The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1905-05-03
The Cause of Appsndiciti.

once again raised the oft-recur
ring question so painful to tn,
public: @Why is appendicitis Sc
common at the present timer
This affiiction spares neither ag,
nor sex, and it is equally dreaded
IN palace and cottage. The king
has been found among its victims
nor has it neglected the pitiable
vagrant on the embankment. An
infant of seven weeks has recent
ly succumbed to the banefnl in
flammatory process, while a
medical baronet long past the
allotted span of three score years
and ten happily fought a success.
full fight against appendicitis.
The idle girl, without definite
employment, snecumbs, as also
does the soldier on active service.
The schoolboy is particularly
prone, and the affection does not
ignore the high dignitary of the
church. Can it be that the small,
blind tube placed within the
abdomen has suddenly become
vulnerable to assault, or is it that
there is some peculiarly potent
force now at work which did
not formerly exist? It is not to
be denied that more accurate
diagnosis has led to an apparent
increase in the number of cases
of the complaint. Peritonitis, or
Inflammation of the lining mem
brane of the abdomen, has always
been a common and dreaded
malady, but the precise cause OF
the inflammation has frequently
been entirely overlooked IN the
past, and today it is the opinion
of most medical practitioners
that considerably more than one
half of the cases of peritonitis
are primarily attributable to an
Inflammation of the vermiform
appendix. 1t is such an everyday
occurrence that we almost won
der not why our closest friend has
been struck down, but when our
turn may come.
CHERRY STONE Fiction,
It may not be, therefore, al
together without interest to re-
view some of the known causes
of appendicitis, and see how they
be avoided. Although this Is
strictly a professional subject, yet
to be forewarned is to be fore
armed, and rhis must be the ex-
cuse for discussing it. Some peo-
pie would still cherish the idea
that fruit stones and pips of AL
sizes, from the cherry stone to
the small apple pip, are liable to
enter the cavity of the appendix
and there cause dire havoc. As
regards the cherry stone this is
pure fiction, and the sooner it is
disposed of the better. When
the reader realizes that the en-
trance of the tube, which has a
larger diameter than any other
part will hardly admit IN the
normal state the top of an uncut
cedar pencil it will readily be
seen that even a moderate-sized
cherry stone would have some
difficulty in passing in. That
smaller foreign bodies may gain
access to the interior of the tube
is undoubtedly true, but the num-
Der of instances in which have
actually been discovered within
she diseased appendix is compa-
ratively small. A single duck
shot, small fragment of solder
from a canned meat tin, bristle
from a tooth brush, a spicule
from the lining of an enameIed
saucepan and an ordinary pin
have all been known to find their
way into the interior of the ap-
pendix, and once there such
bodies may undoubtedly induce
Inflammation in the manner sub
sequently described. While, then,
admitting that in a few cases ex-
traneous matters of the character
and size mentioned may play
come part in the incidence of ap-
pendicitis, we must seek a more
common cause for the frequency
ofthe affection.
Micro ORGANISMS.