FEVER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 4434, 30 April 1875, Page 3

FEVER.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE LYTTELTON TIMES. Sir, —As I find I am expected to take notice of the letter of “ 8. J.N,” I hope you will allow me to inform him that the medicines necessary for the prompt control of fever are too powerful for evil, as well as good, to be entrusted to unskilful hands. When I wrote those papers for the Medical Gazette, it was not my object to make “ every man his own doctor,” but to lay before the profession a great mass of information which had never been made use of, displaying the whole process of inflammation from the first pain and swelling to the formation of an abscess, its bursting, and the filling up of the cavity ; and also from the first appearance of the gangrenous spot which constitutes the beginning of an ulcer to its final healing by granulation, in order that plain reliable truths might be contrasted with the grossly misleading statements and mere opinions of Huntsr, which still disgrace the medical literature of the 19th century. It is with a sort of grim satisfaction, I observe that those gentry who have picked my brains as regards the true nature of the ulceration process have been so utterly unable to make any practical use of what they have stolen. That a great practical improvement in the treatment of ulceration is as readily available as it is sorely needed, is well shown by a case of ulceration of the cartilages of the hip joint, originally under the charge of Dr Campbell at the hospital, but which came under my caw on being discharged thence as incurable. The subject of this disease is a delicately formed child of about seven years. It was by no means a promising case, the eyes were sunken, the cheeks very thin and , hollow, in fact there was no plumpness anywhere except in the diseased hip joint, which was swelled to three or four times its natural size. At first the improvement was slow, but latterly it

has beenso rapid (hat the joint; is nowscaroely more than twice its natural size, and the proper form of the thigh begins to show itself. Theprogress is now so steady that I only call once in eight or ten days. The case is a good example of the difference between knowing and not knowing bow to do it. Knowledge leads to success quite as surely as ignorance leads to failure. In order to convince “ 8.J.N.” that I have no desire to make a secret of my mode of stopping and oaring fever, I may mention that some time ago I applied to the authorities for a few beds in the hospital to be given over to me, that I might have the means of showing, to all who might choose to come, exactly what I do, and explaining the principles' on which I "act. My application, however, came to nothing, as I was not even vouchsafed an answer. Ido not consider this was either a wise or gracious way of treating the offer of an inestimable benefit. Had it been accepted, I would by this time have at least laid the foundation of a new school of medicine, which would have fixed the attention of the whole medical world, and have made Canterbury the Sanitarium of India and the Southern Hemisphere. What is it now ? Why the death rate is so high that many are afraid to come here at all. Apropos of infection. Last Monday week I was called to two children, one a boy about four, and a girl of nine, laid up with measles. I saw them again the next day, and when I called again on Wednesday, I found there was nothing more for me to do. As yet, I have had no summons to either of the other children. It would thus seem that the easiest and most effective way of stamping out infection is to cure the disease. The cause being removed, the effect ceases. Touuobedient servant, J. W. EABLE. Opawa, April 27.