Page:Alcohol, a Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine.djvu/199

Rh "A late surgeon of the gold coast of Africa wrote the following to the London Lancet of Jan. 2, 1890: 'Some of the worst cases of this disease, the grippe, remind me of an epidemic I saw among the natives of the swamps of the Niger. ***** Irrespective of disinfectants and inhalations there is a simple, effective and ready remedy, the juice of oranges in large quantities, not of two or three, but of dozens. The first unpleasant symptoms disappear, and the acid citrate of potash of the juice, by a simple chemic action decreases the amount of fibrine in the blood to an extent which prevents the development of pneumonia.'"

The Syracuse (N. Y.) Post-Standard contained the following during the epidemic of 1899 :—

"Dr. George D. Whedon declared to a Post-Standard reporter yesterday that there is practically no subsiding of the grippe in this city. Dr. Whedon said that the weather conditions have little, if anything, to do with the disease, and that it is impossible to define the conditions which produce it. It is some morbific agency, the influence of which, Dr. Whedon said, is exerted upon the pneumogastric nerve.

"Dr. Whedon was emphatic in denouncing treatment by means of alcoholic stimulants, and coal tar derivatives. In discussing the subject at some length he said:—

'I find that infants and young children are practically exempt from the disease, and the liability increases with age. In my own experience, which has since 1889 amounted to an aggregate of 3,000 cases, alcoholic stimulants have appeared to be usually of little or no value; their usual stimulating effect does not seem to be realized in this condition. Unless malarial complications exist quinine appears of no benefit, and then should not be used in larger than two grain doses. Large doses depress the weakened heart, and in all cases increase the terrible confusion and headache constantly present in severe cases.