The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1899-07-04

How Nature
Gave Science
A Pointer.

much about the science of such things, |
but I've had lots of experience, and
very peculiar experience too. Talk
about your antitoxin for diphtheria and
such things. 1t isn't circumstance to
what I've had in my time. =
The speaker was tall, rather spare
middle aged man, with dark brown
hair, mixed with gray, and full beard,
cropped short On the whole, he was
rather pleasant appearing fellow and
disposed to be sociable.
'tYou know how fellow feels when
he shakes, do you-when your bones
all ache and cold streaks run down your
back every time you move and your
teeth chatter till you think they will
all come loosef Then you burn up with
fever after the chill Is over, and your
head aches, and you hope you will die
before another chill comes on. You
know all about that do your Well, SO
do l. But was cured of it many years
ago, and I've never had it since I"
.'How were you cured2" I asked
with some interest, and some of the
other passengers began to lean over and
try to catch the conversation.
az was inoculated.
"You see, / was living on farm
down along the Wabash, in a locality
where every body had ague nine months
out of the year. 1t was a regular breed
ing place of malaria, where erything
that lived and breathed had the shakes.
The papers used. to have great stories
nh ahoI fx1% ka% ,%,.r,
guess most of them were true, though
| suppose there was a little exaggera
ton sometimes. Irecollect reading once
about how it affected the wild pigeons
When they settled on the ground in
search of beechnuts and other stuff to
eat, they covered acres and acres as
thick as they could stand. Well, there
was story that the pigeons got the
ague when they lit in that locality and
shook all their feathers off. Then spec
ulators came and shipped thousands of
EN- to market. They couldn't fly be-
cause their wings had no feathers to fly
with, and the spectators gathered up
tons of the feathers and sent them east.
1t was good story, but l always
thought it was stretched little.
''But whether the story is true or not
had the ague for months at time,
and no quantity of quinine or other
stuff would do any good 1 just shook
and shook and burnt up with fever till
was a shadow and could hardly walk
had given up all hope of ever getting
any better unless went to some other
place, but I had spent SO much money
for medicine that hadn't enough left
to get away with, and had to just
shake and stand it.
Zone day l found squirrel in a
trap had set in the woods. He was
fine looking fellow, a big fox squirrel,
and hated to kill him, SO / took him
home in the trap and made a cage for
him. He soon became quite tame, and
could handle him as I pleased. One
day l noticed there was something the
matter with the squirrel He seemed
mopish and had no appetite, which was
something unusual for a squirrel. He
kept getting worse and soon grew as
thin as I was.
Zone day the doctor was passing by,
and l called him in to see my pet. He
looked him over and said it was clear
case of ague. That seemed queer to me,
and l laughed at the idea-said had
never heard of such thing. He ex-
planned it was because the squirrel was
confined in a cage where he could not
get his natural remedies. The wild ami
mails. he said. ate certain things while
in the woods that kept the malaria from
affecting them. But this one was pre-
vented from getting them and was suf-
fering the consequences.
81 watched the squirrel the next day,
and, sure enough, he had regular
shake, just as l did. He curled himself
up in ball, as small as he could, and
shook like sixty. Then he would stretch
himself out at full length and lie for an
hour or two as still as mouse. felt
his poor little body and found he was
burning with fever.
81 was going to turn him loose in the
woods and save the poor little fellow
life. but the doctor said he would like
to study the case for the sake of science.
So kept him and let him shake We
tried to give him quinine, but he
WOu1QA nave ~ dAl0I buG uISG uOS0.
But after few weeks he quit shaking
and began to fatten again. Then he
seemed to be crazy or mad. He want
ed to fight everybody who went near
him. When / fed him. he would go into |
fury and jump at me like little de-
mon.
Zone day he got ont of his cage. 1 |
tried to catch him, but he took up po- |
sition in corner and showed fight His |
eyes cleaned like fire, only there was |
greenish tinge to them. soon saw it |
wouldn't do to fool with him and made |
up my mind that the best thing to do
would be to get club and kill him. | |
was afraid he had hydrophobia So |
went out to the wood pile and got
stick ab.Ast three feet long.
''Just as drew it and was about to
strike he made jump and lit on my
arm. Quick as lightning he buried his
teeth in my arm just above the elbow.
Then he jumped down and took his sta
ton in the corner again l was afraid
he would bite somebody else, and so I
took the gun and shot him in the head
''In few days the place where he
bit me began to infame, and my arm
swelled until it was as big as two arms
We sent for the doctor, and he said it
was case of blood poisoning, and /
would have to be pretty careful, OF I
would lose the arm. The next day was
my regular day for shaking, and l
dreaded it, tell you. The pain in my
arm was terrible, and l thought that
and the ague at once would be more
than l could stand. But didn't have
the shake My legs ached little, and /
could feel some Of the symptoms, but
there was no chill and no fever except
that in my arm. Ny next shake day |
missed 1t again and felt no signs of it
at all. But I had some queer feelings
come over me. wanted to run into the
woods and climb trees, and then / felt
a strong desire to bite somebody. l be-
came raving mad, although / was Sc
reduced with the aGue it took two men
to hold me, and when tried to talk /
barked like squirrel. But in few
days ] got over the craze, and my arm
grew better, and at last it seemed to be
entirely cured. But had no more ague
l gained flesh and in few weeks was
as strong as ever and felt perfectly
we'll How to account for it I did not
know, but the doctor studied over the
case good deal and then talked it
over with other doctors It was brought
up in meeting Of the county medical
society, and they had me attend the
meeting and tell about 1t. They finally