110 



POPULAR SCIEI^CE IsTEWS. 



[July, 1888. 



invited iu its common form from severe and long- 

 continued mental strain, from vehatever cause. 



The cares of large business interests, financial 

 reverses, political disappointments; the vain at- 

 tempt to do too many things well; the wear and 

 tear incident to continuous fast railroad travel, 

 with loss of sleep, and irregular habits in the 

 observance of the common functions of digestion, 

 — these are either remotely or nearly connected with 

 the incipient causes of the disease. To these may 

 be added the mental strain brought to bear upon 

 the literary man who writes under pressure, and 

 whose hours of work extend far into the night. 



Fast living and sensual indulgences, and the free 

 use of alcoholic stimulants, form a part of the cate- 

 gory of direct or indirect causes. Many a brilliant 

 light has gone out because of the neglect to heed 

 the warnings of nature or the advice of the medi- 

 cal attendant. 



Whenever the digestive functions are overtaxed 

 by irregular eating and drinking, the kidneys suffer 

 in the elimination of the superabundance of the ni- 

 trogenous products of the food not required for the 

 growth of the tissue, and which must be eliminated. 

 The liver, being overtaxed from the excessive carbon 

 and hydrogen of alcoholic drinks, becomes weak- 

 ened in its functions ; and the kidneys are called to 

 take care, not only of the superabundant food, but 

 also of the carbon and nitrogen that the liver was 

 unable to manage. Hence the urinary secretion 

 becomes impaired. 



When we consider the connection between in- 

 tense nervous strain and disease of the important 

 organs and the system, can we wonder that the 

 secreting structure refuses to do its duty under 

 these morbid conditions, and that so many strong 

 men succumb to the power of disease? When a 

 man of fine physique and of good ancestry com- 

 plains of being tired under the discharge of his 

 chosen vocation, and when every thing he attempts 

 seems a burden to him, we may suspect that the 

 cause of the lassitude and turpitude may be lurking 

 in a disordered secretion, whose seat is the urinary 

 organs. Examination into the history of the case, 

 and the urinary tests, too often reveal the secret, 

 which, if not discovered too late, may be palliated, 

 if not wholly dissipated. Such a man must curtail 

 his business ; he must curb his appetites ; he must 

 refrain from late suppers, and the fascinations of 

 club-rooms, ball-rooms, and theatres; he must be 

 willing to take life soberly and sensibly, and sub- 

 mit to a regime simple, temperate, and oftentimes 

 severe. The dozen cigars per day must come down 

 to two ; the fancy drinks and suppers must give way 

 to abstemiousness ; the merciless sway of the pas- 

 sions must be subdued; and the "thus far shalt 

 thou go, and no farther" must be applied like the 

 air-brakes to the lightning express. He must not 

 go out of the range of the doctor's keen research, 

 and he must be held accountable to him by a 

 severe discipline; and his courage must be stimu- 

 lated by the assurance of success if he does not 

 yield. Many a man is saved by such oversight, 

 and his life lengthened out for many years in the 

 performance of useful if less exacting duties. 



But shall there be no medication in this warfare 

 with disease? Shall there be no diuretics? Cer- 

 tainly. They are valuable when used judiciously. 

 Bennett, in his exhaustive Clinical Practice, re- 

 duces diuretics in this disease to the simple use 

 of bitartrate of potass, which in his hands has 

 proved most effective when all else had failed. 

 He contends that diuretics thus used not only les- 

 sen dropsical accumulations, but also tend to wash 

 out the obstructions to the malpighian bodies 



Dr. Tanner would rely upon mild diaphoretics, 

 gentle aperients, dry cupping over the loins, and 

 tonics. 



Dr. Seth Pancoast, in his valuable little mono- 

 graph, deprecates much interference by medication, 

 relying upon a general dietetic and sanitary dis- 

 cipline. Especially does he warn against the in- 

 discriminate use of iron. It will not cure anaemia 

 as long as the vital energy is so enervated that it 

 cannot carry on a normal assimilation. Aniemia 

 results from an impaired vitalization of the chyle 

 in its passage through the mesenteric glands, and 

 therefore the white corpuscles cannot advance to 

 the red corpuscles or blood-disks. Iron, if given 

 at all, should be given in very small doses, for an 

 exceedingly small quantity only is needed for as- 

 similation. But such are the limitations in the 

 efficiency of drugs, in the management of this dis- 

 ease in its ordinary chronic manifestation, that the 

 physician soon learns to rely mostly for guidance 

 upon the general principles already indicated. 



It is always fortunate if the patient seeks in- 

 telligent advice during the incipient stages of the 

 insidious malady. Fortunate is he also if he is 

 not captivated by some popular nostrum, which he 

 uses under the charm of a latent but psychical 

 force, whose virtues are set forth by the rhetoric so 

 cheaply obtained, but costing so dearly. 



IIow many simple, practical rules are obtainable! 

 Protection from the vicissitudes of a changeable 

 climate can be observed, for the least exposure to 

 dampness will oftentimes bring congestion to the 

 kidneys. Freedom from care and mental depres- 

 sion is desirable and often obtainable. The diet 

 should be nutritious and of a mixed character, 

 avoiding condiments, but using animal food, es- 

 pecially in the earlier stages, when it becomes more 

 easily assimilated. 



With such care and watchfulness, and with im- 

 plicit obedience, chronic Bright's disease is curable, 

 even after the kidneys are seriously disorganized, 

 provided that the inflammation has been removed, 

 and the nervous energy re-established. The vital 

 force, located in the system, calls for aid, and this 

 aid must be offered by intelligent and persistent 

 oversight and obedience. 



[Specially compiled for tlie Popular Science News.] 



MONTHLY SUMMARY OF MEDICAL 

 PROGRESS. 



BY W. S. WELLS, M.D. 



At the late meeting of the Congress of the Ger- 

 man Surgical Society, held in Berlin, Professor 

 Bergman, president, in the chair, Herr Brieger 

 made a demonstration of the action of three Pto- 

 maines. He injected into a rabbit a solution of 

 letanine obtained from the amputated arm of a 

 man suffering from tetanus (lock-jaw). In about 

 five minutes the animal exhibited all the symptoms 

 characteristic of traumatic tetanus, following in- 

 jury in the human subject. 



The second experiment was the injection of a 

 solution of newine, which caused first a flow of 

 a thick fluid from the nose; then profuse salivation 

 appeared ; and later the animal suffered from dif- 

 ficult breathing, became paralyzed, and died in 

 convulsions. 



The third ptomaine was mytilotoxine, obtained 

 from diseased mussels. When given to a man 

 suffering from tetanus,' it caused a relaxation of 

 the clonic spasms ; but in animals it did not have 

 the same effect. An animal poisoned with this 

 toxine had head-drop difficult breathing, convul- 

 sions, and paralysis. 



At the late meeting of the American Medical 

 Association, Dr. N. Senn of Milwaukee read a 

 paper on, and demonstrated a new means of, diag- 

 nosticating penetrating wounds of the abdomen. 



The existence of a wound in the bowel where 



there is extravasation into the peritoneal sac has 

 always been considered fatal, unless laparotomy is 

 performed. Punctured, penetrating wounds are 

 less fatal than gunshot wounds. In order to deter- 

 mine some means of diagnosis, he had experimented 

 to find some innocuous gas which could be injected, 

 to distend the viscera until it made its escape 

 through the wound. 



The first experiment showed that hydrogen gas 

 can be made to pass the entire length of the gastro- 

 intestinal canal, from the anus to the mouth. In- 

 flation through the mouth is only used to diagnose 

 wounds of the stomach, as the gas does not easily 

 pass the pylorus. Hydrogen gas is perfectly innocu- 

 ous and unirritating, and is rapidly absorbed when 

 injected into any serous cavity or into the con- 

 nective tissue. All that is necessary in using the 

 gas is a rubber balloon holding sixteen liters. In- 

 ject gradually. The method locates the number 

 and location of wounds. Enemata of the gas were 

 given to dogs for a few minutes, and it was then 

 ignited at the animal's nose. A stab-wound was 

 then inflicted, and the gas ignited at the point of 

 puncture. In like manner, a pistol-shot wound 

 was diagnosticated. 



In wounds of the bowel this method is of special 

 value, avoiding aggravation of the case by han- 

 dling of the parts with the view of locating the seat 

 of perforation. 



Dr. T. Veiel of Constatt ( Viert fur Derm, et 

 Sypli.) reports are markable instance of eczema of 

 the face, caused by exposure to the rays of the sun, 

 and for which, after all available remedies had been 

 exhausted, relief was obtained by icearing a red 

 veil. The patient was a lady aged fifty-six. Till 

 twenty-four years old, she exhibited no unusual 

 sensitiveness of skin ; but at that time, when trav- 

 elling, in the month of April, severe swelling in 

 the face came on without apparent cause. There 

 were red wheal-like elevations, combined with 

 swelling of the eyelids. These disappeared after 

 four days' confinement in her room. Any expos- 

 ure, however, to the sun, either in clear or cloudy 

 weather, reinduced it. The same irritability re- 

 turned next spring, to cease again in autumn and 

 winter. This recurred every spring, but lasted 

 each year a longer time; the infiltration of the skin 

 was also greater. These attacks had recurred 

 annually for fifteen years. Even in a closed apart- 

 ment, the side of the face turned to the light, if 

 near the window, showed some irritation, mani- 

 fested by a papular eczema. Shortly after sunset 

 and at night she could go out iu all winds aud 

 states of the weather. Even in the keenest east 

 wind the skin was unaffected. Of many and 

 various external remedies none gave relief; most 

 of them increased the irritation. 



Dr. Veiel next sought to discover what property 

 of the sun's rays induced this irritability. It was 

 not the heat rays, for she could endure the glow 

 from a fire or oven unaffected; nor the ordinary 

 rays of light, since neither lamp nor candle incom- 

 moded her. The chemical rays were next consid- 

 ered; and it was found, in accordance with the 

 experience of photographers, that a red veil limited 

 their influence most completely. She was accord- 

 ingly provided with a red veil, and sent out into 

 the open air in the height of the day. The veil 

 proved invaluable ; for she who could not leave her 

 room for two minutes in July and August in the 

 forenoon, remained out, with its aid, repeatedly 

 and without harm, for forty minutes at a time. 



It is suggested that excursionists should substi- 

 tute the blue veil, usually worn as a protection 

 from the sun, with a red one, since blue affords 

 the very least protection against the chemical rays 

 of the sun. 



