WASHING THE BLOOD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5686, 3 October 1896, Page 1

WASHING THE BLOOD.

{Washington Evening Star.) Washing the blood is the latest remedy for diseases broxxght on by or causing a sluggish circulation and low state of the blood. •'■ The washing process is performed by plain salt and water. From a pint to two quarts of water is . injected into the 6ystem by means of an ordinary hypodermic syringe. A v<»n is opened in the arm of the patient with the usual antiseptic precautions, and the salt water injected in large dozes.' A. prof use perspiration and general activity of the secretory organs follow, carrying away the noxious matter present iii the blood. The new remedy is recommended by several doctors in papers read recently before the Academy of Medicine in Paris, and has been successfully employed in numerous instances. In cases of ansemia, typhoid, hemorrhages, sudden shock, and even in cases of intoxication, this blood-washing, it is said, works wonders. For some years surgeons have used a saline injection in cases of collapse after an operation. It is the most powerful tonic known, and has saved many lives. Its efficacy in ordinary diseases has, however, only recently been discovered. Modern medicine has a tendency to resort to simple methods which recognise the all-curing powers of water. Washing the stomach, as practised by several New Tork physicians, is of very recent origin, aiid is considered invaluable in cases of indigestion. A Bimple bath of warm water is often all that is necessary to restore the stomach to its normal condition, by removing the poisonous waste products which are not profusely thrown off by the secretory organs. By means of a soft rubber tube put down in the. throat «R*ter