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Show mjt-irmmri wnnn n waama muni i wmmrraaa BEWARE OF WEUMONIA. ' Health Commissioner JSLon of I7erw SeS Tells How to Ward It OE Although more or less prevalent throughout tho year, pneumonia is peculiarly pe-culiarly dangerous during the opening months of winter. With the first frost a very marked increase takes place in the number of cases, and during thii cold, damp weather extra precaution should bo taken. Pneumonia w probably proba-bly produced by an earth microbe, and tvhen frost prevails the soil benefcib tho house is the only ground which is pot frozen. The germ gradually wrki toward the warm, moist earth, and th? house really acts as a sort of flue, which forms a ready mode of egress for them. Tho proper ventilation of rooms is therefore there-fore an important factor in guarding against pneumonia, one, however, which is often overlooked. Lack of personal hygiene is the chief predisposing cause of the disease. Irregular Ir-regular hours, insufficient nourishment, dyspepsia, excessive fatigue or some disease which has lowered tho general tone of the system all weaken tho power pow-er of resisting the pneumonia germ. When tho system is run down, a sudden exposure to cold may provo fatal, white in a normal condition of body it would be thrown off. There aro three periods during which the susceptibility to pneumonia is greatest. great-est. They are early childhood that is, up to 7 years of age, between the ages of 20 and 40 and after 60. Tho power of resistance against pneumonia grows much feebler after 60 years of age, and nine-tenths of the cases prove fatal. Cold, damp weather is favorable to the contraction of "coMs" and the subsequent sub-sequent development of pneumonia, and it still exists to some extent in a modified modi-fied form. This is the disease with which mieuraonia most raadilv nnmhirms. bni it is found in combination with diphtheria, diph-theria, typhoid fever, measles, scarlet fever and many others. When a severe or sudden chill has been contracted, the main thing is to act quickly, and many a serious illness can be averted and valuable life saved by a little intelligence coupled with promptituda If possible, 6end for a doctor immediately and take ten grains of quinine and five drops of spirits of camphor &. n little water or on a lump of supa; These doses are for an adult Then soak the feet in hot water and jump jjato bed. Simple as these remedies are, they have nipped in the bud many prospective cases of pneumonia. While soaking the feet the body should be warmly wrapped in a blanket, blan-ket, which should bo keDt on until soma time after tho person has entered tb. bod in order that free perspiration be continued and not checked. A good thing to prevent "colds" is to wear wool next the skin. When this is not possible on account of the irritation sometimes caused, a mixture of wool and silk will generally be found satis factory. I would not recommend cotton in any form for underwear, as it is frequently fre-quently the cause of a dangerous cold by becoming wet and keeping the temperature tem-perature of tho skin below the normal. Care should bo taken that the feet do not get wet, or if so that prompt measures meas-ures aro taken to dry them and a change of hose rondo. The caro taken of the outside of tho body must bo supplemented by tho same caro of tho inside. A moderate diet, wholesome food, plenty of rest, regular hours, will keep the whoe system it good order and enable it to throw off the germs of disease, which can only obtain a footing when debilitation affords af-fords an entrance for tho disease and a fruitful Boil for its development. Cj rus Edson in St. Louis Post-Dispatch. |
