84 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



gauze, plated or silvered to prevent rust, will last for several months, 

 and in summer-time can be removed from the shawl and laid aside ; 

 but the shawl is often useful in all seasons. 



Rile II. Active Exercise is an Essential Element in the Treatment 

 of Consumptives. — The conditions for obtaining a due supply of air 

 imply in some measure the necessity for exercise. But there are vari- 

 eties of exercise. Drs. Rush, Jackson, and Parrish, are in favor of 

 riding on horseback, but this is a thing not practically to be carried 

 out in the majority of cases, and, as I think, not absolutely necessary. 

 Walking is the more natural exercise ; it brings into movement every 

 part of the body, more or less, and, leading to brisker circulation in 

 every part, causes a more active nutrition generally. Of late years I 

 have very much recommended tricycling to consumptive patients, and 

 often with great benefit. In many instances it is better than walking 

 exercise, giving more perfect change of air and scene with less fatigue. 



The extent to which exercise should be carried will vary with the 

 stage of the disease, and temporary accidents — such, for instance, as an 

 attack of hcemoptysis — may, for the moment, stop it altogether. But, 

 when exercise is advisable, the general rule is to recommend that it be 

 carried out systematically, cautiously, and courageously, and that each 

 exercise should be continued until a gentle feeling of fatigue is felt 

 through the whole muscular system. Violent and unequal exertion of 

 the upper muscles of the body is unadvisable. When restored from 

 the fatigue of one exercise, another should be undertaken, and during 

 the day this can not be too often repeated. If the day be wet, then 

 the exercise should be effected by walking in a large room, or by en- 

 gaging in some game, such as skittles, billiards, or tennis. 



If, in his waking hours, the consumptive patient can keep himself 

 occupied pretty freely in muscular labor, he secures the best sudorific 

 for his sleeping hours that can possibly be supplied ; for as the force 

 of life is always expended in producing motion or action, so, to use 

 the words of Dr. Metcalfe, "the proximate cause of sleep is an ex- 

 penditure of the substance and vital energy of the brain, nerves, and 

 voluntary muscles, beyond what they receive when awake ; and the 

 specific office of sleep is the restoration of what has been wasted by 

 exercise." Cough is very much less frequent in the course of the 

 night in him who has been subjected to exercise in the day ; while 

 Bleep, when it falls, is more profound, more prolonged, and more re- 

 freshing. 



In summer-time, when the temperature of the day is high, the 

 morning and the evening time are the best adapted for the periods of 

 out-door exertion. In the other seasons, midday is preferable, as a 

 general rule. 



I have been asked, often, whether dancing is good exercise for 

 children and young persons of a consumptive taint. There can be no 

 doubt that it is so when properly conducted. When dancing is carried 



