HOT WATER IN CONSUMPTION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1170, 6 November 1883, Page 3

HOT WATER IN CONSUMPTION.

A Canadian correspondent writes : Noticing an extract from the World of Science, m.which a physican strongly recommends hot water, in place of tea or coffee, as a stimulant for the use of those requiring to study late at night, I would like to give my experience of it as a beneficial agent iu_ consumption. Mrs H ,one .of a family a number of whose members had died of consumption, was, after severe exposure to a snowstorm, seized with a serious cough and expectoration, accompanied with loss of flesh. Examination by a physician showed that one lung was seriously affected. She was wholly confined to her room, and everything that medical attendance and loving care could do to mitigate her suffering was done, but ineffectually. The depressing night-sweats continued, together with loss of rest from repeated fits of coughing. Losing all faith in medicine, some six or eight months ago its use was wholly abandoned, and the use of nourishing diet only continued. About ten weeks ago, the patient’s attention was directed to a newspaper paragraph recommending hot water as a remedy for consumption. Feeling that little harm could ensue from its use, she determined to test it. At the moment of retiring, a large tumbler of hot water, in which the juice of lemon had been mixed to free it from nausea, was taken. In a few moments a glow of warmth would pervade the lungs, chest, etc., quickly followed by the most refreshing sleep, which would be unbroken by any cough, and the patient would awake in the morning rested and strengthened. A few days ago she was seized with a fit of coughing, during which was coughed up into her mouth a small stone about the size of a pea, formed of sulphate of lime, I believe, and usually considered a symptom of the healing of a cavity in the lung.

Whether this marked improvement was due to the use of hot water, I cannot venture to say; but its beneficial influence in securing sweet sleep and exemption from coughing at night was so marked, that I would like some of your readers to test it with their consumptive friends, and give, through your Notes, the results of their experience—Chambers Journal,