The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-04
MEDICAL NOTES.

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A pamphlet. recently issued by Surgeon
General Wyman, rela ting to the bubonic
plague describes the subject very thor
oughly and might we'll be read by ths
laity. According to DR.. Dabney one
reason why the plague is so prevalent in
the East is because the people are so
badly fed. the rice diet not furnishing
sufficient bodily heat. AS rats are sus.
pected of conveying contagion the plague
Is indirectly of some good since 1t leads
to the killing off of the rats Inocula-
ton is difficult, because, on account of
the reverence Of the 1indoo for animals,
they will not submit to the use OF pro-
ducts from these animals. House TO
house inspectien is also difficult because
the Mohammedan's house is truly his
castle and the harem connected there
with is sanctified against intrusion.
The invention OF the couveuse or in
cubator for children prematurely born,
has, no doubt saved many infant lives
but on the other hand its use In some
cases is iIl-advised and increases infant
mortality. The object of the couveuse
is to supply and maintain the normal
bodily temperature, thus protecting u
weakly child against cold, but, on the
other hand, the couveuse is a cultivation
chamber, where germs multiply with
great rapldity so that a child put In a
couveuse is, as it were, in an infection
chamber, where he can and may contract
disease most readily. A French ply
sican, NJ Hutinel, says that no children
oh ha in
those In whom the temperature is below
that of normal blood and under all cir
cumstances the couyeuse should be often
disinfeCted.
Mention has already been made In these
notes Of the open air home treatment of
consumptives, but DR.. Ransome, an
English physician, believes that the resi-
dence of q consumptive should be
changed If he Is to be benefited by tho
open air treatment, because, as he claims,
the home is likely to be saturated with
tubercle baCilli and there Is thus constant
danger of relnfeetion. He also insistG
that good ventilation OF rooms Is neceS-
sery, as well as rest and graduated eX>
erciSe, the former being prescribed IL
fever is noticeable or the digestive or
gans require It; exercise being regulated
by the vital powers OF the patient and
the extent Of chest movement possible.
Oftentimes serious results occur from
the accidental substitution or use of
poisonous drugs for comparatively harm
less ones. Many drugs thus accidentally
exchanged are white and somewhat SIM
liar in appearance. DR.. Problem recon-
mends that pills containing the more pow
erful narcotic drugs, and especially those
containing alkaloids or active principles,
Of which relatively small doses are pois-
kfr,1r ,AICv
ed red as a danger signal, just as it is
enacted by some foreign laws that GER
tain poisonous white powders be colored
so that they cannot be used by wouldbe
prisoners.
A new method of dressing burns Is to
silver plate them. so to speak. piece
of silver leaf amply large enough to cover
it is laid over the injured surface. being
held In place only by gauze bandage.
The silver leaf does not adhere to the
broken surfaces and thus, while 1t is an
excellent protective dressing, 1t can be
removed and renewed without causing
pain, this absence of pain and shock be-
ing greatly in its favor over all other
dressings. 1t was first introduced at the
Johns Hopkins hospital and has recently
been tried at Bellevue hospital, New
York.
In many public schools, for many years,
some form of physical exercise has been
kept up along more or less indefinite
lines Dr. Smith, in recommending the
introduction of athletic training In public
schools, believes that not less than half
an hours time, every day, should be de-
voted to bodily culture. He believes that
each child should undergo a physical ex-
animation, and that there should be
gymnastic classes, graded in accordance
with the varying physical condition, the
exercise being such as to interest the
pupil as we'll as to develop the physique.
A new use for the X-ray is the removal
of hair on the face of women. DR..
Friend who recommends radiotherapy
in this and other skin diseases, reports
that after seventeen to twentyfour sit
tings the hair falls out without any seri-
Gus complications, and that by subjecting
the patient to three or four exposures, at
periods of six weeks, the growth of hair
can be checked. He thinks that possibly
the X-ray may exert q beneficial influence
In leprosy.
Gen. Lord Roberts. at council meet
ing Of the Army Temperance association.
In London. basing his statements upon
reports from India, says that there is a
remarkable comparison between convic-
tons for crime among abstainers and
non-abstainers, as we'll as In the health
of the two classes. The convictions per
900 among abstainers were Alp and
among non-abstainers 36.38-very nearly
nine times as many. Admission to the
hospital. per 1000. were 20S. 4S abstainers
and 301.62 non-abstainers.
In some portions of Southern Califor-
MIA, according to DIR. Dukeman, there is
sandy porous soil where the sun