HEALTH COLUMN. Inflammation of the Lungs Caused by a Microbe.

Otago Witness, Issue 1981, 11 February 1892, Page 44

HEALTH COLUMN.

Inflammation of the Lungs Caused by a Microbe.

Increasing evidence is being obtained to prove that inflammation of the lungs, or pneumonia, alike in man and animals, is caused by a special micro-organism. Drp G. and F. Klemperer, in the " Berliner Klin Wochenschrift," No. 33, 1891, an abstract of which appears in a recent number of the Monthly Medical Journal, have rtcently investigated the subject, have cultivated the micro-coccup, and have experimented with it chiefly on rabbite, which are very susceptible to its action. This coccus is frequently present in the bodies, and especially in the respiratory tract, of men and animals ; but no harm ocsurs so long as the subjects are in good health, and the organism is not in large numbers. Healthy men, it is stated, bear with impunity a dose of cultivated pneumo-coccus which would kill a rabbit. But when the cocci are deposited even in moderate amount on a catarihally irritated and weakened respiratory membrane, they rapidly multiply, and within a few days produce a poison which the investigators have calUd pneumo-toxine. 'Ibis substance they have isolated, examined, experiment with, and find that, as it is formed and circulates, it produces the notable febrile and other morbid phenomena of pneumonia. This role of effects, so far, resembles what is observed in tetanus, in which the paniculate microbe, accidental y or experimentally introduced into an unhealthy wound, develops the tetanin-toxine, which, when it is carried in the blood stream to the nerve centres of the spinal cord, sets up the characteristic tetanic spasms. The living microbe thus, in both cases, engenders the chemical poison which is the immediate cause of disease and death. That the pneumonia micro-cocci themselves do not directly produce the morbid conditions appears to be demonstrated from Drs Klemperer % s observations that they continue to be abundant in the advanced and convalescent stages of pneumonia; but those then collected have lost their power of producing the toxine, and may, without effect, be intravenously injected or otherwise introduced into the bodies of rabbits.

But the investigations bave led to still more curious disclosures. In pneumonia, whether naturally or experimentally produced, within a few days after the evolution of the toxine, another substance, which has been aptly termed anti-pneumo-toxine, is produced. This appears to be a naturally developed curative agent, which comes into operation about seven days after the onset of the disease, and affords explanation of the often-observed fact that pneumonia in tolerably robust subjects runs a definite course, and with the most diverse treatment tends to recovery. That this anti-toxine has veritable curative and protective powers seems to have been proved. It has been prepared from solutions from which the coccus has been grown, and when introduced into the bodies of animals in which pneumonia vaa distinctly present in its acute early stage", the elevated temperature and other distressing symptoms have gradually abated within 24 hours. This curative result is stated to have been observed in 12 rabbits. The protective powers of the antidote have further ber-n shown by injecting with it rabbits suboutaneously and intravenously, the latter being the safest and best method. In three days these rabbits with impunity could be inoculated with lethal doses of the pneumococcus or of the pneumo-toxine, and this immunity was found to continue for weeks, and may perhaps be still more permanent. A further curious evidence of the efficiency of the vaccine is recorded. The seiumof the blood of rabbits tbus rendered immune when injected into other rabbits also protects them from pneumonia, when at periods v.iiy^ ing from one day to a month they have been subsequently inoculated with full lethal doses of pneumo-cocci. The investigators are engaged in further experiments on rabbits, on themselvep, and on human patients suffering from pneumonia, and the rest Its will be anxiously looked for.

How Women Sleep.— A German physician says: —"The fact is, women require a larger amount of sleep than men. The nervous excitability of the female constitution is generally greater than is the case with the stronger fcex, and a woman's sleep is consequently lighter. Her dreams are more vivid and leave a more lasting impression on the memory. Women addicted to dreaming usually 6leep an hour longer than those who do nob dream, for dreams induce weariness. Anyone who sleep 3 without dreaming rises on the morrow refreshed from his couch, which is otherwise not the case.

Hot Dkinks for Thirst.— lt is a mistake to suppose cold drinks are necessary to relieve thirst. Very cold drinks, as a rule, increase the feverish condition of the mouth and stomach and so create thirst. Experience shows it to be a fact that hot drinks relieve the thirst and " cool oS" the body when it is in an abnormally heated condition better than ice-cold drinks. It is far better and safer to avoid the use of drinks below 60deg ; in fact, a higher temperature is to be preferred, and those who are much troubled with thirst will do well to try the advantages to be derived from hot drinks, instead of cold fluids to which they may have been accustomed. Hot drinks aleo have the advantage of aiding

digestion, instead of causing debility of the stomach.

Ohahcoal in Filters.— Charcoal in filters has beenmuch recommended for its remarkable power oi absorbing organic matter. This porosity renders charcoal, however, whether vegetable or animal— but especially the latter— the most dangerous of all materials for continued use. It becomes saturated with organisms and the matter which they feed upon. It cannot be cleaned except by being subjected to a red heat, which cannot be done iv an open atmosphere, and to do it in retorts would be quite too expensive. If used at all, it should be changed every day — an impracticable thing to do. If used for any great length of time it would be about as bad as a dead cat in a filter. Finely granulated coke with sand might be used instead of chaicoal, as with care and patience coke and sand might be washed quite clean ; but it is almost impossible to remove any impurity from charcoal except by fire.