Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-09-15
The EUCALYPTUS.
Possibility of Its Proving 6 Remedy for
Consumption.

a recent medical discovery abroad
stands out so prominently amid the
! innumelable experimcrts for the cure
! of tuberculosis. that if has been ac-
counted worthy of Il special consular
bulletin, signed by United States
| CCnsul-Geheral Mason of Berlin. This
/ report is OIL especial interest to Cali
fornla,, inasmuch as it deals with Il
rfineulal agency which was first manu-
l"ctured mere, and suggests a new and
important Industry to be here con-
! ducteo on an extensive scale, should
the world at large adopt the recon-
lncnd&tions of great scientlfic
: association.
At the last meeting Of the Medical
Society of Berlin. with the most
! eminent medical scientists Of Germany
i'll ATTENDANCE, DR.. Danniilis ana Pro-
fessor Theodore Sommarfeld presented
"il elaborate thesis describing their
! experiments with consumptive patients
VINO were subjected To 4 treatment by
lhhala'?oh OF the combined fumes Of
; eucalyptus. sulphur and charcoal
These experiments have been
Watth he'd with the keenest interest
by the foremost medical men Of Berlin
Tor the past six months. but it was only
when their success had been cstab-
llshed that the men conducting them
consented to give information to the
profession and the public at large.
! The new remedy consists of a COM
hination of flowers of sulphur, row
Gcrcd charcoal ana pulverized
eucalyptus leaves. impregnated with
the essential oil of eucalyptus, Il mix
tlire which has been rather irrationally
christened 'sanosn" This compound
IS put up in sealed glass tubes, each
containing a dose of about two grams
Wien used, the tube is broken and its
contents poured on an earthcnWare
plate heated by a spirit lamp. The
Volatile eucalyptus speedily evaporates.
ana in combination with the sulphur
Gus acid fumes. medicates with an
aromatic odOr the air of the closed
room in which the tuberculous patient
Is placed, so that the curative influence
is applied in an easy, natural way.
SO fearful are the ravages OF con-
sumption III Berlin. the death rate from
the disease averaging ten Il day, that
the city government undertook to con-
I '-AN
for the purpose in the poorest quarter
of the city, and placing Professor
S0mnerfcd of the University of Berlin
in charge. Each patient, before being
admitted to the new treatment, was
required to present Il certificate from
the Royal Hospital. showing that he
had been treated there and was suffer-
ing from progressive tuberculosi5-th e
disease in its supposed hopeless form.
THUS far, of 120 patients treated. 80 per
cent have been discharged as cured.
While those in charge Of the treatment
are extremely conservative men ana
cautious in their statements. they
nevertheless attest that under no other
treatment over applied has the
character of the Sputum changed so
rapidly and uniformly. through the
Idiminution and disappearance of ba-
Icilli and the elastic Gbers peculiar to
tt'barcul&r disease. Tho almost in
variable disappearance Of the irritating
cough is regarded AZ Of the highest i'm
portancc, as the relief thus afforded
secures to the patient the uninter-
Irupted sleep So desirable for the re-
building Of the system. A notable in
Ii will be seen that the eucalyptus is
III" base of the curative remedy and its
use WAS first suggested by an obscrv-
ms Traveller in Australia who noticed
that the natives in the northwestern
districts used u Gccoction made by
boiling the leaves ana roots of the tree
as Il remedy for pulmonary diseases.
He further noticed that residents of
districts where the eucalyptus
grew most abundantly seemed
immune from the disease. ana
that others suffering from it were
materially benefited or cured by re-
moving to regions where the tree
fGurished. Eucalyptus extracts We're
already recognized in medicines Us
SermiciGcs, but hitherto had been con-
@idered as OF minor Importance. II re-
Il aimed for the great physicians to test
their efficiency in this new application.
San Francisco Chronicle.