94 
POPULAE SCIEE"OE NEWS. 
[June, 1891. 
and as the bowels had not moved, a large injection 
of very hot water was then thrown into the 
bowels. In a short time this was passed by stool, 
after which the injection was repeated. Eelief 
from the cramps was speedy and permanent, and 
although I had charged my hypodermic syringe 
with one-fourth grain of morphine, I withheld the 
use of it for the time being, intending as soon as 
the pain and cramps returned, to control them in 
the usual manner. The patient, however, soon 
sank into a sound sleep from which he awakened 
free of all trouble, except the debility and sore- 
ness that follow such attacks. 
Since then I have pursued the same course of 
treatment in many cases, and although I have 
been compelled to use morphine hypodermically 
in some of them, yet the hot water has always 
proved a reliable adjunct in the treatment. 
In cholera and cholera morbus, the cramps are 
supposed to be caused by the blood parting with 
its watery portion, thus sadly interfering with 
the general circulation. This being the case, it is 
plainly our duty to restore water to the blood 
as speedily as possible. AVater is much more 
readily absorbed by blood-vessels when it is warm 
than when cold. By introducing hot water into 
the bowels as well as the stomach a large absorb- 
ing surface is reached by the fluid. In addition to 
this the effect of the heat on the terminal branches 
of nerves acts beneficially upon the circulation by 
stimulating the heart to increased action. 
I have no doubt but that in Asiatic cholera hot 
water properly used will be found of more ser- 
vice than anjr other treatment. Given by the 
mouth and by injection through a rectal tube, it 
would, in my opinion, have a marked effect in 
bringing about reaction in seveie cases; at least 
it is certainly worthy of a trial. 
In cases of cholera that have passed into the 
stage of collapse, and when, under ordinary 
treatment, no hope can be entertained of the 
patient's recovery, I would not hesitate to make a 
small incision through the linea alba and flood the 
peritoneal cavity with hot water. The perito- 
neum absorbs water with great rapidity, and in 
cases of profound shock following operations 
upon the abdominal and pelvic organs, no other 
means acts as speedily and efiiciently in restoring 
the circulation as does flooding the peritoneal 
cavity with hot water. 
In the collapsed stage of cholera, where the 
pathology of the disease may be' attributed to 
dehydration of the blood, it seems plain that to 
restore water to the blood as speedily as possible 
should be the main object of treatment. In such 
cases no organic lesions have occurred in any of 
the viscera of the body, but they are in a condi- 
tion to resume their functions when their normal 
stimulus is applied to them. Hence If the flu- 
idity of the blood be restored, and if the heart be 
artificially stimulated for a while by electricity, it 
would seem that death might be averted. These 
indications can most likely be met by taking hot 
water into the stomach, by injecting it in large 
quantities into the bowels, and, in extreme cases, 
by flooding the peritoneal cavity with it. 
fMannfacturer and Builder.] 
ELECTRICAL QUACKERY. 
Ei.ECTiiiCiTY is a word to conjure with. There 
is a something mysterious and awesome about its 
manifestations that excites the imagination of the 
untaught multitude, and prepares it to accept 
anything us possible when this protean agent is 
called upon to stand sponsor for it. It is, there- 
fore tho. mogt natural thing in the world that the 
electric field should be the very stronghold of 
quackery. 
It is most unfortunate that this should be the 
case, for, legitimately employed, electricity is at 
once one of the most powerful as well as benefi- 
cent curative agents known to the physician and 
surgeon. In several classes of physical ailments, 
notably in those affecting the nervous system, and 
in rheumatic affections, at once the most obscure 
in their origin and the most difficult to cure, it is 
almost unanimously agreed that the application of 
mild electric currents of an interrupted character 
affords relief, and frequently brings about a per- 
manent cure where medication has signally failed. 
The forms of apparatus devised for the. applica- 
tion of the electric current have been greatly im- 
proved and brought to a condition of high efti- 
ciency, and only the prevailing ignorance of the 
first principles of electric science, and the perni- 
cious habit among a large class of the people of 
self-dosing and self-doctoring, are responsible for 
the electrical quaokery that flourishes in our 
midst in the full tide of prosperity. 
In this classification belongs the innumerable 
(so-called) electrical appliances for wearing upon 
the body — electrical pads for various organs, mag- 
netic belts and chains, electro-magnetic shoes, 
and the like, to say nothing of electric combs and 
brushes, all and singular, claimed to possess the 
power of reviving the vital forces and rejuvenat- 
ting the wearer. To those who may be disposed 
to lend a willing ear to the marvelous claims made 
for these paraphernalia of quackery, or to be 
deluded by the pictures of male and female per- 
sons bedecked with appliances from which elec- 
tric sparks are being emitted with dazzling effect, 
we would give the advice of Punch — Don't ! They 
are the veriest humbugs, and absolutely worthless 
for their pretended purposes. 
We are fully prepared to admit th.at instances 
may be cited where some apparent benefit has 
been derived from these things, but such cases 
can be explained most rationally to be due to the 
influence of the imagination, and the same result 
would have been reached by otlier and equally 
worthless agencies, such as the wearing of amu- 
lets, talismans, and the like, which is extensively 
practiced among the ignorant and credulous. The 
safe course to all who know nothing about elec- 
tricity and its laws and manifestations, and who 
may be tempted by the glowing accounts issued 
in behalf of such trumpery humbugs as those 
above enumerated, is to ask medical advice before 
yielding to temptation. 
Epistaxis. — The Satellite calls the attention of 
its readers to the fact that the eminent Mr. John 
Hutchinson, of the London Hospital, i-ecommeuds 
for the treatment of epistaxis the plunging of the 
feet and hands of the patients in water as hot as 
it can be borne. The most rebellious cases are 
said to yield to this method of treatment. 
A Broadway Druggist has a large, inviting 
silver-plated machine for registering weight. Peo- 
ple come in to make purchases, and while the 
clerks are filling their orders, they step on tlie 
scales. To the right of the scales is a small table 
covered with pamphlets entitled "How to Get 
Thin." On the other side is a similar table on 
which there are a lot of books labeled "How to 
Increase One's Weight." No man ever gets off 
the scales without deciding that he is either too 
fat or too lean, and naturally selects a book, 
which recommends a pill, and the pills cost $2.00 
a box. If the visitor be too fat he buys a box 
having a blue label, and if he is too thin he takes 
a box of a reddish tint. 
The Popular Science News 
AND 
Boston Journal of Chemistry. 
A Monthly Journal uevoteu to the topulak 
presentation of all the branches op 
Physical and Natural Science, and 
THE results OP THE LATEST DIS- 
COVERIES AND INVESTIGATIONS. 
Popular Science News Company, 
PUBLISHERS, 
5 Somerset Street, Boston. 
SETH C. BASSETT, - Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION KATES. 
One Dollar per year, post paid. One Dollar and Twenty- 
five Cents to foreign countries in Postal Union. 
pabli§Iy»ei's' ©olunt^rj*. 
One cannot be always going into the sublime, but if you 
must write that way an Estekbrook Easv Writer Pen in 
a valuable help. 
The best patterns, the latest improvements, the greatest 
economy in operation, and, in fact, all the qualities for the 
successful manufacture of AUTiricIAL Ice are found in the 
machines manufactured by David Boyle, of Chicago. 
Dr. L. B. Edwakds, editor Medical Monthly, Richmond, 
Va., writes : " Colden's Liquid Beef Tonic is endorsed 
by a great many leading practitioners of America wiio have 
used it with remarkable beneficial results. It should be en- 
couraged by the profession." 
The Arm of James Queen & Co., of Philadelphia, are the 
leading manufacturers, importers, and dealers of scientific 
instruments and apparatus in the country. All depart- 
ments of science are represented in their stock, and one is 
always sure of obtaining from them anything that may be 
needed. 
The fascinating works descriptive of birds, trees, and 
fiowers published by the Educational PuBLiSHrNG Com- 
pany, of Boston, are meeting with a large sale, and furnish 
most delightful summer reading. They are by no means 
dry scientific works, but will be found interesting and en- 
tertaining to every lover of Nature. 
Physicians in search of a therapeutic agent designed to 
assist the function of digestion, are recommended to make 
a trial of the Tri-Ferment Comp., manufactured by Henry 
Thayer & Co., of Cambridgeport, Mass. The manufac- 
turers have sufticient faith in its superiority to offer to fur- 
nish free trial samples to physicians. 
EvEBYTHrso that can be made out of rubber is mside by 
the Tyer Rubber Company, of Andover, Mass. The phy- 
sician, the druggist, and the housekeeper will all find 
among its specialties some article that is indispensable, and 
the (juality of its goods is of the very highest. Ask your 
druggist or dealer in rubber goods for the Tyer Compa- 
ny's goods. 
Those who have read Prof. T. O. Sloane's " Home E.x- 
periments in Science" do not need to be recommended to 
procure his "Arithmetic of Electricity" advertised in 
another column. We have never before met with a thoroughly 
siitisfactory popular explanation of electrical units and 
measurements, and, as this book accomplishes this most 
diflicult task very successfully, we predict a large sale for 
it. 
D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, are just issuing "A Compara- 
tive View of the Executive and Legislative Departments ot 
the Governments of the United States, France, England, 
and Germany," by .John Wenzel, Assistant Librarian of 
College of Liberal Arts, Boston University. This consists 
of outlines of the four great constitutional governments, 
arranged in parallel columns in such a way that similar 
topics arejgrouped together. 
