Scientific American Supplement, No. 795, March 28, 1891 | Page 9

exceeding importance. That the large buyers of advertising space are not more and oftener swindled is because they understand the circulation extravaganza and buy space according to their understanding. The time is coming, and it should come soon, when newspaper circulations shall be open to the same inspection and publicity as is now the case with banks and insurance companies, and when the circulation liar and swindler shall be amenable to the same law and liable to the same penalty as stands against and is visited upon any other perjurer and thief.
_(To be continued_.)
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HOW TO PREVENT HAY FEVER.
By ALEXANDER RIXA, M.D., New York.
In the May (1890) number of the Therapeutic Gazette I furnished some contribution to the "Treatment of Hay Fever." I reported therein a favorable result in the treatment of this mysterious disease in the experience of my last year's cases.
My experience of this year is far more gratifying, and worthy of receiving a wide publicity.
I treated six cases in all, four of which have been habitual for years to hay fever proper without complications, while the other two used to have the disease aggravated with reflex asthma and bronchial catarrh. I succeeded in preventing the outbreak of the disease in every individual case. The treatment I applied was very simple, and consisted of the following:
From the fact that I had known all my patients from previous years, I ordered them to my office two weeks before the usual onset of the disease. I advised them to irrigate the nose with a warm solution of chloride of sodium four times a day--morning, noon, evening, and on retiring; and, a few minutes after the cleansing of the parts, had the nares thoroughly sprayed with peroxide of hydrogen and c.p. glycerin, half and half. Those subject to a conjunctivitis I prescribed a two per cent. solution of boric acid as a wash. At this period no internal medication was given, but three days previous to the usual onset of the disease I prescribed phenacetin and salol, five grains of each three times a day.
On the respective expected days, to the great surprise of all the members concerned successively, who have been in the habit of getting the disease almost invariably at a certain date, no hay fever symptoms appeared, though everyone had been the victim of the disease for a great number of years, varying from five to nineteen years' standing.
It is self-understood that this treatment was kept up all through the season, and, as no symptoms developed, the applications were reduced, toward the termination, to twice and once a day. The internal medication, however, was stopped after the expiration of the first week, and all the patients could attend to their various respective vocations, something they never have been able to do in previous years.
In two cases, though no nasal symptoms developed, about two weeks after the calculated onset, slight symptoms of asthma made their appearance. However, I could easily suppress them at this time with the aid of the hand atomizer and ozonizer, a very ingenious little apparatus, of which I gave a thorough description in my last year's article. I used the ozone inhalations every four hours, in connection with the internal administration of the following prescription:
Rx Iodide of ammonia, 8; Fl. ex. quebracho, 30; Fl. ex. grindelia robusta, 15; Tr. lobelia, 12; Tr. belladonna, 8; Syr. pruni, virg., q.s., ad 120.
Sig.--Teaspoonful three or more times during twenty-four hours.
However, toward the end of the fourth week, especially in one case--a stout, heavy-set gentleman--very grave asthmatic symptoms developed, which compelled me to apply Chapman's spinal ice bag, as well as resort to the internal administration of large doses of codeine during the paroxysm, with the most beneficial result.
I gave also oxygen inhalations a fair trial in the two cases. I find them to act very soothingly in the simple asthma, facilitating respiration after a few minutes; but during the paroxysmal stage they cannot be utilized, for the reason that respiration is short and rapid, and does not permit of a control in the quantity of the gas to be inhaled. Consequently, it is either of little use as a remedy; or, if too much is taken, a disagreeable headache will be the consequence.
During the catarrhal stage, which, however, was very mild compared with last year, I derived great benefit from the administration of codeine, in combination with terpine hydrate, in the pill form. The codeine has the advantage over all other opium preparations that it does not affect the digestive organs, and still acts in a soothing manner. While during last year's sickness my patients lost from ten to twenty pounds of their bodily weight, this year but one lost eight pounds and the other five pounds.
As the etiology of this troublesome disease is yet