1894 THE MICROSCOPE. 121 



really great discoveries in the history of medicine. The 

 application of the principles of cleanliness more nearly 

 meets the requirements of a real advance in curative 

 medicine, than all the other propositions known to the 

 profession for the cure of disease. 



The symptoms of Typhoid Fever are too well-known 

 by all to need particular mention ; the question of burn- 

 ing interest is what to do to be saved. The disease is 

 produced by drinking contaminated water, and its seat 

 of development is situated in the intestinal canal. There 

 is a poison there which, if it could be removed before it 

 had become absorbed into the blood, life, and even health 

 would be spared. Allowed to remain, the poison is 

 drawn into the circulation, and very soon the whole 

 body feels the depressing effect. Even at this time, if 

 those remaining poisonous juices and germs which are 

 contained in the bowels were either neutralized by suit- 

 able remedies, or washed entirely away by a stream of 

 flowing water, the disease would be checked, the patient 

 spared, and health restored. 



Without waiting for development of the symptoms of 

 Typhoid fever the very first proposition is to make the 

 patient surgically clean, which means the free and abun- 

 dant use of water internally first, and externally after- 

 wards. The bowels are drenched and cleaned by a 

 copious douche of hot soapy water, made to pass into 

 and out of the lower bowel, until the contents are cleared 

 away and the returning water comes back as clear as 

 before it entered. The relief to the sick person by fol- 

 lowing such ablution is a delight to the physician and 

 of greatest comfort to the patient. It seems so reason- 

 able, they will say, and in practice it is just as good as 

 they say. Fears were formerly entertained by me, as 

 they are to-day by some of my contemporaries, that some- 

 thing would be bursted by running a large volume of 

 water into the bowels of persons sick with Typhoid 



