THE REMEDIES OF NATURE. 609 



cured asthma with actual cautery the application of a hot iron to the 

 rihs of their patients, who naturally preferred the risk of suffocation : 

 Dr. Zimmermann ascertained that the mere proposition of the hellish 

 corrective made the delinquent gasp in a way that relieved the stric- 

 ture. But the agreeable disappointment probably impaired the effi- 

 ciency of subsequent threats ; and the chill of a cold plunge-bath never 

 fails to produce a contraction of the diaphragm that serves the same 

 purpose. 



After the first strangling-spell has been relieved, a very simple 

 mechanical contrivance will help to restore the regularity of the respi- 

 ration : " Take a straight stick, about six feet long and one inch in 

 diameter, and mark it from end to end with deep notches, at regular 

 intervals, say two inches apart, with smaller subdivisions, as on the 

 beam of a lever-balance. Then get a ten-pound lump of pig-iron, or 

 a large stone, and gird it with a piece of stout wire, so as to let one 

 end of the wire project in the form of a hook. The exercise consists 

 in grasping the stick at one end, stretching out arm and stick horizon- 

 tally like a rapier at a home-thrust ; then draw your arm back, and 

 (still keeping the stick rigidly horizontal) make your hand touch your 

 chin, thrust it out again, draw back, and so on, till the forearm moves 

 rapidly on a steady fulcrum. Next, load the stick i. e., hook the 

 stone to one of the notches, and try to move your arm as before. It 

 will be hai'd work now to keep the stick horizontal ; even a strong 

 man will find that the effort reacts powerfully on his lungs : he will 

 puff as if the respiratory engine were working under high pressure. 

 On the same principle, the lungs of a half-drowned man may be set 

 awork by moving the arms up and down, like pump-handles. But the 

 weighted stick, bearing against the sinews of the forearm, still in- 

 creases this effect, and overcomes the stricture of the asthmatic spasm, 

 as the movement of the loose arms relieves the torpor of the drowning- 

 asphyxia" ("Physical Education," p. 137). 



But a lethargic feeling about the chest still remains behind : the 

 spasm has ceased to obstruct the entrance of the air, but breathing 

 has still to be effected by an effort of the voluntary muscles, as if the 

 lungs were yet too weak to perform their proper work. After an at- 

 tack of spasmodic asthma this lethargy may continue for twenty-four 

 hours ; in chronic asthma, where it constitutes the chief symptom of 

 the complaint, it may last for a week or two. Next to out-door ex- 

 ercise, the best corrective is conversation, laughing, and singing any 

 continued vocal effort seems to overcome the passive resistance of the 

 torpid organ. Many physicians must have noticed that a large propor- 

 tion of their asthma-patients are persons of solitary habits. Laughter 

 is a peptic stimulant, while silence and brown studies favor dyspepsia, 

 asthma, and sleeplessness. Bed-ridden garret-dwellers can at least 

 talk to themselves ; and, with the aid of a pet squirrel or a copy of 

 the "Asthma-Cure Almanac," may manage to organize an occasional 



TOL. XXIII. 39 



