New-York tribune., 1901-07-28

CASTRO Intestinal origin hut he holds that these
do not act directly ou the nervous tissues but on
IN" blood vessels by which thcs" tissues ar" fed
producing I'm them proIfcratlvc and drgeuera-
tive changes This toN.ruia he says. is prob
ably in some measure established tor months. or
even years. before the first symptoms OF nervous
disease manifest themselves.
In SOM" individuals the cerebral vessels give
way earliest and ~ neral paralysis IS the T"-
suit. In others TIA" vessels of the cord are the
ruor- vulnerable. thos. that receive the largest
quantity 81 blood and therefore of toNin-suffer
hrst and most severely. ana the clinical and
Uathu'. g.,lh picture o.: tahrs duisalis develops
discussion "s Z" the manner in which these
toxins obtain access 10 the economy.
What wr wish 90 point out IS the growing
tendency To attribute conditions which com" be
fore us as organic Diseases 10 the prolonged
operation Of toxins uIou tissues for which they
have "a Scl,ctiNo affinity. I'm Tho same journal
Professor Halliburton and Dr. John k,ndriCk
dcscrb, no" ju a cas-" %. gastric t'tany they
We're able To- discover special toxin, and they
express the opinion that poisonous substance
is formed ia tn" stomach. which. when absorbed
into III" blood str.aW jn sum -i"nt amount gives
rise to the t"'auod c"rtracturcs and other con
CDuIttIt symptoms of the disease. Again in
the same journal wc have a paper 10y Or Hami-
ton Wright on the changes In the neuroual
centres In hcri-herIC ururltjs which shows how
very similar they ar" To- those which occur in
such toxic form OF neuritls as that which
arises from alcohol rhus We have a series of
papers. each OF which has been written To
eluCidatc a given pathological condition, but the
summation of which puts in striking prominence
the influence OF toxins in the production of
disease and. may add, the readiness of in
Vcstigators 1T the present day to seize upon
them as the deus eX machina by which patho-
logical processes are to be explained.
The influence of this idea upon treatment is
somcW hat different affair We have to rcmcm-
Der that by the time the patients show signs OF
mental disease it may be- and according To the
hypothesis OF Or Robertson il must be. that
organic changes have long ago taken place.
Thus the psychologist seeks for other remedies
in other fields than in mere intestinal antiscpSS.
But If ii hc true that the Intestinal canal with
its varied mcrobI.l fora is the real starting
point Of such serious organic diseases gen
eral paralysis AMI tabes dorsals. there must he
fashioned starvation might possibly have ex-
Orciscd these evil microbes. 1t has long been Il
formula with some schoolmaSters that when
boy turns non receptive the best plan is to give
him a dose Of castor oil. Even Mr.. Squeers
found that "A mixture of birthstone ana trcacle
was not without effect in restoring harmony
when his scholars proved rebellious and if the
auto intoXicltiun theory which is now coming so
much into prominence is to be accepted, per
haps they were not altogether wrong. Whether
the good old Friday fast is not an even better
means of maintaining health of body and cqua-
hility of mind is another question. At any rate
the more We see Of the dangers which may arise
fIom our interiors being turned by excess of
feed into formcntinG bacteria beds, the more
Convinced we become of the advantages Of com
bining high thinking with plain living. For
general paralysis has been due to the overstrain
O! the nervous system to which civilized people
are exposed Perhaps il may turn out TO be due
to their overfeeding and to their Ill regulated
Interiors