HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1894, 9 March 1888, Page 36

HEALTH COLUMN.

Mountaiu-cliiubiiiff Healthful— The Value of Pure Air.

Although the strenghtening and invigourating effect of exercise, and especially of mountain -climbing, is well recognised, yet it would seem not to be superfluous to examine a little more closely this most precious of remedies, which, by the relief it gives from the cares of business, combined with residence in a healthful locality, active respiration of pure air, and drinking of pure water, exerts not only a transitory beneficial effect, but even, in most cases, leads to a permanent cure, and also tends to prevent disease. Among the most active disinfectant agents belong a good soil and also, in my humble opinion, good air. According to Professors Sennator and Fluegge, one volume of good sandy soil can render innocuous 250 volumes of ordinary sewage; but as regards the disinfecting power of air we are still in the dark. I believe that the oxygen present in pure air is able, probably by means of combustion, to render more or less innocuous the disease germs received into the blood — that is, to act as a disinfectant,

While serving in the Turco-Servian war I kept the windows in almost every room in my hospital constantly open, even during the night. A favourite experiment of mine, and one from which I never saw any but favourable results, was to send patients suffering from grave diseases a distance of six miles to another and more roomy hospital. They were removed even in winter, when the weather was not excessively cold, but were, of course, well wrapt up, and every precaution was taken to prevent them from receiving any injury on the way. It is well known that not everyone exposed to a contagious disease acquires that disease, and may it not be that those escape entirely or suffer from a mild form of disease, who, after exposure, spend a considerable time in the open air ? I leave out of consideration the fact that the danger of contagion depends also somewhat upon the position that the visitor occupies when at the sick bed. So much as to .the value of pure air. It is of especial efficacy in elevated regions, and its good effects are the more evident the higher the climber ascends, and the more muscular effort he puts forth in the ascent. The best inhalation apparatus baths and medicines are of the best temporary value if no compensation is made for the loss of vitality and of muscular tone, especially that of the heart and vessels ; if the blood stasis in the glands and other organs does not yield to an increased flow of blood in the arteries and veins j if the thinned blood does

' not become thicker and more riph in albumen ; if the accumulating carbonic acid is not expelled by a more plentiful supply of oxygen ; if the fat deposited in the body is not more rapidly oxidised; and if the kidneys are not made to act more efficiently. But all these effects are produced according to Jacobi, Loomis, Ooit, Oertel, and other authorities, more certainly and more generally by mountain-climbing than in any other way whatever. In organising parties for mountain-climb-ing, it is necessary to have everything arranged and to attend to certain preliminary details. Regulations should be established as to the gradual increase in the extent of the daily ascents, the periods for rest, the choice of food, the permission to drink, the regulation of time for stool, the protection of the feet, legs, and nates, against chafing and the formation of blisters, the protection of the neck, and finally tho selection of the mountain up which the ascent is to be made ; these are all points which require careful consideration. — L. I Barkan, M.D., in N. Y. Medical Journal.

The Lungs.— From many observations on healthy men, Dr Theodoroff, of St. Petersburg, learns that the vital capacity of the lungs increases from morning till evening, decreasing again during the night. After each meal, too, there is a special increase, followed by a slight decrease; the vital capacity being at its highest shortly after dinner, 'and at its lowest after getting up in the morning. The force of inspiration and expiration follows nearly the same law. Vegetables.— The use of vegetables is very apparent to one who studies the chemistry of food. By them slight indispositions are often removed and very likely grave disorders obviated. Almost every kind of vegetable has its specific effect. Celery, it is well known, is a nervous sedative, and acts favourably upon rheumatism and neuralgia ; lettuce and cucumbers, with the acid which is used in dressing them, are cooling during the earlj heat of summer ; asparagus is an admirable blood purifier ; tomatoes .stimulate the action of the stomach and liver ; onions are a remedy for sleeplessness and are very wholesome; beets and turnips furnish waste material; while pease and beans are nutritious and strengthening in a high degree. But from the first of the list to the last much depends on the way they are served.

A Common Affection —Not infrequently nurses, by reason of neglect or ignorance, fail to wash the heads of infants properly daring the first days of their existence. The matter which should hare been removed goes on accumulating, dust and dirt are intermingled, it grows discoloured and thickerIt eventually forms into a crust, which interferes with the natural action of the oilglands, and underneath it their product by the action of heat is decomposed. This altered secretion is irritating, and congestion of the scalp is caused by it. If the crusty matter is not then removed, super* ficial ulcerations follow, and the disease known as eczema is propagated, and genespreads to parts until then unaffected. It is apparent that neglect in washing new-born children is followed by very troublesome results.

Fevbb Bacillus. — The fact that intermittent fevers of which ague is the type are due to a bacillus has been recently advanced an important step towards decided proof. Dr Crudeli showed very clearly that a bacillus; exists in malarious soil, which, when cultivated by itself and introduced into animals, produces intermittent fever, and, moreover, blood drawn from an ague patient in the shivering stage of an attack can be seen under the microscope to contain bacilli. The difficulty that Crudeli found in getting his views accepted lay in tho fact that the soil contains so many putrefactive germs that a pure cultivation of one sort is very difficult to obtain, and an impure one could readily produce bloodpoisoning, which an unskilled observer might deceive himself into believing to be intermittent fever : and, further, there are a great many facts which show that malarial fevers are spread in the air. Another Italian observer has succeeded in detecting Crudeli's bacillus in the air of malarious districts. In the afflicted districts in Italy Crudeli has introduced the use of arsenic with great success to replace or assist quinine in the treatment of ague.