HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1844, 25 March 1887, Page 35

HEALTH COLUMN.

Consumption Treated.— A new treatment for consumption which is attracting the attention of physicians is the injection cf remedies directly into the' lungs by the hypodermic syringe, the needle of which is passed through the walls of the chest. 'Some very encouraging cases are reported in which the improvement is so, great as to justify one in speaking of them as cures Carbonised iodine has produced the best results. ' Pkolonged Case of Hystebia.— A Neapolitan physician has described a case of hysteria, prolonged and aggravated, in which the nails of the fingers and toes were spontaneously shed. This was preceded by tingling, especially in the thumbs and great toes, followed by suppuration in the bed of. the nail. The curious affection of the nails is snpposed to have been a result of disorderd nerve function. Death fbom Yellow Fever.— ln dead subjects of yellow fever, the heat has been known to run upas high as 113deg Fan. three hours after death, when it was only lOldeg as life passed from the body. • The rise of temperature is supposed to be due to a fermentation of the blood. The beneficial results of quinine in breaking up malarial and other fevers are supposed to be principally due to the,p9wer the drug has to arrest fermentation and putrefaction. Quinine is an anti-ferment. Malarial fever is supposed to be due to the presence of fermenting spores in the blood. How to Cure Fear.— Fear is a' bad habit often formed in childhood, and continued in a chronic form during life. It is to be cured only or mainly by its opposite — courage. M. Riohet relates how he had occasion to pass frequently through a forest at night. He entered it boldly ; but after a few steps the feeling of fear came on and he felt highly relieved when he saw the clear sky again. Each night he was able to keep up his bold step for a longer and longer dis tance, until finally the fear was almost overcome. Habit is the only method of removing fear. Workmen in powder mills know they are in constant danger, but have no fear. To educate a child to be brave, the habit of not fearing in darkness and solitude, and so on, must be taught by its parents and guardians. Most of our nurses make cowards of- our children, and it would be about as well for , them to grow up without this appendage to - their lives. . , • „ , ' ' HOW EYE DISEASES ABE SPREAD. To mention a few of the modes of contagion I have to speak, in the first place, of towels especially of that abominable institution known as the roller-towel, .which has been used, so much in asylums where 40, 50, or more children use the : same towel, whether they have granular lids ,or not. True, in a great many of these cases' the^ existence of granular lids is not known ; .but even in cases in which the ( existance of the disease-was evident the ignorance or carelessness bf> the persons in charge has allowed transmission by means of towels to be one x>t ■ the Vnost frequent sources of contagion. As a carrier

ot the contagion the house-fly plays an important r,ole, especially in the cases of young chilclren who are not able' to protect themselves against the visits of this little animal. Attracted by, .the sweetish odonr of the discharged it will.Betile upon the eyes of children affected with the disease, especially infahte, and carry the contagion in its claws to the other eye or the $tes of sleeping infants, Spectacles may be the carrier of the com tdgiori. , I remember the case of a young lady who douldnot explain satisfactorily how' she came. to have granular lids. Upon her return 1* school she mentioned that she had granular lids, whereupon one of her classmates said : " Why, that is the disease which I have been suffering from for the last six months." This classmate was nearsighted and used glasses. My patient-was also -near-sighted, but had not used glasses, and whenever she wanted to see anything at a distance she was in the habit of borrowing the spectacles of her friend, and. there is no doubt in my mind this was -the 1 means of carrying the poison from'the classmate's eye to my patient' 6 eye. Children with granular lids are very apt to rub the ' eyes, because the secretion as it begins to dry on the edge of the lids, causes an irritating, itching sensation. They will now play, with other children, and from their hands transfer the poison to the hands of other children, and these latter rubbing their eyes -contract the disease. Handling objects which have been used by granular lids patients may be the means of carrying the contagion. A young lady, who volunteered to teach children affected with granular lids, and who had been isolated from other children in a certain institution, was warned to be extremely careful with regard to using handkerchiefs, towels, or anything •which belonged to the children. She was well aware of the danger, and promised to be very careful. She handled nothing whatever, she said, that belonged to the clildren, left her cloaks outside, and in the classroom kept away from the children a distance of five or six feet. But upon examination of her eyes, 1-1 days after she had taken office, it was found that she had begun to suiter from glanular lids. Upon inquiry I found that she had been taking the copybooks and slates of the children for correction, and in all probability she got the poison from the slates and books on her hands and then conveyed it to her eyes. A. teacher of another section in the same institutfon was more careful ; she simply walked into the classroom, did not touch anything belonging to the children, and for two or three months during the duration of this epidemic, she was .not affected by the disease. The atmosphere had evidently not been the carrier of the contagion in the first case — Medical and- Surgical Beporter.