Vol. XXII. No. 12.] 



POPULAE SOIEl^CE NEWS. 



185 



jReHittne anH Pbarmacp. 



MINOR AILMENTS. 



In the more common and less serious dis- 

 eases, such as sea-sickness, habitual consti- 

 pation, boils, and similar troubles, it sometimes 

 seems as if the phjsician's art was less effective 

 than in more important affections. Even a 

 cold in the head can onlj- be cured by that 

 most successful of doctors, Time. It is use- 

 less for a physician to treat it with any thing 

 but contempt, although some revenge them- 

 selves upon the catarrhal nuisance by calling 

 it a coryza. 



It is a curious fact, that a person afflicted 

 with most of the minor ailments receives no 

 sympathy from his friends, although his suffer- 

 ings may be actually greater than if his con- 

 dition was critical. A sea-sick person is always 

 a source of entertainment to his companions 

 whose stomachs are less " perniciously active ;" 

 while one who is blessed with the company of 

 a "Job's comforter" is likelj- to have his 

 ph3'sieal sufferings aggravated by the facetious 

 remarks of his associates, which he is generally 

 in no condition to appreciate. 



While such affections as we have referred to 

 generally run a self-limited course to complete 

 recovery, yet the consequences of a slight ill- 

 ness or accident ma}- be more serious. Cases 

 of death from sea-sickness have been reported, 

 and a cold in the head may develop into a 

 chronic catarrh. A grape-seed may lodge in 

 the intestines and produce a fatal inflamma- 

 tion. We have known a slight wound of the 

 tongue to prevent the mastication of solid food 

 for several days, and lead to considerable gas- 

 tric and constitutional disturbance. A few 

 nights of wakefulness may bring a nervous, 

 excitable person into a condition almost like 

 insanity. But in such cases the trouble is but 

 temporary- ; and when the cause, whatever it 

 may be, is removed, recovery follows at once. 



Our whole existence is dependent upon the 

 proper action of a great number of organs 

 and physiological processes, and the least of 

 these cannot be disturbed without causing dis- 

 comfort and illness. The function of the 

 supra-renal capsules is so obscure, that we are 

 unable to say what use they subserve in the 

 animal economy ; but whatever it may be, if 

 it is interfered with hy disease, serious consti- 

 tutional disturbances are developed. It is by 

 careful attention to the minor ailments and 

 obscure and apparently unimportant symp- 

 toms, that the physician will gain the appreci- 

 ation of his patients, and often save them from 

 more serious illness bj- checking it at the be- 

 ginning, before it reaches its full development. 



[Original In The Popular Science j!few».] 



CLIMATOLOGY AND HEALTH-RESORTS. 



BY JOHN CROWELL, M.D. 



The subject of health-resorts, with reference to 

 a change of climate for the alleviation of certain 

 maladies, is as old as the history of medicine. 

 Hippocrates in his Epidemics says, " Change 

 of climate is profitable in long-lasting illnesses. 

 Classical literature abounds in references to the use 



of mineral waters and the advantages of sea-bath- 

 ing; and sea-voyages have for centuries been rec- 

 ommended for those suffering from certain chronic 

 affections. In our own day climatology has been 

 studied with much intelligence, and the adapta- 

 tion of certain conditions of altitude and temper- 

 ature to the various phases of disease has been 

 made with a good degree of scientific accuracy. 

 In our own vast country new localities have been 

 opened, especially upon the Pacific coast; and 

 thousands of invalids in search of health annually 

 flock to these places, with more or less benefit. In 

 no department of practical medicine is more dis- 

 cretion demanded, on the part of the physician, 

 than in deciding for his patient upon the wisdom 

 of a change in climate, and in choosing for him a 

 proper locality. 



In the first place, the condition of the patient 

 must be thoughtfully considered before advising 

 him to leave his home for a health-resort. The 

 stage of the disease must be carefully noted, and 

 especially in phthisis and in the later changes of 

 renal disease should the diagnosis be scrupulously 

 made. How many poor victims leave home in the 

 last stages of incurable disease, to find sure death 

 among strangers! Hence many sanitary resorts 

 have an undesirable reputation. The forlorn hope 

 of receiving benefit by a change of climate has 

 allured many a consumptive from the comforts of 

 home, to languish amid the cheerless surroundings 

 of immense hotels, erected to make money out of 

 poor suffering humanity. 



Another caution to be given to one who is seek- 

 ing a change of climate is to consider the expense. 

 Much discomfort is experienced from lack of funds, 

 in the inability of securing proper care, and, above 

 all, proper food. Unless one has an abundance of 

 means, he had better remain at home; for the 

 sufferings from the want of proper attendance, and 

 nutritious, well-cooked food, more than offset any 

 benefit to be derived from change of climate. The 

 allurement often held out to a patient of moderate 

 means, that light work is frequently abundant at 

 the springs and in the orange-groves, is too often 

 futile and deceiving. He will find that all such 

 chances for light employment are filled, and that 

 he will seek in vain for aid to eke out his scanty 

 resources. 



Another caution to the invalid is, not to go alone 

 to a distant health-resort. Nothing is more for- 

 lorn and depressing than to have the consciousness 

 that you are on a journey in search of health, with 

 no one to share your burden or to divert the thoughts 

 from the all-absorbing idea of invalidism. Cheer- 

 ful companionship of persons who are not sick is 

 very essential, especially to the subjects of melan- 

 cholia or hypochondria. 



What kind of diseases are benefited by climatic 

 changes? And what localities must be sought for 

 their alleviation or cure ? A few may be mentioned 

 with profit, as the season is upon us, "when many 

 invalids are contemplating escape from the rigors 

 of our Northern winters. 



In bronchial catarrh, without heart complica- 

 tions, when the expectoration is profuse, a dry, 

 warm, equable climate must be selected, like 

 Arizona. Thomasville, Aiken, and Augusta. 

 When the expectoration is scanty, Bermudas, 

 Jamaica, etc. The climatic conditions in the 

 management of tuberculosis, according to the most 

 advanced theories, are purity, drynes.i, temperateness, 

 and brightness. In the matter of purity, it follows 

 that small, close rooms, cabins of vessels, crowded 

 towns, and proximity to marshes and other places 

 of deposit for decaying vegetation, must be avoided, 

 since in such instance the progress of organic 

 combustion, either chemical, physiological, or 

 zymotic, is indicated. Dryness is naturally quite 



as essential as purity in retarding 'incipient 

 phthisis, as well as curing in the early stages. In 

 the altitude climates of Davos and Colorado there 

 is found to be less secretion from respiratory 

 mucous membranes, due to less irritation of the 

 air-passages from the dryness of the air inspired, 

 or the decreased activity of the tuberculous agent 

 of the lung tissue. For it is a well-known fact that 

 invalids resist the cold better in a dry though low 

 temperature than in a moist atmosphere. 



By temperateness of the atmosphere is meant 

 absence of extremes of heat and cold, and also 

 exemption from sudden changes from a high to a 

 low temperature. This is illustrated by the re- 

 moval of persons who have lived long in tropical 

 climates, to temperate regions in the colder season. 

 It is therefore a nice question for the physician to 

 decide, in order to establish a happy mean between 

 a dry climate with a great daily range of temper- 

 ature, and a moist atmosphere with a small vari- 

 ation in temperature. Between the two extremes 

 lie the conditions favorable to health. 



Brightness of the atmosphere bears a direct rela- 

 tion to dryness, and is an important element in its 

 bearings upon the subject. According to Jour- 

 donet's and Denison's tables, it appears that the 

 intensity of sunshine increases directly with the 

 altitude. This intensity is measured by the differ- 

 ence between the temperature in sun and in shade, 

 represented by the following rule of Denison; viz., 

 " one degree greater difference between temperature 

 in sun and shade for each rise of two hundred and 

 thirty-five feet." 



When the heat is not too great, sunshine has 

 most beneficial effects upon man. The blood cir- 

 culates with greater rapidity, respiration is in- 

 creased, peripheral circulation is more active to 

 the advantage of the internal organs, which thus 

 free themselves from stagnant blood, charged with 

 excrementitious principles. 



Light also plays a most important part; and, to 

 quote Dr. Thaon, " Through its active rays it 

 reddens the blood, and it cures chlorosis in the 

 same manner as it restores the color to plants 

 bleached in darkness." 



Next to phthisis, the diseases that chiefly demand 

 climatic changes are rheumatism and gout, and 

 renal affections. The victim of chronic rheuma- 

 tism dreads cold and dampness; and warmth, dry- 

 ness, and abundance of sunshine are the climatic 

 conditions to be sought. Aiken, Thomasville, and 

 inland Florida present favorable localities; but 

 seaside stations are apt to produce constipation, 

 owing to contact with the sea-air, and are there- 

 fore to be guarded against. 



In chronic interstitial nephritis and diabetes 

 melitus, warm, dry climates in winter, and in 

 summer dryness and medium elevation above the 

 sea-level, are indicated as adjuncts to medicinal 

 treatment. The psychical conditions call for special 

 attention. 



Florida resorts, Thomasville, Aiken, Southern 

 California, Alexandria, Cairo, and Algiers are 

 among the most desirable localities to be noted. 



In conclusion, it must be again emphasized that 

 the sanitary surroundings and appliances of hotels 

 and "sanatoria" must be of the most approved 

 standard of modern scientific experts. 



Above all, must the water-supply be abundant 

 and of the purest quality. It is fortunate when a 

 sensible medical man is near at hand who can be 

 consulted, and whose advice may be of great value. 

 Care should be taken not to fall into the merciless 

 hands of pretenders and quacks, whose business is 

 to lurk about the health-resorts, and by their pre- 

 tence and suavity deceive the poor victims of dis- 

 ease, who are too easily induced to listen to any 

 smooth-sounding tale that promises relief. 



