THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



MAY, 1883. 

 THE KEMEDIES OF NATUKE. 



By FELIX L. OSWALD, M. D. 

 CONSUMPTION. 



THE organism of the human hody is a self-regulating apparatus. 

 Every interruption of its normal functions excites a reaction 

 against the disturbing cause. If a grain of caustic potash irritates 

 the nerves of the palate, the salivary glands try to remove it by an 

 increased secretion. The eye would wash it off by an immediate flow 

 of tears. A larger quantity of the same substance could be swallowed 

 only under the protest of the fauces, and the digestive organs would 

 soon find means to eject it. The bronchial tubes promptly react 

 against the obtrusion of foreign substances. The sting of an insect 

 causes an involuntary twitching of the epidermis. If a thorn or 

 splinter fastens itself under the skin, suppuration prepares the way 

 for its removal. If the stomach be overloaded with food, it revolts 

 against further ingestion. 



These automatic agencies of the organism generally suffice to coun- 

 teract the disturbing cause, and the sensory symptoms attending the 

 process of reconstruction constitute merely a plea for non-interference. 

 The suppurating tissues push the thorn outward, and resent only a 

 pressure in the opposite direction. The eye volunteers to rid itself of 

 the sand-dust, but remonstrates against friction. The rum-soaked sys- 

 tem of the toper undertakes to eliminate the poison, and only asks 

 that the consequences of the outrage be not aggravated by its repeti- 

 tion. But, if that plea remains unheeded, it finally takes the form of 

 the emphatic protest we call disease. For, even in its urgent manifes- 

 tations, the reaction against a violation of Nature's health-laws is a 

 cry for peace, rather than a petition for active assistance in the form 

 of medication. "Accustom yourself in all your little pains and aches," 



TOL. XXIII. 1 



