The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1905-09-06

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year; but I do not feel justified III
| Withholding longer an account OF It's
use in these experiments, because the
results so far are so favorable, the
number of persons suffering with pull
monary tuberculosis is enormous and
the need for relief is pressing.
The principle upon which DR.. Rus
sells treatment of consumption Is
based is that this dread disease is
primarily due to malnutrition, which
is to say that the consumptive's body
does not absorb the elements Of food
il needs to create normal blood; for
if his blood were normal it would
contain properties destructive OF
poisons such as is the tubercle bacil-
lus. Therefore :tthe direction of food,
hysiene and manner Of exercise has
displaced the old rule Of the admins
tration of drugs and the search for
Experimenting along these lines for
years, DR.. Russell designed special
system of diet by which there were
introduced into the systems Of his
patients much more fat than was
needed for the production Of heat or
energy and much more proteid than
was needed for the repair Of waste.
Proteid being that element Of food
which builds tissue, it neutralizes,
when absorbed into the blood, poisons
like the tubercle bacillus, whose ma
ture it is to destroy tissue.
BY getting his patients to absorb By
overfeeding such quantities of proteid
as would overwhelm the bacilli, Dr..
Russell obtained large measure OF
success in curing tuberculosis, but he
frequently found himself baked by
patients in whose lungs bacilli con-
tinued to exist, although the steady
gain in weight made by the patients
showed that their nutritional pro-
cess was in good working order. Why,
then, did some Of his patients show
a steady progress toward health,
while others stood still? And why
was the Improvement Of some so
much more rapid than others?
DR.. Russell at length came to the
conclusion that the answers to these
questions were to be found in the
presence or absence in varying de-
grees Of an unknown something in
the diet partaken of by his patients.
:.It has been demonstrated" says
DR.. Russell, .'that food and fresh air
are the main factors in the cure Of
consumption, but most physicians
must feel that much remains to pc
done toward the. perfection Of the
diet before we can approach the
treatment Of ali patients with full as
surance. The problem Of weight
gaining has been solved. There is
70 longer difficulty in supplying the
proper quantity of proteid, carlo
l.ydrate and fat: but is there not
scr,cthig additional needed to lift the
blood and tissues to that high estate,
por1ect health, fer which physiolo-
gists have not yet found name
For centuries scurvy dominated the
world and its treatment is undoubted-
ly the greatest dietetic triumph. Still.
it is well to remember that after more
than 100 years physiological chemis-
try has failed to answer the question.
What is the substance in fresh vege-
table and fruit juices by means Of
which the magical results are
Wrought?
Experience in a large number of
cases of consumption has led to the
conclusion that in cases Of the appar-
emily durable type who fail to get
well, the cause Of the failure is the
lack of an unknown something in the
diet. In cases where the patients re-
spond but very slowly this mysteri-
Gus something is supplied in insult
f1cient quantities or at too long in
tervals.
"For number of years have been
searching for this unknown something
or its source of supply, and vegetable
Juice is the final outcome"
Drs. Thomas W. Bickerton, No. SIS
West End avenue, Manhattan, and
Donald M. Barstow, No. Sc East
Fifty-third street, Manhattan, who
were appointed by the hospital au-
thorities to observe and report on DR..
Russell's experiment, are less cautious
in giving expression to their enthus-
iasm.
The mysterious unknown some