The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-06-14
THE NUDITY CURE
 FOR TUBERCULOSIS
MIDWINTER SUN DOES SCALPEIrS WORK IN THE MOUNTAINS
 OF SWITZERLAND.
MANY CHILDREN SAVED
They Lie in the Frosty Air Without Clothes and Recite Their
 Lessons.

cures of surgical tuberculosis have
 been obtained in the mountains at
 Leysin, Switzerland. It is new
 method of treatment adopted by Dr..
 Rollier, and Gertrude Austin, former
 1y of the Children's Hospital, London,
 who made a trip to Leysin, describes
 in the Medical Record what has been
 accomplished
 lcloudless January morning covered 1 with spotless sparkling snow. Dr. Rol- Her gave her every opportunity to ] study his methods and patients. She says:
 My first visit to the children is an event that I am not likely to forget It
 was with no little difficulty that I
 walked from my hotel down the steep, winding road that leads to 'tLe Cha let,' as every one in Leysin calls this
 diminutive hospital. The sun had
 not yet appeared above the mountain ] tops to soften the frozen snow, and
 progression was difficult not to say l dangerus. The clinic is picturesque, | wooden construction, a regular Swiss
 chalet, faces due south and stands I in small garden, which in summer time is no doubt green and gay with flowers, but which on this cold Jan l uary morning was carpeted like ev- l-erything else with pure white snow. I had planned to arrive bettmes, for wished to see the exodus of the chill dren from the wards to the galleries. But as I stood upon the doorstep wait ing for admission the sun rose above the mountain tops, and already there were sounds of merry laughter in the frosty morning air. Happy voices were feting the beneficient rays, whose healing powers even the little ones. appear to understand. They love this sunshine, which gives them health and takes away their pain, and it is they themselves, when able to do so, who the moment the word is given push down the bedclothes, and pull up and over their heads the nightdress that is obligatory at other times.
 When I was taken by the matron out onto the first gallery my surprise knew no bounds. Who would have supposed that such dark skinned. healthy looking little bodies could be found in hospital, and above all who would have expected to see tiny chil-
 dren on winters day in January
 basking in the sunshine as naked as when they were born, except for the quaint little white calico hats which make such startling contrast with their brown skin. Most of them are in a recumbent position, some even ly- ing face downward, which does not seem to worry them at all; the more fortunate ones, are able to sit up, roll about in bed and have a good time
 while all are revelling in their warm
 sunbath.
 A few are not yet fully exposed, 1t is
 true, for they are newcomers and have
 not completed the necessary training
 which endows them with this extraor-
 dinary power of endurance. The lat 1
 ter have still the pale, weary races
 which sickness gives, and it is easy to
 see that their sojourn at .Leysin has
 hoau short me
 The children-those who are well enough-have morning lessons, as the
 doctor believes mental occupation aD-
 solutely necessary. It is privilege to take part in these, as 1t means convaI.
 escense has begun. At the head of the beds stands the teacher, eas there it is impossible for the shadow of her
 body to interfere with the action or
 the suns rays. :.
 q think can safely say,' the writ l classes of sick children doing their les sons perfectly naked in midwinter out of doors, all gay and happy and look ing far stronger and healthier than many children who have no ailments whatever The children played with toys strewn. on their beds while they continued their studies They enjoy ed seeing visitor. asked questions and listened to stories.
 Surgical tuberculosis covers the forms that attack the joints. and bones. which when treated with the knife are likely to leave patients scar- red or crippled, with stiff joints or shortened limbs Sometimes amputa- tion is necessary. When treated Dyj pr. Rollers heliotherapy process the suns rays do the work of the scalpel and operations are unnecessary. This is the description of the heliotherapy Fl process:
 This new method consists in expos ing the body of the patient to the suns rays in open galleries communi- eating with the wards and facing due south. The actual seat of disease is for five minutes only to be- gin with, as there must be no blister ing or burning of the skin; the next day the region is treated for two per ods of five minutes each, separated by an interval of half an hour, and on the third day these exposures are length ened to fifteen or twenty minutes. At each seance larger area of skin is 1 so that by the end of week or ten days (for each case needs individual study) the entire body, the lead excepted, is lying nude in the ,un The head has to be protected Or some time longer to prevent con- yestion but it too is also ultimately brought to tolerate the sunlight. The are wheeled out in their beds into the galleries as soon as the sun 7 lDD6aTS III lu0 IOAAS dAAu I1O IllOAO | naked for hours under the influence of ts healing rays, being only moved pack into the house when the cool light air begins to make itself felt. The large windows of the comfortable teamheated wards open down to the } round and are never closed, so that vhen the sun has disappeared behind he mountains the invigoratfng air continues the cure during the night ours A carefully studied diet, fur- hermore, helps to build up and reno ate the diseased bodies under treat lent No medicines are given; the enfeebled by sickness, has therefore only to digest the good, nour- ,hing food supplied and thus contri- ute without interference to the gener- l ameioration of the patients condi- ion.
 ensed with an opening as large as ossible is made at the seat of the isease so that the suns rays may ' ontinue their action on the diseased sgion all the time. This prevents ny wasting of the imprisoned tissues. S oints quickly recover their move- rents when the apparatus is removed. In all the surgical wards at Leysin - the knife is held in far greater aver al on than any apparatus the writer al lys. She goes on:
 The ultimate results obtained in the of fferent forms of surgical tuberculosis re as follows: Lymph nodes resume GU leir normal size and leave no scar c hateyer even if punctured so long in