SULPHUROUS ACID AS A CURE FOR CONSUMPTION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2203, 19 May 1891, Page 4

SULPHUROUS ACID AS A CURE FOR CONSUMPTION.

The following is Mr Taylor's letter to the Argue.; upon, the above subject : Just now when the cure, of consumption is occupying bo much attention the following statement of facta may prove interesting to the public. Somo 20 yearjß ago our medical adviser; informed ray father ;tbat,l suffering from, consumption. I had the usual hectie flush, cough, general debility, and falling away of fleshi

Quite accidentally il picked, up a torn piece of uewepaper contain an account of fiome remarkable cures -of consumption by Dr Dewar, of Scotland, tbe ; only agent used being sulphur fumes and sulphurous acid.' ,'. ! Impressed by. what I bad read jl determined to give the thing a trial. ! Having a quiet little office to myself in one of the Country districts of Tasmania I was able to keep gatibn at each week, in the'day time.; and I made it 'ai .practiceNnever to*retireto bid without first setting fire to about half a tejaapoouful of sulphur on a briek placed upon tbe mant^piecei,, It was riot.jong before I noticed a remarkable change in my health The cough became less troublesome, the Sputum less in quantity, of ja lighter color, and less offensive. My appetite co.mmen.ced to gain in weigbti, The night sweats disappeared, and-the expression of the. face beijame {ihued.tne night .'furSigatjpns for ovjer three months, and occasionally for! a long time afterwards'/' The re'siiU was a complete restoration pf_health._ Anxious to try the effect of tbe aqid and fumes upon others, I selected what I considered to be an excellent ' test case. It was that of a man so far j gone that bis wife ha4\tb |iim jin I her arms to bed, as if he were j a, perfectly helpless-baby. When I called to him be was. 1 bolstered up with,, ,'piUows, and tbe | basin near him contained a very large amount of offensive matter which 'be | had coughed up.,,,Hp.,wa^laterally a | bag of bodes, and, was ! undoubtedly j dying of cbdsumptioh. I told him jof the benefit 1 0 had derived from the remedy above referred to, and although I regarded the case as a very-hopeless one, I sent him half a pound of sul-, phur, with directions how to use it. A few days afterwards.l left the district and heard nothing more of the case until: Bix».<months had elapsed. Then I met my patient driving a pair of horses down one of -; the' !i streets 1 of HobartV 1 He walked 'up to me and said, " Ton saved my life with that sulphur, sir, I always use it bow whertl 'feel, anything! the fmabter with my chest." This was „2<* 'years ago. About■ six months ago a thickset, sturdy fellow, wh.o .ha(i just, returned frpm a .prospecting r pt'ip i pn'ipur 7 Wjest silver- mines, earner to, my office (Public Library, Hobart), and afjter talking fo^'a' while I 'about' the prospects of the field, said, " You do not recognise me." "No," I answered. "Well," he replied, "I am the man whose life you saved many yenrs ago at iNew, Norfolk," and sure enough it was the man whose, case had appeared so hopeless ;20 years before, "Take another case. I heard that a doctor had pronounced a certain cane of consumption hopeless, and had given his patient four days to live. Wishing once more to try the effect of sulphur fumes and acid, I called upon the patient and persuaded him to try the remedy. At the bare mention of the fumes he coughed. At this time he was lying between! an open door and window to enable him to ;breathe; as freely as ipossible. By bis side was a vessel half full of the offensive matter coughed up. A novice could see that he was in a very bad state. After trying the fumes and acid for a few months this young man was able to play in two cricket; matches. As a result of incautious exposure he afterwards suffered'from, severe congestion of the luugs, which ultimately caused his,death. ( .. ..

One more case. A man having indications of consumption laughed, at my suggestion that he should give the sulphur cure a trial. Some two yeprs afterwards I saw this , man pulling a race at one of our r&gattas, and expressed, my surprise to-hia wife that be was able to take such violent exercise. She informed me that he recovered his strength wonderfully after leaving one of the kilns at which he bad been engaged drying bops 1 previously. I fancied I could explain the reason of the improvement ferred to. When bops are being dried they are spread upon floors covered only with horaehair. Under these floors the furnaces are placed, Upon the fires pounds of sulphur are burned, and the fumes passing to the rooms above give the hops, a bright golden color. The hops have to be turned every four hours, andV'it will be easily understood that the men. who attedd to this work is subjected to a bath of sulphurous acid during the time he is so employed, This ■ eeemedtto me to be the explanation of the improvement in the case above referred to.

I could multiply instances, but have s?»id enough, I trust, to interest your readers in a remedy worthy of trying in cases of consumption. The sulphur fumes and acid have & curative influence in such cases I cannot doubt, and I shall be glad to qiye any further

information in my power to those wlfoij may feel an interest in the subject.—Yours, Ac, Alpekd J. Tax&ob, Public,Library, Hebart, | March 25. !