“ The patient must be treated and not the disease, so it is the aim of every conscientious physician to conserve and strengthen the vital forces and, at the same time, guard against further encroachment of the disease. There is no cure-all, and even if a drug or combination of drugs were helpful in any single case, they might easily be totally unsuited, or even harmful, in another case, with apparently similar symptoms. When a maker claims that his particular concoction will cure a long list of diseases, the assertion bears on its face evidence of its falsity. ”

“ In efforts to obtain needed and radical improvement, and with the impetus of a sense of wrong dealing, the pendulum of public opinion is apt to swing too far in an opposite direction. There are bad patent medicines—the proof of their fraudulent character is clear and overwhelming; but there are good ones whose merits have been obscured by the cloud of wholesale and popular condemnation. It is true that the manufacturers of even some of the valuable ones have an absurd habit of claiming the impossible. ”

“ If dread of surgical operation were not so prevalent, the results of removal of cancer would be immeasurably better. The common, bad results of operation—that is, return of the disease—are chiefly due to the late stage in which surgeons are compelled to operate through the reluctance of the patient and, strangely enough, often of his family medical man. Cancer should be removed in so early a stage that its true nature can often not be recognized, except by microscopical examination after its removal. ”

“ A depressed patient should be very carefully watched. If the slightest suspicion of a suicidal impulse be present, the patient should never be left alone. Many a valuable life has been saved through the moral support of constant companionship; while we read very frequently of the death of an insane patient who sprang from a window during a brief period of relaxation of watchful care. Some people think it a protection to one insane to elicit from him a promise not to be depressed, and not to do anything wrong. One might as well secure a promise not to have a rise of temperature. ”

“ Whenever doubt exists as to the nature of the disorder, a microscopic examination of the expectoration or of the mucus from the throat by a competent physician will definitely determine the existence of influenza, if the special germs of that disease are found. It is the prevailing and erroneous fashion for a person to call any cold in the head the grippe; and there are, indeed, many cases in which it becomes difficult for a physician to distinguish between grippe and a severe cold with muscular soreness and fever, except by the microscopic test. ”

“ Haste to be rich, desire to appear rich, or ambition for social distinction has wrecked many a bright, strong intellect. This is the age of the greatest luxury the world has ever seen, and a large proportion of people in cities are living beyond their means, in the gratification of luxurious desires or the effort to appear as well as others. Stress and strain are voluntarily invited. Children are pushed in their studies and overloaded with too many subjects. Genius and insanity, worry and dementia, proceed among us hand in hand ”

“ Treatment.—Medicines will no more cure Bright's disease than old age. Out-of-door life in a dry, warm, and equable climate has the most favorable influence upon the cause of chronic Bright's disease, and should always be recommended as a remedial agent when available. Proper diet is of great importance. Cereals, vegetables, an abundance of fat in the form of butter and cream—to the amount of a pint or so a day of the latter, and the avoidance of alcohol and meat, fish and eggs constitute the ideal regimen when this can be carried out. ”

“ It is generally known that syphilis is a disease to be dreaded, but not perhaps that it not only endangers the life [Pg 196] and happiness of the patient, but the future generation of his descendants. Gonorrhea—the much more common disease—while often treated lightly by youth, frequently leads to long, chronic, local disease and may even result fatally in death; later in life it may cause infection of a wife resulting in chronic invalidism and necessitating surgical removal of her maternal organs. These possibilities often occur long after the patient thinks he is wholly free from the disease. ”

“ The insane person, on the other hand, cannot see the force of logical argument; cannot realize the absurdity or impossibility of error. He clings to his own beliefs, for the evidence of his perverted senses or the deductions from his disease-irritation are very real to him. When we find this to be the fact we know he is insane.
Yet we must not confound delirium of fever with insanity. A patient suffering from typhoid fever may have a delusion that there is a pail by his bed into which he persists in throwing articles. ”

“ Insanity is the name given to a collection of symptoms of disease of the brain or disorder of brain nutrition or circulation. The principal test of insanity lies in the adjustment of the patient to his surroundings, as evidenced in conduct and speech. Yet one must not include within the field of insanity the improper conduct and speech of the vicious, nor of the mentally defective. Crime is not insanity, though there are undoubtedly some insane people confined in prisons who have been arrested because of the commission of crime. ”

“ A large proportion of men contract the disease at or before the marrying age. The great majority are not cured, and the disease simply lapses into a latent form. Many of them marry, believing themselves cured, and ignorant of the fact that they are bearers of contagion. They transmit the disease to the women they marry, many of whom, from motives of modesty and an unwillingness to undergo an examination do not consult a physician, and they remain ignorant of the existence of the disease until the health is seriously involved. ”

“ The reason why the disease fails to progress in most persons is that the system is strong enough to resist the inroads of the disease. The process becomes arrested by the germs being surrounded by a barrier of healthy tissue, and so perishing in their walled-in position. These facts prove that so far from being incurable, recovery from consumption frequently occurs without even our knowledge of the disease. ”

“ Cancer, likewise, cannot be cured by the use of internal medicine alone. Surgery holds out the greatest hope in this dread disease. The medicines claiming to cure these diseases are, therefore, of the most fraudulent nature. Their use is positively harmful, for in taking them priceless time is lost.
Never temporize if there is any suspicion of the existence of such diseases as consumption or cancer. Self-treatment with patent medicines in such cases is worse than useless—it is actually dangerous to life itself. ”

“ Every individual should know how to care for the sexual organs as well as those of any other part of the body, providing that the instruction be given by the proper person and at the proper time and place. Such information should be imparted to children by parents, guardians, or physicians at an early age and, if this is neglected through ignorance or false modesty, erroneous ideas of the nature and purpose of the sexual function will very surely be supplied later by ignorant and probably evil-minded persons with correspondingly bad results. ”

“ The answer to this silly remark is that there is method in all madness except some epileptic insanity and terminal dementia. Insane people prepare careful plans, with all the details thoroughly considered, and perfect methods to escape from hospitals with the greatest cunning. One must never take it for granted that the insane person is so demented mentally as to be unable to appreciate what is said and done. One should never talk about the insane man in his presence, but should include him in the conversation as if sane, as a general rule, allaying his suspicions and avoiding antagonism. ”

“ Paleness, weakness, and loss of strength often attend the development of cancer, but many do not exhibit these symptoms.
Sarcoma is often seen in the young and well nourished; it grows very rapidly; the skin is usually not adherent to the tumor; there is generally no pain; heredity has no relation to its development; paleness is absent in many cases; the favorite seats are the muscle, bone, glands of neck, brain, and many other localities; it is not nearly so common as cancer.
Cancer of the breast begins as a lump, occurring more often to the outside of the nipple, but may develop in any part. ”

“ In certain conditions cod-liver oil is one of the most valuable remedies known. As a concentrated and reconstructive food in many wasting diseases it is of great service. Weak and puny children, and all suffering from malnutrition may take it with benefit. It does help produce flesh, increase strength, and add to the body's resisting powers. It does not contain any medicinal properties, and its virtue is largely in its fat or oil, but as an aid to other remedies, or alone, when increased nutrition is desired, it is a reliable and helpful remedy. ”

“ If the disease proceeds favorably, at the end of five, seven, or ten days the temperature, breathing, and pulse become normal suddenly, and the patient rapidly emerges from a state of danger and distress to one of comfort and safety. The sudden onset of pneumonia with chill, agonizing pain in side, rapid breathing, and often delirium with later bloody or rusty-colored, gelatinous expectoration, will then usually serve to distinguish it from bronchitis, but not always. ”

“ A Nostrum.—The Century Dictionary defines a nostrum as "a medicine the ingredients of which, and the methods of compounding them, are kept secret for the purpose of restricting the profits of sale to the inventor or proprietor." ”

“ When there is a suspicion of irrationality in a person's conduct, and certain acts or speeches suggest insanity, the whole surroundings and the past life must be considered. Frequently when the eyes are once opened to the fact of insanity, a whole chapter of corroborating peculiarities can be recalled. It is wise to recall as many of these circumstances as possible and note them in order as they occurred, for the use of the physician. ”

“ About one-third more women than men recover from consumption, probably because it is more practicable for them to alter their mode of life to suit the requirements of treatment.
It is, then, the neglected cold and cough (bronchitis) which offers a field most commonly favorable for the growth of the germs in the lungs which cause consumption. And it is essential to discover the existence of the disease at its beginning, what is called the incipient stage, in order to have the best chance of recovery. ”

“ It is, however, possible for a man, who has apparently wholly recovered for five or six years or more, to impart the disease. Without proper treatment or without treatment for the proper time, recurrence of the disease is frequent with the occurrence of the destructive and often serious symptoms characteristic of the third stage of the disease. While syphilis is not so fatal to life as tuberculosis, it is capable of causing more suffering and unhappiness, and is directly transmitted from father to child, which is not the case with consumption. ”

“ However, it is well in condemning the bad not to overlook the good. The mere fact that a medicine is patented, or that it is a so-called proprietary remedy, does not mean that it is valueless or actually harmful. ”

“ It is wise also to try and gratify the child's natural curiosity about the sexual function so far as may be judicious by explanations as to the purpose of the sexual organs, when the child is old enough to comprehend such matters.
The reticence and disinclination of parents to instruct their children in matters relating to sex cannot be too strongly condemned. It is perfectly natural that the youth should wish to know something of the origin of life and how human beings come into the world. ”

“ By securing the child's confidence at the start, one may not only keep informed of his actions but protect him from seeking or even listening to bad counsels. At the age of ten or twelve it is well that the family physician or parent should give instruction as to the special harm which results from unnaturally exciting the sexual nature by handling and stimulating the sexual organs and also warning the child against filthy literature and improper companions. ”

“ Itching, without apparent cause, may be due to parasites, as lice and fleas, and this must always be kept in mind; although debilitated states of the body and certain diseases, as gout and diabetes, are sometimes the source. Commonly, itching is caused by one of the many recognized skin diseases, and is accompanied by an eruption characteristic of the particular disorder existing, and special treatment by an expert, directed to remedy this condition, is the only reasonable way to relieve the itching and cure the trouble. ”

“ There is little swelling and no redness about the joint; the chief symptoms are pain on motion, stiffness, and tenderness on pressure. The pain is increased by cold, damp weather, and improved by warm, dry weather. There is no fever. The general health suffers if the pain is severe and persistent, and patients become pale, dyspeptic, and weak. The disease tends rather to grow worse than recover, and the joints, after a long time, to become immovable and misshapen. Life is not, however, shortened to any considerable degree by chronic rheumatism. ”

“ The danger of thus acquiring the disease directly from a consumptive is slight, if one take simple precautions which will be mentioned later, except in the case of a husband, wife, or child of the patient who come in close personal contact, as in kissing, etc. This is proved by the fact that attendants in hospitals for consumptives, who devote their lives to the care of these patients, are rarely affected with consumption. The chief source of danger to persons at large is dust containing the germs derived from the expectoration of human patients, and thus finding entrance into the lungs. ”

“ The pain begins at one spot on one side of the head (more commonly the left) , as in the eye, temple, or forehead, and later spreads over the whole side of the head and, in some cases, the neck and arm. The face may be pale, or pale on one side and red on the other. The headache is of a violent, boring nature, aggravated by light and noise, so that the patient is incapacitated for any exertion and is most comfortable when lying down in a quiet, dark room. Vomiting usually comes on after a while, and often gives relief. The headache lasts several hours or all day, rarely longer. ”

“ Dullness, fever, chills, and convulsions are not uncommon in children, but, on the other hand, after some slight illness it is not infrequent for discharge from the ear to be the first sign which calls the attention of parent or medical attendant to the source of the trouble. For this reason the careful physician always examines the ear in doubtful cases of children's diseases. ”

“ There is no other responsibility in the whole range of parental duties which is so commonly shirked and with such deplorable consequences. When the subject is shorn of the morbid and seductive mystery with which custom has foolishly surrounded it in the past, and considered in the same spirit with which we study the hygiene of the digestion and other natural functions, it will be found possible to give instruction about the sexual function in a natural way and without exciting unhealthy and morbid curiosity. ”

“ If a person is otherwise in good health, the use of one headache powder will in all probability do no harm, but the dose should not be repeated without a doctor's authority. Many deaths have occurred from their continued use, or because of an idiosyncrasy on the part of the taker, but it is their abuse more than their use which has brought upon them such almost universal condemnation. Therefore, while the physician may advocate their use, do not take them without his advice and specific directions as to kind and dosage. ”

“ The opposite teaching is that peculiar to the quack who prophesies every imaginable evil, from complete loss of sexual function to insanity. Any real or fancied disorder of the sexual function is extremely apt to lead to much mental anxiety and depression, so that a cheerful outlook is essential in inspiring effort to correct bad habits and is wholly warranted in view of the entire recovery in most cases of the young who have abused their sexual organs. Insanity or imbecility are seldom the result but more often the cause of such habits. ”

“ The special danger to women from gonorrhea is that the inflammation is apt to be aggravated during the menstrual period and the germs of the disease ascend to the cavity of the womb, the tubes, and ovaries, and invade the peritoneal covering, causing peritonitis. Pregnancy and childbirth afford favorable opportunities for the upward ascension of the germs to the peritoneal cavity. The changes caused by gonorrheal inflammation in the maternal organs are the most common cause of sterility in women. It is estimated that about fifty per cent of all sterility in women proceeds from this cause. ”