638 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



still further reduced the functional energy of the respiratory organs, a 

 viscid matter rises in bubbles, and one of these bubbles, like a tena- 

 cious membrane, closes the tube of the larynx. Suffocation results, 

 and, in the ensuing struggle for life, Nature has a very slim chance to 

 prevail. In our Northern States alone, five or six thousand perish thus 

 every year — killed by domestic contrivances as surely as the prisoners 

 of Surajah Dowlah were killed by the architectural arrangements 

 of the Black Hole. If the physician is only called in the last stage 

 of the deliquiuniy inflammatory croup constitutes one of those excep- 

 tional cases where artificial causes of disease have to be met by arti- 

 ficial remedies. The far-gone exhaustion of the patient, a thin, expir- 

 ing pulse, would indicate that tracheotomy, or the opening of the 

 windpipe, offers the only hope of salvation. A violent, suffocating, 

 and spasmodic cough would indicate that the expulsive efforts of Na- 

 ture require the aid of a swift emetic — tartar or ipecacuanha. 



But, if the symptoms of danger are heeded in time, croup is as cu- 

 rable as a common catarrh. As soon as the characteristic cough be- 

 trays the condition of the windpipe, the patient — infant or adult — 

 should be reduced to two meals, the last one not later than four hours 

 before sunset. Flesh-food, greasy made- dishes, narcotic drinks, as 

 well as all kinds of alcoholic stimulants, should be strictly avoided. 

 Before night the hed should he removed to a cool and carefully venti- 

 lated room. Families who have no alternative should not hesitate to 

 open every window for at least fifteen minutes, and in the mean while 

 compromise with their prejudices by carrying the child to the next 

 neighbors, rather than bring it back before the air of the bedroom has 

 been thoroughly purified. A draught of very cold air might possibly 

 excite a cough that would precipitate the crisis of the disease, though 

 by no means lessen the chances of a lucky issue. But more probably 

 fresh air, whether cold or cool, would so re-enforce the remedial re- 

 sources of Nature that the inflammation would subside in the course 

 of a few days. 



If in spite of such precautions a strangling-fit should occur at 

 night, the child should be immediately raised to a half-upright posi- 

 tion, by making the weight of the body rest on the knees, with the 

 head slightly inclined (face downward), the elbows back, and the hands 

 resting against the hips — the position which a person would instinct- 

 ively assume in the endeavor to aid an expulsive effort of the lungs. 

 Between the paroxysms ease the chest by a quick forward-and-hack- 

 ward movement of the arms, and hj persistent friction with a wet brushy 

 applied to the neck and the upper ribs. Under the influence of these 

 stimulants, combined with the invigorating tendency of fresh air, the 

 organism will employ all its resources to the best advantage and soon 

 relieve itself by a sort of retching cough. If the difficulty has not 

 been aggravated by the use of " croup-sirup," the patient will rest at 

 ease for the remaining hours of the night. A week may go by with- 



