Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-09-06
MEDICAL SUPERsTlTlONS.
Old Fashioned Remedies as Valueless
as Bread Pills.

| as Bread TllIS.
On another persons neck q Dol
isn't half bad thing, and you car
regard it without envy. 1t may offend
your sense of the artistic, but, on the
whole, it does not disturb your equa-
Inimity. By natural sequence your
mind reverts to Job and his "comfor-
| ter" and you regard the poSSessor OF
the eXcrescence with the same CON
ItemptuouS pity with which you think
| of the sorc-smitten sufferer of cen
turies agone.
| Perchancc, however, you know the
meek -knotted victim, albeit his sunny
smile has given place TO frown and
depression of agony, and his neat col
lar and tie are replaced by a half hid
den bandage. In sympathetic tones
you ask the trouble.
Boil" he answers briefly, biting
the word in half.
| You had guessed it, but you dare
not say So.
"TOO bad, old man. you murmur.
1T must be painful"
Three adjectives and an adverb are
required adequately to describe the
pain.
"Still. it might be worse he con-
soles himself. Every one gets 'em in
| spring. you know, and when they are
over they are better than medicine.
They clear the blood and sycan the sys-
Item-beat all the tOnicS, ancient or
modern, and fix you up in great shape.
| It's pretty sore at present, but 1t S
worth SO to me. Thanks, I'll SYM
pathize with you when your turn
| comes"
Whereat you smile in a supercilious
manner. as one above boils or similar
| plebian ailments.
Comes Il day soon, however, when
you feel a little irritation on the neck,
but you think nothing of it. With
| thoughts far afield you scratch 1t in
stinctively, and the irritation becomes
more pronounced Then you notice
that your collar is rubbing, and a lit
tie red point develops, which gives
| forth heat like a miniature volcano.
A swelling follows and the redness
spreads, with little white speck ap-
pearing later.
BY this time life is losing its charm.
but the worst is yet to come, and 1t
comes with the certainty of death and
taxes. The covering breaks and dis
| charge of puS follows. The redncss
disappears. but the pain increases un-
| til the storm passes and scar is left
| as n gentle reminder that q boil is no
| lreSpectcr of persons.
Il wouldn't have taken $40 for it, "
| you boast. when you resume your COL
| lar and necktie.
As an investment, however, n boil
at $40 is a poor proposition. Take 10
cents for ii if you can get it, and con-
| slider yourself that much ahead of the
game not To speak of missing the pain
| and discomfort. For there is abSO-
lutely no reason whatever for the the
DRY. or superstition. that a common
| boil on the neck or arm or other part
of the anatomy has any effect on the
blood or the system, for either good
or bad.
TO state the fact BADLY, a boil is n
| local excitement due solely to local in
fection the excitement sometimes be-
| ing more than proportionate to the af-
| Fiction Alive with minute organisms,
| Il little hair curlS over your neck and
patiently burrows beneath the skin.
| This. in brief is the scratching period,
| from which really dates the COM
Imcncememt of your troubles For with
this scratching comes tiny puncture,
too small for human eye to notice,
but of inviting proportions to wander
| ing germs intent upon exploration.
| And on this beginning developments
follow. the microbc making himself
|
| him. \ sweat gland becomes clogged
with dust. and the dust is full of
StaphlylocOcci. True. the microbe
may go it alone. without the staphy-
loc0cci. or the staphylocOcci may act
without the micrObe. but either cause
| is amply sufficient tu develop boil of
the finest activity. Its course you have
| followed i'm experience, and the recOl-
lection still fingers with you.
To explain scientifically. however.
the rcdncSS and heat and pain may be
| described rs the outward and visible
signs and painful products of battle
between tn" intrusive germs and the
white COrpuSClcS i'm the blood. From
the moment Of their meeting these
two sworn foes get into hostile action.
| the germs getting into the skin and
| the corpuSClrS attacking and attempt
| ing To swallow them. Could you open
the boil and study it under a micro
scope you could follow the fight in all
| its details. Like u lizard licking up Il
| fly. the white Corpusclc approaches
and swallows the germ. and under the
glass You may see the germ writhing
| in the interior of its Captor.
| At times. as in human battles. the
forces are umcvcmly matched. and the
I>cnrpuScl"s find the germs easy prey.
| in which event the boil is small and
| almost unworthy Of the designation of
"pimplr." But when the germs have
found Il footing and victory hangs Gn
| Il lumg-drawn battle. you develop Il
| boil well worthy of the name and Suf-
| licicnty painful t0 move YOU to pro-
| family. Nor does your trouble cease
with the decision of the battle, for
! then are the CurnuSclcS gOrgcd with
| the germs and the boil further filled
| with germs slain i'm the struggle. This
| debris is Il yellow. creamy substance.
more or less puctiCally described as
| puS.
In the breaking of the boil. however
| this puS is discharged and the soreness
disappears. All the germs have been
killed and the white Curpusclcs have
fulfilled their duty as ScavrmgcrS and
policemen of the body.
For all this il is evident that hoils
are not symptoms of blood diseases
nor Indicative that TN" system needs
tnmimg up But they do show that a
number of vagrant germs have found
Judgment i'm the skin and that the
white CorpuSClcS object To their pres
rucc. The preference" of tn" boil for
the neck is found in tn" fact that mems
collars ar" stiff and StratChy and full
of filth cmhHlmCd i'm starch thus irri-
tating the skin and forcing the Organ-
iSms into ii. AS usually addicted to