torment alike suffering flesh and
tho Nsculapin brain. The invention
IF steam ~locomotion, telegraph and tele.
phone instruments, electric lighting and
various tinc and la~bor-saving machines,
while adding so much to public comfort
md convenience, have also brought into
existence curious diseases, which, &C.
:ording to tho Times and Register, form
interesting contributions to medical
science, although less interesting and
more expensive to tho suffering victim.
Railroad spine, or railroad shock, ar
affection unknown before travel by rail
became 81 common, has been 6
familiar malady for some time
but n more recent is rail
road kidney, a disease not unlike
Bright's disease, but of nervous origin
1ue to conclusions received on rail
roads. There is a disturbance of the
general system, especially of the func.
lions OF the kidneys, tho symptoms dis.
appearing wncn tho sufferer leaves his
regular work. The ovcrusc of the
telephone produces a curious disease, in
some respects q form Of asemasia, a
volitional ovcrstraining of certain
p.wcrs by which VIC perceive spoken
words when VIC can not sec the speaker
or perceive his gestures or the move
mont Of his lips, thus creating confusion
Of ideas, general nervousness and lack
of sclf-control. Certain of the senses
are developed ut TIL" expense of others.
tho natural equilibrium being unbal-
anced. Telephone tinnitus. aural over
pressure, is caused by the constant
strain of the auditory apparatus in per-
sons who use tho telephone continually,
the car becoming intolcrant of the
tinklo of tao bell. The symptoms
arc buzzing noises in tho car, dizziness,
neuralgic pains, and, in some instances,
a sub-inflammatory condition of tho
membrane tympani. Tho tclegraphers
cramp and tho professional akinesia arc
Of tho same order Of affections as the
writer's cramp or tho violinists' cramp.
Electrical sunstrokc is an. affection
that attacks those who are exposed
to the intense rays of the electric
arc used in fusing or welding
metals, protection against this being
afforded by wearing a mask C:
gray tafTcta and gray eyeglasses. Or
thalmia photoclcctrica is IN inflamma
tion of the eye in persons employed
about electric lights, and is caused by
looking at these brilliant lights at 3
short distance away. y succession OF
bright spots rapidly follow II anothe,
over tho visual field, and ut night there
is inability to look at light without
pain and q profuse flow OF tears; the
Yields are swollen and movements Of
he eye painful. This lasts il few hours,
nd is succeeded by Il feeling of pain
ul WEAKNESS. Tho ordinary telescope
:ision is a disease by which the visual
icld is limited conccntrically, and the
,uffcrcr can finally sec nothing except
hat which is directly in ron of his
,ye; this condition being due to lack OF
nutrition Of tho rctina or to some dis
,asc OF tho periphery. An affection OF
vision similar to the tclcscopic eye may
.lso be produced by tho action of qui
ainr. Tho telescope ego peculiar t.
lighthouse keepers is a ~thickcning ane
charging Of tho bony wallis of thu
orbit, caused by the pcrsistcnt and re
,cated pressure at tho end Of the tel
scope upon tho surroundings {.
.ho eye, inducing q chronic form
Vt periustitis or osLitis: the eyt
gradually %protrudjng, but not becoming
nyopic or astigmatic. Tho divers
bends is ~ now form Of caisson disease
which attacks the victim on his return
to the open air with nervous prostra
tion. Tho cavities connected with tho
rasal passages are obstructcd in some
cases completely while the men arc a!
work, and in ono cases extreme deaf
ness has been induced. The sufferers
often reel and staggcr like drunkards:
and sometimes are affected with partia..
paralysis. Electricity has been used
with success for the treatment of this
disease. Civilized irdulgcnccs and a
tiles have also contributed their share
3f tho diseases that afflict the modern
world. Tight shoes, by comprising the
rrvcs OF tho foot, have created ''Mor.
ms toe" Then the tennis elbow and
,s.-ball shoulder tell thcir own story:
nile Chronic raiarrh is in a large num-
GER of cases said to DO duo to cigarette
hroat, tho result of smoking, tho much
ondcmncd hut still f..vorite cigarette.
inventive genius is still at work improv-
ing the arts and sciences, and so the de-
non of disease, evcr on the alert, will
oubtlcss swoop down with his at
.'ndant ills to the end of ti:nc, keeping
.rugress with the march of civilization.
Tia" rrclrhcr's Enc0Mium.
There recently died d man VINO had