The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-09-29
PLANTAR WARTS ARE COMMON AMONG PEOPLE WHO NEVER PLANT ANYTHING.

Ordinary warts, medically termed verrucae vulgaris, for no good reason at all that I can discover are called plantar warts when they occur on the sole of the foot perhaps be- tween the toes. Plantaris is Latin word meaning the sole.
 Plantnr warts sometimes cause no particular complaint, but the majority cause symptoms ranging from discomfort or pain on walking to actual confinement in bed.
 Drs Earl D. Osborne and Edwin D. Putnam find x-ray treatment, applied with very care. full technic to protect every other portion or skin except the wart or warts. the most satis- factory way to deal with this troublesome con- dition.
 They say that calluses and corns are often mistaken for plantar warts, especially painful corns or calluses in the space between the fourth and fifth toes. and X-ray treatment is not only useless in such cases but may make the patient extremely miserable. Soft corns or calluses in this situation are best treated by changing the type of footwear, spreading the toes with a soft cotton pad, and the nightly ap- plication of a mild salicylic ointment or the old standby. salicylated collodion. Salicylated col lodon can be purchased under that name in Canada In the United States you have to order the druggist to prepare it for you after this formula:
 Salicyc acid ...........3 80 grains Flexible collodion .One-half ounce This constitutes the standard corn cure and callus remedy. Paint coat of 1t on the clean dry corn, wart or callus each evening for a week or ten days. Keep the vial tightly stop pered and keep the liquid off the neck of the vial or you will have only solid mess left when the ether and alcohol of the collodion have evaporated. Where the corn or wart or calus is between the toes, it is essential to have the skin clean and dry and keep 1t dry, in order to get any benefit from the saicylated collodion. which will not adhere to the lesion if applied when the surface is moist or oily. Osborne and Putnam treated 220 patients with plantar warts by means of X-ray, and cured 176 of them with one treatment, IT with ? treatments. In thirteen cases X-ray treatment failed and these patients were later cured with electro coagulaton (diathermy.). Altogether 39 patients were cured of plantar warts by cleo tro-coagulation alone. These authorities con- clude that it is unwise to give more than two X-ray treatments in such cases. Where there very many warts. or where X-ray has al ready been used it is better to resort to electro desccation or electro -coagulation (diathermy) or to surgical excision or both.
 For warts on the hands. about the same pro- cedures are advisable.
 Here must warn readers against monkeying with warts wartlike lesions about the face. head or neck. Such lesions deserve the best medical treatment, for two reasons. First ann ateurish tinkering may produce ugly scars. Se- ond, unnecessary irritation may cause cancer
 All warts are probably infectious.that Is, caused by germs. Drs Osborne and Putnam put the incubation period at from four to
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Over Whooping- Cough
 Is it all right for an year O.d child who has lust gotten over whooping-cough to go in bath ing on the beach? tMrs w. Q)
 Answer-In my judgment child of any age may go in swimming even before he is over whooping cough, with only benefit to his own health. or course you must aDlue Dy the ruieS of the local health department about exposing other persons.
 Calcium Lactate
 I should like to try your calcium iactate treatment for hay fever (my attack comes in the last week of September each year), but first I should like to know if 1t will have any bad effect upon an expcctant mother. c. Y. E.)
 Answer-An expectant mother should try no treatment except by approval of her physician The calcium lactate treatment is rather a pre- ventive treatment. The hay fever subject begins preferably few weeks in advance of the sea- son taking 10 grains of calcium lactate twice or thrice daily after meals in glass of water and keeps it up for not less than eight or 10 weeks.
 Poor Little Fellow
 have read of your cure for cockroachcs and wonder if you will print 1t again. GA. G. G.)
 Answei-f haven't printed 1t yet. But do sympathize with the poor little fellow. What ails him? Bring him to my cockroach clinic Or If there are a flock of him. send stamped envelope bearing your address and ask for tn- structions for ridding your place from cock reaches If you try to palm off clipping m lieu of your own request you'll be out or luck. for cordially decline to read clippings of my own stun.
 Fighting the Battle with Tuberculosis
 Please inform me how can get the little book the man wrote about how he cured him- self of tuberculosis. Ui. R.)
 Answer-I know of no such book would recommend. You may purchase for q nickel or maybe dime a copy of Mir stocker's story. How Won the Battle with Tuberculosis In NY own Home" or a copy of Fannie Benson Rogers If Had Known in the Beginning What Know Now" from the National Tuber- culosis association. 450 Seventh avenue. New York. One of the first lessons you must learn if you hope to recover from Tuberculosis is that you can't cure yourself, neither can you f.sI.. <uAa spIxf hAj lFlU