MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15748, 24 October 1914, Page 3 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

NEWEST THING IN SURGERY. When* tissues or organs of the body are damaged, and living grafts aro not available for repairs, inert substances are sometimes introduced to replace bone, cartilage, or fat. Silver has proved a very valuable material supplied by the metals, and paraffin has been found suitable for certain applications. The use of rubber for internal mending is a quite recent subject of experiment. About five years ago Dr. Sullivan showed that the bile-duct could be replaced with a rubber tube, and since then sheet rubber has been successfully tried for such purposes as closing the aperture in a damaged blood-vessel and repairing the torn abdominal wall of a hernia victim. Tho rubber patches tend to become covered with living tissue after a few months. The latest idea is that of Fieschi, the Italian surgeon, who replaces lost substance with porous sponge of rubber into which living colls penetrate, and thus bnild up new tissue. A tampon of rubber sponge effectively dosed the aperture in two operations for hernia of the thyjh. POLYPUS IX THE NOSE. Polypus in tho nose is a common cause of obstruction to free breathing through tho nostrils. It is not so common in children us it is in adults; this helps to distinguish the condition from the obstruction known as adenoids, which is far commoner in children. Polypus should not be neglected, as apart from the habit of breathing through the mouth, which is in itself very desirable, the polypus may give rise to complications in "the small bones and internal passages of the nose. There is one passage which leads from the nose- up to the forehead- If this passage gets blocked up it interferes with the free flow of mucus from the forehead down into the nasal cavity, and the result is a frontal headache ' Also, the unhealthy discharge coming down from the polypus falls down the back of the throat and produces a catarrh of the pharynx which mav travel to the larynx, or voicebos, and lead to loss of voice : or the discharge may bo swallowed and infect the stomach. WHAT BRAVERY IS. Physical bravery is largely a question of the condition of the heart-muscle. The action of the heart is very mysterious. No one understands why the heart beats or-what controls it. The heart mav be taken out of a dead frog, and it will go on beating for many hours, without any blood flowing through it, obviously without any influence from tho brain or*nerves, and without any stimulus from any part of tho frog's body. If drugs are applied to the heart, it will beat more slowly or faster, according to the special drug chosen, and so it is possible to discover the effect of certain drugs before administering the drugs as medicine* to a J human patient. But though the heart! can beat when cut off from the brain, yet the brain does exert a good deal of influence on the heart during life. Ex- I citement makes it beat faster ; when a! man faints or turns pale, it is because his heart is beating feebly, too feebly to send the blood coursing through the train. If i the heart fails still further, unconsciousness results, and the patient falls down. It is a well-known fact that a burly policeman or a tried and brave soldier may faint when he is merely scratched by a pin while being vacrinate'd. Bravery j consists in tho mental effort, of sending down strong impulses to tho heart to keep ' up its beating, hence we have the expression " to be of good heart." THE MORNING BATH. The early morning cold bath is beneficial only to those persons who possess sufficient vital energy and nervous force to ensure a good reaction with no subsequent languor or lassitude. If one feels greatly refreshed after on<3's morning bath, but two or three hours afterwards feels tired or languid, there is sufficient j evidence that the practice is injurious, and should be discontinued. Those who . have an ample supply of blood and flesh, who possess a lymphatic or sluggish temperament, and whose nervous force is not depleted, may indulge in their morning bath to advantage. Those inclined to be thin, whose hands and feet upon slight provocation become cold and clammy, who digest their food rather slowly and "assimilate it with difficulty, vrho are nervous, and are burdened mental'.v, all such individuals should avoid bathing during the early morning hours. To all such persons a bath during the middle of the day, or before retiring at night, will prove of much greater advantage. The bath should be followed by rest of bodv and brain till equable conditions of circulation are re-established. Then there is another class of persons—those who are weak in nervous power, but who have i such excitable peripheral nerves that after! a cool bath perfect reaction takes place at once, losing more, however, in after- ' affects than gaining in the first place from I tho bath. This class of individuals should j not bathe too frequently, and when they do bathe should use tepid water; for these, before retiring is probably the best time to choose for the bath. COMMON AILMENTS IN CAMP. In a paper read by Captain Cecil Johnson, R.A.M.C, before the British Medical Association, it was shown how the minor ailments, which wore so liable to cause loss of training among territorial troops, might be avoided. Ho pointed out that in territorial camps the admissions to hospital were most frequent among tho young and least experienced I men ; it was therefore important that j special attention should be paid to the health of recruits. He emphasised the importance of insisting upon the teeth being in good condition. He considered that, a man should bo rejected sometimes on grounds of inferior general physique or moral laxity. When in carmp the captain suggested the. necessity of enforcing personal cleanliness and cleanliness in the camp in general. He referred to the value of periodical shifting of tents and the airing of bedding. The two commonest causes which rendered men unfit for duty were sore feet and gastrointestinal disturbance. With regard to the former it could be prevented by attention to cleanliness and the provision of proper socks. In relation to the second a careful attention to the action of the bowels during the second and third day of camp was most important. ALUM IN FOODS. The much-mooted question of the effects of alum compounds on the nutrition and health of man forms the subject of a recent report by the Referee Board of the United States Department of Agriculture. The conclusions of the. board- are supported by the results of three sets of extensive experiments on human subjects, conducted independently by Dr. Russell H. Chittenden, of the Sheffield Scientific School ; Dr. Alonzo E. Taylor, of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School; and Dr. John 11. Long, of the North-western University Medical School, all of whom are member? of the board. Although alum is used in making pickles, preparing maraschino cherries, etc., the amount that thus enters into human die', is very small compared with that con sumed in baking powders ; hence the attention of tho board was directed chiefly to tho effects of alum baking powders. It appears that "a, saline cathartic residue results from the. reaction of every known form of baking powder now commonly employed," and when such powders "are used in large quantities— when a person subsists mainly on baking powder biscuits, as may happen in camp life—the cathartic effect would be noticeable and ultimately injurious. On the other hand, the amount of such powders used in an ordinary domestic, diet is found to have no such effect, and does not in any way impair the nutritive value of foods. "In short, the board concludes that alum baking powders are no more harmful than any other baking powders, but that it. is wise to be moderate in the use of foods that are leavened with baking powder."