POPULAE SCIENCE NEWS. 
[May, 1890. 
of the napal tlouclie. Such treatment is not medi- 
cation —it is initation. It has been frequently 
shown that the long continued use of the nasal 
douche is quite certain to cause a flabby, relaxed, 
and supersensitive condition of the mucous mem- 
brane lining the nasal foss;v, thus rendering the 
patient more liable to attacks of acute rhinitis when 
subjected to the slightest exciting causes— as, for 
example, to sudden atmospheric changes. Another 
great danger in the use of the nasal douche is the 
possibility of producing serious aural complications. 
If, from any cause, the fluid passed from the douche 
into the nares found entrance into the Eustachian 
tubes,— which open into the pharynx, and through 
which the mucous membrane of the nose is contin- 
uous with that of the ear, — an inflammation of the 
middle ear would be likely to supervene; and hence 
it is that most aurists have long condemned the" use 
of the nasal douche. The use of this instrument 
should, therefore, be entirely abandoned, and al- 
though it may, apparently, ameliorate distressing 
symptoms for a time, by securing a certain amount 
of cleanliness, even these apparent good effects 
ultimately fail. 
What, then, shall be done for the relief and cure 
of nasal catarrh ? The treatment varies with the 
form of rhinitis with which we have to deal. Acute 
catarrhal rhinitis — otherwise known as "coryza," 
or "cold in the head" — is probably the most com- 
mon form, and is quite easily dealt with. It is 
caused by the sudden cooling of any part of the 
t)ody, as may be effected by getting the feet wet, or 
by a draught of air playing upon the neck or back; 
it may also be produced by inhaling irritating sub- 
stances, and sometimes appears in the early part of 
an attack of acute infectious disease. The symp- 
toms are pronounced : tlie mucous membrane be- 
comes red, swollen, and covered with a mucous 
secretion, whicii discharges itself from the anterior 
and posterior nares ; there is more or less difficulty 
in breathing through the nose, on account of partial 
or complete occlusion of the air passages, caused by 
infiltration and swelling of the mucous membrane; 
sneezing occurs, and not infrequently seems to give 
temporary relief. The catarrhal symptoms are 
usually very annoying; there may be some febrile 
movement. A patient usually recovers from an 
ordinarv attack of acute coryza in from four to six 
days. The treatment is very simple. Free purga- 
tion and sweating may cut short an attack, and to 
this end a full dose of Epsom or Rochelle salts 
should be administered, and warm drinks — such as 
hot lemonade — should be given. The inlialation of 
camphorated vapor will give great relief, diminish- 
ing the catarrh and restoring nasal breathing by 
reducing the congestion of the mucous membrane. 
It is accomplished thus : Into a suitable vessel — a 
small tin pail answering very well — put a pint of 
boiling water, and add a teaspoon ful or so of pow- 
dered camphor. Now, placing the head over the 
vessel and a short distance above it, inclose both 
head and vessel in a piece of muslin or towel, and 
inhale the vapor through the nose. Continue the 
inhalation a few minutes, and repeat it again during 
the day. Exposure to draughts of air and changes 
of temperature is to be carefully avoided. 
Chronic' nasal catarrh (chronic rhinitis) is also a 
cominon complaint, and exists in four principal 
varieties, or stages : i, simple, uncomplicated, 
chronic rhinitis; 2, hypertrophic rhinitis; 3, atrophic 
rhinitis; and 4, oza'na, or ulcerative rhinitis. The 
treatment of all these forms, excepting the first, 
is not only tedious, but involves the employ- 
ment of special procedures, and hence we may dis- 
miss them with a word. A neglected uncomplicated 
chronic catarrh usually passes on to hypertrophy of 
the mucou* membrane and tubmucout tiiiuet, and 
becomes an example of the second type of chronic 
rhinitis. It may then progress through further 
structural changes, with dissolution of the parts 
involved, and is then known as atrophic rliinitis. 
Oziena is usually of specific origin, but may arise 
from long-existing chronic catarrh, it following the 
stage of atrophy in the regular order of succession. 
It is characterized by a fetid discharge and an habit- 
ual, oftensive odor from the nose. 
Let us now briefly consider the remedial treat- 
ment of simple chronic rhinitis. The first step is 
thorough preliminary cleansing of the nasal pas- 
sages. In most cases of simple rhinitis, the patient 
can accomplish this by blowing his nose, unaided 
by any form of artificial apparatus. But in the 
exceptional cases, where crusts have formed which 
cannot be thus dislodged, the nasal spray apparatus 
of Lefterts (manufactured by the Davidson Rubber 
Company) is the best means we have to aid in the 
accomplishing of this eftect. For home treatment, 
however, merely snuffing up small quantities of 
warm water, softened by the addition of a small 
quantity of borax, from the "iiand, into one nostril 
and then into the other, — the patient forcibly blow- 
ing it out, — will effectually cleanse the nose for 
comfort and breathing purposes, and will quite 
nicely prepare the way for subsequent medication. 
The best method of medication is the use of a 
proper solution sprayed through the posterior nares 
by means of the compressed air apparatus of the 
specialist. But a very fair substitute for this appa- 
ratus is to be found in the hand-bulb atomizer, 
(preferably the double bulb variety, in order that a 
continuous spray can be produced), by means of 
which a medicated spray can be thrown by the 
patient, through the anterior nares, and hence is to 
be supplied with a proper nozzle, or "tip," which 
shall fit nicely the anterior nasal orifice. The solu- 
tion employed should be of a mild resolvent or 
astringent nature, and, if the patient is to apply it 
himself, a solution of sulphate of zinc, — made by 
dissolving from five to ten grains of the powder in 
an ounce of pure water, — or a solution of tannic 
acid, — made in a similar manner,— will probably 
give the best results. Of these solutions, only a 
small quantity should be sprayed into the nasal 
cavities, once or twice a day, as the intention is to 
spray, and not to flood, the nasal membrane. In- 
halations are not usually to be depended upon for 
the cure of chronic nasal catarrh, but there is one 
inhalation which is to be recommended as being of 
special value in this complaint, both for relieving 
the prominent symptoms and for aiding materially 
in the cure of the disease. It consists in adding to 
a pint of boiling water a mixture of ten drops of 
carbolic acid and forty drops of tincture of iodine, 
and inhaling the vapor in a manner already de- 
scribed. A change of air and locality often pro- 
duces a beneficial effect upon nasal catarrh — dry, 
elevated regions being the most favorable. The 
patient's diet should be simple and moderate, 
though nourishing, and stimulants should be 
avoided. 
It should be well understood by patients, as well 
as physicians, that there is no royal road to the suc- 
cessful treatment of nasal catarrh, and yet the 
means herein described are not only simple and 
practical, but are rational and efficient for the cure 
of the conditions to which they have been stated to 
apply. 
J. H. E. 
Two New Antipyretics will soon burst upon an 
astonished world, so far as lengthiness of name is 
concerned, at any rate ; acetylethylenphenylhydrazin 
and ethylenphenylhydrazin*uccinic acid ! 
[Original in Popular Science J^t-ws.j 
AN INSTRUMENT FOR FORCING ARTIFI- 
CIAL RESPIRATION, WITH AN ACCOUNT 
OF ITS SUCCESSFUL USE IN OPIUM 
NARCOSIS. 
Artificial respiration has long been recom- 
mended in cases in which natural respiration, from 
any cause, fails, or — as in still-born children — has 
never been established. The causes which endanger 
life from asph^'xia are numerous — drowning, hang- 
ing, inhalation of various poisonous gases and 
vapors, ingestion of various drugs, etc. The num- 
ber of drugs which may fatally paralyze, or danger- 
ously affect, the respiratory center is by no means 
small, including, as it does, opium, chloral, hydro- 
cyanic acid, conium, and others. Fatal asphyxia- • 
tion, as everyone knows, occurs all too frequently — 
sometimes as a result of accident, sometimes of 
suicidal intent. No physician can long follow his 
profession without being brought face to face with 
one of those most distressing and extremely urgent 
cases, in which the patient — often from a condition 
of full health — is suddenly threatened with speedy 
dissolution, and all, to put it briefly, from want of 
air. 
The means of supplying the much-needed air 
have hitherto been all too imperfect. The various 
methods of "artificial respiration" of Sylvester, 
Hall, Howard, and others, while they have unques- 
tionably saved many lives, are, none of them, all 
that could be desired. They all depend so largely 
on the natural resiliency of the chest walls, — which, 
at best, cannot be made to effect any such inflation 
of the lungs as the asphyxiated condition of the 
body renders in the highest degree desirable, — the 
amount of air which these methods can be made to 
supply to the lungs, so far from being in that excess 
of the ordinary amount which the carbonic acid 
poisoning would "indicate" as the proper and only 
possible antidote to the poison, is less than the 
amount which the system calls for in health. 
Dr. George E. f^ll, of Buffalo, N. Y., devised a 
great improvement upon the above-mentioned meth- 
ods. His method consists in the performance of 
tracheotomy, and the insertion of a tube connected 
with a bellows. To him, it is claimed, is due the 
credit of demonstrating that air can be forced into 
the lungs without injury to them. Reports of his 
cases would go to show that many lives which could 
not have been saved by any of the other methods 
were saved by his "forced respiration." In one 
instance this was persisted in for more than twenty 
hours, with the result of saving a patient who must 
otherwise inevitably have perished. 
Dr. C. R. Vanderburg, lecturer on pathology. 
Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, while 
according praise without stint to Dr. Fell, was led 
to believe (see Medical Record, Feb. S, 1890) that 
even the latter's method might be improved upon. 
"Forced respiration," he avers, "excels, as a potent 
therapeutic agent, any discovered for centuries;" 
and, believing that its permanent place as a thera- 
peutic measure is assured, he has for some time bent 
his energies to perfecting a device which should be 
simple in construction, applicable to all cases, re- 
quiring no use of the knife, and, above all, capable 
of effecting a respiration as nearly as miglit be like 
the natural. Such an instrument he lias devised, 
and has used it with success in three cases of opium 
narcosis, two of which, but for this device, must 
certainly, he believes, have proved fatal. 
The instrument — "The Automatic Forced Respi- 
rator," as he styles it — consists of a heavy, flexible, 
rubber cup, fitting over mouth, nose, and chin, 
through which passes a brass tube, which connects 
with a bellows by a rubber tube five feet long. The 
