The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening news, The Morning News and The Echo. MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1876

Auckland Star, Volume VII, Issue 1894, 13 March 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening news, The Morning News and The Echo.

MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1876

For the cause that lacks assistance, For tii« wrong thnt needs resistance, l-'or ilie future in the distance, And the srood that we can do.

Events, recently occurred, have given a sad and rather alarming interest to that dread scourge diphtheria. This is not lessened by the mysterious nature of the malady, and the admitted inability of medical science to grapple with it successfully. In a neighbouring colony, whole families have been literally swept away by it, and, that in its moat virulent type it is now amongst us, is testified by the appalling domestic calamity, that has just occurred in one of the healthiest suburbs of the city of Auckland. In these circumstances every thing that can contribute to throw lip;ht on the disease, or on the remedial treatment of it, should be gratefully received, and experiences, whenceaoever derived, should be accepted^ro tanto as contributions to the medical empiricism that is engaged in searching for the vulnerable and assailable points in this comparatively new and entirely unknown visitant. When whole families are snatched away, under the very eyes end hands of tho3e whose pi-ofe3sion it is to grapple with the King of terrors, it is no time for "orthodox" science to deal superciliously with " old wive's nostrums." The many " specifics" indeed which have been announced for this and other malignant diseases, and been vaunted as infallible, are calculated to create distrust in such announcements, but the terrible fatality, and extraordinary contagious character of this disease will impel many, to regard new nostrums with a degree of interest which will not be suppressed by the unmerciful snubbing they habitually receive from the disciples of Esculapius. We shall be told that ice is not new as a therapeutical agent, and that it is commonly used in medical pi-actice with excellent results. This is all tho better and will perhaps prepare the way for ita efficacy, being thoroughly tested as a means for nipping diptheria in the bud. For tis this power that is claimed for it in a periodical now lying before us. The theory is,— whether correctly or not we are not competent to say —that the " local origin " of this disease so prostrating to the whole system is in the throat. That there the germ is deposited, and that there it may be stifled ere it has extended in it 3 baleful influence throughout the system. To kill the vegetable fungus in the bud is claimed to be within the .power of this simple product of nature, and the theory is backed up by such medical testimony, practical and experimental as must cloth it to the eye of the most conservative, in a garb of eminent respectability. We shall not follow the reasoning with which the position is maintained. It is based on the analogies of hydrophobia, syphilis, snake bite, &c, in which prompt local application may arrest the evil before ts morbific influence has extended, and set iap other " local' origins" in situations so many and so remote as to be beyond the' reach of remedial treatment. And it is argued that instead of the throat affection .in this and in> scarlatina, measles, small-pox, &c, being the result of poison, already diffused through the system, it is itself the "fount and origin of the mischief." That in fact the portion of the mucous membrane whichj covers the soft palate, the tonsils, and the uvula is that which arrests and develops the poison germ of diphtheria, as does the mucous lining of the iliac glands arrest and develop the germ of typhoid fever. The article, admits the efforts made in ordinary practice to attack the disease at the fountain by the aid of acids, but claims for ice a superior power in stifling this vegetable life in the bud ; and thus proceeds to detail the mode, of operation.

"In our experience with the diphtheria, we soon found that success in the ice treatment depended ufbn the faithfulness with which the ice was applied. It would not do to merely give the patient a lump occasionally, or allow him to use his own discretion in regard tojthe frequency of the application. Wejj found that in order to check the disease and reduce the inflammatory symptoms,

piece of ice should be placed in the moufcti EVERY TEN MINUTKS, DAY AND NIGHT, TJNTTL THK CANKER HAD DISAPPEARED. This then in brief is the ice-treatment: A continuous internal application, and external if necessary, until every trace of the fungous growth has disappeared. Of course sustaining measures must be used, beef tea, etc., but if this ice-treatment is adopted at the outset, there will be but little necessity for "sustaining" the patient, as the stomach and digestion are not perverted by drugs. " Remember that the diphtheretic fungus can not grow or live long in ice-water, and when the fungus is destroyed you no longer have a local origin from which a stream of poison pours into the system. In conclusion we will quote the experience of Dr. Carson, the well-known authority npon this method of treating diptherin, and kindred diseases : "Dr Carson in a series of able papers in the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter, calls attention to the happy fcmnitb following the use of ice ftfld Gold water in scarlatina., diphtheria, croup, quinsy, etc. The good effects of ice water, applications to the throat externally, and ice in substance as a garale to the throaty > e i<e almost magical. Fatality RS yftsfcly lessened, recovery was r.-tji<3, and sequel te were uncommon. The cases of scarlatina were not selected but all were given—malignant,- anginose, and simple. Dr ICaraon's observations as to the effects of these agents run through some twenty or more years. As his experience with them has increased, so has his faith. He reasons that the diseases in question are originally local in their action, the systemic trouble being secondary. Combat and arrest the loc:il trouble, and the systemic disorder will be prevented or leaned. He condemns the practice which spnsists in applying caustics, astrincenis, irritants, and poultices to the throat ami neck, as but adding fuel to the fire. The indications are to cool the burning throat, to constringfl and tone up the blood-vessels and loesen the fever. All this is accomplished by allowing the patient to suck ice, to gargle the throat with ice writer, and by enveloping the nec;k in bags of ice, and by cold affusions to the general surface. Thin practice is to be kept up steadily throughout the whole course of scarlatina This, together with the support by nourishment, is all that need .bo done in the mildest as well as the Fevi»r«rt ca^e?. Albuminuria and enlargpd glands do not contra-indicate the use of ice a,nd ice water. Dr. Carson contends that ttiere is no danger of retrocession of the disease under the use of thepe agents. He gives over one hundred cases of scarlatina in one year, all treated by these means, with not a single fatal relapse. 'Tho pame treatment is equally successful in diphthpria, membranouscroup. and quinsy. It is remarkable, that our text-hooka on practice and the diseases of children having Given hardly a passing notice to these aiinole 1 hernnoutics in the management of diseases so fatal to life."'\ ;