CONSUMPTIVE AND CATARRHAL

CONDITIONS.

FACE AND FORM READING OF PNEUMATIVE PATIENTS, AND ITS RELATIONS TO DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT.

By FRANK WOODBURY, A.M., M.D.,

Honorary Professor of Clinical Medicine, Medico-Chirurgical College, Philadelphia;
Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association;
Fellow of the College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pa.

Two distinct, but distantly-related, questions are discussed in "The Encyclopædia of Face and Form Reading." Both are of great importance to society, especially to all who are interested in solving the problems of psychology and physiology, under various conditions of health and disease. The physician, more than any other member of the community, is engaged in this study and in applying the results to practical uses. The first of the questions considered by the author is: To what extent are moral traits and intellectual capacity revealed by face and form? The second question is: What do physical features indicate with regard to diathesis or actual disease? The first question appeals to the poet, the painter, and the philanthropist especially, but is of general interest to all who are brought into daily contact with their fellow-men. The second question more directly attracts the attention of the physician, since it bears upon the process of diagnosis, and also concerns the prognosis, since it enables him to predict to some degree the future course of the disease.

Restricting the comments which I shall make to the physiognomy of pneumative patients, I will now proceed to inquire to what extent the diagnosis and prognosis of diseases of the airpassages are indicated by physiognomy, or the outward traits of feature and form, Pneumativeness is the name of the physiological function which presides over the introduction of oxygen and other gases into the body, the interchange of gases in the blood, and the expulsion of vapors and gases from the system. Our author, under this head, also includes "the mental faculty which takes cognizance of air, gases, and vapors." (See page 397.) As this also has a bearing upon medical practice, it will be interesting to note that, in the author's words, "this faculty gives the love and desire for fresh, pure air, and a capacity for distinguishing readily

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the differences in atmospheres; detects odors and effluvia arising from decomposition; gives keenness of scent, and enables one at a distance to scent the slightest odor of smoke, gas, or any peculiar change in the composition of atmospheric air. It gives a love for out-door life and a dislike to crowds, close rooms, vitiated atmosphere, and of vile odors. Those who have a large measure of this function and faculty exhibit great recuperative powers, also ability for imparting health to others by hand-rubbing and by their cheerful and moral atmosphere." It is clear that this function and faculty should be the special study of physicians, since it gives a love of life and activity, as well as power to resist and overcome disease." Since an excess "cannot be considered injurious unless it lead one to pass too much time in out-door sports to the neglect of ordinary business," and "a deficiency tends to weakness of all the moral and mental powers, to consumption and early death," the importance of the knowledge of pneumativeness and of the means of its cultivation when deficient is very obvious. The facial and bodily signs by which it can be recognized and the method of developing weak organs so as to increase this indispensable function are given at some length in the work, and need not be repeated here.

The special point to which attention should be directed is the fact that the size of the lungs and so-called vital capacity is related to the width of the nostrils, the color of the skin, the breadth of the face externally to the eyes, and the expression of the countenance. Narrow nostrils, mouth-breathing, and pallid faces accompany contracted chests and insufficient pulmonary development. The latter class are particularly liable to suffer from catarrhal affections, nasal hypertrophies, enlarged tonsils, sore throat, laryngitis, bronchitis, and chronic pulmonary affections. The author very ably indicates the method of appropriate exercises to overcome the physical condition underlying deficient pneumativeness and to increase the size of the chest and the respiratory power. Incidentally it is intimated that the mental faculty corresponding thereto will also be developed, and that the acquiring of the power to overcome and to heal disease is also within the possibility of those who desire to grow in grace and knowledge, and will take the trouble to work out their own salvation.

As regards the actual application of these observations to clinical medicine, we recall the fact that the consumptive face has long been an object of study, and with the aid of composite photography its principal features have, to some extent, become established. When the patient presents a hectic flush restricted to two small spots in the upper part of the cheeks, the rest of the face

pale, the nostrils narrow, the lips thin, the face somewhat drawn, and the eyes brightened by fever, there is little doubt about the diagnosis, and the condition is universally recognized; taking from this the incidental element of the fever, and the physiognomy of an earlier stage is apparent. As already stated, the narrow nostrils and want of breadth across the upper part of the face, with deficient color in the skin, indicate a tendency to phthisis, which should suggest to the acute observer the timely adoption of preventive measures. Such a condition also indicates a tendency to catarrhal disorders, especially quinsy and chronic throat diseases.

For the diagnosis of diseased conditions we have special indications in physiognomy. For instance, the expression is very much changed by the growth of nasal polypi, by which the nose may be so broadened at the base as to give a frog-like appearance to the face. As the result of chronic catarrh or specific inflammation or of injury, the bridge of the nose may be depressed; or, owing to deviation of the nasal septum, the nose may be deformed or distorted. Enlarged tonsils and mouth-breathing cause a stupid expression of the face. Various forms of growths in the antra, in the frontal sinuses, and in the nasal chambers seriously alter the shape of the features: The color is affected by obstructed respiration, and the face may be swollen and dusky and the lips blue in croup, diphtheria, and laryngeal spasm, or oedema.

If, as the author states, deep breathing stands in close relationship to "high thinking," it is evident that it is well to practice respiratory gymnastics for moral and intellectual, as well as for hygienic, reasons.

TENDENCY TO CONSUMPTION AND

CATARRH.

HOW WILL FACE AND FORM READING INDICATE CONSUMPTIVE OR
CATARRHAL TENDENCIES IN SON AND DAUGHTER, AND AID
IN OVERCOMING OR ERADICATING THE SAME.

By O. B. DOUGLAS, M.D.,

Professor of Diseases of the Nose and Throat in the Post-Graduate Medical School and
Hospital; Surgeon to Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, Throat Department;
Late President of the Medical Society of the County of New York;
Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, etc.

"As the dial is to the clock, so is the face to man."-Page 20..

WHAT do we read in the face and form of child or friend? What may we read regarding their physical condition and tendency to disease? Can we detect the beginning of trouble to be avoided, and differentiate what will prove fatal, if not combated, from conditions they will pretty certainly recover from? Why do some escape without effort from the ills of life against which others wage ceaseless warfare, only to succumb finally to the inevitable? And is there an index to the evils that our son or daughter will meet, and are there labors and pleasures which they cannot endure? How are these things revealed to the wise and prudent? May I acquire such knowledge?

Let us see what "Face and Form Reading" means. It is really diagnosis under a different name. If our friend is sick, we send for a physician that he may discover the cause of illness, make a diagnosis, and prescribe a remedy. We prefer that he should see the patient, and the conscientious physician would hesitate before taking the responsibility of prescribing for one he has not seen; only quacks do that. The skilled doctor has studied this science of signs, and all may learn much by systematic observation. The medical profession concedes the vast practical value of being able readily to read the face and form accurately. To know the cause of certain effects is preliminary to knowing, in many cases, how to ward off those effects.

Of all the ills common to humanity catarrhal diseases are the most common, and they cause most suffering in the aggregate; they are far-reaching and destructive to usefulness and happiness