  | PAGET, SIR JAMES, M.D. | | Escape from Pain. The History of A Discovery | | About 1800 Humphry Davy experimented with nitrous oxide gas and suggested its use in surgery. Horace Wells, a dentist of Hartford, Conn., uses the gas for the painless extraction of teeth. Sulphuric ether also observed to produce insensibility to pain. Dr. Crauford Long, of Jefferson, Ga., uses it in 1842 for the excision of a tumour. Wm. T. G. Morton, Boston, employs ether in dentistry, and Dr. Warren in surgery. Dr. Simpson, Edinburgh, introduces chloroform to prevent the pains of childbirth. AnÆsthesia not only abolishes pain, it broadens the scope of surgery and makes operations safe which formerly were most perilous. | 3 | | BENNETT, SIR J. R., M.D. | | Jenner and Pasteur | | Jenner's indebtedness to John Hunter. Jenner's early observations in natural history. He hears a countrywoman say, “I can't take small-pox for I have had cow-pox.” This sets him thinking. He finds that of various forms of cow-pox but one gives protection against small-pox. In 1796 successfully vaccinates a patient. Holds that small-pox and cow-pox are modifications of the same disease and that if the system be impregnated with the milder disease, immunity from the severer is conferred. Immense saving of life by vaccination. | | Pasteur, a chemist, studies fermentation, which is due to the rapid multiplication of organisms. Similar organisms he detects as the cause of the silkworm disease and of anthrax in cattle. He adopts the method of Jenner, prepares an attenuated virus and protects cattle from anthrax. | 25 | | GEDDES, PATRICK, AND J. ARTHUR THOMSON | | Pasteur and His Work | | Distinguishes minute facets, not before observed, in certain chemical compounds. Proves that the fermentation of tartrate of lime is due to a minute organism and that a similar agency underlies many other kinds of fermentation. Protects wine from fermentation by heating it for a minute to 50° C. Disproves the theory of spontaneous generation. Discovers an antitoxin for hydrophobia. | 51 | | PRUDDEN, T. M., M.D. | | Tuberculosis and Its Prevention | | In Nature an extremely important part is played by minute organisms. Some of them take up their abode in the human body and there set up diseases of which consumption is the chief. The tubercle bacillus is the sole cause of consumption: its entrance may be prevented, mainly by destroying the spittle of patients. Susceptibility to consumption may be inherited: the disease itself is not. Any cause which lowers vitality increases susceptibility. Dust is a source of danger both out-of-doors and in. Dust in houses should be removed, not simply stirred up. Encouragement for sufferers in early stages of disease. | 63 | | STERNBERG, G. M., M.D. | | Malaria and Mosquitoes | | Malaria, long believed to be due to bad air, is really chargeable to a mosquito discovered by Dr. Laveran, 1880, and first detected in America by Dr. Sternberg, 1886. Healthy individuals inoculated with blood containing the parasite develop malarial fever. The mosquito theory of infection was advanced by Dr. A. F. A. King, Washington, 1883. Dr. Manson and Dr. Ross confirmed the theory by observation and experiment. Five individuals exposed to the July air of the Roman Campagna escape malaria by using screens on doors and windows and nets over their beds. | 89 | | ROOSE, ROBSON, M.D. | | The Art of Prolonging Life | | What is the natural term of life? One hundred years the extreme limit. Longevity runs in families. Clergymen are long-lived. Abstemiousness, sound digestion, capacity for sleep usually found in the long-lived. Work is healthy, especially intellectual work. Reasonable hobbies are good. Beyond middle life exercise should be judicious. Diet should be digestible and moderate. Clothing should be sensible and cleanliness habitual. | 107 | | RICHARDSON, B. W., M.D. | | Natural Life and Death | | Man should be as unconscious of death as of birth. To this end let him observe the rules of Health. | | Rules of Health | | The health of the unborn should be ensured. Many diseases usual in children may be avoided by isolation and disinfection. An equable temperature should be maintained. Regular and various mental labour is a benefit. Physical exercise should be moderate. The passions should obey the reason. Alcohol and tobacco are harmful. Opium, and other narcotics should be shunned. Not too much meat. Water the natural beverage. Air should be pure and not damp. Rest and recreation gainful. Idleness injurious. Sleep should be adequate. | 137 | | COLTON, BUEL P. | | Care of the Eyes | | Light should fall from behind and above: it should be equal for both eyes. An Argand lamp is best. Reading out-of-doors is harmful. The range of the eye should not be too short. Frequent rests do good. Light should be strong enough. The easiest reading should be saved for the evening. Reading during convalescence is hurtful. How to remove foreign substances from the eye. Cleanliness essential. | 155 | | BILLINGS, J. S., M.D. | | Progress of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century | | More medical progress in the nineteenth century than in the two thousand years preceding. The surgeon does more and better work than ever: he can locate a tumour of the brain. Deformities ameliorated. Perils of maternity reduced. Blindness in many cases prevented. Human life lengthening. The prevention of disease ha
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