HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1856, 17 June 1887, Page 36

HEALTH COLUMN.

! A CURE FO»R CONSUMPTPION, - ; A novel method, of .treating .patients suffering,from phthisis , is described in a recent, number of the Medical ' Record, i >It was devised by a French physician, Dr Bergeon, of Lyons, who had been applying it for two years to cases of - chronic pulmonary and throat disease. 1 The results are said "to "be ■ remarkable; ' In acute'general phthisis there lias been an arrest of the progress of the disease and a 'cure in a few months. In .advanced consumption marked improvement of symptoms is , rapidly secured, night sweats ceasing, and the cough becoming less harassing. Two hundred cases have been treated with .singular success by Dr Bergeon in , Lyons, where the climate is unfavourable for consumptives. I 'His method has been introt duced in the hospitals there and in Paris, and tjhe : 'medical authorities are favourably impressed with it. 1 The treatment consists of daily injections by emena of medicated gases. Carbonic acid gas' when introduced into the system by this method is found to be painless and harmless. Sulphureted hydrpgen is mingled with it, the entire structure of the lungs is permeated by the medicated gas,' and, remarkable curative effects are observed. . The carbonic acid gas is practically inert, when taken up ,by the veins, of the intestines, but the- sulphurous gas reaches every particle of diseased tissue . hi' the lungs and throat,, which is eliminated from the system in the process of expiration. The volume • of gas used is very Targe. _ ■ At ' the outset a' single litre'is introduced, but- the quantity israpidly increased to 10 or 12 litres for each 1 injection. *, ' ' I The results bf this new system of treating consumption are so well vouched for that we commend the subject to the critical examination of medical circles jn this, country. , Con-, , Gumption is the chifif scrwrpe of the Atlantic seaboard. «,-Any depaii uio i i Therapeutics so radical' as this French mi-f hod (deserves to be thoroughly investigated arid nde'quately tested in American hospitals, - Dr Bergeon is not' a' sciolist,- but 1 k-reputable,k -reputable, physician of large > practice -arid good standing. If 'his method be as effective and successful as he asserts, it merits general ,attention from .the-pro-fession in the United States. — New' YorkTribune.' •■'■,>■'', "- ! • I ' ! Pimples. — ;Hearty ea|ers are more subject to pimples, especially on< the face, than those, yho.are somewhat abstemious in their diet. ! Persons who.are troubled with pimples should eat^simply'to .satisfy the wants of 4 the body, but' avoid anything like gluttony. „ Select good food, and put ' aside articles that "will disturb or retard digestion." Greasy, "oily .substances, an-excess of sugar or butter, and coffee or tea have a tendency to interfere ' with the action of i the stomach and intestines", 4od.clog the .blood with matter :that cannot be disposed of readily by excretory apparatus. Keep the', skin'^cleanitoo, by frequent bathr ing. For the removal of pimples, there'' is nothing betterl thatf a solution 1 otisalicylate ■qf'sdda— a. r teaspopnfnl of the powder-dis- . solved in' 'ft -3oa- vial'- of water. * Use as a 'lptipii; it is the best preparation to secure a beautiful, healthy skin which can be used,'and ; ' the'cheapjjsX' ! ""' , ■ '*'„'', , i .To" DbstboV; Sensitiveness.— According . id Dr Broyra Sequard,*one has'only to harden , the ..neck arid feet and destroy .their, serisi-. - tivenessto .prevent taking cold. This is done by dailyt blowing a stream of. cool air, ( by means o£.a'n?elastic Dag/ upon theineck, and. by immersing, the feet nn - coolwater. The air is at jflrst only slightly oool; but' is each clay made coWer,' Wil the wok : wn stand.

ka arctic /blast ..with? . impunity^ r -jTbe^ feet-are 4 immersed iri water which* is/at 'firlt* at a temperature of about 90deg Fahrenheit, and this is gradually reduced to 30deg Fahrenheit:* "" -.-... • A (Dubious • Affection..— The Berlin Medical Society; hap .received a report by Mons.-Lewin, describing an affection that seems to b.e peculiar to workers in silvser. It appears in the form bf round or oval 'spots of a bluish hue on the skin, which may reach the size of a 5-cent nickel. .They are generally on the back of' the left hand, and can only be accounted for by supposing that the silver in solution falls upon scratches, where the body fluids give rise to 1 some' chemical change' producing the peculiar colour. ' - ■ 'A Cure ' fou ' Consumption:— Dr "M. Laughlin, head physician of the Philadelphia Hospital, reports the marvellous and unprecedented cure of 30 patients iv the last stage of consumption solely by means of rebtal injections ,of carbonic acid gas. - : The < gas is prepared according' to the system 'outlined in a recent'paper by a professor of the' Lyons University. The medical authorities at the hospital express the belief that "an absolute cure for consumption has been found: A Use fob' Mosquitoes.— A writer in the Springfield Republican claims to ; have found out the useful point of the mosquito. He says : " I found out the real mission of the pest by putting a lot of the wigglefs into a hogshead ' of water and' filling 'another hogshead, into which no wigglers were put. The secdnd body of water soon became' foul, while the first remained sweet, showing that ; our swamp would more often become sources of disease if they were not ' infested' with mosquitoes." '. „ ' ' ' '", ,

5?

m

t