Various

“ For all practical purposes the only absolute indication for weaning the baby is open tuberculosis in the mother. For the last few years I have been making a systematic inquiry at the University Dispensary and Infant Welfare Stations as to reasons for weaning young infants; and in nine cases out of ten, the answer has been that “the milk gave out.” In only a very small proportion of cases has an ordinarily well-nourished mother insufficient milk; far oftener the fault lies with the child. ”

“ I do not want to be considered an enemy of the four-hour feeding, for I use it wherever possible, and I think it the best interval; but when the infant cannot get enough in that period, we have to choose between two evils. I think the lesser evil is to give the child more milk at shorter intervals, and take the risk of a slightly poorer digestion. We should, also, wherever possible, control the amount of breast-milk by weighing the child before and after nursing. It is highly important to determine whether the baby is getting too much or too little. ”

“ It is believed that every physician can influence at least from 10 to 100 votes at a general election, and this fact, of itself, makes the physician a factor in the election of any candidate. It is believed by this committee that the medical men of the State, if they will but unite and act in concert, can measurably influence legislation. The time has come for the physician to take his place in the political system of the State, both as an active agent and, indirectly, through his influence of others. ”

“ Discipline is of great importance, but great care must be taken in its enforcement. It is of more value for one to perform a certain duty because one regards it either as the proper thing or as likely to benefit one’s self or others.
The personal influence of those who come into close contact with the inebriate can hardly be overestimated. He is easily influenced, often easily led, and a few thoughtless words or careless actions can undo the result of patient work. ”

“ A great many legislators are, as Dr. Jones said, trying to convert this institution either into an insane asylum or a tuberculosis sanatorium; and it is up to the profession of the state to back up the establishment of this institution for the treatment of a class which is growing.
Personally, I think drink is a vice and not a disease, and until we can eradicate from the minds of the laity and from the minds of some physicians the idea that a man who drinks is some sort of a nervous invalid, the sooner we shall get better results in the handling of this question. ”

“ It should be suited to the individual, and, as a rule, should not be that to which the man has been accustomed. Particularly is this true of the man who is used to mental labor only,—the clerk, the physician, the pharmacist, the merchant, etc. For them out-of-door work on the farm, lawn, or in the garden, is the very best, and next comes indoor shop-work. We must provide something that engages time and attention, that provides some new outlook upon life, and enlarges some field of endeavor in which the patient has labored before coming to the Hospital. ”

“ It seems to me that we should make no hard and fast rules for the feeding of babies, except the one that mother’s milk should be used whenever possible. We should individualize with the babies. If they do well on the four-hour schedule, follow it, as it makes the care of the child easier for the mother; if, however, the child does not get sufficient milk on this interval to properly nourish it, diminish the latter to three hours. ”

“ There is a small class of people who are, perhaps, suffering from a disease state, who are irresponsible. Most of them are common drunkards, who create all sorts of disturbances and who really need discipline—who need to be detained forcibly for a sufficient length of time to enable them to recover their normal physical tone, and until they recover something of their natural mental tone. If this could be incorporated in the rules and regulations of the governing body of the inebriate farm it would make a great increase in the total number of improvements and recoveries. ”

“ The vogue of certain of the organic silver salts, such as argyrol, protargol, etc., is no doubt, not so much due to any intrinsic therapeutic merit which they possess as to the fact that the average case gets along better without the local application of strong chemical antiseptics. However one may feel about the abandoning of such a time-honored drug as the nitrate of silver in the treatment of this disease, it must be conceded that it is entirely inadequate to control the process in the severer cases, and as a therapeutic sheet-anchor leaves a great deal to be desired. ”

“ The idea in the minds of the laity is that inebriety is a disease, and they want drugs for it to make them well, and that is one reason why so many patients go to Keeley cures and get well. They go there because they find a drug that cures disease. I find that the Towne-Lambert treatment is an excellent mental treatment for the inebriate in private practice. It can be used in the institution at Willmar, as well as in private practice, and putting a patient upon the Towne-Lambert treatment satisfies his desire to cure the disease he is suffering from. ”

“ At the ninth month, unless this is one of the hot summer months, the nursling should be weaned, and a small amount of cow’s milk substituted. The weaning should be gradual by omitting one nursing period each week. The one important exception to the foregoing rules for the first year of life, is the premature infant. In the ninth month of fetal life, reserves of calcium and iron are stored up in the body, which the infant gradually uses up during the first nine months of extra-uterine life. The premature infant lacks this store, and manifests it in different ways. ”

“ No users of cocaine only have been met with, [Pg 115] but in mixed forms this drug is at once withdrawn.
The removal of alcohol or drugs is the easiest part of the work. Under the regular discipline of the institution, and the absence of temptation, the great majority of patients get along without any trouble because of abstinence. But there is the future to fear. The patient must go out into the world again, and engage in the daily struggle for his livelihood. One must aim to put him in such condition that he may be able to resist the temptations that will surround him on every hand. ”

“ As soon as considerable numbers are received at an institution, the more apparent becomes the need of means for classification, especially as to character. It is decidedly unwise to allow the intermingling of the young lad who has just commenced to drink, with the incorrigible or the sodden, whose every thought may lie bestial. ”

“ Freeman and the institution.
There is too much sentiment, too much sympathy among friends, relatives, courts, juries, and charity workers, as to the inebriate; but once he gets to Willmar and is under a proper regimen, his attitude changes totally toward himself and toward the world. After one has watched the treatment at Willmar and has seen the benefit these patients derive, he wonders why so many women and so many men are sent to quack institutions for inebriety and drug habits. Willmar costs the patient practically nothing, except a small per capita borne by the State. ”

“ Huenekens dealt with the feeding of the healthy infant only. I would like to ask if it is not true that nearly all infants born alive, are born as healthy and sound as any infant ever is, so far as the functions of its organs and tissues are concerned? Nature frequently decides on producing premature births and “still”-births, rather than running the risk of producing a sick or sickly infant. In young infants it is very often difficult to determine when to classify them as healthy or unhealthy, realizing the conditions of their environment and usual care that is given in the homes. ”

“ Any resident of Minnesota who is habitually addicted to the use of alcohol, morphine, cocaine, or other narcotics, may be admitted to the institution, provided the history of the patient, as furnished by a probate court, indicates that the man can be benefited by treatment. It is presumed that anyone can be benefited who wants to be, unless afflicted with irremediable chronic disease. ”

“ By far the best food for the healthy infant in every way—and this cannot be emphasized too strongly—is mother’s milk. There are certain alimentary disturbances in which it may be advisable to replace breast-milk with certain artificially prepared foods, such, for instance, as albumin milk in alimentary intoxication; but this is never true of the normally healthy infant. While, as regards growth and freedom from digestive disturbances, certain artificially prepared foods may, when used with exceeding care, produce as good results as breast-milk ”

“ Serous meningitis.—One of the first signs is the increasing headache, at first localized, usually near the seat of the perforation or path of infection, and soon becoming diffuse over the head. The patient loses his appetite, his tongue becomes coated, the emunctaries become sluggish in their action, and nausea is a very common symptom. The temperature rises, and, if the septic form is going to follow, this rise is often quite rapid, so that there may occur small chills from the infection of the cerebrospinal fluid. The pulse and respiration rate is now considerably increased. ”

“ One has only to work among inebriates, no matter to what class of society they belong, to know that fear of interfering with the liberty of a subject who has no real liberty, in that he is a slave habitually or periodically to the drink craze, results in the interference with the liberty of all those who have to put up with his irresponsible behavior under the influence of alcohol and other narcotic drugs. ”

“ The average life of a nurse, as a nurse, is, I believe, not more than ten years. In that length of time, at the wages she gets, she is not able to lay away a great amount for a rainy day, which usually comes all too soon.
We have a number of good hospitals in Minneapolis where people in moderate circumstances can be very comfortably cared for at a considerably less expense than employing a nurse in their homes. The poor in our city, I think, are fairly well taken care of in the city hospitals and by the visiting nurses, who are paid for such work. ”

“ Smallpox and other preventable diseases will continue to exist while the uneducated and ill-balanced minds are permitted their volley of wind-laden speech. Some day the people will wake up, cast the “reformer” aside, and climb on to the band-wagon of health and happiness. ”

“ Neumann as to the differential diagnosis between meningitis, sinus thrombosis, and brain abscess: “A patient that has meningitis is one that wishes to be left alone and allowed to sleep, although when roused is not particularly irritable. If he has brain abscess then he is constantly very irritable and difficult to manage, while a patient that has sinus thrombosis when he is free from the chill and fever is very pleasant, apparently well.” ”

“ Now-a-days we do not advise any particular foods for the mother’s diet,—anything she likes, and can digest, plus large quantities of fluid;—otherwise [Pg 113] there is no single food we advocate—none that will make the milk richer or better, or increase the quantity.
I cannot agree with Dr. Jensen that raw milk is so far superior to boiled milk. Of course, wherever it is possible, we should use certified milk, which does not require boiling; but, if we have inferior cow’s milk contaminated with bacteria, we can boil the milk with very little harm. ”

“ Too many cows give poor milk and any effort to standardize and legalize the inferior cow is a reflection on the integrity of milk sellers. Inferentially, there are too many under-fed children and yet if milk is reduced in quality, we must expect less vigor in the growing child. ”

“ If a nurse has a tendency towards tuberculosis, she should refuse such cases; or if she has a tendency towards throat troubles, she should refuse diphtheria and scarlet-fever cases. A nurse who is constantly with a patient runs considerably more risk of infection than the physician, whose visits are usually short. There are nurses who make a specialty of such cases, and usually there is no trouble finding such a nurse. Nurses who make a specialty of obstetrical cases or of children should not take contagious work. ”

“ As a general thing, it is expected that the average patient will remain, approximately, six months. The period of detention is determined only after a study of the individual. An endeavor is made to consider all factors that may influence the future life of the patient,—the length of time and the amount he has been drinking, the effect on his character and physical health, the surroundings and occupation to which he must return. Some patients are paroled at the end of six months, some remain seven months. Drug users require treatment for a much longer period of time than users of liquor ”

“ Another important factor is the insight a patient obtains into his own condition. We cannot claim to make a man stop drinking. All we can do, is to place him in such mental and physical health that it is unnecessary for him to resort to stimulants.
RESULTS
The result of treatment in a disease of the nature of inebriety, can hardly be estimated in such time as the Hospital has been open. Our statistics are simply offered to show possibilities. ”