The San Francisco call., 1904-03-07
INSTRUCTIVE JTUDEoC
By YlNOIEIDAlEElINN IN AND
kAsOMEN<

headed says a Spanish proverb; but
even baldheaded deacons might hesi-
tate to confide such secrets TO their
medical advisers.
Fevers. closely resembling some
forms of typhoid, are often induced by
dietetic excesses. and I remember the
case of a glutton who caused an cpl
demic scare by concealing his freaks
from a board of health officers. Coming
home too late for supper and finding
that his wife had stepped out for
chat with neighbor. he revenged him
self by raiding the pantry and devour-
ing about yard of stale liver sausage,
besides cabbage and pickles. After
midnight he became very uncomfort-
able and the next morning felt the ap-
proach Of a fever Rest and days fast
would have allayed the domestic panic,
but the mystified doctor remembered
complaints about contamination of the
water supply and ordered the patient
70 bed Closed windows and a red
hot stove completed the mischief, ana
before night they had him in dellrlum'
and the neighborhood gossips in a
Strickland ackle sensation
The health inspector called the next
morning. Should he confess NOT IL
he could help ii. Much easier to pose
as a victim of neglected sanitation
ONLY on the third day his wife dlscoV-
cred the enormous deficit of wurst, ana
to obviate a sanitary blockade COM
municated her suspicious and at once
Strengthened out the tangle OF grew
some cOnjectures.
chronic catarrhs are still oftener
mistaken for more serious disorders
Sleeping night after night in an lily
ventilated microbe den at last over
comes the resisting power OF the
stoutest organism. The lungs begin TO
tester and nature has to remove the
wasted tissues by the eXpurgatlVe
process known as cough and eXpecto-
ration. The risk of a final aggraVatlon
always exists, but, even after year
persistence. catarrhs VIII ylelo
nromptlv to the specific Of nature-a
liberal supply Of pure air-cold pure
air preferred.
Tuberculosis. in all but the last part
Of the development. admits of the same
remedy. but recovery is less rapid; the
deep-eaten sores have to heal before
The cough stops altogether. Consump-
ton can also be recognized by the fire.
ouency of night fevers and an abnor-
NAL increase of temperature above
100 degrees Fahrenheit every evening in
some cases. But the two most char
acteristic symptoms of consumption
are the hectic flush, glaring on the
cheeks of the patients otherwise pallid
face and the steady progress OF ema-
citation. The muscles shrink; the con-
gested lungs are no longer able to full
fill their proper functions in the work
of blood manufacture, and the starved
system has to fall Lack upon its re-
serve stores.
Hemorrhage is a suspicious but not
altogether conclusive symptom. Con-
sumptives have been known to perish
of a gradual decline without ever hav
ing noticed more than a faint admix-
ture of blood in their sputa. On the
other hand. loOd-spitting can be
brought on by the irritation of alco-
holic excesses.
Disregard of the warning, indeed,
may develop tuberculosis in that spe-
ciaIIy horrid form known as gaIloping
consumption.
But the misgivings caused by an oc
casional trace of pulmonary hemor-
rhage can generally be settled by home
diagnosis and a few pertinent ques
tiOns: Alcoholic eXcesses? Overexer-
ton? Region Of the chest injured by
fall or blow? No night fever? No
hereditary predisposition to lung dis
eases? 1t isn't consumption then.
Dropsy is not rarely simulated by
swellings that may indicate nothing
worse than a transient irregularity in
the action Of the heart. Ill-comp ound-
ed blood, in the form Of a watery fluid,
is deposited here md there about the
region Of the main joints; the feet es-
pecially become swollen to. an extent
that obliterates the intervals of the
sinews. and can be felt more or less
perceptibly by the tension of the ex-
panded skin. One very frequent pre-
disposing cause is physical inactivity,
following Drotracted periods of active
outdoor life
brief experiment will suffice to set
forebodings aside. Get into weather.
proofs and take a twelve-mile tramp
through mud or wet snow the next
rainy day, and notice the result on
those problematic swellings. Ten to
one that they have not only subsidized
but vanished, and will not reappear for
many day. True drOpsy cannot be
scared off so easily, and it's appear
ance is generally an after effect of
serious heart troubles, or of the liver
arrangements that average reckless in
temperance.
The grip C'grippe"), alias influenza,
is fast becoming synonym of catarrh
Caught the grip, poor fellow remark
the neighbOrs of an American citizen
who is confined to his bed as a result
of exposure to the vitiated air of auc-
tion room or crowded streetcar The
patient accepts the explanation, to-
gether. perhaps, with gifts of cough
candy, etc, but. instead of being be-
walled, ought often to be congratu-
lated on his total lack of acquaintance
with the grip of the actual grippe
influenza" influencing victims sys-
tenn for years, and, like caviar, import
ed genuine only from the depths of
darkest Russia. Its sources of supply
are the crowded and unspeakably
squalid novels of the East Russian
Doors. in the treeless steppes, where
animal warmth is made to supply the