The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-11-04

His many books written for the
non-professional reader have made
him wen known in every state of the
Union. In an interview with the doc
tor as to the present epidemic OF yell
low fever, he stated: That whatever
may be true about the contagious char
acter or yellow fever, this much il Ger
tam, that III some manner il can he con-
veyed from person To person; if not
through the air like measles, at least IL
can be- through clothing, etc, like typhoid
lever. The disease germs of yellow
FEVER flor germs they are, without a
donbb, like all other disease germs must
hnd entrance into the body through some
mucous membrane. In contagious dis
eases the germs are brcathed into the.
nose throat and lungs. and thus brought
III contact with the mucous surfaces
llning these organs.
II seems Il safe conclusion that the.
contaSlon of yellow fever is either con
NrNW by actual contact with something
Wnich mas had contact with the affected
patient or by atmospheric contagion, or
by both agencies. Atmospheric con
tagion seems ID be restricted to certain
SOILS and elevations and receives addi-
tlonal restriction, but of uncertain rule
in latitude.
In amy case. the fact remains that the
poison must find entrance into the system
through the mucous membrane. Keen
ing the patient strictly isolated from
other people, especially the clothing.
utensils ana cXcreta of the patient. H. Of
course. the most obvious and practical
precaution against taking this disease.
mat tins can not always be done il
plain, from the fact that we are 10 fire.
quently visited by cpidemics of this
scourge. If. however, the disease |.
wholly endemic in its origin like ma
lario, such precautions will not render
adequate protection. In such n ease.
each person must protect himself against
an unseen enemy. In the midst of alt
the uncertainty rs to how this disease
hnds is way from one person to am
other, one thing is certan--t must find
It's entrance into the body through the.
mucous membrane.
Now II is n wei known fact that
while some fail victims. many escape:
although suffering the same exposure;
ana formerly. in the ease of negroes. 1t
was well known that they almost entirely
escaped the con!asion; would like to,
raise the question. Why is this! Why
Is 1t some people escape, while others fall
victims?
My theory of this matter il that thfe
poison can only lind its way into the
system through II mucous membrane.
more or less diseased. 4 healthy mu-
cous membrane affords Il more or less,
perfect protection. The slightest ca.
tarrhal arrangement of mucous mem
brane makes the person an easy victim to-
yellow fever. Catarrh may he In the
head or stomach, the throat or lungs:
the result would be the same. Such
10 take it. while person free from en-
tarrh is practically safe.
The negroes were brought TO This
country from Africa. where catarrh in.
unknown, Until lately the negroes were
slngularly exempt from catarrh 1t was
not until after generations of exposure,
to our climate that the negro began tn
acquire catarrhal diseases With his
acquisition of catarrhal arrangements
came his liability to yellow fever the
same ms white men. There are other
prove that only catarrhal subjects are
likely to catch yellow fever: hut they
would. of course, he of interest chiefly
To the professional reader.
1t will possibly be- thought by some, IN
view of the fact that am the author OF
10 many works on catarrh and the orig-
nator of the now famous remedy for ca
arrh-Pc-ru-na-tha ! would naturally
he inclined to cxaggeratc the Importance
of catarrh in this matter: that would
he uncomsciously prejudiccd in some de-
gree on this subject. hardly think that
this can be true, because of the plain
and self-evdent arguments upon which
my theory rests.
No one will dispute that contagious
poisons find their way into the system.
through the mucous membrane: that an
unhealthy mucous membrane IL very
favorable TO their entrance; thai the
great. II not the sole cause. of unhealthy
mucous membranes is chronic catsrrh ::
and that Pc-ru-na Is the justly rec0g.
niscd internal remedy for catarrh. Now
all these are well known facts.
From these facts | conclude that ia
the absence of careful protection from
the poison of yellow fever. the only logi-
cal or rational protection is Pe-ru-nir.
OF course. II would have been far bet
ter had Pe-ru-na been taken before the
epidemic made its appearances. but better
late than never. Not to avail oneself
of what seems to be 10 plainly II natural
prophy Tactic remedy for yellow fever il
nearly suicidal IN view of these well
known facts. This may be- regarded m.
radical statement, but. radical or not,
only safety can follow if II happens 10
be u true statement. while no harm could
certainly follow should II he a too en-