126 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



other large manufacturing city, such as Manchester, Liverpool, or Glasgow, would do 

 equally well. As a rule, the worse the air is for the general health the better it is 

 for asthma. To this there are some exceptions, and some asthmatics are always 

 safer in pure inland air, and a few find a specific remedy for their complaint in the 

 air of the sea-coast. It is probable that every case of asthma is curable by the air of 

 some place or places, and nothing but actual trial will discover what that is. 



ASTHMA FROM ANIMAL EMANATIONS. 



Cat Asthma, &c. Cat asthma is an uncommon but very curious complaint, 

 related in its general features to hay fever. The cause of the asthma is, as the name 

 indicates, the proximity of a common domestic cat. One would hardly believe that 

 such a thing could be possible, were not its reality placed beyond doubt. It is a 

 fact; and there is neither invention, nor imagination, nor exaggeration, about it. 

 "We recently had a case under our care, and can vouch for the reality of the suffering. 

 The symptoms very closely resemble those of the hay fever, but they are usually 

 shorter in duration, and, perhaps, more severe whilst they last. The asthmatic 

 spasm, which is immediate and violent, is accompanied by sneezing, and burning and 

 a watery condition of the eyes and nose. The eyes are injected, and instinctively 

 avoid the light. Sometimes there is excessive itching of the chin, which may also 

 extend to the chest, and, perhaps to between the shoulders. Some shortness of 

 breath is usually produced in susceptible people, even when they are sitting by the 

 fire and the cat is lying quietly on the hearth-rug ; but the effect is much greater 

 when the animal is at the distance of only a foot or two, and it is still further 

 increased by stroking the cat, especially when it is in the lap just under the face. 

 The exciting influence is said to be greater in kittens than in full-grown cats. After 

 the removal of the animal the symptoms begin to subside almost immediately, and if 

 the paroxysm is not very severe, a cure is effected in from ten minutes to a quarter 

 of an hour. ^ 



Many people, even when they do not actually suffer from cat asthma, are strangely 

 and unpleasantly affected by the presence of cats. With them, the effect on the eye 

 of rubbing it just after touching a cat is to produce a hot stinging irritation, a pro- 

 fuse flow of tears, and an intolerance of light. The result of touching the lip is to 

 produce a swelling, with a feeling of heat and irritation. If the cat happen to rub 

 against the face, the cheek immediately becomes hot and swollen, and a kind of 

 nettle-rash makes its appearance. 



In some people asthmatic symptoms are produced not only by cats, but by other 

 animals. The case is related of a lady who could never visit the Zoological Gardens 

 without being rendered asthmatic. In another instance a gentleman found that he 

 could never go near horses without suffering from shortness of breath, nor did he 

 dare stay in the room with any one who had been riding. He was a country 

 gentleman, and it was frequently desirable that he should attend agricultural meetings, 

 but he was unable to do so from this circumstance. We are told of a clergyman 

 who was always rendered asthmatic by a hare or a hare-skin. If he met any of his 

 parishioners who had been poaching and had their booty about them, he could' 



