The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1896-11-20

XII ~ u . AZ % ~.
PG u w., where they es-
tablished a home
10Y the treatment of wounds and ulcers
by exposure to oxygen gas, says the
Londo Telegraph. The committee
consists of the president, already
named, Viscountess Wolseley, Lady
Hamilton Gordon, Clara Lady Raleigh,
Lady Osborne, Lady Arnott, the dow
ager Lady Stuart, Lady Nottage, Mrs.
Joscelyn Bagot, Sir Francis de Winton,
Sir Francis Osborne, Sir Thornley,
Stokes, Col. sunderson, M. P, the Rev.
Teigmouth Shore, Sir John Hassard,
Dr.. George stoker, Mr.. Adrian
Hope, MI. B. R. Baker of Balti-
more, U. S. A., and Mr.. w. Bur-
dett-Coutts, M. P, chairman. These
ladies and gentlemen desire to
spread knowledge of a practice which,
1t has been proved by demonstration,
will cure ailments of common occur
renee hitherto regarded as incurable.
independently of the humanitarian as
pect OF the system and it's remarkable
curative effects, it has the further ad-
vantage of being extremely econom-
1cal, especially when we remember
that the warehouses and infirmaries
throughout the country contain hun
dreds of patients whose present illness
which oxygen would relieve-makes
them a burden upon the rates.
Since the establishment of the home
IN he beginning of May fifteen pa
tents lave been discharged cured, the
aggregate Of whose sufferings extended
over a period of forty years, and this
act Of beneficence has been accom-
plished at a trifing cost. The oxygen
treatment has at present no rival, and,
with the exception of the home, nc in
stitution exists where the system is
explained to qualified practitioners,
students and nurses. Like most all
discoveries Of the kind, the oxygen
treatment has not escaped criticism.
At the same time there can be no
doubt whatever as to it's value in the
cure Of wounds and skin difficulties of
the most serious and obstinate nature.
During the Turko-Russian and Zulu
wars DR.. George Stoker, who was for
merely an ambulance surgeon, at first
under the Turkish government and
afterward to the Stafford House COM
mission in South Africa, observed the
effects which pure air had on wounds
when exposed to it's influence. During
and after the Zulu war he was in
structed to administer surgical relief to
the wounded natives-which, by the
way, they were most unwilling to &C
cept. He could not, however, help re-
marking hal the natives carried their
W wounded to the hilltops, several
thousand feet above the level of the
sea, where the wounds were exposed
to the action Of the atmosphere and
washed with water several times daily.
Under this simple and primitive treat
ment severe wounds healed rapidly,
partly, no doubt, owing to the pure
blood of the patients, and partly to
the fact that they abstained from al
coholic stimulants, but even more. as
the observer believed, was the result
due to the action Of the oxygen in the
air.
The idea was not lost on DR.. Stoker,
who ultimately arrived at the conclu-
sion that wounds and ulcers might sat-
isfactorily be healed by exposure to
oxygen gas. Thirteen years later, on
his return to England, he began treat
ing cases of the kind by inclosing the
parts affected in a wooden box, with a
glass lid, at the end of which is an
aperture, fitted with an india-rubber
funnel for the admission of the infected
limb. A mixture, half pure oxygen and
half pure air, is introduced into the
box from an india-rubber bag. Other
apparatus are used for affections of the
eye, ear, nose, head and trunk. The
first effect of the oxygen on the wound
is to relieve pain, and, when visiting
the home, l saw a case of a woman
who, although she had passed through
many forms of attempted cure, had not
enjoyed a nights complete rest for
eighteen years, yet who now is free
from suffering and on the high road to
health. AS is Familiarity known. oxy-
gen is a powerful sanitary agent, and it
well retains it's power in this treat
ment, dissipating all offensive doors
like magic. =
1t was observed, from the beginning,
that on many Of the parts exposed to
the gas hair grew with astonishing ra-
pidity. and it was determined to try the
effect Of the oxygen in cases of prema-
ture badness. A girl of 8, who had
been bald for several years, was fitted
with a cap made of india rubber, kept