427 



danger lies are constantly suffering. A l^nowledge of Coniosis is of great 

 value to them. 



For a man who has long believed lie liad consumption or was con- 

 stantly on the verge of it, or that he had cancer of the stomach, or Bright's 

 disease, or heart disease, not to speak of other diseases and affections, to 

 know that he is "only a dust victim," that his fears are perhaps wholly 

 groundless, is certainly a gi'eat relief. But the prudent man will take 

 care to avoid exposures, knowing that disease may follow an acute attack 

 of dust infection, emphasized in the warnings of the patent medicine man, 

 "Beware of a cold." 



At the other extreme is the man in "robust tiealth" who is constantly 

 exposed but who, because he does not complain, is assumed not to react. 

 Yet he may be reacting all the time, as by gradually developing a high 

 blood pressure and then suddenly going to pieces prematurely. 



Coniosis may be looked upon as a "Protean disease" with which the 

 general practitioner of medicine is very largely concerned, not to speak of 

 people who "doctor" themselves. Perhaps the great majority of the "dis- 

 eases" for which the patent medicine men advertise their nostrums and 

 cure-alls fall within the scope of Coniosis. If we understand that Coniosis 

 Is a reaction to an abnormal environment, we at once see the uselessness 

 of attempting to cure by drugs. Drugs however may palliate — alcohol, 

 opium, cocaine, acetanilid are largely interchangeable ; all are habit pro- 

 ducing drugs. 



When marked symptoms, as of ill health, appear then Coniosis be- 

 comes a medical subject — and then the best advice to a dust victim is to 

 seek the services of a competent physician, one who will properly investi- 

 gate, if necessary by laboratory methods, and who will discuss findings 

 freely. Usually good advice rather than medicine is needed in such cases, 

 but we should not forget that drugs may palliate, may modify severe symp- 

 toms. (Here is a very practical point: Pay the physician for advice 

 rather than for medicine — or in self-defense he will dispense medicine or 

 write a prescription for a tonic in order to get his fee. The practice of 

 medicine is after all a bread and butter profession. The physician who 

 makes time-consuming examinations in competition with symptom-pre- 

 scribers often has difficulty in maintaining himself.) 



Results of Exposurk. — What constitutes an exposure? This is a mat- 

 ter in which personal experience largely enters ; each must learn for him- 



