1 
U he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Rheumatism and Other Troubles 
An Afflicted Man; a Liniment 
T have sciatic rheumatism which af¬ 
fected my hips and back for 20 years 
four or five times a year. Last Fall it 
left my back and went to my feet and 
hands, also the point of my shoulders. 
It makes me lame if I even walk. I 
have taken a lot of medicine for it, with 
very little use. Good appetite; my living 
is mostly milk and broad, no pies or 
cakes. The pain keeps all the time mov¬ 
ing. Could you give me a strong, pene¬ 
trating liniment that would stop the 
pain, and not burn or blister flesh? 
Ontario. f. n. 
It is said that the lawyer who con- 
* ducts his own case in litigation has a 
fool for a client; it is at least equally 
Avoid the use of towels or bed linen with¬ 
out sterilization after anyone, no matter 
how circumspect they have always been. 
If the trouble is contracted, change the 
underwear daily, boiling all that is re¬ 
moved very thoroughly, the same method 
being used with bed linen at least 'every 
other day. Wear close-knit long-sleeved 
underwear to protect outer clothing from 
infection. If the first scattering eruption 
is painted daily with iodine the trouble 
usually goes no further. The organism 
seems to be of a vegetable nature and is 
destroyed by frequent sponging with pure 
peroxide of hydrogen twice or three times 
daily at least. Iodine keeps it in control, 
but cannot be used often enough or long 
enough if large areas are involved, as it 
is too severe. Au ointment of zinc has 
also been of value, bur, should be prepared 
by a physician, and its use is destructive 
to the further neat appearance of under¬ 
clothing. Young children do not seem to 
mind the trouble as much as do adults. 
The eruption seems more violent in form 
the older the victim is. Early treatment 
is best, and it should not be suspended 
for a week or two after all symptoms have 
disappeared, or it may recur, when the 
latter form seems worse than the first. 
CORKKS 1*0 \ DENT. 
In reply to I. ('. and M. B. 17., on page 
40, there is a skin disease that comes un¬ 
der scabies because it is caused by a mite, 
though it is not the true scabies or itch. 
This form of itch is characterized by pus¬ 
tules or small boils filled with pus. The 
mite may be killed by washing the parts 
with a solution of bichloride, when the 
skin will heal in a few days. This dis¬ 
ease has been very prevalent in our 
schools, for the most part being new to 
667 
our physicians ' >ne young doctor, who 
said it looked like smallpox to him, 
sent away virus to be examined. The re¬ 
port was as above. With me the treat¬ 
ment was a perfect success, though I had 
suffered with the pustules several months 
and been under a good deal of expense 
for physicians, not to mention terrible 
mental distress, not knowing just what I 
had picked up. The bichloride being a 
form of mercury, it would probably be 
best not to wash a large area of the body 
at once, but to treat a small local place 
at a time if the disease covers any consid¬ 
erable part of the body. 
Washington. Elizabeth haddix. 
Mai d: “Well, did you get the secre¬ 
tarial job? * Ethel: “No. The man said 
I couldn’t spell, couldn’t write on tin* 
typewriter accurately, and my stenog¬ 
raphy was a joke.” “What are you going 
to do about it?” "Take a Gevernment 
job.'’—Melbourue Australasian. 
true that a doctor who prescribes by mail 
for a ease that he has never seeu has a 
fool for a patient, and, to make a fair 
distribution of these chargee of folly, the 
patient may feel sure that he.has a fool 
for a physician. It is to escape this just 
charge against a long distance physician 
that the writer refuses to answer medical 
questions in these columns, except as 
they are of entirely general application 
or pertain to some of the lower animals. 
th<“ health of which is not a matter of 
such vital importance as to make errors 
in diagnosis' and treatment a serious 
thing. If it were possible for a sufferer 
to make an accurate diagnosis of his con¬ 
dition, and then to give it a definite name 
that would enable a stranger to know 
just what that condition was, and then, 
finally, to exclude all other conditions 
that might have a very important bearing 
upon the one complained of, it would be 
possible to prescribe intelligently by mail. 
Unfortunately, however, these things are 
impossible, and so the above statements 
as to mail order medication are none too 
harsh. 
All this is said, not in direct reply to J 
the above request for the formula of a 
good liniment, for it is possible to give 
that, but to discourage any who may read 
this from asking for medical advice. The 
writer cannot disclaim some knowledge 
of disease and medicine, for he spent a 
considerable number of years as a coun¬ 
try physician and is still engaged to some 
extent in the work of a sanitarian, but 
he has a too keen sense of the limitations 
of medicine and a too whole-hearted con¬ 
tempt for the advertising quack to wish 
to place himself in an untenable position. 
But as to a formula for “a strong, pene¬ 
trating liniment” that will stop pain, 
there are many formulas of greater or 
less value, various combinations of a few 
well-known remedies being used. The 
value of liniments depends largely upon 
their irritant action upon the shin, since 
there is little absorption through the skin 
of any drug thus applied, and upon the 
friction with which they are applied. It 
is probably not untrue, also, to say that 
their value is enhanced if considerable 
faith in their virtues is held. 
A generally useful, and inexpensive, 
liniment which will probably do all that 
any liniment will do may be made by 
adding to one pint of turpentine a dram 
of fluid extract of capsicum, au ounce of 
chloroform, an ounce of laudanum, and 
an ounce of olive or flaxseed oil. This 
will not blister unless too closely covered. 
A stronger liniment, but one not so safe 
or generally useful as tin* above, may be 
made by mixing two drains eaeli of tinc¬ 
ture aconite, tinct. capsicum, spirits 
camphor and chloroform. To this mix¬ 
ture add one ounce of spirits of turpen¬ 
tine and one dram of oil of mustard, and, 
finally, enough sweet oil to make four 
ounces in all. Mark this “Strong,” to 
be used with u little care. m. b. n. 
An Epidemic of Skin Disease 
"Regarding the complaint of .T. 0. of 
New York, on page 40, I would say that 
there .seems to be an epidemic of similar 
troubles in the State. It seems to have 
come from industrial centers where am¬ 
munition faetor.v workers have congregat¬ 
ed. and has been variously called “Italian 
itch,” “Jersey itch,” “prairie itch,” etc. 
Doctors have not identified it promptly, 
and while experimenting with it the 
trouble has spread rapidly, involving some 
whole communities, and many people who 
never thought to have this trouble laid 
at their door. Some health officers have 
wisely quarantined the victims until 
cured. 
.Most doctors have assumed that the or¬ 
ganism causing the trouble was an animal 
organism working underneath tin* skin. 
The usual remedies for troubles of this 
sort, siu-h as sulphur ointments, ungueu- 
t.um and others, have not been effective, 
but have rather spread the trouble over 
increased areas. The usual symptoms have 
been au eruption on thighs, upper arms 
ami in groin, armpits or hack of the knees, 
at first resembling scattered pimples or 
pustules. Later on a fine mealy or gran¬ 
ulated appearance is assumed, with bright 
red color, and intolerable itching and 
burning sensations, these symptoms oc¬ 
curring mainly at night or when in a 
warm room. When it is considered that 
J. ( . has spent $400 unsuccessfully in 
combating his trouble, the importance of 
prevention or very early treatment is seen. 
acts! 
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Cleveland, Ohio 
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I harvested 1 50 acres of w’heat and oats 
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In July I used the Cleveland in loading 
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/ now \eep six horses, instead of the 
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repair". 
F. H. Johnson, 
New Augusta, Indiana. 
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