HEALTH COLUMN

Otago Witness, Issue 2006, 4 August 1892, Page 43

HEALTH COLUMN

An Affected Heart. — Palpitation of the heart is now being treated by the application of cold over the heart— particularly if the trouble is of nervous origin. A wet sponge laid over the heart is a pleasant mode of applying cold ; if the patient is in bed, a cloth is wrung out of cold water and folded to form a compress and laid on the heart ; this compress is well covered with dry cloths to prevent wetting of the clothing, and also for the purpose of retaining the moisture.

Administering Medicine by Electricity. — A medical discovery, considered of no inconsiderable importance, was recently communicated to the Paris Academy of Medicine by Dr Leon Damon, on the introduction oE various medicines into the system of animals and men by means of electricity, which he has demonstrated by various experiments on himself. It is through the mucous membrane that Dr Danion claims to introduce the substance by a method which, if borne out by experience, will revolutionise the healing art.

Cyprus Oil for Whooping Cough. — A correspondent of the St. Louis Medical Journal recommends oypress oil, distilled from the needles of the cypress tree (orvpressus sempervirens), for whooping cough. Drop a little oil on the collar or pillow of the child at night, so that the fumes may be gently inhaled. The writer sums up his experience as follows : " cypress oil is the most promptly successful remedy for whooping cough ; it is perfectly free from the disadvantages of many of the other known remedies, such as belladonna, various balsams, &c. It is very easy of application, and has a strong, but not disagreeable, odour, to which the children do not object, and which after a short time they even enjoy.

Danger of Wearing Rubbers.— A chiropodist says : — " Since the streets became so muddy I have had a nnmber of sufferers apply to me for relief. If a man has a corn I can take it out and reliave him, but if he is suffering from what I call " rubber fever " I can't help him, and can only prescribe liberal foot bathing and a removal of the cause of the trouble. Rubbers should only be worn to keep the wet out, and they should be removed the moment the wearer gets indoors. Failure to note this gives a man wet feet in a far worse sense than if he bad waded through mud ankle deep. It was the trouble resulting from forcing the perspiration to soak the stockings and keep the feet perpetually damp that drove rubbersoled boots out of the market. Even loose rubbers are a source of dangar and the cause of many more serious colds than they avert. — St. Louis Globe-Democrat.