The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-03-25

prepared for the sunday Journal b.
an Old Practitioner

DR.. Oliver, in the Texas Dental Journal,
in an article upon oral hygiene. believes
that, the teeth should be looked after by a
competent dentist from the time when the
child begins to cut its first teeth, and says
that he has seen the first teeth ruined by
rubbing through the gums with a thimble
or a scalpel. breaking the enamel before
the teeth have come to light He cautions
people against cutting n slashing the
gums of an infant unless it is absolutely
essential, and in any case 1t should be done
only by a competent person. Not only are
the first teeth liable TO injury from unwise
and unskillful interferences. but the en-
bryonic 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 10 old age" Apropos
Of this the Dominion Dental Journal says
that many persons tolerate more filth in
and disease in their mouths than they
would on their feet. The mouth is the por-
tai of life and health.
DR.. Ward has recently published a paper
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 de-
grees warmer and drier than that in the
streets. This is true in all homes, including
those of physicians. for DR.. Ward, expert
menting 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 inside was 50 degrees and
fhaf outside &c daoraoS Tins chnwipp that
| the atmosphere of the room was drier than
that of many desert regions. This has a
| very deleterious influence upon health, ow-
| ing to the great efforts made by the body
to adapt itself to the sudden changes expe-
rienced in passing from the house into the
street and vice versa. and it is the common
cause of the frequency of colds and more
or less serious complications.
DIR. McKim. of New York. has recently
written a book upon heredity and human
progress, in which he proposes that society
! free itself from undesirable member by
suffocating them painlessly in a lethal
m filled with carbonic acid gases.
The essential feature of his plan is to kill
off idiots, imbeciles and other grossly de-
fective persons who are now maintained
by the state. Criminals who commit helm
Gus crimes or who show that they are in
corrigble, by frequent repetition of even
minor crimes. by their bodily and mental
character, and by their ancestry, would
also be exterminated. Epileptics, as well
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 a sur
vival of the fittest.
Speaking of oysters and typhoid fever
the Philadelphia Medical Journal says peo-
pie who are fond of raw 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 mimi
cal to the growth of the typhoid bacillus.
| Professors Heardman and Boyce, who
nave made a careful study of the subject
/ and published a book on oysters and dis
ease, say that the typhoid bacillus may
frequently be obtained from oysters sold
in town and recommend restrictive legisla-
ton to prevent contamination from sew
age. also suggesting the formation of an
oyster growers association to look after
such interests and a periodical examina-
ton of all edible shell fish by competent
scientific inspectors.
DR.. Prudential, who has recently visit
ed a number of European sanatoriums for
consumptives, writing in the Medical
News, believes that patients taking the
open air treatment should have some occu-
patton, and especially one by which they
may earn something, such as light Sard-
ening in summer, or shoveling snow in
winter. He believes that it would be ad-
visable for those upon whom the support
Of tuberculous patients devolves. mutual
benefit lodges among the working classes,
for example, to unite in purchasing land
in a suitable climate, say in the southwest
ern section of the country and to send con-
sumptives there, giving them a lump sum
instead of benefits extended over a limited
amount Of time.
DIR. Thomas, of New York, advocates un-
cooked wheat as the best food for mankind,
and has actually. with his family, SUBJ
sisted almost entirely on such food, at one
time living solely on uncooked wheat for
three months. He believes that cooking
food destroys the vital qualities. Certain
it is that whatever dietetic objections may
be raised. this diet is an economic one,
DR.. Thomas's expense for three months for
this diet being only 81.
Before leaving the sleeping room in the
morning the windows should be raised to
their fullest extent and the doors swung
open to allow a free circulation of air
through the room. Thoughtful people who
like things absolutely fresh and pure are
careful to turn back the bed clothing In
such a way that the air can touch every
part which has been in contact with the
sleeper. Better than this is placing the
bed clothing upon chairs near an open
window.
The hot-air treatment in chronic rheuma-
tism of the joints is beyond question a val
liable method. DR.. Bier describes a simple
apparatus which can be made and used al
home. A wooden box Of the required shape
and size to accommodate any given portion
of the body is covered outside with liner
and then painted inside and outside will
soluble glass to make the box freproof
An iron. pipe passes through a hole in the
side and terminates in an iron funnel. un