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Show TO PREVENT AND CURE DIPHTHERIA. Dr. C. U. B. Klophal of Chicago Tails of Ills Treatment. An interesting essay on the prevention preven-tion and cure of diphtheria by Dr. C. (i. B. Klophel of Chicago has appeared iu the Toronto Mail. It proceeds upon up-on the lines of the germ theory of disease dis-ease iu which Pasteur aud Koch soem to have met with signal success. Tho essay derives unusual interest at the preseut time from the fact that Dr. Koch after completing his experiments in the treatment of consumption declares de-clares bis intention of experimenting in the same manner with diphtheria and the terms that cause it. Dr. Klophel in his essay reviews sanitary precautious iu ancient times and the ravages of diphtheria in various vari-ous countries. Ho pronounces it aa acute, infectious, parasitic disease. 'Where thorough modern scientific disiufection is carried out iu connection connec-tion with the treatment of such diseases," dis-eases," he says, "ive find they are fast becoming a rarity." He claims that it is possible to eonlino the disease not ouly to one family, but to one child nmong several. The success ot this lies mainly in tho faithful application of thorough antiseptic precautions. Dr. Klophel's idea is that disiufection should bo employed to destroy the germs or their spores before they can settle aud develop iu the system. With this end iu view ho gives the following outline of the treatment: "I will not consider tho treatment beyond that which 1 think the parents or nurse may easily and legitimately employ. First, strips of linen or cot-lou cot-lou fabric about eight inches wide, folded se.eral times and long enough to reach from ear to ear, should be wrung out of ice-water if in winter, and if iu summer put directly upon ice. and then applied externally" to tho throat, and as fast as one cloth gets warm another should bo ready to take its place. If the child complains of being cold its feet and hands should be bathed in as hot water as it can stand. When the tdiild is very young it may bo readily ascertained if it be cold or not by feeling its hands and head. Under no circumstances should hot applications be made to the throat. If the child is old enough it is 'iven broken ice to suck constautlr; even if the water is spit out the cold applications applica-tions inhibit the growth of tho microbes. Instead of usintr handkerchiefs handker-chiefs pieces of old linen or cotton should be used. They should only bo of stillicient size, to wipe the nioutli ouce or blow tho nose once, then straightway put into tho lire and burned. If wearing apparel, clothing or bcddiur becomes soiled with the discharges dis-charges from the patient's nose or throat they should, if valuable, bo boiled for a"t least half an hour before being used again. If the articles are valueless thev should be burned. The patient's hands should he washed frequently, fre-quently, aud here let me say, so should those of the attendant, and" the vessel for the purpose should not be used bv any one else. The patient's clothing needs protection in frout. This muv be done by pinning back of the neck a larg pietsB of linen or cotton fabric which will cover the whole front of the child and reach as far as the knees. A material should be used which can easily be boiled or burned when soiled. The child should be supplied with a clean one every day. The little patient, pa-tient, if old enough, "will want to spit, and for a spittoon a small wooden box with an inch of sawdust on the bottom is capital. Fresh sawdust should be supplied at least once a day three times a day would be tetter and that which lias been used should be emptied emp-tied upon a good hot tiro, and thus burned at the time thechauge is made. If there are any Hies about tho box should be kopt covered, aud as a matter mat-ter of course only uncovered when the liHtient desires to spit; otherwise flies lighting upon this spittle would carry the germs of disease with them, and. then alighting upon the family's food and drink, necessarily infect them, and tiiU3 indirectly infect the whole family. This is by no means chimerical, chimer-ical, but a well-established fact. "Here let mo say what is truo of them in connection with the dissemination dissemi-nation of this disease is also true concerning con-cerning their relations to tho spread of some others, and chiefly tuberculosis or consumption they likewise carry the germs of this disease from tho spittle; and, by the way, spittle of consumptives should be treated the same as that in diphtheria burned. If one of the children in an infected household should be a baby (say a few months old) and free from the disease its hands should be frequently washed, for they are constantly putting their fingers in their mouth. The sick child should sleep by itself, and if there are two windows in he room they should be down at the top, or if there is but one it should be down at the top and raised at the bottom. The amount of opening will depend on the stato of the weather." The remaining directions arc for cleaning the floors, walls and wood-work wood-work of the sick chamler during ana after the disease, using corrosive sublimate sub-limate for washing the floor, which should either be covered with oilcloth or remain bare. Dr. Klophel condemns con-demns so-called disinfection by burning burn-ing sulphur as being ineffectual in that it does not destroy the germs of disease. |