CONSUMPTION. 197 



If you take your temperature morning and night on several consecutive days, and 

 liiid that it is never above 99, you may be pretty sure that you are not consumptive, 

 or at all events that there is no active mischief going on in your chest. Taking the 

 temperature is one of the best methods of proving the absence of consumption. The 

 pulse is usually quickened in proportion to the elevation of temperature. If your 

 natural pulse is, say, 70, and you find it continually above 90, and there is nothing 

 that you know of to account for it, it is a suspicious sign. If, on the other hand, 

 your pulse, especially at night, is normal in frequency, there is probably no fever. 



Pain about the chest is sometimes met with in phthisis, but it is by no means of 

 constant occurrence. It is usually a dull, aching pain that is complained of, and it 

 is often referred to the region just under one or other of the collar-bones. When 

 the pain is a sharp " stitch in the side," there is probably a little pleurisy just at 

 that spot. A little localised inflammation of the pleura or covering of the lung 

 often occurs in the course of phthisis, but it is of no great moment, and with 

 appropriate treatment usually passes away in a day or two. 



Diarrhea is not of unfrequent occurrence in consumption, but it is not usually 

 an early symptom. It is essential that it should be checked as soon as possible. 



Loss of hair is a common symptom of phthisis. Women often tell you that 

 their Jiair comes off in handfuls. It must not be supposed that this symptom by 

 itself is of the slightest value other and more decided signs of the malady are 

 always present. We recently had a patient under our care with lung mischief 

 who in a few weeks lost an abundant crop of hair that had for years grown on 

 his chest. 



Absence of the catamenia is another symptom often met with, especially in 

 advanced cases. 



A clubbed or thickened condition of the finger-nails is also common. It is 

 worth looking for, for it is a favourable sign, indicating that the progress of the 

 disease has been and is likely to be slow. 



A red line along the margin of the gums where they meet the teeth is not 

 unfrequently seen. 



Such, then, are the symptoms of phthisis. If you suspect, or have any reason to 

 suspect, that there is anything wrong with your chest, go to a doctor. If there is 

 nothing the matter, it will remove a harassing doubt and a feeling of uneasiness that 

 might in itself in time prove prejudicial to your health. You must remember that the 

 doctor will have to examine your chest, and you must of course be prepared for 

 that. He can do you no good unless you let him go thoroughly into your case. 



Is consumption curable 1 Undoubtedly, in many cases. In days gone by it was 

 laid down as a law by learned pundits that any medico professing to cure consumption 

 was a charlatan. Thank God ! those times have passed away, and we no longer regard 

 consumption with the same hopeless horror we used to. A person may be con- 

 sumptive, and live on for ten, twenty, or thirty years, or even longer. Cases of 

 arrested consumption are now-a-days by no means uncommon. Modern treatment 

 vill save a life that a few years ago must have been sacrificed. 



A few words, then, respecting the treatment of consumption. If there is much 

 fever, the temperature being, say, 103 or 104 every night, begin with the effervescing 



