"The town of Colusa is built upon the old, or clay formation, and the people are entirely free from the so-called malarial influence. They are almost entirely free from chills, typhoid fevers, diphtheria, etc., but just at the lower end of the town there is evidence that the river at one time ran almost at right angles with its present course, and while the land is just as high, and very large oaks grew upon it, showing the formation to be very old—the span of human life taken as a measure—yet in digging and boring wells, as well as by the indigenous growth, the very great difference in the age of the formation was apparent. Upon this new formation an extension to the town was located, and among other buildings the county hospital was placed there. The patients and employes of the hospital all had chills for several years, until the physician-in-charge, Dr. W. H. Belton, noticed that the people generally who used water from wells on this newly-made land had chills, while the others had not, and caused pipes from the town waterworks, into which river water was pumped, to be laid to the hospital. There was an immediate change. At the commencement of the use of river water, there were some forty persons in the hospital, all with chills, but since the building has been almost entirely free from it. There could be no more conclusive evidence that these people drank the germ of the disease and did not breathe it.
"It is claimed that after a wet season there is more malaria in the air, and that hence people are more subject to disease. I have investigated this, and my observations, extended over a number of years, have convinced me that the water in the wells is simply raised to a newer stratum, one not thoroughly washed, as it were, and that people drink the germ of disease, and do not breathe it.
"My conclusions are, therefore, that irrigation will tend to bring on malarial disorders, as it raises the water in wells to a newer stratum of earth, but no further. When we irrigate so as to produce this effect we must go down after pure drinking water, or bring it to our houses in pipes. The effect of disorders thus brought about is easily remedied.
"I do not wish to be understood as maintaining that there may be no such thing as poison in the atmosphere. In some localities, where the air is not in motion every day, as it is here, the air, like standing water, may become stagnant. I know of some hotels in this valley totally void of drainage, and where the accumulated filth of a quarter of a century stands in the yards in cess-pools. In some countries this would kill ninety out of a hundred people who would stop in them a week, but here we feel no inconvenience from it, except in so far that the water may become impregnated. Air in motion, like water in motion, purifies itself, and hence I have come to the rejection of the theory of malaria in the air."
Of our own remedies we feel very proud because they are sure to kill chills and fever. There are two:—
First: Take the proportions of one (1) of sulphur to two (2) of gin, or 4 fluidounces of gin to 2 of sulphur. Let it stand overnight. For an adult take one teaspoonful of this mixture in a little water from 15 to 30 minutes before the attack. Remain in bed in a room warmed to 90° Fahr., for from 6 to 10 hours. This has not been known to fail.
Second: This requires much care and judgment. Take a whole nutmeg finely grated, and its equal quantity of pulverized alum, thoroughly mix them, and take at one dose; the time to take it has everything to do with its effect. It must be taken between 10 and 17 minutes before the shake is due to come on. Go to bed immediately, using double the usual amount of bedclothes, remain there from 1-1/2 to 3 hours, and both chills and fever will permanently depart. If the medicine is taken too soon (say 30 minutes before the shake), the attack will be more severe; if taken immediately after the shake it will increase the fever; in either case the dose will have to be repeated to effect a cure. This latter treatment completely cured the author.
Nervousness and Worry.—One meets few unworried people. Most faces bear lines of care. Men go anxious to their day's duties, rush through the hours with feverish speed, and bring hot brain and tumultuous pulse home at night for restless, unrefreshing sleep. This is not only a most unsatisfactory, but is also a most costly, mode of living. The other night the train lost two hours in running less than a hundred miles. "We have a hot box," was the polite conductor's reply to some impatient passengers who begged to know the cause of the long delays at stations. This hot-box trouble is not altogether unknown in human life. There are many people who move swiftly enough and with sufficient energy, but who grow feverish and are thus impeded in their progress. A great many failures in life must be charged to worrying. When a man worries he is impeded in several ways. For one thing he loses his head. He cannot think clearly. His brain is feverish, and will not act at its best. His mind becomes confused, and his decisions are not to be depended upon. The result is that a worried man never does his work as well as he should do it, or as he could do it if he were free from worry. He is apt to make mistakes. Marks of feverishness are sure to be seen somewhere in whatever he does. Remedy: Keep cool, think three times before you act once.
Obesity and Thinness.—To increase the weight; Eat, to the extent of satisfying a natural appetite, of fat meats, butter, cream, milk, cocoa, chocolate, bread, potatoes, peas, parsnips, carrots, beets, farinaceous food, or Indian corn, rice, tapioca, sago, corn-starch, pastry, custards, oatmeal, sugar, sweet wines, and ale. Avoid acids. Exercise as little as possible, sleep all you can, and don't worry or fret. To reduce the weight: Eat, to the extent of satisfying a natural appetite, of lean meat, poultry, game, eggs, milk moderately, green vegetables, turnips, succulent fruits, tea or coffee. Drink lime juice, lemonade, and acid drinks. Avoid fat, butter, cream, sugar, pastry, rice, sago, tapioca, corn-starch, potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, and sweet wines. Exercise freely.
Piles.—When piles become painful, whether they protrude or not, the patient should take a warm hip-bath and remain in until the pain ceases, extra precaution being taken for cleanliness, using pure white castile soap with the hip-bath. A careful diet of farinaceous and other easily-digested food, and regularity in going to stool, will suffice to cure the majority of cases. If the piles are bleeding, apply a salve of opium and nut-gall; if itching, a drop of oil of cade will give relief. Linseed oil, applied to the piles, is said to be an effective remedy. In severe cases of piles great relief is afforded by the use of suppositories made after the following formula: 2 grains sulphate morphina, 2 grains extract belladonna, 1 scruple tannin.