On the importance of the functions of the skin, in the pathology and treatment of tubercular consumption / by Abraham Toulmin.

  • Toulmin, Abraham.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the importance of the functions of the skin, in the pathology and treatment of tubercular consumption / by Abraham Toulmin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    may be considered very heretical, and yet it is one of great im- portance to the comfort and well-bemg of consumptive patients, and one, moreover, on which it is equally important that there should be no discrepancy of opinion ; I mean the climate best suited for their residence. And here I may be permitted to ask, why do we so sedulously avoid cold air for consumptive patients ? The only answer I can conceive is, that Phthisis being generally considered a disease of the lungs, and pulmonary diseases being more rife in winter than summer, the conclusion is jumped at, that the breathing cold air must be the exciting cause of pulmo- nary diseases, and amongst the rest, of Phthisis. With this con- clusion, erroneous as I deem it to be, I do not desire at present to interfere, except in the especial instance of Tubercle, and here a number of facts present themselves which should lead us to ponder well, whether the ordering a warm atmosphere for such patients is, or is not, correct. The first and most important fact is, that in the higher northern latitudes, such as Russia, Norway, Iceland, and Lapland, Pulmonary Consumption is almost, if not altogether, unknown.^ The second is, that in all the Arctic voyages that have been made of late years, Consumption is not to be found in their bills of mortality. Whilst the third, and very significant fact is, that the 1 “ The Wandering Eaquimanx, living virtually without fire, most meagrely dressed, dependent at the same time upon the hunt for every neces- sary of life, and almost daily exposed, in the pursuit of game, to the very lowest temperature, we are astonished at their complete indifference to the cold ; not only do they seem indifferent to it as far as concerns their physical comfort, hut they are able to resist all its depressing influences. They are a strong, robust, and healthy race Scurvy is unknown amongst them, and I have never known or heard of an instance of tubercular disease ” “It is worthy of more than mere passing remark, that the climate is one of un- usual healthfulness, and that Phthisis is unknown amongst the natives.’ ’ — On the relations between Diet and External Cold ” by Dr Isaac J. Hayes, late Surgeon to the second U.S. Arctic Expedition. American Journal of Med. Sciences, July, 1850, as quoted by Ranking in Half-Yearly Abstract of Medical Sciences, July—December, 1859. “ In Iceland, Phthisis is not uncommon, as I saw many cases when there with Lord Dufferin; but this only verifies your theory, as with it you find all the conditions favourable to its development; great want of personal cleanhuess, large families huddled together in ilL-ventilated mud hovels, and insufficient food.”—C. E. Eitz Gerald, Esq., in a letter to the Author. The want of food here referred to, is an insufficient supply of carbon in some form of oleaginous matter. To produce combustion, either in the animal t)ody or out of it, it is necessary to have fuel to be burned, as well as oxygen to support the burning.