The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-25
Medical Notes.

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DR.. Oliver. in the Texas Dental Journal,
| in an article upon "Oral Hygiene" be-
lieves that the teeth should be looked
| after by competent dentist from the
| time when the child begins to cut it's
| first teeth, and says that he has seen
! the first teeth ruined by rubbing through
the gums with q thimble or a scalpel,
| breaking the enamel before the teeth
| have come to light He cautions people
against cutting and slashing the gums
| of an infant, unless 1t is absolutely es-
| Senttal, and in any case 1t should be done.
| only by competent person. Not only
| are the first teeth liable to injury from
/ unwise and unskillful interferences, but
| the embryonic second or permanent teeth
may be injured. He defines oral hygiene
| to be 1.-The keeping of a clean, sweet and
| healthy mouth from youth up to old age"
ApropoS of this the Dominion Dental
| Journal says that many persons tolerate
| more filth and disease in their mouths
| than they would on their feet. The mouth
| is the portal of life and health.
=
| DR.. Ward has recently published a pa
| per in the Boston Medical and Surgical
| Journal, in which he calls attention to
| the artificial character of the climate of
American houses, this being In the winter
many degrees warmer and drier than that
| in the streets. This Is true in all homes,
including those of physicians, for DR..
| Ward experimenting in his own house
| during three weeks in November, found
| that when the mean relative humidity of
| the inner air was 80 degrees, and that of
| the outer II degrees, the temperature in
side was SO degrees and that outside So
degrees, thus showing that the atmos-
phere of the room was drier than that of
/ cSnyacy N hos
deleterious influence upon health, owing
to the great efforts made by the body to
adopt itself to the sudden changes ex-
perienced in passing from the house into
the street and vice versa, and Is the COM
mon cause Of the frequency of colds and
more or less serious complications.
Dr. McKim. of New York, has written a
book upon heredity and human prog
fess, in which he proposes that society
free itself from undesirable members by
suffocating them painlessly In lethal
chamber filed with carbonic acid gas. The
essential feature of his plan is to kill of
idiots, iTnbeciles, and other grossly defec-
tive persons who are now maintained by
the state. Criminals who commit hetnouS
crimes or who show that they are 1ncor-
rigible, by frequent repetition of even
minor crimes, by their bodily and mental
character, and by their ancestry, would
as habitual drunkards would be Included
among the condemned. He bases his pro-
posals upon the example of nature in The
search for perfection in which the weak
est animals die off and there is only
survival of the fittest.
Speaking of oysters and typhoid fever
the Philadelphia Medical Journal says
people who are fond of oysters will be
glad to know that these are probably free
from danger, as far as typhoid fever Is
concerned, unless they have been infected
after leaving salt water, this being inlm-
ical to the growth of the typhoid bacil-
lus Profs. Hcardman and Boyce, WHO
have made careful study of this subject
and published book on oysters and dis
ease, say that the typhoid bacillus may
frequently be obtained from oysters sold
in town, and recommend restrictive lcgIs-
lation to prevent contamination from sew
erage, also suggesting the formation or
an Oyster Growers association to look
after such interests, and a periodical ex-
animation of all edible shellfiSh by COM
petent scientific inspectors.
DR.. Prudential, who has recently Wis
tied number of European sandtoriums
| for consumptives, writing to the Medical
News, believes that patients taking the
open-air treatment should have some oc-
cupation, and especially one by which
they may earn something, such as light
gardening in summer, or shoveling snow
in winter. He believes that 1t would be
advisable for those upon whom the sup
port of tuberculous patients devolves mu-
tual benefit lodges among the working
classes for example, to unite in pur-
chasing land in suitable climate, say
in the Southwestern section of the coun-
try and to send consumptives there, Civ
ing them a lump sum instead of benefits
extended over a limited amount of time.
g
DR. Porter speaking of change of
climate in the treatment of consumption,
believes that some famous health resorts
are becoming plague spots for the dis
semination of consumption and for this
reason advises that patients be treated
at home He calls especial attention to
the Importance of maintaining a good
condition of the heart and for this
reason uses heart tones from the start,
especially small doses of digitalis and
Strychnine. Tt is important to keep the
bowels open to prevent the description
of ptomains and bacilli Much of the
good effect of creosote, guaiacol etc, is
due to their germicidal action
DR.. Jeldhan. a Spanish physician, has
suggested good method OF giving cod
liver oil to children. The nurse dips the
tip of her little finger in the oil and then
pIdCSS 1t III the lTIdllL mouth, the OPERA
ton being repeated several times during
| the day. Given in such minute doses the
oil has no disagreeable effect and the
| child seems to like it, sucking the oil
| with apparent pleasure. 1t is said that
| this method of administering oil to chill
| dren. suffering from defective nutrition
Will. In short time, make them healthy
| and robust.
DR.. Siegert, after a study at Stras-
| burg, of an epidemic occurrence of tom
| silitis which attacked twenty-eight per.
| sons in neighboring streets, is of the
| opinion that this disease is infectious,
having an incubation period of four days.
| AS he believes that it is readily trans,
| Missile from the sick to the we'll he adj
| vocates that cases of tonsilitis should be
| isolated, especially on account of fire.
| Quent septicemia and pyemia. Children
coming in contact with case OF tom
| silitis should not go to school until five
| days have passed from that time.
| DR.. Thomas, of New York, advocates
uncoolked wheat as the best food for
mankind and has actually. with his fam
4 flxr rINofo tod oil OF ffroI