The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-04-27

the SCieHIllC study Oh IuDeECuiOSiSs lHS
control and cure of which is the great
est question before the medical profess
! sion to-day. ~
When / was offered the position of
superintendent of this institution, J.
saw in it advantages that other like
| institutions did not possess, and that
made its possibilities greater than
those of almost any ] knew, because
of its being located right here in New
Haven county. A patient can be much
more easily persuaded to go to a place
| at the end of the local trolley than
| to Colorado or the Adirondacks, and
they do not have to work overtime at
\ the expense of their health in order to
( raise the extra money for railway
/ fares. And once there, the homesick-
ness that so often retards their prog
ress in distant resorts is lacking. for
| their friends and relatives are enabled
to see them once a week or oftener.
and we are glad to have them come.
1t is in those visits that see one of
our chief advantages over the distant
| places. Patients would write from
Saranac that they were out of doors
/ with the mercury below zero and the
snow blowing in on the porch where
they lay, and then We would have
countless letters from family and
/ friends. Would he not catch pneu-
monia? Was not her throat too deli
! cate to inhale such cold air? Was it
| safe to have windows open at night?
4 Was not the night air poisonous? To
/ which he wrote answers that did not
4 pnnui11no nj aaIz
| all practical experience in this mode
1 of life. But here the family and friends
| come up and see for themselves. And
1 the questions are different. 1t is,-My
room at home has windows on this and
that side; could I keep one or both of
them open without catching cold? Or
again,-Our house faces so, and has
/ porch here; can't we fix that. SO he
can continue sitting out after he
/ comes home? You note the difference:
the former are productive Of nothing,
i the latter Of much
i j OF the extent to which this local
i school as it We're, can influence the
health of the locality in which it is. I
will give you two instances of the
many that could be quoted. When
n - ~ SiilSl Sl6lIIGo sSctltdLOTluIn
] which l spoke, the little town of
i Goebersdorf was up in arms, thinking
it would mean a veritable visitation of
plague to them. and the end of all
advancement to the town. Later they
found that although in the next 40
years $4,000 consumptive patients were
treated there, yet their resident popu-
/ lation doubled in rs years and the death
u rate from tuberculosis in the town
decreased one half! Likewise at
Falkenstein near Frankfort, where DR..
i Dettweiler established his noted sana-
4 triumo the death rate in the town fell
from per 1000 to "a per 1000. 1t IS
the direct result of an intelligent COM
munity brought in touch with the fact
4 that in any and all climates a mode of
Il life is possible that will not only cure a
II good proportion of those sick from the
4 disease, but what is far more import
ant, will enable the community at large
Il to keep themselves free from its grasp.
Il And for this reason alone I would count
the sanatorium at Wallingford as of
Infinite Importance to you.
i Il am often asked by patients when
II OloIuS0illS lllS IC5lElC VI
treatment, Cant I do all these things
n just as well at home? And my in
I variable reply is, Yes, but you WON'T
i And such is the fact. 1t has been said
that 1.-The path of health is the little
rugged path that leads back to nature
and that may be taken as the keynote
of the open-air treatment of tuber-
culosis. And that path is indeed a
rugged one, requiring consistent, con-
tinued work on the part Of both patient
and physician. Living according to
fixed rules is irksome at times to most
faithful, and it is at such times that
the sanatorium is infinitely better for
the patient than the home. The home
folk do not recognize the danger that
may lie in doing this or that Just this
| once;' that some seemingly harmless
change from a strict routine may pro-
duce gravest results Also it is Infinite
" easier to sit out Of doors, to lead a
life of rest, of inactivity, when you are
surrounded by 20 or 80 others doing the
same thing. Considered from its
economic standpoint, it Is utterly inn
possible to provide, for a like cost at
home the constant presence of skilled
. nurses for daily needs and sudden
emergencies: the conveniences for rest
and exercise in the open air; and the
countless aids of a sanatorium, which
while some may not absolutely need
it is really safe for none to be with
i out.
4 come now to the Wallingford sana-
!, torium The building shall show You
= and describe in brief later. The sana-
, ] torium is located about IL miles due
!, west of Wallingford on the highest
point of the line of hills extending
, back from Mt. Carmel. The site was
chosen for its accessibility and as being
, | free from the dust and the fog of thu
, valleys below. This gives us a CON
slant supply of pure, fresh air, one Of
the three factors in this treatment
, The other two are rest (out-of-d oors)
and an abundant supply of good
F, wholesome food. The buildings are de.
+ signed to give each room the maximum
!, of air and sunlight, and are provided
with sheltered verandas where the pa.
tient can rest out-of-doors in any an6
l all kinds of weather And I shall Illus.
trate for you later the means whereby
"a good number of our patients have beer
: enabled to sleep out -of-doors through.