The Holly chieftain., 1905-06-09

uie VARIOUS sanatOria for consumptiyes
calls me open-air life the Keynote of
sanatorium treatment. lie further
says tnat the patient, instead OF being
kept IN carefully warmed room ven.
uiated from other parts of the house,
according to the popular notions Of
old. lives In the open air from nom.
lug I'm night. At all seasons and in all
weathers. Lack Of fresh air is the
greatest predisposing cause of con.
sumption: fresh air Is the most DO
tent means OF restoring him to he:lth.
No" ihis prescription >is very easy
TO carry out in dry climates such as
those OF Egypt. the Alpine health re-
sorts. South Africa or Colorado; but
1t requires special arrangements and
special precautions in a damp and
rainy clinste. The credit of showing.
how this may be accomplished belongs
mainly to Brehmenr. Dettweiler and
their followers. The open-air method
may perfectly we'll he carried out in
any climate which is healthy for those
who are not consumptiye. AS Leon
peut> observes: Here the climate
may help the cure, there it
may hinder it; but 1t only exerts a
secondary influence on the treatment"
% Moreover. Just as the pleasantest
climates are not always those which
are best for healthy people, (2) SO it
may be that the most pleasant elm.
ates for an out-of-door life-where the
AR IL. warm and dry and little rain
talls-are not best for those consump.
tiyes who have later on to return to
a less favored place. 1t is bracing
climates rather than warm and ECU.
able ones which have the greatest in
fuence in restoring the consumptive
to health, In all but exceptional cases
FOR the open-air treatment, four
fold shelter should be provided against
WIND. excessive cold. extreme sun heat
and rain Wind raises dust, increases
cough In consumptives. and intensifies
the chilling effects of cold. The for
eign .sanatoria with few exceptions
have both natural and artificial shek,r
against wind. Cold within certain lin
its 10 useful to the consumptive: but
it should be . windless cold, and suit
ed to the individual power of reac-
ton. As damp intensifies the cli-
matte effect Of both heat and cold, the
chilly consumptive will be able to
Withstand q lower temperature in a
dry than in humid climate. Protec-
ton against rain and snow will seem
nnnQt nn0ntc oh
although at Nordach rain is often dis
regarded. 1t Is not enough to provide
resting places in the sanatorium
which are protected against rain. At
certain stages exercise is imperative
and sheltered paths and open covered
corridors are needed for exercise in
rainy weather. At Falkenstein there
is such a corridor 200 feet long.
In places where the suns rays are
very powerful, as at Canigou in the
Pyrenees. direct exposure to the sun
Is found to increase the tendency to
fever. Even at Hohenhonnef on the
Rhine. which is not far south, large
verandah has been provided which in
hot weather can be artificially cooled
by "a stream of water. Protection
against wind and weather is afforded
in most santoria by large verandas,
which may be. fitted with movable
glass screens. as the Adirondack Cot.
tage Sanatorium. In our own climate
it would be useful to have veranda
with hollow floor, which could be
warmed. as cold and damp can be
more easily borne II the feet are
kept warm. Other simpler ways are
the provision OF hot bottles and warm
clothing. Redundancy also helps q
chilly patient, the blood Circulating
with less cardiac effort In this posi-.
tion. According to DR.. Weicker and
DR.. Jacoby. the recumbent position
also favors the flow of blood to the
apices OF the lungs. In most foreign
sanatoria summer houses or sun
boxes are also provided; at Falken-
stein some Of these can be rotated ac-
cording to the direction of the wind
DR.. Burton-Fanning, in his expert
mental sanatorium near Cromer, has
modified the well-known shelters of
our seaside resorts by providing them
with reversible glass screens.
a., Loc. Cit. p. 4s.
Foster. article In Allbutt's Syst. of Med.
on Climate in the Treatment Of Dis
ease.''