Science.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 372, 25 June 1903, Page 2

Science.

CONSUMPTION. , > cphsumpfiVje stpmlid oa q^'rorl« n v.ideded mth tanning a disinfectant/ an«K,,all spittoons should be properly disinfected and scalded after use. If this health lesson also tends to decrease the amount of spitting which goes on, and which ..renders our public places, and especially our. railway filthy and disgustingfdhmllhhltfe accpafe' plished, apart from its health phase,-.a large /amount, of*/public goqd. Wsadns} follow froht thf .doUheratidns of the scientific men of all nationalities who met in -Condon to -diaeMa wkat.fcteally a matter affecting closely the public pood There is no doubt {that we have all come to the conclusion that the open ait treat- -, cdnsumption-iff'that whioh the best chance for recovery,, If taken in time, a’poiiit of much intereßt and/importance alike to ttepatienfc and the* doctor, no/: .disease • should. be more curable. Proper food and the lungs coritihdally with a pure''atmosphere constitute the . best means for fighting this great enemy of the Human race. We therefore shall require more sanatoria to be built and provided, not merely for thepoorer classes, but for those whose means, whilst sufficient to support thdm and their families in health, become sadly lessened when disease, attacks the head; of the house. I heard the Secretary of the London Consumptive Hospital tell pathetically how very frequently patients come to him with tears in their eyes asking that they should be discharged * before they are cured simply because they have heard of the sufferings of their wives and families, who were left practically destitute at home. A fund for assisting deserving cases of this kind would, in tiutb, be a public benefit of the highest order, f, y ’ •; r | ' The House and Consumption. | Another point .whicjh relates itself to our social order mentioned at the Congress was the absurd fashion which many women exhibit to-day; of allowing their skirts to sweep the streets. I have before now pointed out the senseless nature of this practice, and its destruction of dress material; but now we ought to know and remember that the dirt licked up off the streets, including many germs of disease, is liable thus to be carried inside our houses, while even in the open air the woman with a trailing skirt must raise clouds of dust particles which might well have been left, for sundry reasons, to remain on the ground. Then, we were taught the tremendous importance of light and air. There is no doubt that light destroys the germ of consumption, and thus; acts as a natural disinfectant. It is where a wane of light, a want of air, and a want of cleanliness exist that we find consumption rife. There can be no question, as Dr, Koch and others showed, that it is the dwellings of the poor which act as the centres where much infection is derived. I heard a Manchester doctor give an, account of his investigations regarding the presence of the germs of consumption in houses of different kinds. He took very dirty houses first, in which no case of consumption had occurred for yeara previously. N6 ; germs were found in such houses, dirty as they .were. Ha then examined houses where consumptives lived, houses these which were /dirty.’ In them he found plenty of the germs of consumption, for the reasoh that there was no attempt made to disinfect the matter coughed up from the patients’ lungs. Finally came a third class of houses, clean, but wherein consumptives lived, these also being careless'" of disinfecting their expectoration. Here, again, large numbers of the germs of tuberculosis were found. The lessen here is taught that such houses are centres of infection for those who may occupy them even after the consumptive has been removed from them.; We, therefore, require disinfection of all houses occupied by consumptive people if we are to save infection being spread. We also learn that dirt- 1 itself, bad as it is, will not originate the disease. One might say truly, ‘No germ, no disease.’ - , . ; •, *.) ' . ? i Da Koch's Opinions.

This German pbysicia* discovered the germ, of consumption in 1881, and I sw, in the Museum of the Congress, the original preparations and cultivations of of the germ which he had made in that year. We get consumption. from the germs sent forth from iheyilungs of patients, as'i.have described, but, hitherto, we have also believed that we could be infected from tuberculosis meat and tuberculous milk. The cow and many .other animals are known to suffer from this disease, and, of course, a cow with a tuberculous udder must give forth milk teeming with the' germs r thereof, Dr. Koch; however, as the result of recent investigations, has come to the contusion that this disease in the cow, is, a different ailment from that which affects man. Presumably, he means' that the germ"; in the one case is a different microbe from that represented in the other. Accordingly he has expressed the.opinion that we are not liable to be infected frqm milk, and, of course, meat,, also goes into the background still more as a medium of infection. If these views be correct, they might, undoubtedly, lead to much, carelessness in dealing both with meat and milk supply, andin order tbat my readers may guard themselves against relaxing any precautions they have hitherto been taking, especially as regards milk, let me remind them that Dr. Koch's views will require to be confirmed. Experiments will require tp ;be made by way., of seeing whether he. is right br. ; wrbhjir, and in these circumstances, my. sdvice' would be to continue to boil the milk-as before, and also that the supervision exercised over dairies and cows should be quite as rigidly conducted as it has been in the past,. ...

i WALK BACKWABDS TO CUBE ■-,:,-, . HEADACHE. 'The' most' i xcellent 1 cure for n-rvous headache,' sayß an enthusiast in '■ physical culture, .'.is the simple act of walking backwards. Just try it if you have any doubt about it. Nobody has as yet dis-,. covered or formulated.a'reason why such? a .process should bring certain PbysiciaHß say; that it is probably because the reflex action ot the body brings about, a .reflex action of the brain, arid Sjhlisl drives away the pain that, when produced by nervousness, is the result of too going forward. ,As soon as you begin to walk backwards, however, there' comes, a feeling of everything being reverEed> and this is followed by relief.' The' relief ib generally speedy. Ten '» is the most that the physical culfcutist has ever found' necessary; -■,, A,' passage, or a long room is a good place,for such a promeriade, • but even better ttari this is "a *ong porch, or a secluded wait in the open air. One should walk very slowly; letting the ball" of his foot touch the floor first, and theii the heel: just the way, in fact, that one shovld, in theory, .walk forward, but wlich, in practice, is b'j rarely done.