moi.KRA. 



177 



-h:ipp.-d hands and lips are better treated with glycerine of starch or the mixture of 

 i in. .- 1 in I eau de Cologne. Arnica ointment also frequently proves of service, as 

 does the solution of sulphurous acid. 



CHOLERA. 



True Asiatic cholera is a disease which is always more or less prevalent in 



Calcutta and Bombay, and occasionally visits England in the form of an epidemic. 



a disease we are not veiy likely to be called upon to treat, and it will 



lumtly be our endeavour to make our remarks on this subject as concise as 



possible, 



The following are the dates of the epidemics which have occurred during the 

 present century : 1827, 1842, 1848-9, 1853-4, 1865-6. Since 1866 a few isolated 

 cases have occurred, but there has been no epidemic. 



Cholera probably depends upon the entrance of some poison into the system. 

 This has hitherto evaded chemical and microscopical research, and we know nothing 

 respecting its origin or mode of propagation. 



Certain circumstances influence the spread and development of cholera. Great 

 importance has been attached to meteorological conditions, but apparently without 

 sufficient reason. It is but little influenced by ordinary atmospheric changes. The 

 opposite conditions of heat and cold, of humidity and dryness, and of high and low 

 barometric pressure have prevailed during different epidemics. It usually reaches 

 its height during the hot months, but it is not exterminated by cold. A sudden 

 change in the weather will often cause a considerable decline in the number of cases. 

 Cholera is always more prevalent in low-lying districts than in elevated regions. In 

 epidemics in London, people living on the banks of the Thames, or but little above 

 its level, suffer more than those in other parts of the town. 



There is strong evidence to show that impure water plays an important part in 

 the propagation of the disease. In several cases violent attacks of cholera have been 

 traced to the use of bad food, such as putrid fish, pickled pork, and decayed cheese. 



Over-crowding, want, excessive fatigue, and depressing mental emotions, by 

 lowering the general condition of the health, favour an attack. People who " are 

 frightened out of their wits " about the cholera are for this reason very likely to 

 suffer from it. 



Cholera attacks men and women indiscriminately, and people of all ages suffer. 

 Both the strong and the weak fall victims to its deadly power, and it has been 

 found in the army that the most robust are often the first to be stricken down. The 

 previous habits of life exert but little influence, although in some epidemics it has 

 been thought that the intemperate were more subject to attacks than the abstemious. 

 Occupation produces no special liability, although those which expose the individual 

 to unhealthy influences may 'increase the risk. In the army the privates always 

 suffer more than the officers. 



Thi- limitation of the area of the disease is often very abrupt. In some instances 

 it has been strictly confined to one side of a street, camp, or town. 



Is cholera catching ] There is considerable diversity of opinion respecting its 

 12 



