THE PERILS OF FOOTBALL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3557, 9 July 1890, Page 2

THE PERILS OF FOOTBALL.

3Va hava'. frequently drawn attention (says Ihe Lancet) to the'.severe anjl often'-fatal injuries that are' caused/bydirect injuries in the foot« ball ; field, especially among full * grown men. Probably many less ap-1 preoiable and not immediately ap. parent stains and shocks lay the foundation of serious disease, In a recent discussion of a paper by Dt Kenyon on-"Tbe Hygiene of Exer-' oise" at a meeting of the NorthWestern Association of Medioal Offloers of Health at Manchester, the president remarked that;, whilst football was a very valuable form' of : exercise for players who wero trained, yet for .those who were for the moat " part lads in. workshops and olerks in offices, and who only Lad the Saturday ; afternoon, "it was a : frightful exercise; independently of the danger, of broken bones, it seemed to him that there must be la large inorease 'of heart disease and diseases of the blood"" vessels, which must have their origin •in football." Of this, no doubt, most medical men musthave observed cases •afld also have seen instances in wbioh .after tho effects •of tho'immediate injury have passed off, very serious ' results bad subsequently'sbown themselves. Some.sad cases of thischar- • actorhavecomeunderourobservation. " In one iustance a young man, holding. : a rising position, the only support of his.mother, 'was thrown'heavily apparently only spraining his right shoulder; but some weeks afterwards, tbe pain and weakness' continuing. r : it was found that tho deltoid ana teres and other, scapular muscles | were undergoing- atrophy, and as . j the was nq early, prospeot of hjg

being able to roturn to his'duties, lie bad to resign bis appointment, to the jeopardy of his, prospects in. life. In another oase'd Irtd of eighteen was charged against, add received a severe concussion on/the chest. At'the t|be ho fainted, but was able to walk HIS; shortly afterwards he noticed an inoroasing difficulty, of broathiug whenever he went upstairs or attempted tormv.;.it was then found that he was suffering from aortio regurgitation, the mischief being fairly attributable to , the shock received in the charge. From that timo he became a chronic invalid, and though ho Btill lives, or was living a short ■'wliilo agoj lie is only ablo to tako carriage exercise. It surely is high time that an attempt' should bo mado io-frame rules by which the gamo may bo rendered moro scientific and less hazardous,