14 
POPULAR SCIENCE A^EWS. 
[Jancakt, 1891 , 
ature of 212° F. for a much longer time than can 
the mature bacterium. In general terms, extremes 
of heat have a more destructive action to bacteria 
than extremes of cold. Heat without moisture 
does not necessarily destroy the lives of all bacte- 
ria, rendering some simply inactive. Antizymotics 
restrain their activity and prevent their develop- 
ment. Disinfectants destroy mature bacteria. The 
Spores resist heat and cold, drying, most chemical 
reagents — strong solutions of carbolic acid, etc. ; 
but are killed .by bi-cliloride of mercury and per- 
manganate of potasli. 
[Specially Complied (or Popular Sciekcb News.] 
MOXTHI.Y SUMMARY OF ilEDICAL 
PROGRESS. 
BV MAURICE D. CLARKE, M. D. 
Early Rising and Longevity. — Professor 
Humphrey's recent Collective Investigation Report 
on Aged Persons contains some very positive evi- 
dence on a matter which lias already engaged the 
attention of moralists as well as physicians. " The 
opportunity for nutrition to do its restorative 
work was, iu nearly all, provided by the faculty 
of ' good sleeping,' to which was commonly added 
its appropriate attendant, the habit of ' early ris- 
ing.' " Thus there is a relation between early rising 
and longevity. Xo doubt many people will hastily 
seize upon tlie sentence just quoted, and employ it 
in edif jing lectures or essays for tlie perusal of 
youth, or embody it in popular medical works. 
Important qualiflcations follow in Dr. Humphrey's 
report, but they are likely to be overlooked. 
Doubtless the habit of early rising is iu itself 
healthy ; most of all, it is a good sign of liealtli 
%\heu it evidently signifies rapid recovery from 
fatigue. Again, it usually denotes a strong will, 
the gift, as a rule, of a good pliysical constitution, 
or at least the safeguard of average bodily 
strength. Late risers are generally either inviUids 
or persons of bad habits, idlers who are never free 
from other vices iiesides idleness. The nervous 
exhaustion which keeps a man wakeful through- 
out the small hours produces sleep late in the 
morning. This exhaustion is invariably due to one 
of several life-shortening influences, especially 
anxiety, or indiscretion in diet or drink. Early 
rising is thus rather one eft'ect of cei-tain favorable 
influences, another result of wliich is longevity, 
than a cause of longevity. To turn a weakly man 
out of bed every morning at 7 o'clock will not 
prolong his life. It will be noted that by "good 
sleeping" Professor Humphrey signifies quick 
sleeping; "that is, the reparative work whicli has 
to be done in sleep is done briskly and well. " 
Here, again, we have an eft'ect of a cause; but 
preventing a weakly subject from sleeping more 
than four or five hours nightly, would not cause 
him to live long, but would rather tend to shorten 
his life. Equally important are Professor Hum- 
phrey's observations which show that by "early" 
he does not entirely mean tlie time by the clock. 
The word "has a relative significance vith refer- 
ence to the time of going to bed. A person who 
retires to rest four hours after midnight and gets 
up at 10 A. M. may be strictly regarded as an 
'early riser."" Thus early rising is synonymous 
in long-life histories with short sleeping, which 
means rapid recovery from fatigue, a sign of bodily 
strength. These scientific facts in nowise contra- 
dict the alleged value of early rising as a practice 
to be cultivated by all persons in good health. It 
is excellent as moral discipline, and eminently 
healthy as a matter of fact. Most persons will 
eat three meals daily. When a man gets up late, 
those meals will probably follow each other at too 
short intervals to be wholesome. When he is an 
early riser it will probably be otherwise. He cau 
enjoy a good breakfast, and by the time for his 
lunch or mid-day dinner he will have an honest 
ai)iietite again. — British Medical Journal. 
Diet. — The Medical Press and Circular states 
that it can not be denied that the restrictions im- 
posed by medical men on the diet of patients are 
ofttimes the outcome of prejudice or wliim, and it 
would bo well if the practitioner paused awliile 
and considered whether or not the object in view 
might not be better attained by some less drastic 
method. First of all, there is no absolute standard 
of what is right and proper when individual stom- 
achs are iu question. The safest guide iu such 
matters,, under ordinary circumstances, is the 
patient's own palate. This organ acts under the 
guidance of a natural instinct that is rarely at 
fault, though many persons mistrust its indications 
as if fhey were the suggestions of some frivolous 
and wanton agency, rather than a skillful and 
trustworthy guide in the choice of food. At the 
same time lie is careful to remind us that the sense 
of taste, like any otlier sense, may be wrong and 
betray the confidence of its possessor. It is the 
duty of the practitioner to detect these eccentric 
or vicious palates, and to assist their owners in 
neutralizing their evil promptings ; and, to sum up 
the recommendations, a change of diet is often 
better than mere restriction, and it will often 
answer the purpose to diniiuisli the quantity 
of a particular article instead of prohibiting it 
altogether. Tlie change may be in the kind, iu 
quantity, or in the disposition of the meals. This 
is the secret of tlie success of tlie cures at watering 
places, with tlieir rigidly enforced dietetic and 
hygienic rules, and the result can be obtained on 
much less onerous terms if only the patient can be 
induced to modify his regimen accordingly. T'he 
last form of adjustment is that which iinijoses 
itself as persons pass from youth to old age. 
Digestion and assimilation are on the wane, and 
the intake, both in (iiumtity and kind, must be 
modified accordingly. On the wliole, it is well to 
beware of hard and fast lines, for no two cases are 
exactlj' alike, and their management is complicated 
Ijy collateral circumstances wliicli have to be taken 
into account. 
Rib Fracture from Muscular Action.— In 
an article upon this subject ( Univ. Med. Mag.), Dr. 
Joseph P. Tunis has tabulated all the recorded 
cases of this rare accident, including one observed 
by himself. His conclusions in regard to this 
fracture are given as follows : 1"^. Fortj' cases 
having lieeu reported, we may reasonably expect 
to hear of others, perhaps to see them ourselves. 
2*^. Of these accidents more than one-fourth have 
occurred in individuals of apparently sound con- 
stitution. S'^. The left side has been most often 
afTected, and either the niiddk^ or anterior third of 
the rib the usual positions of the fracture. Of 
forty-nine fractures, only five have occurred above 
the sixth rib. The great majority have lieen 
among the lower six (omitting the twelfth). 4°. 
The exciting causes have been: Coughing (25), 
muscular eft'ort (11), sneezing (.3), and vomiting 
(1). Tlie determing cause has l)«en the action of 
tile nuiscles, unless thirty-four observers have lieeii 
deceived liy the testimony of patients, who could 
gain nothing by such deception. 5°. llerard re- 
ports the youngest example of this accident, a 
woman 22 years old. Xo case lias been published 
younger than this, no doubt on account of the 
great elasticity of the ribs in youth. 6°. Of these 
forty cases, two died of some intercurrent aflTec- 
tlon. The remaining thirty-eight made a complete 
recovery in the usual time. 7°. More men (22) 
have suffered than women (17), and tlie average 
age has been 48 years. 
Laparatomy for Pekitoxeal Tuberculosis. 
— Lauenstein (Centralblatt fur Chirtirg.) offers some 
suggestions upon the rationale of laparatoniy for 
the cure of peritoneal tuberculosis. He thinks the 
witlidrawal of the coexisting ascetic fluid stops 
the further progress of the malady, for the; reason 
that tlie peritoneum is made dry, which condition 
is incompatible with the development and exist- 
ence of the tubercle bacilli, and that, therefore, 
the cure of the tuberculosis, and the non-appearance 
of the ascites after laparatoniy, stand in direct 
relationship. Furtliennore, Koch's experiments 
show that sunliglit (|uickly kills all bacteria grow-' 
ing upon a culture medium, and tlie tubercle bacilli 
in from a few minutes to one hour. Tlie author 
then argues further that, inasmuch as a thorough 
examination of the abdominal cavity requires a 
good light, and that many cases are operated upon 
at a time of day when the light is the greatest, and 
that the operation room is usually very light, the 
direct action of sunlight may exercise a curati\( 
influence along with drainage. This supposition 
gets some support from the fact that in no other 
form of tulierculosis is incision and drainage fol- 
lowed by cure, and in no other form is dirt>et sun- 
light used as in laparatoniy. 
The author concludes with llie narration of a 
case of peritoneal tuberculosis, in which lie made 
laparatoniy, drained oft' a large amouut of ascetic 
fluid, and wiped out the cavitj- without using aiiTi- 
septics. He then allowed sunligbl to fall in e\ery 
part of the cavity for ten minutes. The fluid did 
not reappear, and the patient remains well no" . 
two months after oi)eratiou. 
Ei'iSTAXis. — In tlic Med. liecurtl, Dr. W. W. 
Parker describes a very simple and effectiM' 
method of controlling nose-bleed, which he uses td 
the exclusion of Bellocq's cannula and othei 
methods. Fifteen or more threads of lint, cm 
coarse spool cotton, about four inches long, i\re 
tied together at their middle, folded upon eaeli 
other, and pushed into the nasal fossa, so that the 
loose ends are at the anterior uares. The nostril 
may be plugged in front if need be. . Tlie method 
is comparatively painless, the plug gives no dis- 
comfort, and may easily be witlidrawn in twenty- 
four to fortj--eiglit hours. 
A Visible Heart.— Tliere is at the present 
time in St. Mary's Hospital a child about a fort- 
night old, in whom the sternum and costal carti- 
lages are imperfectly developed. Tlie heart !■< 
seen most distinctlj- through the thin cutaneous 
wall of the chest. The shape and size of the auri- 
cles and ventricles, with the flUing of the auricles 
with blood, are quite as visible for all practical 
pin-poses as if the organ were completely exposed 
to view. — Med. Press. 
A Case of TuBEuctLAU Inoculation.— T. 
Deuke (Deut. Med. Wochenschr.) reports the case 
of a seven mouths' child of a plithisical mother, 
that fell and injured its head against a vessel con- 
taining some bloody sputum of tlie mother. Tln' 
clean-cut wound was disinfected and healed rap- 
idly. The cicatrix later began to enlarge, and 
shortly swelling appeared in the region of tlie 
parotid, with suppuration and enlargement of tin' 
neighboring glands. This suppuration fliuillr 
caused the deatli of the child. In the pus of tlie 
part, the tubercle bacillus was found abundautly. 
