The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
769 
Health Notes 
A Cure for Diphtheria 
If one were to make a discovery and 
find out how to cure diphtheria, better 
than antitoxin, and far less dangerous, 
how should one establish rights in regard 
to that Nobel prize for the greatest dis¬ 
covery in medicine? My family and self 
had diphtheria, and the doctors left us to 
our fate after they had done all they 
could during that terrible epidemic at 
Elizabeth about 1904 or 1905. They had 
stood by us night and day every four 
hours, and they were so rushed they said 
they could do no more. The left us to 
die. The hospitals were full. No nurses 
could be had. To sleep meant never to 
waken. It was very hard to breathe 
awake. There was some stuff I had been 
experimenting with to drive mosquitoes 
away; they (lid not like it. Everything 
in the world they could think of the doc¬ 
tors had given us. Something jarred this 
mosquito remedy on to the bed from the 
stand. In four hours I dared to sleep, 
and five days later, when those doctors 
got around they were surprised to see us 
same person at another time. Diabetes 
is a disease that, ordinarily, extends over 
a long period of time, with a constantly 
varying degree of tolerance for ordinary 
foods upon the part of the patient. It is 
for this reason that absolutely fixed rules 
cannot be laid down, and that every dia¬ 
betic should be under the supervision of 
a competent physician who can vary diet¬ 
ary list to suit the conditions present. 
Laboratory facilities not usually found 
outside of hospitals are needed in the 
study of a case of diabetes, and it is or¬ 
dinarily best that the home physician 
shall have the aid afforded by a good hos¬ 
pital in the management of the case. This 
does not necessarily mean any prolonged 
stay in a hospital, but co-operation be¬ 
tween physician and hospital, in order 
that the former may have the aid of lab¬ 
oratory findings to guide him in treat¬ 
ment. 
Insulin may be obtained by any phys¬ 
ician and, when the proper dosage is de¬ 
termined, may be administered by some 
member of the patient’s family. It can¬ 
We might call this picture “The Guardian.” It would be a very unhealthy job 
for a stranger to try and kidnap that baby, or for any animal to injure him. 
all improving, and begged to know what 
it was, but having been quarantined three 
months I did not know how bad the epi¬ 
demic was. E. S. K. 
New Milford, Conn. 
There are no rights to be established in 
connection with the Nobel prizes. These 
cannot be claimed, as they are not stand¬ 
ing offers of awards for the greatest dis¬ 
coveries, but awards that are made from 
time to time by commissions who deter¬ 
mine who, in their own judgment, has 
performed the greatest service to mankind 
along the line under consideration. The 
award is a voluntary one, not one that 
can be claimed as a right. 
It is not likely that your discovery has 
the value that you believe that it has. 
Diphtheria may be recovered from under 
any treatment or without any treatment. 
The fact, alone, that some remedy or 
measure was used in the treatment of a 
case and that the patient recovered would 
by no means prove that the recovery was 
due to the treatment. Nature is some¬ 
times quite capable of bringing about re¬ 
coveries from disease without help, and ’t 
is very often a question how much influ¬ 
ence remedial measures have had. There 
is no question whatever but that count¬ 
less remedies have gained reputations to 
which they were not entitled. Labor¬ 
atories for the study of disease have facil¬ 
ities for trying measures that give rea¬ 
sonable promise of value upon the lower 
animals, without subjecting human be¬ 
ings to the risks of experimentation. You 
will probably be running no risk of any 
loss if you submit your discovery to your 
local physicians for their opinion as to 
its value. M. b. d. 
Foods in Cases of Diabetes 
Will you send me a list of articles 
which a person with sugar diabetes can 
eat? I am eating gluten bread, milk, 
butter, cheese, eggs, oranges, some meat. 
Is that all right? If so, what more can 
I add to the list? Can a person get the 
“insulin” you speak of, or is it used only 
in the last stages? I have no way of go¬ 
ing to hospital for treatment. 
MRS. E. D. S. 
Lists of foods that a diabetic can safely 
eat must be taken, in a measure, sug¬ 
gestively, for what one might eat might 
be unsuited to another, or even to the 
not be given without medical oversight, 
however, for it is quite capable of doing 
harm if improperly used. It is, by no 
means, a “last stage” remedy and, upon 
the other hand, it may not be needed at 
all. It is not a cure, because it cannot 
restore the lost function of the gland re¬ 
sponsible for the disease. All that it can 
do is to substitute for that gland’s lack¬ 
ing secretion and thus do its work. That 
it can do this, however, is one of the mar¬ 
vels of modern medicine. Its use has 
restored to comparative health, comfort 
and usefulness, diabetics who were ac¬ 
tually upon the verge of death, cases 
which had already lapsed into the state 
of unconsciousness which immediately 
precedes death. How far it can go in 
maintaining comparative health is not 
yet known; sufficient time has not yet 
elapsed for its possibilities and its limita¬ 
tion to be determined. 
The statement in the clipping that you 
send, attributed to the Ontario Provin¬ 
cial Health Department, is a good ex¬ 
ample of the care which reputable medi¬ 
cal authorities have exercised to guard 
the public against over-confidence in this 
new remedy. Its author leans back¬ 
ward in his effort to be properly conserv¬ 
ative. He says: “It should be remem¬ 
bered that insulin is not a cure for dia¬ 
betes, but must always be used in con¬ 
junction with the strictest dietary pre¬ 
cautions, and under the supervision of a 
qualified physician.” ’’Insulin is a very 
dangerous drug, and serious results will 
undoubtedly follow unless it is used care¬ 
fully and its administration is properly 
supervised.” This statement that insulin 
is a dangerous drug must be understood 
as meaning that it is dangerous in un¬ 
skilled hands, just as morphine and 
strychnine are. It is not a dangerous 
drug when properly used. The rest of the 
clipping, evidently taken from the pub¬ 
lication of some quackish medical cult, 
may be dismissed as mere bosh. 
Fortunately, the greater part of the 
cases of diabetes can be controlled by 
proper dieting and mode of life. Insulin 
is a powerful ally, but its services are 
not always needed. Among foods suited 
to diabetics may be mentioned : 
Clear meat broths and meats of prac¬ 
tically all kinds, except liver. Fish of 
any kind, oysters and clams are some¬ 
times forbidden. Eggs. 
Butter, cheese, olive oil, lard, coffee, tea 
(without sugar and milk), the latter 
sweetened with saccharine if desired. 
Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar. 
Desirable vegetables: Lettuce, cucum¬ 
bers, asparagus, rhubarb, greens, sauer¬ 
kraut, celery, tomatoes, eggplant, cab¬ 
bage and cauliflower. Less desirable 
vegetables: String beans, pumpkin, tur¬ 
nip, squash, beets and onions. Forbid¬ 
den vegetables: Potatoes, carrots, corn, 
beans, pease and rice. 
Fruits: Desirable in moderation, grape¬ 
fruit and oranges; less desirable, some¬ 
times forbidden, watermelon, strawber¬ 
ries, lemons, cranberries, peaches, pine¬ 
apples. blackberries and gooseberries. 
Forbidden fruits, plums, bananas, and 
prunes. 
Dessert, gelatin jellies. 
Avoid: sugar in any form, bread, bis¬ 
cuit and cake, unless made from diabetic’s 
gluten flour, toast, crackers, rice, all 
cereals, tapioca, macaroni, jams, jellies, 
pastry, puddings and ice cream. All 
fruits, even the apple which keeps the 
doctor away, are sometimes forbidden. 
As has already been suggested, a suit¬ 
able dietary for the individual patient 
cannot be prescribed unless the amount 
of sugar being excreted is ascertained by 
laboratory tests and that patient’s tol¬ 
erance for the unclesired carbohydrates in 
the food is thus learned. These tests are 
not difficult to make, however, and an 
intelligent patient can usually be taught 
to make his own. Many diabetics learn 
to look after their own condition, con¬ 
sulting their physicians only when in 
need of special advice. m. b. d. 
Doves and Fallen Arches 
We had a pen of 30 doves, and a pen of 
White Leghorns, side by side, and one 
hen liked to steal her nest; so she would 
shy by us and get into the dove pen. She 
was put back several times, and her eggs 
taken from the box; but there was one 
time she stole the march on us; the 
doves’ pen was nailed up but an egg was 
overlooked. In due time, brother went 
to feed in the morning as usual, and came 
back and said, “Have you been setting a 
hen in the dove pen ?” I said “No.” 
“Well,” he said, “there is a chicken in 
the dove pen.” I thought he was fooling, 
but went down and sure enough, there 
was a White Leghorn chicken, and the 
old mother dove flapping her wings and 
trying her best to feed the chick. He did 
not understand this. The platform 
where he was was about four feet above 
the floor and the shell was there too. I 
took him to the house and brought him 
up by hand, and he proved to be one of 
the handsomest and smartest roosters we 
ever had. 
I saw that some one was looking for a 
remedy for fallen arches. I will say, 
here is something on the little old Ford, 
as I have one. My remedy is take an 
inner tube, one out of use, and cut off a 
ring about an inch, or more, wide, as 
suits your foot, and put it on over your 
stocking, around the arch, and wear it 
all day. It will be a help if not a cure. 
I have to be on my feet all day, and have 
had a good deal of trouble, but this has 
stopped mine. l. m. w. 
Massachusetts. 
Here's a Wrench 
Without a 
Casting 
No wonder the 
TRIMO Monkey 
Wrench is a favor¬ 
ite with men who use 
tools hard. There 
isn’t a casting in it. 
The stationary jaw 
and handle of the 
TRIMO Monkey 
Wrench are one piece 
of specially selected 
bar steel, drop-forged. 
All parts are renew¬ 
able. Nut guards keep 
the adjustment per¬ 
fect, once the wrench 
is set. Since the mov¬ 
able jaw extends for¬ 
ward instead of to¬ 
ward the handle when 
adjusting, the leverage 
obtained increases in 
proportion to the work 
for which the wrench 
s set. 
Only a TRIMO can equal 
a TRIMO. Design, mater¬ 
ial and workmanship com¬ 
bine to put them in a 
class by themselves. Put 
a TRIMO in your kit and 
see. Your dealer has 
them. 
TRIMONT MFG. CO. 
Roxbury, Mass. 
OTHER TRIMO TOOLS include Ripe 
Wrenches, Chain Wrenches and Pipe 
Cutters. Insist on TRIMO. 
STANDARDIZED PLANT NAMES 
I This is an authoritative work prepared by Fred¬ 
erick Law Olmstod, Frederick V. Coville and Har¬ 
lan P. Kelsey, of the American Joint Committee on 
Horticultural Nomenclature. It giveB the approved 
scientific and common names of plants in American 
commerce, and will be of great value to horticultur¬ 
ists and all interested in such matters. 
Price postpaid, SS.OO. For sale by 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th St. New York City 
i ped Out 
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