CONSUMPTION! 
ESSAY AND LETTERS 
ON THE TREATMENT OF 
Consumption, 
■ 
BRONCHITIS, 
/ i 
S T H M .A. 0 
AND OTHER DISEASES OF THE 
NOSE, THROAT, AND LUNGS, 
BY 
Medicated Inhalation. 
NASAL CATARRH! SORE THROAT! 
LOSS OF VOICE! WEAK LUNGS! 
IBY IN'- 33- WOLFE; HUE. 3D., 
PHYSICIAN FOH TREATING DISEASES OF THE NOSE, THROAT, AND LUNOS. 
“ Let no man fear corruption from truth, though new; 
Neither expect good from error, though long believed.” 
FIRST REVISED, NINTH EDITION. 
CINCINNATI, 0.: 
MOORE WILSTACH & BALDWIN, Printers, 
26 WEST FOURTH STREET. 
1867. 
ASTHMA! coi^r^:EisriD^.TOi^^r 
The following letter contains an appreciative 
view of the value of Medicated Inhalation in treat- 
ing Diseases of the Lungs. The writer is a physi- 
cian of eminence, and evidently a clear thinker : 
Philadelphia, Dec. 29, 1801. 
Doctor N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I have just read your work on the 
treatment of Pulmonary Diseases by Medicated In- 
halation, and can not but coincide with you, that it 
is the only rational treatment ever yet proposed for 
those diseases, inasmuch as the medicated vapor 
reaches the seat of the disease directly, just as a 
topical application would an external sore. In a 
practice of many years, I have never yet been able 
to discuss or resolve a tubercle in the lungs by the in- 
troduction of medicines into the stomach, although 
I have almost exhausted our Materia Medica to dis- 
cover such a remedy. Furthermore, medicines in 
the stomach, after having been subjected to chyni- 
ification, become so diffused and attenuated when 
taken up by the chyle, as to be almost, if not en- 
tirely, impotent for good or evil on reaching the 
lungs; and our long list of expectorants and dis- 
cutlents aro but the synonyms of our failures. The 
phosphatic deposit of tuberncloses is unquestion- 
ably made while the patient is in a negative state— 
with an enfeebled vascular action in the lungs— 
but once made, there is no medicine that can be in- 
troduced into the stomach strong enough to resolve 
them, that would not destroy that organ itself, and 
the only possible means of reaching tubercles is by 
the gaseous topical application, or medicated va- 
por—as all other modes of treating Consumption 
are but histories of so many failures. The plain, 
practical sense embraced in your treatise merits, 
and doubtless will commend itself to the attention 
of the medical profession, as well as the public. 
You are on the right track. Persevere. 
Respectfully, etc., GEO. C. WOOD. 
tion, is a new theory. In an “ Essay and Letters” 
on this subject, which is before the public, ho shows 
historically that the theory, in its essential features, 
is nearly as old as the science of Medicine; and 
that for the last three hundred years, especially the 
great lights of the profession, though as yet com- 
prehending the subject imperfectly, regarded it 
with high favor. What he claims is, that having 
made the treatment of lung affections by this method 
a speciality for fourteen years, ho has attained an 
important advanced position in the profession, 
both in his improved method of Inhalation, and in 
preparing and adapting his remedies to the state of 
the disease. 
Topical treatment, by poultices, emolienis, stim- 
ulating liniments, lubricating ointments, and < ool- 
ing washes for allaying inflammation, subdubsg 
swellings, cleaning and healing ulcers, and strength- 
ening weak parts, has been a favorite method, both 
in domestic and professional practice, for many 
generations. Its acknowledged adaptation and 
success has secured the confidence of mankind the 
world over. It seems to me to be a matter of common 
sense that inflammations of the throat, bronchia, 
and lungs are as strictly local diseases of the inter- 
nal surface, as boils, common ulcers, or inflamma. 
tion are of the external surface, and if well-adupted 
remedies, applied directly to the diseased parts, 
will allay inflammation, soothe and heal in one case, 
why will it not do it in the other? The whole mat- 
ter evidently turns upon the skill and ability ot the 
practitioner to discover the best remedies, and ap- 
ply them in the most direct and appropriate method. 
In this respect I believe Dr. Wolfe’s method or 
treating lung diseases by “ Inhalation of Medi- 
cated Air,” worthy of the attention of that class 
of persons for whose benefit it is proposed. 
It is proper to state that 1 have no personal ac- 
quaintance with Dr. Wolfe, and this article is 
written without his knowledge. 
I. N. SHEPHERD. 
Muncie, Ind., Jan. 15, 1804. 
The writer of the following letter, which was 
published in “The Presbyter” of this city, is a 
highly esteemed and intelligent clergyman. The 
letter speaks for itself. 
Ens. of the Presbyter: 
In your issue of January 9th, there isa letter from 
Dr Wood to Dr. N. B. Wolfe, of your city, in ref- 
erence to his mode of treating affections of the 
lungs and throat, by the “ Inhalation of Medicated 
Air.” In the previous part of my ministry I have 
suffered much from two attacks of Laryngitis—and 
much more from the old method of treating this 
disease. During this winter I have been inter- 
rupted in my pulpit labors, more or less, by a re- 
turn of the complaint. As an experiment, I have 
received treatment from Dr. Wolff,, and had his 
correspondence to some extent, and for this reason 
it may not be improper to express an opinion upon 
tbs subject. 
Dr. Wolff, does not laim that the “ Inhalation 
of Medicated Air,” i- the treatment of finnsnmp- 
From the Columbia (Lancaster CoFa.) Spy. 
Compliment to a Columbian.—We learn from 
the “City Press” that the Eclectic Medical College 
of Pennsylvania, at their annual commencement 
on Friday last, in Musical Fund Hall, Philadelphia, 
conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine upon our fellow-townsman, Dr. N. B. Wolfe. 
This compliment is well deserved, and is an ac- 
knowledgment of the appreciation in which is held 
the Doctor's contributions to 3Iedical Science, in 
his new method of treating diseases of the lungs 
and throat by Medicated Inhalation—a department 
of medical practice to which the Doctor has given 
special attention for many years, and upon which 
he lias written two very acceptable little books. 
We take pleasure in recording the compliment to 
Dr. Wolfe, and hope the Faculty may always be as 
discriminating in conferring their honors upon real 
merit and worth as they have been in this instance  for treating Consumption,Asthma,.Bronciiiti 
and all otirer diseases of die froSE, Throat and 1,UN' glatum in Collcgti, |)lrilabelpl)ia, 2)ie 
Tertio Decimo, Mensis Februa- 
rii, Annoque lDomini, MDCCCLI. 
JOSEPH S. FISHER, Prases. 
Ejftsk WM q CALVER, Scriba. 
Ikfalki ffiothfjii Hb&kituK 
EEIPUBLICAE PENNSYLVANIENSIS, AUOTOEITATE COESTITUTI, 
HOC SCRIPTO TESTATUM VOLUMUS VIRUM PROI3UM 
m. wbeot, m« b« 
Omnia Studia et exercitia ad gradum fDoctoris in Arte Medica spectantia rite et legitime peregisse; 
cumque, coram professoribus examinatione comprobatum gMtflrm in crearimus et 
constituimusj cique om?iia jura, immunitates et privilegia ad ilium gradum hie aut ubique gentium 
pertinentia dedimus et coticessimus. In cujus rei majoretn fidein, hocce diploma, communi nostro 
sigillo muni turn, et chirographis nostris subset ip turn, sit testimonio. 
NOTUM SIT QUO 13 NOS PRiESKS E2T PROFKSSORKS 
JACOBUS NT CLIN TO CK, M. D. Chirurg. and Prof. 
W. PAINE, M. D. Theo. Prac. Med. Prof. 
C. ERNEST KAMERLY, M. D. Obst. Prof. 
CHAS. S. GA UNTT,\ M. D. Chemiae Prof. 
WM. C. DA VIDSON, M. D. Materia Medica Prof. 
JA COB US M’ CLINTOCK, M. D. Anafy and Physy. Prof ESSAY AND LETTERS 
ON THE TREATMENT OF 
dfmmtmjjtimt, Bronchitifi, g^sttana, 
AND OTHER 
DISEASES OF THE NOSE. THROAT AND LUNGS,. 
MEDICATED INHALATION. 
By N. B. WOLFE, M. D., 
MEDICAL SPECIALIST, ETC. 
Let no man fear corruption from truth, though new ; 
Neither expect good from error, though long believed.'1 
FIRST REVISED NINTH REGULAR EDITION. 
CINCINNATI: 
MOORE, WILSTACH & BALDWIN, Printers. 
25 West Fourth Street 
1866. TO THE PUBLIC. 
It is estimated that more than one hundred thousand persons perish annually in the 
United States alone, from the various forms of Disease of the Respiratory Organs, the 
most common of which are Consumption, Asthma, Bronchitis, and other affections of 
the Nose, Throat, and Lungs. 
Thus every five years, in tnis country, half a million of people of every age, condi- 
tion, and sex, die prematurely from this class of frightful maladies. Scarcely a family 
but has lost some loved one—many can count two, three, /our, five, and even more vacant 
chain in the broken circle round the family altar, made such by the fell destroyer— 
Consumption. 
In vain have remedies been marshaled for two thousand years to assail and conquer 
this Conquerer. Science has drugged the stomach until Humanity has grown sick with 
its absurdity and lapsed into despair. Is it any wonder that, to such irrational treatment. 
Consumption and Asthma and Bronchitis, and all other diseases of the air passages should 
be considered incurable ? 
Is it not time to change this mode of treatment? or shall it go on until millions of victims 
more shall be added to the millions which it has already slain? The conservative physicians 
still adhering to the traditions of the elders, object to innovation l The People, through their 
progressive physicians, who obeying no authority in their souls but Truth as it is whispered 
in the still “small voice” of Nature, Reason, and Intuition, say a new treatment must be tried. 
With this latter class and to their Godlike work, I devote the best energies of my head and 
heart, my hand and little book. The book is here presented to the people to speak for 
itself and show the sincerity of my devotion. Destroy it if you will, but read it first. 
Tour friend and brother, 
N. B. WOLFE, M. D. 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1866, 
By N. B. WOLFE, M. D. 
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern 
District of Ohio. ESSAY. 
A Brief History of Medicated Inhalations in Treating Consumption, 
Asthma, Bronchitis, Nasal Catarrh, and other Diseases of the Nose, 
Throat, and Lungs. 
The public favor which the successful employment of Medicated Inha- 
lation in Treating Diseases of the Nose, Throat, and Lungs, has of late 
years attained in this country, has begotten a public desire to know more 
of its origin and history than is generally understood. It is right and 
proper that a work of this character should furnish such information; I, 
therefore, address myself to this task the more cheerfully, but with no 
expectation that I will be able to do more than hint at the importance of 
my subject in a work necessarily so brief as this I maybe able to show, 
however, that some of the most advanced minds that have appeared in 
the annals of Medicine, have given their best energies toward the estab- 
lishment of this system of Medical Practice; and by so doing vindicates 
its fair name from unmerited reproach, and rescue its fair fame from the 
polluting touch of quackery and the uneducated empiric. 
Reason, says a cotemporary writer, is a principle belonging to man 
alone. The office of the mind is to investigate, search, and explore the 
principles of nature, and the only hope for the amelioration of the world is 
free thought and unrestricted inquiry. The subject which we now propose 
to investigate is of no less importance than one including the welfare and 
happiness of the human family. Let us approach it without prejudice, 
with a sincere desire to “investigate, search, and explore” for the hidden 
truths which may be found therein. 
The origin of Inhaling Medicated Air for Diseases of the Nose, Throat, 
and Lungs, does not belong to modern times, nor can any man lay exclu- 
sive claim to such practice. Ilowever, tracing its genealogy back through 
an illustrious ancestry, gives to it no intrinsic claim to public favor in 
this age of the world, for we have but little respect for the crude opinions 
which governed mankind when the human family was in its babyhood, 
and the arts of printing and criticism were unknown. In referring to 
the early history of our subject, therefore, we are only seeking to find 
the germ of the great truth which subsequent ages unfolded. Who but 6 
an ignorant slave would ask for authority to believe the Truth, which is 
God’s voice, speaking to human consciousness; or who would ask per- 
mission of any man, pagan or Christian, to express his convictions thereof? 
Truth wears no mask, bows at no human shrine, seeks neither place nor 
applause—she only asks a hearing. 
Far back in the first age of Medical literature wo find the name of IIip- 
pocrates prominent as a Medical author—one who exercised a controlling 
influence over his fellow-men by his great powers of mind in grasping 
truths hidden to the ordinary understanding of the world. Indeed, when 
this great mind dawned upon the world, the facts constituting Medical 
Science were few, vague, and chaotic, and without much value to the human 
family. Upon this formless mass of crude facts, the mind of the great 
Greek shone with a resplendent glory. Having no guide or authority 
but nature, he taught her everlasting principles, and men almost deified 
him. So great was his power when armed with simple truths, that men 
still turn to gaze in admiration upon his wondrous mind over the chasm 
of two thousand years. It is gratifying to know that this great teacher 
was a friend to Medicated Inhalation, and recommended its employment 
in treating all diseases of the respiratory organs. Ilis methods for 
administering Medicated vapors, to be sure, were crude; but they serve to 
show, by contrast with the present, what progress has been made; and, 
also, that he approved of inhaling remedies for the diseases of the air- 
passages rather than pouring medicine into the stomach. Thus he recom- 
mends the burning of various herbs and the heating of various minerals, 
that “ The fumes may be inhaled by those laboring under diseases of 
the lungs.” 
He states nothing, however, of so practical a nature, or definite in itself, 
as would be of any advantage in constructing a system upon his teach- 
ing. The nearest approach to specific instructions, perhaps, is to be 
found in his recommendations to “ drink hellebore, either alone or mixed 
with a decoction of lentils, and inject the lungs with fumigations.” ne 
also favors “fumigations of hyssop of cilicia, sulphur and asphalt, to be 
inhaled through the nose to bring away phlegm in catarrh.” 
The many theories which have obtained from time to time, and even 
the Eational School which now sheds so much luster on the science of 
medicine, there can be no question, owe a large portion of their excellence 
to the doctrines and example of the old Grecian instructor. They were, 
in his own day, what the inductive philosophy of Bacon, as applied to 
medicine, now is; and his pupils soon launched forth, by the impetus 
received from his positive mind, into a sea of theoretical speculation, 
which resulted in the establishment of various Schools of Medicines, from 
which are transmitted the imperishable names of Aristotle and Plato. 
In the writings of these illuminated minds is found much matter for 7 
thought and investigation appertaining to our subject. Among the Prob- 
lems of Aristotle, the question of the communicability of consumption is 
introduced in the following manner: “Is it because,” he says, “consump- 
tion makes the breath corrupt and offensive, that those who approach the 
diseased persons, and breathe the air, acquire the same malady as if their 
system had become vitiated by their own respiration?” In this sugges- 
tive problem, attention is directed to the communicability of consumption 
by inhaling vitiated air; and our observations but too strongly confirms the 
affirmative of this hypothesis, for we have seen those, who while waiting 
with tenderness upon the expiring brother or sister, inhaled their impure 
exhalations, that when the angel came to guide the departing one through 
the shadowy valley, he bade the bereaved prepare for him next, and 
painted a blush upon their face that he might know them when he came. 
Among the followers of these distinguished leaders, and nearly four 
centuries after the age of Hippocrates, one of the most illustrious schol- 
ars in the school of empirics was Diascorides, celebrated as a botanist 
and pharmaceutist. He lived in the first century of the Christian era, 
and acquired great distinction for his learning and skill in curing disease. 
In his Materia Medica he recommends “for coughs of long standing, 
fumigations of colts-foot leaves, of native sulphur, of sweet calamus with 
turpentine-resin, of dry squills, of water-cresses, of oil of cedar, of cen- 
taury-root, and of fennel-seeds, to be carried into the mouth through a 
hollow reed inserted in the bottom of a small vessel, smeared over with 
arsenic and triturated sandarach, motstened with water.” 
From the age of Diascorides, down to the present time, every writer 
of distinction who has written on the treatment of consumption, alludes 
more or less to Medicated Inhalation. Thus Cielius Aurelianus, a pupil 
of the famous Asclepiades, writes very correctly of consumption under 
the name of Phthisis or Phthoe; and makes the following observation 
respecting its treatment: “Some, in the case of patients suffering from 
difficulty in the upper parts of the diaphragm, have exhibited, besides 
other remedies, fumigations arising from the burning of hyssop, thyme, or 
origanum, or sulphur; some sandarach, aloes, or styrax, having been 
placed on the fire, have ordered the patient to open the mouth, and by an 
effort at swallowing to devour the vapor; and if the disease begins to 
increase so that Aphonia, or loss of voice comes on, then the patient must 
feed on slops, using at the same time gargles of warm sweet oilrof water 
sweetened with honey, or a decoction of grapes, of pine nuts, of fat figs, 
or of licorice leaves, as well as from wheat or from barley-water, in order 
that he should breathe the vapors rising from their evaporation or exhalation. 
Aritious, a disciple of Thomison, the founder of the Pneumatic School 
of Medicine, though he ascribes the origin of disease to errors in the 
“spirit.” writes floridly on the subject of consumption and kindred dis- 8 
eases; and though he makes no specific mention of the employment of 
vapors in their treatment, he strongly recommends sea voyages for the 
cure of consumption, averring “ that the saline particles inhaled in the sea 
air, appear to dry up the ulcers in the lungs. 
Avicenna, a member of the Eclectic School and follower of Galen, rec- 
ommends for the cure of Asthma, a preparation of myrrh, spikenard, 
cassia, and satfron, and patwort, and storax, to be rubbed up and pre- 
pared with cow’s-fat, and bolusses made of them of the size of a nut, one 
drachm of them to be used in fumigation, three times a day for ten days. 
He also gives various prescriptions for cura ulcereim pectoris et cura 
Phthisis, and remarks that “fumigations are administered in this disease, 
and certain desiccative and cleansing substances with which a fumigation 
is made, by means of a tube or siphon.” 
Both Celsus and Pliny occupy a prominent place in the literature of 
medicine, though it is questionable whether either of these savans devo- 
ted much more time to the science of medicine than was necessary to give 
them a knowledge of disease, merely as an adjunct to their general edu- 
cation. Celsus speaks, however, of Phthisis, (consumption) as beginning 
in the head and descending to the lungs; and describes the stage of 
ulceration as being attended with fever, cough, and expectoration of pur- 
ulent and bloody matter, and says: “When ulceration takes place in the 
anterior part of the fauces, physicians apply cataplasms and moist fomen- 
tations externally, and hot vapors into the mouth.” Pliny, while enumera- 
ting a number of specifics for the cure of consumption, speaks particularly 
of the pectoral qualities of gum amoniac, and praises all the woods which 
give an abundance of resinous odor while burning, the vapors arising from 
which, he says, “Are more beneficial to the consumptive than a voyage to 
Egypt, or a course of milk in the mountains.” 
Among all the writers in medical science, whose names have been trans- 
mitted from ancient to modern times, there has been none around which 
so many intellectual splendors cluster, as that of the immortal Galen; 
who, by the force of his genius, acquired an influence over the minds of 
men, which has outlived the mutations of time and all the revolutions of 
opinion which have dawned and died in the empire of mind for centuries. 
In an early French translation of his works is found a remarkable pas- 
sage reasoning on the inutility of administering medicines through the stom- 
ach for the cure of pulmonary disease. “ Consider,” says he, “how many 
parts or members the medication has to pass through before it reaches the 
lungs. First, it enters the mouth, passes down the oesophagus and into 
the stomach, then into the intestines, and from thence penetrates as far 
as the veins which are contained in the messentary, which veins carry it to 
the concave portion of the liver, and from thence to the convex; thence it 
is carried to the vena cava and from it to the heart. We can not deny 9 
that medicines, thus administered, will mingle in each of the parts above- 
mentioned with humor, and undergo some transformation or alteration 
dependent on the nature of the viscera through which they pass; thus 
what remains of the virtue of the medicament is weaker, so that it can not 
effect any relief to the wounded part; because, too, the remedies suitable 
to them can not touch the place where the disease exists.” We find him, 
nevertheless, recommending the smoking of arsenic, orpiment, with pepper 
and other vegetable substances, as well as burnt sponge, in treating ulcers 
of the trachea. 
With the exception of Ehazes, a follower and commentator of Galen, 
who recommended as a fumigation, a mixture of arsenic, aristolochia, myrrh, 
styrax, and galbanum, to be inhaled for consumption, we have no traces 
of any improvement being made in this method of treatment until the 
beginning of the present century; though all along the annals of medi- 
cal literature, Inhalation crops out in the writings of Nicoli Piso, Boer- 
haave, Schenck, Poterius, Spigelius, Harvey, Sydenham and others Dr. 
Beddoes began to treat disease of the lungs, by the employment of various 
gasses which he prescribed to be inhaled from a bladder, in the beginning 
of the present century. 
Up to this later period, physicians looked with a chilling distrust upon 
every effort which claimed to be successful in the treatment of consump- 
tion or any other disease of the lungs or air passages. Inhalation, how- 
ever, was freely discussed as a method, but the remedy to be thus admin- 
istered, and which should possess the virtue of a specific, was what was 
most desired and sought after. It was this selfish and unphilosophical 
spirit which met and thwarted the benevolent efforts of Dr. Beddoes at 
the very threshold of his labors. Ilis “bladder” arrangement excited 
the jeers of all the scientific blatherskites, that could not think above a bau- 
ble decoration or a child’s capacity. The discomfiture of Dr. Beddoes, 
however, done no positive injury to the cause of Truth, which soon found 
another advocate, though this time not a professional gentleman. This 
was Citizen Ballard, the proprietor of extensive chlorine works in the 
environs of Paris. Citizen Ballard observed that, among the several hun- 
dred persons employed about his works, consumption and other diseases 
of the lungs were entirely unknown, and that persons laboring under pul- 
monary disease, when entering the establishment, soon recovered their 
wonted health and strength. These practical observations of a business 
man were embodied in a business way in a communication, and addressed 
to the College of Surgeons and Physicians of Paris through the public 
press. Important as the information was, the only attention it received 
was rebuke to its author for meddling with a subject upon which so little 
was known by the custodians of public health. Thus the savior Truth has 
ever been reviled and crucified by the world which it has come to save. 10 
Citizen Ballard, however, was too strongly fortified with the facts to be 
discomfited by the hosts of idle dreamers and airy visionists who now 
assailed him. He wisely concluded that the facts he pointed out were to 
be ascribed to the Inhalation of Chlorine Gas, with which his work shops 
were constantly charged. Believing this, he sought to find some method 
by which this gas could be introduced into sick chambers, for the benefit 
of pulmonary invalids; and, also, that it might be generated in the localities 
where employed. With this benevolent object in view, he exhausted his 
resources, in vain, in constructing an instrument to meet the ends pro- 
posed. In this direction, the highest exhibition of his skill was but little 
in advance of the “ Hippocratian Pot,” and from which no satisfactory 
results could be obtained. Justice, however, will forever record to the 
credit of Citizen Ballard the merit of giving much publicity to the sub- 
ject of Inhaling remedies for pulmonary disease; and, among other good 
results growing out of this fact, was the enlistment of the sympathies 
and supportof the renowned Dr. Mudge, of London, who at once engaged 
the whole power of his professional fame in support of this system of 
treatment. 
After an able advocacy of the topical treatment of pulmonary disease, 
by Inhaling Medicated Air, Dr. Mudge saw the great importance, as had 
Citizen Ballard, of constructing an Inhaling instrument that could be used 
in the sick chamber. He accordingly invented several ingenious contriv- 
ances for this purpose; but, in in the main, they lacked the quality of adap- 
tation, and the principal desideration remained unsupplied. Some were 
too cumbersome; this was especially true of those constructed of metals, 
besides, the chemicals employed in generating vapors acted corrosively 
upon the metals of which his Inhalers were constructed, thereby changing 
the character of the vapors and curative powers in correcting morbid con- 
ditions of the pulmonary structure. 
Among his later experiments, he 
constructed an “Inhalating Flask,” 
made of glass, represented in the ac- 
accompanying engraving, which is still 
known as 
Mudge’s Inhaler. 
The flexible tube shown in the 
above cut is a modern adjunct to the 
Inhaler, adding, however, nothing to 
its value. A representation of this 
Inhaler was published by Dr. Mudge 
in a monograph written by him, “On 
the Treatment of Lung Diseases by Medical Vapors,” but which he subse- 
quently discarded as inefficient and worthless. While still engaged in 
Mudge’s Inhaler. 11 
constructing an improved and more suitable Inhaler to meet the needs of 
the sick chamber, hut before he could embody his ideas in “form and 
expression,” he fell himself a victim to the disease he had labored so hard 
to control—a noble sacrifice at the shrine of duty. In the death of Dr. 
Mudge, Inhalation lost a valued friend and able defender; but, though men 
are but creatures of a day, principles survive all time and enrich all ages 
of the world. 
It is humiliating to write that this discarded and obsolete instrument 
of Dr. Mudge has fallen into the hands of a set of modern incompetents; 
who, without ability or qualification to do good, have taken up the trade 
of “Inhaling Doctors,” and swarm the country, a kind of “Jay-Hawking” 
crew and business, and who practice their sordid arts upon the sick and 
uninformed. This class of “Specialists” advertise extensively in news- 
papers, and generally announce themselves from Hew York, Philadelphia, 
or some other prominent city. 
About the year 1831, Prof. Fauquier, a teacher of Clinical Medicine in 
the University of Paris, commenced a series of experiments in the Charity 
Hospital of the French Metropolis with Medicated Inhalation ; his atten- 
tion having been more directly drawn to the subject by reading the wri- 
tings of the lamented Mudge. These experiments were conducted on a 
very extensive scale, and were witnessed by my late colleague, Prof. S. 
C. Sewell, who was at that time visiting the wards in the Hospital. The 
limited number of medicinal agents, and the imperfect knowledge of the 
properties of such medicines when reduced to a condition of vapor, toge- 
ther with other unfavorable causes which I will hereafter notice, operated 
against a favorable result. In fact the experiments, so far as success was 
aimed at for practical purposes, resulted in blank disappointment. 
When we reflect how little was known, even at so late a day, respecting 
the true pathology of consumption, and what erroneous opinions and per- 
nicious practices obtained among the Faculty in relation thereto, wo cease 
our astonishment at the failure of theso experiments, and almost become 
incredulous that ever any hope of success was entertained. Consumption 
was viewed as an inflammatory disease, and as such patients were con- 
fined to ill-ventilated wards and extreme poverty of diet, running down 
the patient to an extreme condition of debility. This view and treatment 
of consumption gave it a fatal character, so universal indeed, that many 
even now shake their heads with incredulity when you speak of its cura- 
bility. It was ascertained that, when Prof. Fauquier was engaged with 
his experiments at the Charity Hospital, the air was so very impure that 
the mortality, after severe surgical operations, was three times as great as 
in the London Hospital, and that the patients were being literally poisoned 
with mephitic exhalations at the time these experiments icere being conducted. 
The sanitary condition of this institution presented a striking contrast to 12 
the chlorine works of Citizen Ballard, already spoken of But it is not our 
object to interpose a special pleader between Inhalation and its apparent 
failures. If it is not true it will go down, for in the “irrepressible conflict” 
which is now going on between Truth and Error, the first must triumph, 
because it is immortal and belongs to God; the latter must fail, because 
it is mortal and belongs to Man. 
Development is that process by which ideas are transmuted into tan- 
gible being. Modern arts and popular sciences are but the fulfillment of 
ideals born from the womb of past experiences, in which view Inhalation 
may be considered heretofore as struggling into birth. 
An occasional article in the London Lancet, and other Medical Journals, 
both in Eui-ope and America, on the subject of Inhaling remedies for treat- 
ing consumption, gave assurance to its friends that the idea still lived. 
Hopefully they waited for the “good time coming,” until the night of sor- 
rowing had passed for the lamented Mudge, when his mantle fell grace- 
fully upon the shoulders of that able and gallant Medical Reformer, Dr. 
Elliotson, who, in 1845, was elevated to the headship of the Brompton 
Hospital of England, for the cure of consumption, establishing a memora- 
ble epoch in the history of progressive medicine. 
The treatment of consumption up to this period, as already intimated, 
had been involved in much uncertainty and doubt. Among all classes of 
society, and with but few exceptions among the profession, it had been 
regarded as incurable. No power of medicine, it was thought, could drive 
out or destroy this enemy of human life when once it had gained posses- 
sion of the lungs. Thenceforward it was left to revel unrestrained among 
the delicate air cells—to ravage, at will, the fine membraneous surface of 
these exquisite organs of health; to choke with tubercles, or corrode with 
ulcers, this inlet and gatherer of life. In vain the young, the gifted and 
the beautiful, turned their appealing eyes to the physician, as to “a priest 
of the holy flame of life,” to catch a gleam of hope. Daily he saw them 
sinking, unhindered by his remedies and unaided by his art. Surrounded 
by the pale skeleton forms of this dreadful disease, and amid the inces- 
sant sound of hacking, gurgling, strangling cough, as a moral hero Dr. 
Elliotson fearlessly entered upon his responsible duties. Passing from 
ward to ward, breathing an atmosphere laden with the poisoned breath 
issuing from decayed lungs, a thorough and vigorous reform in every 
department of the Institution was at once begun. One by one the old land- 
marks of practice were destroyed and new ones substituted. Air, Exer- 
cise and Food were the Trinity before which his genius bowed and offered 
up its homage. Under his patronage Medicated Inhalation became the 
favorito treatment in pulmonary disease, and, by the success it attained, 
has ever since maintained its position as being the most rational, scientific, 
and successful practice ever introduced into a public hospital. For the 13 
first time after introducing this practice, a statistical report of the hospital 
shows a very large proportion of the cases of consumption in the first and 
second stage cured, and a significant per centage of even the third stage 
fairly arrested. These reports contain the first reliable information ever 
given to the public, of the successful results of any systemized mode of 
practice for treating consumption, and to them I would respectfully refer 
my medical readers for much valuable information respecting the working 
results and the superior merits of Medicated Inhalation. 
To Dr. Elliotson belongs the honor of having first demonstrated the 
curability of consumption, by means of Medicated Inhalation, as will be 
found in the reports above alluded to. Prior to this time, much was said 
about the curability of consumption, and notwithstanding the greatest phy- 
sician that had appeared in Europe since the time of the Arabians—Syden- 
ham—affirmed that he had cured Phthisis, still it was not an admitted fact 
by the Profession, and the declaration was considered apocryphal. Con- 
sumption, thank God! no longer appals the physician with an incurable 
character. Brave men have struggled with their might to conquer this 
scourge of humanity; and, unawed by the dicta of schools, and the jeers 
of their less laborious or less intelligent brethren, have broken through 
the trammels of routine and dared to follow the new path of science lead- 
ing to success. Sir Charles Scudamore, a physician of great eminence 
and deserved reputation, published a work in 1848 in which he earnestly 
calls upon the Medical profession to adopt Inhalation as a method for 
administering remedies in diseases of the chest. Many liberal minds 
responded to the call and enrolled themselves as friends to Inhalation. 
Among these were Dr. Marshall Ilall, Dr. Cotten, (successor to Dr. Elliot- 
son,) Dr. Maddocks, Dr. Piorry, and Dr. Corriveaux, in Europe; while in 
America, Dr. Bush gave it an unequivocal indorsement, and Dr. Coxe, 
in his work on pulmonary consumption, considers Medicated Inhalation 
as a treatment well established. 
Having now traced, though imperfectly, the history of this mode of 
treating diseases of the lungs for twenty-two centuries—from Hippo- 
crates to Elliotson—the conclusion of my task is brief, and somewhat per- 
sonal. My attention was directed to this subject through physical suffering. 
For many years I was distressingly afflicted with asthma—indeed, life 
became almost insupportable while laboring under this terrible disease. 
I left no means untried which the skill of the most eminent physicians 
could supply, to gain my health, but in vain. Night and day my suffer- 
ings continued, and I felt that the great physician Death, alone, could 
relieve me of my misery. 
While thus despairing, my attention was called to the reports of Dr. 
Elliotson in reference to the treatment of pulmonary disease in the 
Brompton Hospital by Medical Inhalation. This was as a plank thrown 14 
to the drowning mariner. I again became inspired with hopo, and read 
with interest everything pertaining to its history and merits. With some 
modifications of Dr. Elliotson’s practice I succeeded in curing my asthma, 
and was thus enabled to pursue my investigation comfortably thereafter. 
The intelligent reader will have observed that all the authorities quoted 
indorse the principle of Inhaling remedies for diseases of the lungs in 
preference to swallowing them into the stomach. The great error into 
which most have fallen was the manner of reducing crude medicines into 
a condition of vapor for inhaling purposes. Heat, at first, was the univer- 
sal resolvent, and with its fiery brand kept “watch and ward” over this 
“ cradle in the manger.” In vain were remedies in this torrid condition 
marshaled to assail disease in the lungs! Roasting the lungs was bad 
enough; but, of late, as if absurdity had run mad, men have got to boiling 
them with hot-water vapors which are inhaled from all kinds of silly 
contrivances, from a tea-pot to a cauldron. Heat and moisture have thus 
been fairly tried and found not only inefficient of good but absolutely 
injurious to all lungs, whether healthy or diseased. To command suc- 
cess, these unphilosophical methods of treatment must be radically 
changed. Elliotson and Ballard both prescribed medicated vapors to be 
used at the temperature of the air we breathe; to do this, such medicines only 
were employed as were volatile in the common atmosphere. 
An Inhaler constructed to meet this demand, and a pharmacy of medi- 
cal agents possessing the requisite power to control disease, which could 
be reduced to vapor without the appliances of heat or moisture, seemed to 
be the concluding amd triumphant chapter in the history of this system 
of treatment. To the accomplishment of this task I devoted my best 
energies without reserve. Years of laborious study and patient research 
may be said, I trust without the imputation of vanity, to have produced 
something worthy of the labor bestowed. I think I have succeeded to 
an extent hitherto unattained by any of my predecessors in supplying the 
desideratum. Besides my Inhaler is inexpensive, may be used and 
handled by an infant; it is not liable to get out of order or broken, and 
may be carried about the person and used at any time, in any place either 
at home or abroad—sitting or standing, in bed or out—in doors or in the 
open fields, without inconvenience or discomfort to the most feeble invalid. 
With this admirable instrument, and an organized class of valuable 
remedies suitably prepared and tested by successful experiment and 
adapted for use through this Inhaler, I have succeeded in curing thousands 
of pulmonary invalids and asthmats who were thought to be past all hopes 
of recovery. 
Neither time or space will permit me to enter into the details of my 
system of treatment. I hope, however, if my life shall be prolonged by 
“ The Power that holds our destiny in the hollow of Ilis hand,” to be able 15 
at some future day to present to the world a more worthy and extended 
account of my stewardship as an humble laborer in the vineyard of 
Knowledge, whose fruit is Wisdom. If, however, I shall be gathered 
among the “purple clusters,” to yield up the life currents before my task is 
done, more skillful hands will take up the work where I leave it, and 
thus will God’s Truth triumph in the end. 
Dr. Corrioan, of Dublin, a well-known writer and successful physician, 
remarks: “I feel justified in the conclusion that Medicated Inhalations 
exert a most powerful influence over diseased action; and that, as it is 
only in this form we can administer to act locally upon diseased tissue 
of the lungs, the exhibition of remedies in this manner merits the closest 
attention and most diligent inquiry “Of the powerful influence,” 
says this author, “which various vapors and even changes in the air itself, 
as to heat, moisture, etc., exercise as local agents on the lungs and air 
passages there can not be a doubt. Every day’s observation shows it; 
every one in his own person feels it; and, allowing most fully for the ex- 
aggerated encomiums of some advocates of Inhalation, enough remains in 
the attestations of many of the greatest authorities in the profession to 
forbid us to abandon this plan of treatment.” 16 
LETTERS TO THE PEOPLE 
ON DISEASES OF THE 
NOSE, THROAT, AND LUNGS, 
AND THEIR TREATMENT BY 
MEDICATED INHALATION. 
LETTER I. 
Introductory Remarks—Anatomy and Physiology of the Organs of Respiration. 
In this age. when men and women assert and claim their “right to reason” and 
investigate all things pertaining to their well-being, their moral, mental, and phys- 
ical welfare, all efforts to enlighten the public mind, should meet with general 
approbation. It does not follow, however, that these efforts must be approved only 
as they become the incitements to mental activity in others, whereby truth and 
error—good and evil—may be distinguished as they pass through the fiery ordeal 
of criticism. 
The revelations of modern science have given an impetus to the public mind, 
unexampled in the past, in carrying on its investigations, by sifting Truth from Error. 
Every department of life has been acted upon; commerce, travel, social intercourse, 
international law, popular education, have all been carried forward toward a more 
complete development. The arts of living have been simplified; the luxuries of all 
classes multiplied, and the facilities afforded in every way for increasing popular 
knowledge augmented in an untold ratio. The principles of criticism have 
narrowed down from the time of Blair, to one simple question—cm bono?—to what 
purpose ? Men and women ask “ Of what use are theories, schools, or doxies, 
if they fail in practice ? Life is a practical matter, not a theoretical speculation; it 
is personal, with active duties, no part of which can be delegated to others without 
loss—individuality accepts responsibility! If men and women would grow 
in wisdom, they must think, else the flowery plains of existence become as arid 
wastes. 
Health is unquestionably a matter of the first importance to every one. It is as 
practical and as personal as life. It may be called the art of living—or you may 
dignify it further as the science of life. If life is valuable therefore—if its object# 17 
are desirable—if its preservation is a thing of consequence, can there be a more 
important matter brought under public notice than the principles of health ? 
Why should the popular mind be neglected on facts relating to health, and yet 
crammed with matters of infinitely less consequence to their well-being and hap- 
piness. 
The medical field presents at this moment an arena for imposition which 
nowhere else exists. When imposition is merely a matter that can be counted in 
dollars, its consequences at least may be estimated. But when it involves the 
health, the hopes, the lives of its victims, who shall tell us how to estimate its 
results ? The people have hitherto been virtually shut out from participation in 
a knowledge of their own structure, the causes of disease, and principles of health. 
Physicians have thought it utterly beneath them to write to the people on matters 
of disease, although often the first to enter the lists in newspaper politics, or on 
questions of belles lettres literature. That vast medium of ideas between man and 
man—the newspaper press—has hitherto been insulted by our learned profession-— 
handed over bodily to the most disgusting and mischevious form of advertising, 
and made the medium of the lowest and most degrading forms of quackery. The 
people, unimformed as to the nature, causes, and cure of disease, have been easily 
caught by vulgar assertion and names without explanation, and quackery flourishes 
apace, until the professional name has become almost a by-word and a reproach. 
Now, why is this? Let every medical man ask himself. What is the office of the 
physician? Is he not the curator of the people’s health ? Is he merely to theorize-— 
to quote authorities—to write long prescriptions from books—to utter mandates in 
an unknown tongue—to hand over his patient to the tender mercies of the apothe- 
cary—and then fold his arms and stand in dignified “self-respect.” We think not. 
There is for him a higher and nobler duty. It is his province not only to prescribe 
for, but to instruct his patients, and by this means alone will he guard them against 
the thousand deceptions by which they are surrounded. If this he true in individ- 
ual cases, it is equally so when applied to the community generally. 
Entertaining these views, and with full confidence that the public will properly 
appreciate every effort to impart to them information on so important a branch of 
science as physical health, we will proceed to a description of the anatomy and 
physiology of the Organs of Respiration, including the Nose, Throat, Air Passages, 
and Cellular Structure of the Lungs, together with the diseases to which they are 
liable, and wdiat we conceive to be the best method of treating them. 
The lungs consist of two porous bodies, conical in shape, of a dark purple hue, 
composed of an infinite number of air cells, and situated within the walls of the 
chest, which they completely fill. Physiologists have computed each lung to con- 
tain nearly two millions of air cells, so that if their walls were exposed upon a 
common plane, they would cover a space of twenty thousand square feet. This 
extensive surface is fanned gently by every inspiration of air we breathe, and as 
the constitution of the air may vary, so will its influence be felt upon the system. 
Charge it with a noxious gas, and we become oppressed; inspire it wfith a salutary 
balm, and our spirits are elated; soothe it with a narcotic odor, and we yield at 
once to its drowsy influence; inhale the fragrance of flowers, their love, and 
pleasure runs riot through our veins. 18 
The cells into which the air passes at each inspiration, and from which it is ex- 
pelled at each expiration we make, may be 
compared in form to a cluster of grapes— 
the bronchia or air tubes representing the (see 
eng.) stems on which the grapes hang. The 
bronchia form at the lower part of the wind- 
pipe two grand divisions, one entering the 
right, the other the leftlung. Theseagain sub- 
divide, the right into three, and the left into 
two tubes, corresponding with the number 
of lobes in each lung, which they severally 
supply. These again divide and ramify 
into an almost infinite number of smaller 
branches to every part of the lungs, termi- 
nating each in a small grape-like cluster of 
cells. The interstices of these cells form 
cavities for the transmission of blood from 
and to the heart; and the coats of those 
vessels are so extremely delicate that the 
air we breathe passes through them and mingles with the blood of the whole 
body every four minutes. 
The heart throbs, and every vessel is filled with blood; we breathe, and every 
air cell is filled with air; and thus by a beautiful law of reciprocation—“give and 
take”— the fires of animal life are sustained. Since, in the same manner we 
breathe common air we can inhale or breathe a medicated vapor; what can be 
more natural, more simple and efficacious, than the treatment of diseases of the 
lungs and air passages by this method, by which remedies are conveyed directly 
to the seat of the disease, without resorting to the uncertain, and, alas! too fre- 
quently mischievous action of medicine taken into the stomach, from which it is 
blindly sent on a mission of mischief through the intricate channels of humanity’s 
noble temple ? 
LETTER II. 
Gold in the Head—Nasal Catarrh, Consumption, etc. 
Diseases of the organs of respiration are so common in this country that almost 
every person of adult age has had more or less experience with some of them. 
I propose to indicate, in as brief a manner as possible, the symptoms and treatment 
of the most common of this class of maladies, and to point the imminent danger 
involved in their issue if neglected. 
The Organs of Respiration consist of the Nose, Throat, and Lungs—or rather the 
air passages is continuous from the nose to the lungs, there being' no break or 
interruption in the membrane lining the intervening parts. Disease, in a large 
majority of case®, has its origin in the membrane lining the cavities of the nose. 
When this part of the membrane becomes inflamed, as it is very liable to be from 
many causes, but chiefly from atmospheric vicissitudes, it is called Nasal Catarrh; 19 
and, from its continuity with the membrane lining the throat, larynx, windpipe, 
and bronchial tubes, becomes the forerunner, if neglected, of pulmonary consumption. 
This declaration is not made to startle or alarm people laboring under catarrh, but 
simply to point out the fact, that catarrh is the great feeder of consumption, and 
that it is a fatal mistake to disregard its presence when it is known. 
Alas! how many who are now struggling in the iron grasp of consumption but 
know too sensibly their disease commenced in the nose as a “common cold;” 
which, by neglect, insidiously crept toward the lungs where it is now doing its fatal 
work. 
Consumption has several stages. It has a first or “ forming ” stage; a middle or 
“confirmed” stage; and a last or “ulcerated” stage. The lungs do not become 
immediately stuffed with tubercles or corroded by foul ulcers. It is only after 
months and after years of irritation of slow, insidious progress—from the slight 
“catarrh” to the seated “bronchitis;” from “bronchitis” to the first deposition of a 
little speck of “tubercular matter” in a single lobule; from the first deposition of 
tubercle to the filling up of a whole lobe or a whole lung with this matter, and its 
festering and burrowing among the delicate air cells, until the whole of the lung dis* 
eased becomes reduced to a mass of hopeless disorganization—that this dreaded 
malady reaches the last and final stage. The error is too wide-spread among the 
people, and too general even among physicians, to regard consumption as a disease, 
marked not only by “cough” but by the expectoration of “pus,” by “hectic fever,” 
“night sweats,” and wasting of flesh and strength—in other words, to apply the 
name consumption only to the last stage of the disease. Were this otherwise we should 
not have to listen, with feelings of pity and sorrow, to such expressions as, “it is 
only a catarrh;” “the disease is all in the throat; ” or, “it is only a slight bronchial 
affection.” Alas! there are few who suffer from these affections, trifling and unim- 
portant as they may seem, that do not sooner or later fill a consumptive’s grave. 
We should not, therefore, lose sight of the disastrous consequences to which catarrh 
gives rise. We know that it exists, in a greater or less degree, in all forms of pul- 
monary disease; that it usually exists before any symptoms of disease in the lungs 
have been manifested, and that it is the direct consequence of those “ colds in the 
head,” which become practically known to most of us two or three times every 
year. We regard Catarrh as the great feeder of pulmonary irritation, and do not 
believe we can by any other means so effectually guard the lungs from disease as 
by cutting off the catarrhal affections. 
In my next letter I will present the symptoms of catarrh, such at least as are 
most prominently presented 
Catarrh, Continued—Its Symptoms, etc. 
LETTER III. 
From the frequency of catarrhal affections as forerunners of genuine tubercular 
consumption, says Mellville, the relationship between “colds, coughs, and con- 
sumption” is unquestionably that of cause and effect. Too much attention can 
not be given to this fact. 20 
By “Catarrh," commonly called “cold in the head,” is meant an inflammatory 
affection of the mucous membrane that lines the cavity of the nose. This mem- 
brane, as before intimated, extends downward, lining also the throat, larynx, wind- 
pipe, and bronchial tubes. We breathe through the nose; hence that part of the 
mucous membrane which lines the nasal passages first receives injury from sudden 
changes of temperature in the air, or from any irritating matter it may contain. 
There are two kinds of catarrh, distinguished as “acute" and “chronic." 
The symptoms of “acute catarrh” are, first, a sense of heat and difficulty in 
breathing through the nose. The passages seem to be stuffed or obstructed, and 
yet at the beginning there is no secretion to cause this feeling. If you now exam- 
ine the lining of the nostrils you will find the membrane dry, red, swollen, in- 
creased in thickness, and very irritable. Try to inhale the cold air through them 
and the attempt excites “sneezing." 
The irritation may extend from the lining of the nose to the frontal sinus, pro- 
ducing pain over the forehead. It may also extend through the lachrymal canals, 
which convey the tears from the eyes, closing them up as it has done the nose, in 
which event the lids become red and swollen and the eyes weep. The skin is hot, 
the pulse increased in frequency, and a feeling of chilliness is felt over the whole 
body. After a time the nose begins to run “clear water,” and the discharge is 
so profuse as to keep the handkerchief in almost constant demand. Gradually 
this acrid water becomes thicker and less irritating, changing its color to yellow. 
As this change takes place the nostrils become free, and the secretion diminishes 
until the health of the patient is seemingly restored. This is the usual course and 
termination of “ a cold in the head" or “catarrh,” when confined to the nose. But 
it may possibly extend to the throat, involving the fauces, tonsils and uvala, and 
when it does this the disease is called “Quinsy.” A simple cold in the head may 
also proceed along the eustachian tubes of the ear, when it does this it causes 
Deafness, either partial or absolute; but the most common course of catarrh is 
to creep insidiously down to the lungs; when it is properly known as a “Cold in 
the Chest,” and professionally by the name of “Bronchitis.” 
“Chronic Catarrh” follows the “acute” form, and is generally the consequence 
of leaving “a simple cold” to cure itself. It is met with in several forms. In the 
“first” we have merely a discharge of straw-colored mucous which accumulates in 
the posterior nares, or above and behind the soft palate, and is “hawked” and 
cleared out from time to time during the day. In the “second,” there are small 
sores formed on the inside of the nose, and the secretions become dry and hard, 
requiring a good deal of attention to keep the passages free from the scabs or 
hardened mucous that form at such times. In the “ third,” the secretions have 
a purulent character, and drip down “from the head” into the throat, and may 
be seen hanging down in festoons from the posterior nares. In this latter form 
the sense of smell becomes impaired and sometimes entirely destroyed; and when 
the ulceration eats through the membrane to the bone, the smell of the breath becomes 
exceedingly offensive and unpleasant both to the patient and friends. Sometimes this 
discharge will induce retching and vomiting before the offending matter can be 
removed, especially in the morning, when the effort is made to remove the offend- 
ing secretions which accumulate during the night and which sensibly obstruct 
respiration. 21 
Generally, during the summer months, the active symptoms of chronic catarrh 
become mild, but return regularly in an aggravated form as winter approaches. 
In my next letter I will indicate the proper mode of treatment for this disease. 
LETTER IV 
There is, perhaps, no part of the practice of medicine about which the mass of 
even educated physicians know so little, or entertain such vague and erroneous 
impressions as they do in regard to the action and properties of medicated vapors 
when inhaled. This, however, is not strange, when we reflect how little has been 
written upon the subject, and that, too, of so vague and unreliable a character. 
Tbe basis upon which this mode of treatment mainly rests may be explained in 
a few words. The air we breathe is more immediately concerned in the produc- 
tion of disease than any other influence to which we are exposed; and as it is sub" 
ject to change in its temperature, its density, its electrical condition, and its purity* 
so are our feelings and our health affected by every such change, being impressed 
locally upon the internal surface of the entire respiratory passage. In this way 
we unquestionably contract fever, cholera, small-pox, and no doubt all the so-called 
“ idiopathic diseases.” If we can thus by inhaling influences, induce disease, why 
can we not antidote them in the same way, if the proper remedies are employed ? 
Chronic catarrh, like asthma and consumption, has hitherto had no remedy- 
This fact remains a stain and reproach upon the page of medicine. Nor has failure 
resulted from the want of means of relief within our reach, or from the scat of the 
disease, or the malignity of its nature, for we can reach the diseased parts by all 
the forces of the Materia Medica-ysolids, fluids, and gases—and the disease itself 
is only a simple inflammation. Physicians have failed because they have not adopted a 
more rational treatment. “ Common sense ” will teach us that remedies adminis- 
tered through the stomach can not reach the seat of this disease. If they have 
attempted any local treatment, they have generally been satisfied with squirting a little 
warm water up the nose, and in prescribing an “alterative” by the stomach; which, 
of course, does no good. Catarrh is rarely found as a disease of the nose alone, but is 
generally accompanied by more or less hoarseness, showing that the membrane 
lining the throat, larynx, and windpipe are also involved in the inflammation with 
the nasal cavities. We can not, therefore, hope to remove it by applications to the 
nose alone. The course we have pursued, with almost invariable success, is as fol- 
lows : A mild astringent vapor is directed to be inhaled, two or three times a day> 
the patient being instructed to exhale through the nostrils. By- this means the 
diseased membrane is acted upon in every part. In addition to the use of inhala- 
tions I prescribe a medicated wash, to be drawn freely through the nostrils into 
the throat, adapted to the condition of the membrane. There is neither pain nor 
inconvenience in this mode of treatment, by wThich I have been able to break uj» 
the most inveterate chronic catarrh in from four to ten weeks, and so generally sue 
cessful has it been, that we doubt if it will fail one time in a hundred, if properly 
and faithfully employed. A “cold" of recent occurrence can be broken up effect- 
Nasal Catarrh—Its Treatment. 22 
ually by the use of the inhaler, in a week; a catarrh of only a few months’ stand- 
ing, in four or five weeks; but a “ chronic" or seated catarrh of a year or more, will 
require a much longer time to subdue it. But every case is curable when treated 
in this manner. Colds contracted in the fall, become seated catarrh in the spring 
A year later they have extended over the throat, and assumed the form of chronic 
bronchitis, and from this the step is short, and the progress sure, to consumption 
Who would not expend a few dollars in getting rid of a troublesome cold rather than 
tamper with its fearful consequences for months, with “ cough syrups” and quackish 
compounds, such as is offered by every apothecary’s clerk? Let it be borne in 
mind that there is no affliction that so feeds and nurtures consumption, as “catarrh ” 
or “ cold in the head; ” and that no treatment will uproot catarrh so speedily and 
effectually as the use of the “ inhaler” and the proper employment of medicated 
washes. 
In my next I will speak of the effects of catarrh upon the palate and tonsil 
glands 
LETTER V. 
Catarrh of the Nose, Palate, and Tonsils. 
I will consider the effects of catarrh upon the palate and tonsils, as it makes its 
first advance from the nose toward the lungs. 
After inflammation of the lining membrane of the cavities of the nose has 
existed a certain length of time and become chronic in its character, the tractile 
power of the palate becomes impaired or lost, and it prolapses so as to touch or lie 
upon the base of the tongue. This occurs most frequently in persons of ancemic 
or scorbutic habits; still the most robust can not claim exemption from this con- 
dition, if the disease has existed long enough to demoralize the vital powers of the 
parts involved. When the palate has thus “fallen” it creates an irritation in the 
throat, and an almost constant desire to clear the fauces of an offending presenca 
Harsh scraping coughs, or chest efforts to “clear away” obstructions in the air 
passages, become frequent and tiresome; to obviate which the person so afflicted 
will often make involuntary efforts, by closing the lips, to swallow something that 
sticks in the throat. 
Now it is plainly understood that the cause of this elongated palate is the 
«atarrh pre-existing in the back part of the nasal cavities. Knowing this, how 
absurd would it be to cut off the palate with the expectation of curing or reach- 
ing the real cause of the prolapse. And yet this is the practice we see daily em- 
ployed by many who have no confidence in any other system of treatment. Even 
upstart specialists join the cutting crew and stand, with scissors and spoon, ready to 
cut wherever a palate is drooping. Shame and derision should confound and for 
over banish this cruel and irrational practice. Look at it. Cut off the palate and 
what have you done toward curing the disease? Does not the inflammation of the 
posterior nares continue to exist? and will it not extend itself to the tonsils, the 
fauces, and finally reach the lungs? What have you done but to silence the voice 
of the sentinel forever whose office was to apprise you of danger? 23 
Immediately behind and at the base of the arch of the uvala are found the 
Tonsils, which in turn, after the palate, become inflamed and enlarged by the 
dripping of the acrid secretions from the posterior nares. Sometimes these 
glands become so large as almost to entirely obstruct the air from passing to the 
lungs, and food from entering the cesophagus. When this inflammation is acute, it 
is called Quinsy; when subacute and diffused, Diptheria; and when chronic, it is called 
Tonsilitis, and sometimes Sore Throat. By whatever name, however, it may be knowq, 
it is nevertheless the same old catarrh, journeying from the nose to the lungs, and 
gathering new and increased strength with every new territory it invades. If we 
look into the throat now, we will see two red fleshy balls, with rough and uneven 
surfaces, protruding into and partially filling the faucel cavities. At this stage of 
catarrh, there is always more or less disturbance in the forces of the system; such 
as chills and fever alternating, with some headache, earache or facial neuralgia. 
As the tonsils have become inflamed and enlarged by the same cause that 
relaxed the palate, it follows, as a logical sequence, that the treatment should be 
common to both; namely, to cure the catarrh, as the cause, when, of necessity, these 
symptoms will cease as effects. But what do we find as the recognized mode of treat- 
ing enlarged or indurated tonsils? Precisely the same as for shortening the palate— 
the knife. Cut them off, say our professional Alexanders! And if you do, you will 
do a great wrong to your patient, from which recovery of good health will be im- 
possible. By subduing the inflammation, which you can only do by curing the 
catarrh, the tonsils will subside to their natural size in due time and health be 
restored. There is too much, and I fear a growing disposition, on the par* of medi- 
cal men to attain notoriety in this way. By some strange infatuation of the un- 
thinking portion of the public, a high and false estimate of professional worth is 
attached to the use of the knife, no matter what mischievous capers it may cut, or 
how unskillfully it may be employed. I do not say one word against the legiti- 
mate practice of surges when it is right and proper to employ it; but when men, 
glaringly incompetent, seek notoriety by doing such injustice and wrong to the 
sick and uninformed, it is time to put the public on their guard. 
When the tonsils obstruct the pure air from freely entering the windpipe, and 
establish a morbid condition in the parts leading to the lungs, they become as a 
powerful ally to consumption, and will certainly assist in its development. It will 
be thus seen that uvalitis and tonsilitis are but links in the great chain of mormid 
pathology extending from the nose to the lungs. 
LETTER VI 
Cattarrh in the Throat and Larynx. 
As the nasal passages open directly into the throat, that portion of the pituitary 
membrane which lines it soon becomes inflamed, as the acrid secretions from the 
posterior nares continue to ooze and drop upon it. A sorenes and a sensation of 
heat and fullness is usually experienced in that portion of the throat adjoining the 
nasal outlets, and an annoying and offensive discharge of muco-purulent matter 
passes over the fauces, requiring frequent hawking efforts to remove it. 24 
The membrance lining the fauces in health is of a pale rose color, and is lubri- 
cated with a bland transparent secretion, which oozes from the tiny mouths of the 
follicles cropped over all its surface. The passage of the morbid secretions, from 
the nose over this membrane, by their irritating character soon affect its condition 
and destroy its health. Its function becomes impaired, and Catarrh becomes for- 
midably seated in a new throne of power, from which it hurls its forces upon the 
citadel of life. The inflammation does not confine itself long to the upper part of 
the throat, but soon invades the deep faucel cavity, seen only when the mouth is 
open and the tongue depressed. Here it gives rise to a feeling of heat, tickling, or 
dryness, a constant desire to swallow, and more or less liability to cough and hack, 
when persons so afflicted visit assemblies where the air is close or impure. Look 
into the throat now, and the membrane will be found of a dark red color, some- 
what swollen, and covered with granulating papilla, produced by enlargement of 
the mucous follicles. The granulations are sometimes uniformly distributed over 
the soft palate and pharynx, or they may be in clusters, giving the membrane a 
streaked appearance. The voice at length begins to be affected; becomes thick, 
and loses its pleasant musical quality and power. This condition of the throat 
creates a tendency to take cold from the most trivial cause; and it also warns you 
that the Catarrh is preparing to advance upon the “Larynx,” to work out its 
mission of mischief, to which point we must now follow it and faithfully record its 
action upon that organ. 
The Larynx may be called the head of the windpipe, and is the last fort- 
ress which Catarrh has to storm and carry before it enters the trachea and 
bronchial tubes. It has now become a formidable disease, and no time must be lost 
in divesting it of the power it has acquired. The Larynx is situate behind and at 
the base of the tongue. In shape it is like an inverted cone, and is composed of 
four cartilages, held firmly together by ligaments and muscles. It varies in length 
from one to two inches, beginning at the base of the tongue and extending to 
the prominence on the neck (Pomum Adami,) known as Adam’s apple, and has two 
openings; the upper one is called the Glottis. This aperture is covered by a valve 
called the “Epiglottis,” which serves as a sensitive sentinel to shut down upon the 
entrance to the lungs on the approach of food or drink, and thus guides them to 
tile stomach through the oesophagus. Infinite wisdom is displayed in this little arrange- 
ment to secure man’s comfort and happiness, for if the least particle of food or 
drink should obtain access to the windpipe, great distress and continuous cough- 
ing would be excited until the offending matter was ejected. 
About half way down the larynx we have the second aperture or slit called the 
“ Rhimo G/ottidis," the sides of which are formed by ligaments known as “ Chorda: 
Vocalesf or Vocal Chords, enclosed in a fold of mucous membrane. The office of 
this little arrangement is to produce sound, creating that infinity of tone by which 
the indwelling spirit is capable of making known its varied wants or expressing its 
multitudinous desires. 
When Catarrh assails this temple of wisdom suddenly, the struggle is of short 
duration, frequently terminating in a few hours. Our dearly beloved Washington 
surrendered his life before the power of this terrible conquerer. The symptoms char- 
acterising this form of disease are easily distinguished; the victim complains of 
sore throat, preceded by a well-defined chill, and accompanied with an indescriba- 25 
ble restlessness and anxiety of countenance. The breathing becomes hurried, 
labored, and sterterous, and swallowing almost impossible. The voice is at first husky, 
gradually becoming more indistinct, until it settles into a low almost inarticulate 
whisper. The horrors of strangulation then commences; the breathing becomes still 
more difficult, the face assumes a livid hue, the eyes stare and start, an inde- 
scribable sense of suffocation is felt, the throat is grasped convulsively as if to 
tear tl*e obstruction from it, motion is made for air—fresh air—but alas! alas! 
the death-damps already bead the brow, the eye becomes motionless, and the last 
trial of earth is ended. 
Diseases like this makes us deplore the impuissance of our art! for rarely, indeed, 
kan any treatment be employed before death terminates the struggle. A milder 
form of this disease, however, is known as Chronic Laryngitis or Clergyman’s Sore 
Throat, which is amenable to successful treatment, and which will form the 
subject of my next letter. 
LETTEK YII. 
Chronic Laryngitis, commonly called “ Clergyman's Sore Throat." 
This is, by far, the most important form of laryngeal disease, since it springs 
from slight causes, and is a very common and most distressing malady. It always 
ends in more or less injury to the voice, and too frequently in consumption. The 
symptoms are generally very mild in the commencement, and liable to mislead 
the patient into the idea that there is no danger. Sometimes a little pain is felt in 
the larynx, but more commonly, only a tickling sensation, which provokes coughing. 
Many persons complain of a sense of something sticking there, and to get rid of it they 
are constantly rasping and clearing the windpipe. Usually, we find a striking change 
in the breathing and in the voice. The breathing becomes loud and prolonged, as 
the obstruction increases, and when it has become considerable, we have a peculiar 
stridulous sound. The voice is almost always changed. At first it is hoarse, and 
then gradually becomes more and more feeble, as the disease progresses, until it 
is scarcely audible. If ulceration of the vocal chords takes place, we have a total 
loss of voice. 
These symptoms are only present in the severer forms of Chronic Laryngitis; in 
the majority of cases only a feeling of obstruction is experienced, and the effort to 
clear this a way occupies a considerable part of every conversation with a friend. 
One of the first effects produced in the mucous membrane, by Chronic Laryngitis, 
is a thickening. Its surface becomes hard, rough and irregular, which, extending 
to the vocal chords, destroys their freedom of action. 
Chronic Laryngitis very frequently occurs from excessive use of the voice. This 
form of disease is very common in clergymen, lawyers, and all public speakers. 
The vocal organs, by straining and over use, become exhausted and lose their tone. 
There are various phases of this disease, from the slight huskiness and failure of 
voice, from which many clergymen painfully suffer every Sabbath, to those destruc- 
tive ulcerations of cartilages, marked by the total loss of voice, severe and almost con- 
stant cough, and expectorations of frothy mucus, mingled with pus. The most 
intimate connection exists between affections of the throat and those of the larynx. 26 
The reason is easily understood. Every breath you draw passes directly from the 
inflamed throat into the larynx. They form but different parts of the same tube, 
and are lined by a common membrane—one over which irritations spread rapidly. 
Again, the parts are in immediate contact, and the mucus secreted in the 
throat becomes entangled about the epiglottis and entrance into the larynx, and 
is often drawn in by one inspiration and forced out by the next expiration. 
Chronic Laryngitis often occurs in advanced stages of consumption, from the irri- 
tation produced by the pus discharged by the lungs It is one of the most dis- 
tressing complications of consumption, and adds doubly to the patient’s dis- 
tress. In this form there is always more or less Ulceration about the vocal chords, 
beginning on the lower side and gradually extending upwards. These ulcers 
often penetrate through the mucous and cellular membranes, involving the mus- 
cular ' tissues, and not unfrequently attack the ligaments and cartilages them- 
selves. 
The Treatment of Chronic Laryngitis depends much on the cause of the par- 
ticular form of the disease. When it is secondary to Affection of the Throat or to 
Catarrh—or is caused by excessive use of the voice in public speaking—as also those cases 
which spring from breathing an atmosphere charged with dust and other irritating matters— 
it is a simple disease, and generally curable within a period of a few months. But 
it is folly to look for the cure of a purely local disease by medicines applied exter- 
nally or taken into the stomach. There is but one sensible course for the patient to 
pursue, and that consists in the direct application of remedies to the internal surface 
of the larynx itself; and even this, to promise entire success, should be commenced 
with a determination to faithfully persevere in it many months. 
The treatment consists in the use of inhalations, soothing, astringent, or altera- 
tive as the particular case may require, from the inhaling instrument, and, in some 
cases, in the occasional use of medicated washes. 
I now come to speak of Acute Bronchitis or Catarrh in the bronchial tubes. 
This will form the subject of my next letter. 
' LETTER VIII 
Acute Bronchitis or Catarrh in the Bronchia. 
I have already called attention to the parts involved in that fearful disease, 
Laryngitis. Next in order, as we pass toward the lungs, we have the trachea or 
throat division of the windpipe, by which, bifurcating at its lower part, the grand 
division of the bronchial tubes are formed. One enters the right lung and the 
other the left, and each subdivides again into innumerable smaller tubes, until 
they resemble the branches of a tree in their ramifications, which are as intricate 
and minute as the fabled mazes of Mythos. 
The bronchial tubes, commencing at the lower part of the trachea, are entirely 
within the lungs; and hence an inflammation of the membrane lining these 
tubes is, perpe, a disease of the lungs, and not of the throat, as is generally sup- 
posed. This membrane—a delicate, transparent covering of the muscular fiber of 27 
the air tubes—is liable to disease from a variety of causes, among which are sudden 
changes of weather, impure air, the dust of workshops, inhaling noxious gasses, 
etc. When it becomes involved in inflammation its action is deranged, the char- 
acter of its secretions are altered, and a train of morbid symptoms of a more or 
less grave character, both local and constitutional, are set up. If the inflamma- 
tion is acute, we have a hard, dry, hoarse cough, commencing like a common 
catarrh, attended with a sensation of heat, dryness of the throat, and nasal pas- 
sages, with alternations of chills and fever. As it progresses, respiration becomes 
difficult, the lips and cheeks become purple, changing to a livid paleness, the* 
countenance grows anxious, the eyes stare wildly, a cold sweat breaks out upon 
the face and hands, delirium comes on, and the patient relapses into the stupor 
of death, which result frequently ensues in forty-eight hours after the attack first 
comes on. 
Generally, however, acute bronchitis is a mild disease, and'subsides entirely at 
the end of a week or ten days, or having only the cough and expectoration after 
the fever has disappeared, constituting what is termed chronic bronchitis, or what 
was known to the faculty formely as utussis," Ucatarrhus senilis," “bastardperipneumony,” 
and the “peripneumonia noiha” of Sydenham. Its decadence is marked by the 
expectoration of a thin, saltish, irritating water, scanty at first, but gradually grow- 
ing copious, whitish, more thick, and finally yellow. When the sense of chilliness 
subsides, the pulse loses its frequency, the oppression in the chest passes off, and 
the patient rapidly convalesces, or the disease settles into chronic bronchitis. 
In treating this disease I have seen the most happy and beneficial effects of 
Inhalation, after a judicious anti-phlogistic treatment had been employed. Emol- 
lient inhalations of marsh mallow, conium ipecacuanha, will, if properly used, afford 
in an almost incredible short space of time the greatest relief. By inhaling these 
simple remedies, the difficulty of breathing and the oppression of the chest has been 
rapidly removed, the heat and parched condition of the skin become moist, tho 
cough quiet, and the expectoration easy. Who, that has witnessed the soothing 
effects of warm fomentations applied to the external surface of the body, can 
doubt the value and superior efficacy of soothing vapors, properly medicated, 
when inhaled and transmitted along the inflamed membrane of the bronchia? 
LETTER IX. 
Chronic Bronchitis or Catarrh in the Bronchia. 
When the lining membrane of this bronchial tubes is inflamed, it is called 11 bron- 
chitis," of which there are two kinds, distinguished as “acute" and “ chronic bronchitis." 
In my last letter I directed your attention to the symptoms by which acute bron- 
chitis is distinguished, and will present now some of the characteristics of chronic 
bronchitis. 
By the inexperienced and unskilled, the disease is often mistaken for consump- 
iton; for the mucous membrane, sooner or later, becomes altered in structure, and 
pours forth a matter which has all the qualities of pus, when the usual hectic fever 
supervenes, and the disease tends as certainly to a fatal termination as consumption. 28 
Of the chronic form of bronchitis there are several varieties, one of which we meet as 
a winter cough, making its appearance regularly as the winter season approaches, and 
partially subsiding on the return of spring. This form of bronchitis is incurable 
by any other means than Medicated Inhalation; and, if neglected, will as certainly 
break down the structure of the lungs as consumption. 
Another form of bronchitis is distinguished by an excessive humoral discharge 
from the lungs, resembling gum water, ranging from one to several pints during 
the twenty-four hours. Usually there are two fits of coughing in the day—one in the 
morning, and the other in the evening. There is considerable difficulty in breath- 
ing while the coughing paroxysm lasts, but as soon as the visced secretion has 
been ejected it subsides. This disease enfeebles the patient very much; but ho 
may, however, live for years, and be able to attend to light duties; but gradually 
the countenance assumes a pale, blueish tint—the body wastes—the blood becomes 
thin, and death ensues apparently from the constant drain upon the lungs. 
There is still another form of this disease, called dry bronchitis, produced by a 
thickening of the mucous membrane of the air tubes, by which they are very much 
diminished in size. There is a scanty secretion of a dense, glutinous kind of 
matter, variously tinted, sometimes greenish, again blue or white, and not unfre- 
quently, after a rasping cough, striated with blood or russety. This affection is 
so common in this climate that a careful examination of the chest would doubt- 
less reveal its existence in many who are nursing the fatal delusion of entire 
exemption. 
The symptoms by which dry bronchitis is known are not marked by much 
severity, until it has advanced to its later stages, when a little exertion will produce 
much shortness of breath, arising from the obstructed bronchial capacity. When 
a large portion of the lung is involved, a sense of oppression is felt after meals on 
making slight exertion, which is frequently referred to as the result of a full 
stomach, or some other than the true cause. After a time, however, there is felt a 
tightness in the chest, with a rasping cough, several times through the day, which 
enables the patient to expectorate a tough, jelly-like substance to clear the throat. 
If you ask such whether they have a cough, they will answer “no,” and yet almost 
in the same breath, they will hack and raise the very substance I have described. 
If the stomach is deranged, it is fashionable to ascribe this cough to the stomach, 
or the result of nervous derangement, or liver disease—when these are but the 
signals of the inroads being made upon the system by this very condition of the 
lungs. But there is something so gratifying in being assured that there is no danger 
of consumption, that the physician giving this interpretation to the anxious inquiry, 
yields to the persuasive look, and cries “Peace, peace, when there is no peace!” 
Thus human life is tampered with, until the fearful details of death are written 
indelibly in the hectic flush, the wasting frame, and the enfeebled step—until the 
silver chords are loosed, and the golden bowl is broken at the fountain. This iB 
no fancy picture, for we see daily around us men and women sinking gradually 
under such influences into premature graves. 
But we find still another form of bronchitis, of a very grave character, mostly in old 
people, analagous to a type already enumerated as “humoral.” From its attacks 
being most frequent upon those who have passed the meridian of life, it is called 
“ catarrhus senilis" and old mans cough. The symptoms are marked by profuse expec- 29 
toration, and a feeble and languid pulse; there is also a strong inclination to sleep, 
frequent complaining of extreme weakness, and a peculiar sense of languor per- 
vading the entire system. Women who nurse their children too long are subjects 
of this disease. It is distinguished from consumption by the face assuming a pallid 
and livid appearance, and the lips a purple hue; while in consumption the lips are 
of a bright red color, and the cheeks more constantly flushed. The respiration is 
also very different and well-marked. 
We could still enumerate other forms of bronchitis, but being rare in their 
occurrence, do not demand the important consideration given to the foregoing. 
Among these there is a form characterized by a kind of false membrane forming 
on the inside of the tubes; another form is the very opposite, and consists in dila- 
tation of the bronchia, which may occur in one lobe, or a whole lung may be 
enlarged uniformly, or swollen out at the extremity in a globular form, or there 
may be alternate contractions and dilatations along the same tube. 
In the treatment of this class of diseases by the profession, there has been 
nothing but a fruitless round of experiments from the beginning to the present; 
and until the introduction of Medicated Inhalation, treatment only served to 
hurry on the fatal issue. I will examine the treatment by Medicated Inhalation 
in my next. 
LETTER X. 
The reader who has closely followed me in the progress of these letters, need not be 
told how inadequate all treatment must be, which does not penetrate the lungs where 
the disease itself exists; and how utterly inefficient—nay, mischevious, all appplica- 
tions to the throat must be, while the fountain of evil lies beneath untouched. 
The application of nitrate of silver to the fauces as a remedy in treating bron- 
chitis, has doubtless had its orign in the erroneous idea that bronchitis was a dis- 
ease of the throat. This opinion is as untruthful as the practice is unphilosophical 
and injurious. As its name implies, bronchitis is simply a disease of the bronchial 
tubes; which, everybody should know, are not in the throat, but in the lungs. 
Hence, when they become diseased, the lungs must also be more or less affected 
The pathological condition of the bronchial tubes, when inflamed, is frequently 
found to consist in an alteration of the structure, by a thickening of the mucous 
membrane lining them, until a part or the wdiole of the smaller air tubes become 
completely closed or blocked up. This prevents the transmission of air to the 
parenchymical structure of the lungs, and as a sequence disease sets in. The 
veriest tyro in physiology understands that if sufficient fresh air is not received 
into the lungs to arterialize or oxyginate the blood, that the circulation will con- 
tain an excess of carbon, than which nothing can be more fruitful of disease and 
death. Upon this principle Dr. Cullon founds his carbon theory of the formation 
of the tubercles in the lungs. This condition of the blood frequently exists with- 
out giving any warning other than the usual bronchitic symptoms, of the fearful 
change which is taking place in the system, until the details of consumption are 
made painfully manifest. 
Treatment of Bronchitis. 30 
I have said that the treatment of bronchitis hitherto has been profitless of good, 
and often fraught with mischief. The difficulty has been in getting remedies to 
act upon the parts affected by a direct and local application. Now, how can you 
get into the lungs with remedies? Certainly not by swallowing medicine into the 
stomach, for these never, only in a qualified form, reach the lungs, and are more 
frequently productive of evil than good. Let us look to nature in this dilemma, 
as we must in other cases, for a solution of the difficulty, and the method is at 
once indicated. It is to inhale, or to draw in the medicine with the air we breathe, 
into the lungs. 
Inhalation simply means the act of inspiring or drawing a breath, but when 
applied to a mode of administering medicines it means to breathe them. Thus I say, 
“7 inhale a medicine" instead of “7 take a medicinethe only difference being that one 
is inhaled into the lungs, and the other is swallowed into the stomach. With this 
explanation it is made plain that remedies must vary when administered by inhala- 
tion as much as if they were swallowed. 1 will illustrate this proposition still further. 
It is well-known that in spasmodic asthma, inhaling the smoke of “jimson weed” 
(idatura stramonium) will relax the spasm and relieve the patient; but this remedy 
will not check the discharge in humoral asthma, nor make any impression what- 
ever upon systems having constitutional peculiarities. Now, what has been said 
of asthma is equally true of bronchitis and consumption, and I only make this 
explanation because, that many who write to me respecting treatment have got 
the erroneous idea that inhalation, instead of being a mode of practice, is some 
specific nostrum for the cure of consumption. To make it such is to degrade it to 
the level of quackery, or stamp it with the pernicious character of the routinist. 
The Vice President of the United States, Wm. R King, undoubtedly had his 
death expedited by the ignorance and imprudence of his medical advisers, who 
advised him to use the “sugar-house cure,” by inhaling the vapor of sugar. At the 
time this advice was given, the Vice President had extensive cavities in his lungsj 
which were secreting a copious and enfeebling expectoration. By inhaling the 
sugar vapors, this secretion was increased, and after spending a winter in a sugar- 
house on the Isle of Cuba, he returned to Alabama, barely in time to meet his 
friends before he died. Now, sugar vapors are highly useful in treating some forms 
of consumption, but it is equally injurious in others. Had the medical advisers of 
Mr. King known how to distinguish the various forms of consumption, and pre- 
scribe accordingly, it is only fair to say that the pineries of Carolina or the balsam 
groves of Canada would have been selected as recruiting grounds for the Vice 
President, if it was at all necessary to go so far, to breathe balsam or gum exha- 
lations. 
In treating bronchitis, the first object is to cleanse the air tubes of the lungs, by 
the use of expectorant inhalants, after which the irritation must be allayed upon 
which the secretion depended, by soothing and healing the inflamed surfaca 
When I come to speak of the treatment of consumption, I will write more in 
detail upon this subject. 
Having now considered, briefly, some of the more prominent diseases of the 
throat and air passages, and pointed out that Medicated Inhalation is the only effi- 
cient mode of treating them, I will next proceed, in like manner, to consider the 
more serious maladies of the lungs, direct. 31 
LETTER XT. 
Curability of Consumption by Medicated Inhalation. 
While a large majority of the medical profession entertain the opinion that con- 
sumption can not be cured, we can not affect much astonishment that the mass of 
mankind should echo such a pernicious sentiment. To combat this opinion, before 
I enter immediately upon a description of the symptoms of consumption, I will 
adduce from indubitable authority, as well as my own knowledge and experience, 
evidence to show that consumption is perfectly curable, if properly treated. 
Sydenham, perhaps the greatest physician that has appeared in Europe since the 
time of the Arabians, affirms that he had repeatedly cured phthisis (consumption,) 
not only in its incipient stage, but after night sweats and diarrhea had taken place. 
The great Doctor Laennce, the discoverer of the stethoscope, and physician to the 
largest hospital in Paris, examined thousands of bodies after death, and he gave 
to the world, as the result of his researches, that he had met many cases, in some 
of which, large portions of lung had been destroyed by consumption, but the parts, never- 
theless, had entirely healed. Sir James Clark, physician to the Queen of England, in 
his great work on Climate and Consumption, admits fully the curability of the 
disease. 
Professor Graves, of Dublin—than whom, while living, none stood higher as a 
stethoscopist—pointed out one form of consumption in which the tubercle could 
be entirely dispersed by a gentle salivation, which statement is corroborated by 
Professors Stokes, Bellingham, and others in the Lancet. Dr. Piorry, physician to 
one of the largest hospitals in Paris, is renowned in France for his success in 
curing consumption by friction and inhalation. Dr. Maddocks is at present cele- 
brated for his success in curing consumption, and has done much to advance the 
science of inhalation, which is his principal mode of treatment. Both he and Sir 
Charles Scudimore have written out very acceptable books, in which many cases 
of consumption are cited, that have been perfectly cured by Medicated Inhalation, 
which treatment they unequivocally recommend to the profession, as being the 
very best. The reports of the Brompton Hospital, under Dr. Elliotson, show more 
favorable results from this practice than was ever attained before; while Pro- 
fessors Sweet and Periora pronounce Medicated Inhalation the most scientific as 
well as the most successful practice ever employed in treating consumption. Similar 
opinions to the foregoing could be quoted from many others, eminent in the pro- 
fession, all attesting the curability of consumption; but I must omit them, to make 
room for a few expressions in favor of Medicated Inhalation. 
Our own great physician, Dr Rush, says, in reference to “Inhalation,” that “too 
much can not be said in favor of this simple system of conveying remedies to the 
lungs. I have frequently seen patients snatched from the jaws of death by it; and whether 
all the beneficial results that'may be justly considered possible to result from the 
inhaler will be realized, must be determined by future observation; but it is hoped 
that the general want of success which attends the present mode of treating consump- 
tion, will induce medical men to give inhalation a fair trial as a remedial measure.” 
Dr. Coxe, of New York, in his work on Pulmonary Disease, says: “I now consider 
the curative power of Medical Inhalation well established; and those who labor 32 
under consumption, have certainly a right to demand of their medical advisers a 
fair trial of its powers, before they are urged to leave their homes for changes of 
climate, or the uncertain consequences of a sea voyage.” Dr. Carrigan, of Dublin, 
says: “There can be no doubt that Medical Inhalation exerts a most powerful 
influence over diseased actions, and that as it is only in this form that we can 
administer remedies to act locally upon diseased tissue of the lungs, it merits our 
most respectful attention.” 
Dr. Melville, of New York, grasps with his comprehensive mind the whole subject 
of Inhalation, and reduces it to this simple proposition: “If we would cure con- 
sumption, we must treat the disease—not the symptoms; and if we would treat 
the disease, we must inhale; for there is no other means of reaching its seat—the 
lungs. 1Vo treatment by the stomach can be more than palliative, while by the lungs it is' 
always, radical—it gets at the very root of the disease.” 
Having cited briefly a few opinions of distinguished men recognizing the cura- 
bility of consumption, and the claims of Medicated Inhalation in the scientific 
attainment of that result, I would now suggest to those who are still professional 
Sadducees, that if they can not present the record of a practice equally successful, 
to get out of the way of Inhalation, and let it work, We know that by the old practice, 
thousands, hundreds of thousands, die annually, and will continue to die until the 
treatment is changed. But as the new practice becomes better understood, and 
Medicated Inhalation has enlarged and improved its pharmacy, then this appalling 
fact will cease to be. 
Already some master minds, unawed by the dicta of schools, or the sneers of 
their less laborious or less intellecual brethren, have broken through the trammels 
of routine, grappled with gigantic strength this fearful disease, and dared to follow 
the new path of Inhalation, which, though still only in the adolescence of its use- 
fulness, has achieved results in the cure of consumption hitherto deemed unat- 
tainable. Give it, then, a fair trial; and in the hands of the scientific practitioner 
it will be found a source of blessing to the invalid though when employed and 
degraded by the charlatan, whether he be a priest or layman in the profession, the 
result must always be equivocal. One consideration, however, can not be too 
strongly impressed upon the minds of persons afflicted with consumption, who 
propose to use Medicated Inhalation, and that is, that the certainty of cure is 
greater, the earlier the case comes under treatment; and that success grows pro- 
portionately less the longer treatment is deferred and the disease approaches its 
fatal termination. 
LETTER XII. 
Symptoms of Consumption. 
It gives a startling inportance to the subject upon which I write, when we reflect 
that of the crowd of men, women, and children, we daily see thronging our streets, 
one-fifth will fall victims to the fell destroyer, consumption, unless rescued by appro- 
priate treatment. In my former letter I have presented incontestible proof that 
consumption may be cured by Medicated Inhalation, and now let us in candor ask- 
what promise have we to lessen this frightful mortality by the old system of treat- 33 
ment? Take uo any practice of medicine—Watson, Wood, or Eberle; Hahneman or 
Thompson—or any standard works in our medical schools, and they all alike can 
didly avow, that no treatment of consumption to them known, has been more than 
palliative. Watch the practice of two physicians of equal eminence, and see how 
opposite their mode of proceeding; but each lands alike his patient in death. 
So sure are they of the fatal result, that they invariably deceive their patients at 
the beginning, by saying it is “only a mere cold,” or “slight bronchitis;” and if the 
patient spits blood, “it comes from the throat,” and thus the precious opportunity when 
the disease is most easily controlled, is allowed to slip by, never to be redeemed. The very treat- 
ment, while it soothes the most distressing symptoms, masks the disease, and in 
many instances hurries on the catastrophe. When the disease has so far advanced 
that the patient almost despairs himself, he is then advised to go to Minnesota or take 
a sea voyage, in most cases deprived of the Oriental benediction of “dying among 
his kindred.” Why patients intrust themselves to physicians who openly proclaim 
in their books, and in their conversation, that they can do nothing for con- 
sumption, is an incomprehensible infatuation. If the physician has no faith in 
his ability to cure consumption, it is the hight of folly for the patient to trust 
him, and every dose of medicine he swallows should be accompanied by a pro- 
found meditation upon death. 
In my last letter, I cited a number of names, eminent in the profession, favora- 
ble to Medicated Inhalation in treating consumption. I will now consider a few of 
the more prominent symptoms which herald consumption, and by making them 
perfectly understood, will apprise the patient of danger in time to avert it. 
The earliest symptom that commonly attracts attention is a slight, dry cough, 
occurring in the morning, and, perhaps, repeated two or three times a day. This 
gradually increases in a few weeks or months in frequency, and a ropy, saliva-look- 
ing mucus is spit up, most abundant in the morning, and usually supposed to come 
only from the throat; but it is secreted from the air tubes, which are irritated by the 
neighborhood of the tubercles. Gradually yellowish specks appear in the expec- 
toration, which ultimately becomes entirely yellow or green. The expectoration 
is not always a criterion of the amount of disease in the lungs, though it generally 
is. But I have seen persons die, from the blocking up of the lungs by tubercle, who 
neither coughed nor spit the whole time. 
It is of the utmost consequence, that coughs should be attended to early, for 
although every cough is not the premonition of consumption, most are! and it is a 
golden rule, that the earlier it is attended to, the greater the probability of cure. 
Spitting blood, or bleeding from the lungs, is sometimes an early symptom, but 
always a serious one in consumption. This symptom possesses a fearful interest, from 
the melancholy truth that it rarely happens, except as a consequence of serious disease 
within the chest. The loss of blood is an indication of the presence of tubercle 
within the lungs; and from these tubercles will arise, sooner or later, all those 
changes and symptoms which constitutes consumption. On this point there is 
much error. It is by no means unfrequent for physicians to cheer their patients by 
the assurance that “ the blood has only come from the throat." Let me warn you 
against being deceived. The throat rarely bleeds ! In nine hundred and ninetymine 
cases out of a thousand, when you cough up blood, however small the quantity, that blood comes 
from the lungs, and speaks a terrible warning. Bleeding, however, does not always 34 
accompany consumption, but when you have it, if you value health, if you prize 
life, if you have any object that renders existence desirable, begin at once to earn- 
estly resist the progress of this fearful malady, the seeds of which are sown in the 
most vital part of your body. 
Shortness of breath is an early symptom, and is felt most on exertion ; on ascending 
hights, going up hill, or up stairs. It is a mark of such importance, that when it 
exists, an immediate examination of the lungs should be had by a competent and truth- 
ful person. If, along with shortness of breath, there is a wasting of the body and 
quickness of the pulse, it amounts to a certainty that there is disease going on in the lungs. 
When the pulse ranges above a hundred beats in a minute, the case is very grave. 
Some few cases are seen in which the pulse is preternaturally slow, and yet end 
fatally. The natural pulse is from seventy to seventy-five in the minute, the respi- 
ration fifteen to eighteen. Above, this announces disease. Wasting is always to be 
looked on with suspicion when there is no evident cause for it. Shooting-pains 
through the collar-bones and shoulders, or dull, burning pain in the chest, are fear- 
fully significant. If the disease has advanced, hectic fever comes on toward even- 
ing, and goes off toward morning in a perspiration called “night-sweat,” which is 
often enormous in amount, occasioning great distress to the patient, and accelera- 
ting the catastrophe from the rapid wasting of the tissues, and the exhausting 
debility it produces. Hectic is gradual in its approach; at first a little creeping 
chill, felt for a few moments in the morning, followed by a slight pink of the cheek 
and slight sweat at night; but as the disease advances, these symptoms are aggra- 
vated and intensified. I have known it to be mistaken for ague, when the chill 
was decided. 
In persons over twenty-five it sometimes occurs that the first deposit of 
tubercle is accompanied, not with a cough, but with dyspeptic symptoms, such as 
uneasiness in the stomach after eating, or heart-burn and indigestion. The end 
approaches when the physician mistakes the disease, and purges his patient for 
biliousness. 
In females, the suppression of the periodic excretions often occurs in an early period 
of consumption, and the younger the patient the more rapid the fatal termination. 
When suppression occurs either in the young, the middle-aged, or the change of life, 
attended with a cough, sore throat, palpitation of the heart, on walking briskly up 
stairs, with a flattening of the chest under the collar-bones, and a tendency to 
stoop, then, indeed, disease in the lungs becomes too manifest to tolerate a doubt 
for one moment the existence of tubercle. And if, in addition to this, we observe 
the white of the eye become pearl-gray, witfi a slight spasmodic twitching of the 
upper lip and nose when speaking, it is only to add confirmation to conviction, 
that the seeds of death are there. 
If, under such circumstances, drastic emmenagogues are resorted to, to restore the 
impaired function we only too surely hasten death by producing a rapid failure of 
the vital power. 35 
LETTER XIII 
In my last letter I called attention to some of the most prominent symptoms 
which herald the approach or indicate the presence of consumption. As I then 
stated, I did this to apprise persons of danger in time, that they might address the 
proper remedies to avert its fatal consequences. Among the early symptoms of 
consumption noticed, I mentioned a hacking cough, with a ropy-like saliva in the 
morning, and more or less frequently through the day. In the early stage of con- 
sumption. we also have “short breath” in walking up hill, or ascending stairs— 
palpitation of the heart when using a little extra exertion—shooting-pains through 
the breast and sides—night sweats and spitting blood. To this last symptom I wish 
to call your attention more particularly; especially so, as it is one of great im- 
portance. 
Many persons spit blood years before any symptoms of consumption are noticed, 
and when by general observation they would be pronounced healthy. To agree 
with this opinion, such persons when they approach the ausculator, thump them- 
selves on the breast, and say, “There is nothing the matter here, doctor,” and 
expect a good-natured acquiescence. In others, the first attack of hemorrhage 
dates the commencement of the disease, and the cough, the short breathing, and 
the expectoration, are all referred and ascribed to the bleeding. Some again do 
not raise blood until late, and in a few instances, consumption runs its entire 
course without even a tinge of blood in the expectoration. But, as a general thing, 
whenever blood is spit, whether it is only a few streaks in the expectoration, or 
mouthfuls, remember that it rarely happens except as a serious disease uithin the chest, 
though the patient may be unconscious of it Spitting blood is almost a sure indi- 
cation of tubercles within the lung, and from these tubercles will arise, sooner or 
later, all those changes and symptoms which constitute consumption. 
Henry Melville, says: “It can not be too widely known that spitting blood is a 
thing of fearful interest, as pointing out the silent, treacherous progress of a deadly 
disease within the lungs. The loss of blood is an indication of the presence of 
tubercles, from which arise consumption. Physicians frequently cheer their patients 
by the assurance that the blood has only come from the throat. Let me warn you not 
to be deceived. In nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand, when 
you cough up blood, however small the quantity, that blood comes from the lungs, and 
speaks a terrible warning; and if you value health—if you prize life—if you have any 
object that renders existence desirable, begin at once to resist the progress of this 
fearful malady.” 
Professor Walsh, in his work on Diseases of the Lungs, says: “In those cases of 
bronchitis where blood is present in the expectoration tubercles may always be ex- 
pected in the lungs." 
The celebrated Dr. Sweet, in his work on Diseases of the Chest, says: “Though 
bleeding from the lungs does not always occur in consumption, yet whenever it 
does occur, it almost certainly indicates the disease.” 
Professor Latham, in his Lectures on Clinical Medicine, in St. Bartholomew, thus 
speaks of Hemorrhage of the Lungs: “Spitting blood always gives fearful intima- 
tion of the presence of tubercles, which are only the eggs of consumption.” 
Symptoms of Consumption—Spitting Blood. In twelve hundred cases of bleeding from the lungs, Dr. Louis did not meet a single instance 
where it was not preceded or followed by consumption. And thus it is that 
“spitting blood” is considered so sure a precursor of consumption, that life insur- 
ance companies refuse to grant policies upon any man’s life who has been so 
affected. 
Hemorrhage from the lungs seldom proves fatal in its immediate consequences. 
Years sometimes elapse before its fatal effects are produced. Indeed, we fre- 
quently hear persons who have had bleeding at the lungs, remark that they feel 
decidedly better, and seemingly do improve, but this is only a temporary relief, and it is a 
fatal mistake to regard it as a removal of the difficulty; for the same causes that 
produced the bleeding still remain, and if not arrested or removed, will end in 
death. 
LETTER XIY. 
Chronic Consumption. 
In my last letter I pointed out that spitting of blood is, with few exceptions, the 
precursor or companion of consumption, and that the smallest quantity mixed 
with the expectoration, is as significant as though there were pints coughed up; 
and therefore, on the appearance of this symptom, immediate recourse should be 
had to measures calculated to eradicate its deadly companion, Phthisis. 
Consumption is divided into Chronic, Latent, Infantile, Sub-Acute, and Acute, 
which I propQse to describe seriatim. Chronic consumption runs its course in a 
period varying from a few months to several years; the average time being about 
twenty months. At first, a slight, hacking cough comes on, which is most frequent 
in the morning when rising. It is dry at first, but after a variable interval, a little 
thick, saliva-looking mucus is spit up, which, as it becomes more abundant, often 
deposits a grayish sediment resembling barley-water, which is only seen in con- 
sumption. The cause of this cough, which at first is only a hack, is the irritation 
occasioned by the existence of tubercles in the lungs, too often not suspected until 
too late. Sometimes the first symptom observed is the spitting of blood, often in 
very small quantities. In other cases a sore throat, or catarrh, comes on from a 
slight exposure to cold, which, on subsiding, leaves the dry hack just spoken of. 
Sometimes consumption is ushered in by a succession of chills and fever, that 
comes on with the regularity of ague, for which it is often mistaken. Others, 
again, first betray the fatal taint by a sense of heat in the hands and feet, and a 
slight flush on the cheek most marked in the evening. A wasting of the body is 
often an early and always a serious symptom. Perspiration is increased at night, 
until at length the bed is fairly saturated in the latter stages. The wasting and 
debility keep pace with the amount of night sweat. As a general rule, the appe- 
tite remains good, but in the second stage the food is frequently vomited after 
coughing. In women, the monthly sickness is generally suppressed; and the mis- 
take is often made of attributing the lung disease to this, instead of referring to the 
consumption as the true cause of suppression. Pain is often present, but not always. As 
the disease progresses the spits become streaked with yellow—changing into yellowish 37 
or grayish green, consisting of pure matter, mixed with specks of tubercle. When 
thrown into water they assume a round, flattened shape, covered with a ragged, 
woolly surface, and sink in the water. When cavities are developed in the lungs, 
they lose their rounded shape and are expectorated in large, shapeless masses. 
In this form of consumption, the patient does not always run a uniform course, 
but in some the patient appears to improve every now and then; he may be ap- 
parently well even for weeks or months, and then be again prostrated totally, and 
this for several successive intervals. But this improvement is deceptive; how, I 
will proceed to explain. A crop of tubercles are deposited upon the lungs; they 
soften and are expectorated, during which the patient is prostrated; after which he 
rallies until a new crop is sown or softened, which goes through the same routine, 
and this is repeated until the patient is exhausted. At every successive softening 
of a batch of tubercles, a portion of lung is broken down and expectorated, and 
the patient spits pus—has hectic fever, night sweats, loss of flesh and strength, and 
often of appetite, and coughs very much at night. Then the symptoms improve, 
the cough disappears, and he regains flesh and strength. Now his friends think he 
is well, and he flatters himself that he is quite restored, but in a short time all the 
bad symptoms return. It is the occurrence of these intervals of temporary health 
that has given an ill-deserved reputation to Cod Liver Oil, and a thousand villain- 
ous nostrums for the cure of consumption, and upon which, also, the reputation of 
testimonial publishers depend; health being established for the time by nature 
herself, which they refer to the last drug taken, or to the last quack employed. 
The most eminent physicians content themselves with telling their consumptive 
patients to live well, take out door exercise, be prudent, and take very little medicine. This is 
all very good advice. It is better than helping on the fatal result of the disease 
by preparations of morphine to soothe the cough at the expense of the digestion; 
making a sore on the outside of the chest, to help the ulcer inside to finish the 
patient; purging, to aid the disease to exhaust the sufferer, and the other fashion- 
able modes of slaughter. This plan of leaving the case to nature, is the better 
of the two evils, as the patient has a chance of a longer lease of life, although death 
is the almost invariable result 
It was my intention to here speak of treatment; but apropos of what I have 
just written: In attempting to cure consumption it can only be done by absorp- 
tion of the tubercles, and their removal, without breaking down the structure of 
the lungs. This is the mode by which dropsies, enlarged scrofulous glands, tumors, 
etc. are removed; and this is what we assert is effected by Medicated Inhalation, 
when resorted to in time. The tuberculous matter thus absorbed into the 
blood, is thrown oft' from the system by the skin, kidneys, bowels and other 
emunctories. 
LETTER XV 
Latent Consumption. 
In my last letter, I described chronic consumption, and shall now take up the 
latent form. 
Latent consumption is characterized by an absence of cough, expectoration, pain 38 
and spitting of blood, although the lungs be loaded with tubercles. These symp- 
toms, in not a few casos, are absent even till death results; but in the majority, 
after a long period of ailing health, spitting of blood, cough or pain set in suddenly, 
and the disease runs a rapid course. The tubercles existing in the lungs, often 
work out their ill influences by secondary changes in the blood, and other diseases 
are set up, which destroy the patient; and from the absence of the prominent 
symptoms of lung disease, the physician and patient are both led astray, and 
attention is directed toward removing the diseases, which are the effects, instead 
of attacking the cause. Or, if the physician knows the cause, he conceals it for 
the patient’s sake, because he knows no remedy. In such cases, the patient goes 
about with less alacrity than when in health; business is an exertion; he com- 
plains of various dyspeptic symptoms, heart-burn, pain in the stomach, water-brash, 
uneasiness during digestion, pains in the liver or right shoulder, costiveness alter- 
nating with diarrhea, disturbed rest, and emaciation more or less. The urine will 
even present the chemical and microscopic changes observed in functional or 
organic affections of the stomach and liver. Fistula in ano occurs almost exclu- 
sively in such cases, and appears to keep the tuberculous disease in check, as does 
also chronic inflammation of the peritoneum, (investing membrane of the intes- 
tines,) which often masks latent consumption, and is most frequently in females, 
while fistula is more common to men. Beside these, various other symptoms are 
complained of, indicating a diseased state of the body, and often puzzle the medi- 
cal attendant. 
The observant physician will generally see marks in the countenance of the 
patient, that will make him suspect the existence of tubercles—such as the deli- 
cate appearance, the pearly hue of the white of the eye, varying in tint from yel- 
lowish white in the fair, to deep, blueish gray in the dark complexioned, and a 
very slight spasmodic twitch of the corners of the mouth and nose in speaking, 
which increases to a shiver over the cheek as the deposit in the lungs augments. 
On examining the chest, depression will be found above or below the collar bones, 
or both. When the deposit is great, these bones stick out, so to speak. On tapping 
in the immediate neighborhood of the collar bones, sounds are produced, establish- 
ing that tubercles exist in various stages of development—nay, even cavities, 
although there has been no cough. These cases are generally pronounced bilious 
or dyspeptic, or anything but what they really are, and the treatment, of course, 
can not be appropriate. I would particularly impress the fact that active purging 
and the use of mercurial preparations, are peculiarly apt to rouse the tubercles 
into activity, and to develop rapid consumption. At present, the orthodox prac- 
tice for bilious and dyspeptic complaints is calomel or blue pill, which are rank 
poisons in the forms of disease under consideration. The obvious practical infer- 
ence is, that in all cases at all resembling what I have described, it is absolutely 
necessary to have the chest examined by a competent and truthful physician, 
before undergoing treatment, and if tubercles are present Inhalation presents the 
only known means for their removal. 39 
LETTER XVI. 
Infantile Consumption. 
In my last letter I described that insidious form of disease, latent consumption 
and pointed out how constantly it is confounded with liver and other chronic com- 
plaints, to the great danger of the sufferer. I now enter on the subject of Infantile 
Consumption. It is commonly thought that this disorder is very rare, under fifteen 
years of age; but the researches of Boudet, Papvoine, and Trousseau, prove that 
more than one-half of the children of the poor, and of those in the infant hospi- 
tals of Paris die of consumptive disease, and this is approximately true of all large 
cities; so that from three years to fifteen, consumption is more prevalent and fatal 
than at any other. 
The causes of consumption among children are usually the circumstances in 
which they are placed, and not to inheritance, as is vulgarly supposed. Among 
the jooor, impure air from living in narrow lanes, with yards reeking with filth and 
garbage; dark noisome rooms, whose windows are rarely opened ] personal and domestic 
uncleanness further contaminating the air; bad food, whereby healthy development 
is checked, and scanty clothing, exposing them to colds and inflammations, are 
the four great causes ever in operation to develop consumption. 
Strange as it may appear, the same causes are active among the rich. Cooped 
up for at least twenty hours out of the twenty-four in hot, ill-ventilated nurseries, 
instead of spending half their time in exercising in the open air, they are fretted by 
a tedious operation of dressing, and then sent out for stately walks along the side- 
walks, with Bridget. Being so finely dressed, they must not play: it is—Master 
Charles, don’t rub your gloves along the wall—Master Henry, don’t walk in the 
dirt—and this is to do them for air and exercise The food, though not deficient, 
is nevertheless equally pernicious from the quality. Instead of being kept to 
plain, nutritious food, they are too often indulged in all the varities of the table, 
and their digestion impaired by “candies, sweetmeats, and cakes. The clothing, 
although expensive, is too often deficient; the bare arms and legs, which imperious 
fashion exacts, are direct cause of almost all the croups, colds, and inflammations 
children are attacked with. Consumption does not usually manifest itself in chil- 
dren by active symptoms; wasting is the most constantly present. When we find 
conjoined with this eruptions behind the ears, swelling of the glands of the neck, 
soreness or running of the nose, eruptions about the face with puffy, chapped lips, 
pustules about the edges of the eyelids, or sore eyes with the greatest dread of the 
light, causing the child to bury its face even in the pillow, we may suspect the 
existence of tubercles in the lungs, as these all point to a diseased state of the 
general system, with deep-seated complications. 
Although the causes enumerated above will develop consumption in any child 
long enough exposed to them, yet there is a wide difference in the susceptibility 
of different children to contract it. Very intellectual children, with ardent affec- 
tions and loving dispositions, are remarkably prone to it, and the expression con- 
stantly used with regard to them is, that “they are too wise or too good to live.” 
A pale, pasty complexion, or a large head with a narrow chest, indicates the same 
predisposition. 40 
The symptoms in the consumption of children are very mild; there is no spitting 
of blood; the paroxysms of coughing are not urgent or distressing; and the mat- 
ter coughed up from the lungs is invariably swallowed, and excites no alarm. 
Night sweats exist only about the neck and brow. The hectic fever is slight, and 
generally attributed to worms, or derangement of the stomach. Diarrhea is a 
usual attendant, and the child, when asleep, is observed to breathe faster than natu- 
ral. With all this, gradual wasting of the body and strength is constantly present. 
Change of air or diet may arrest the wasting for a few weeks, but the improve- 
ment is only temporary. Diarrhea or fever soon close the scene. 
Children under five years can not be made to use the inhaler, and therefore the 
air of the nursery must be medicated, thus compelling the child to breathe only 
a medicated air, which acts most powerfully on the diseased surface of the 
lungs. Above the age of five, children usually regard the use of the inhaler as 
high fun, and take to it readily. The changes in the system of the child are so 
rapid, and the vitality so great, that amendment is far more speedy than in grown 
people. 
LETTEE XVII. 
Sub-Acute Phthisis. 
My last letter contained a description of infantile consumption, and next in 
order comes sub-acute phthisis. This form of the complaint runs its course in from 
six to fifteen weeks from the first observance of the symptoms, which usually 
resemble those of chronic consumption already detailed, but are much more rapid 
in succession. It is unnecessary to recapitulate them here. A very large portion 
of the lungs is rapidly infiltrated with tubercle and rendered useless; there are soft- 
enings and cavities, but these are small in extent, owing to the short duration of 
the complaint. It would appear that death takes place more from the system not 
having time to accommodate itself to the speedy diminishing capacity of the lungs, 
than from the exhaustion of the prolonged discharge of matter, thus differing 
from chronic phthisis. Sub-acute consumption is known by the name of “gallop- 
ing,” from its early termination, and is often confounded with acute bronchitis, 
but an experienced stethoscopist would never make the mistake. Even this form 
is amenable to treatment. I have several cases reported in my book, where the 
disease has been permanently arrested, and the parties are now in good health. 
It comprises but a small portion of the cases of consumption. Acute phthisis is of 
very rare occurrence—I have seen only four cases of it, running its course to a 
fatal termination in three or four weeks. The lungs become completely blocked 
up in that short time, chiefly with tubercles. 
The symptoms resemble those of low typhoid fever, with wandering or delirium 
at night. The cough is either dry, or accompanied by expectoration of a clear, 
sometimes yellowish mucus. This, with the continually increasing frequency and 
difficulty of breathing, should draw attention to the condition of the lungs, which 
the stethoscope will soon reveal. This form does not appear to be at all controlled 
by treatment. In my next letter, I shall explain how tubercles produce cavities 
and ulcerations in the lungs. 41 
LETTER XVIII. 
In my preceding letters I have pointed out the various forms of consumption, 
and the symptoms peculiar to each, and also the symptoms of nasal catarrh, sore 
throat, chronic laryngitis, and bronchitis, demonstrating the important facts that 
the tendency of these complaints is to lay the foundation of consumption. The 
mode in which it would appear this is produced, is by the gradual extension of the 
inflammation along the air tubes, until reaching the minute branches and the air 
■ cells, these are blocked up with mucus, thus preventing the air from reaching the 
blood circulating through the air cells, so that the change from venous to arterial 
blood does not take place. The consequences of this impediment is, that the 
tuberculous matter is deposited in the air cells and the smaller branches of the 
air tubes. At first the tubercles are very small, resembling millet seeds; hence 
called “miliary.” They are gray and translucent, and scattered more or less 
profusely over the upper part of one or both lungs. It is a tradition in the pro- 
fession, that the left lung is much oftener the seat of disease, first or solely, than 
tlie right. But this is the result of imperfect observation, promulgated by a 
high authority, and implicitly received by the flock. My experience, which has 
not been small in this disease, has fully satisfied me that there is little if any dif- 
ference in the liability of either lung to the deposit of tubercle. Again, it is a dis- 
puted question as to whether the tubercles are deposited in the air cells, or in the 
surrounding tissue. Examination with the microscope has convinced me that in 
miliary tubercle the deposit takes place into the air cells and finer air tubes, and 
that tuberculous matter is never found in the substance of the lungs, except in the 
form of infiltrated tubercle, the result of what is now called “chronic pneumonia,” 
or chronic inflammation of the lungs, rather a misnomer. The miliary tubercle, 
after a time, undergoes a change in size and appearance, becoming larger, and of a 
yellow, cheesy appearance. The pressure of these little masses causes absorption 
of the walls of the air cells, and a coalescing of the tubercles into maps of various 
sizes. In this state they may remain quiet for weeks or months, sometimes, though 
rarely, even for years, but liable at any moment to be roused into active disease by 
apparently inadequate, and often unknown, causes; so that a person carrying 
about with him a crop of tubercles in his lungs, is at any moment in danger of com- 
mencing the downward course that ends in the grave. 
At first, these yellow tubercles are of the consistence of cheese; they then 
soften—become infiltrated with matter, and finding their way into the lower air 
tubes, are expectorated, and a small cavity is thus left, secreting matter. In the 
chronic form of consumption, patients often rally for a time after this occurs—the 
cavities are healed, or become livid with a kind of mucous membrane—the fever 
and night sweats disappear, and the cough is either absent for a time or subsides 
into a hack, and the body acquires fat. But this is only temporary; another series 
of cavities are formed, and the same routine is gone over and over, till the patient 
sinks exhausted. When several small cavities are contiguous, they gradually 
enlarge, ajid, opening into each other, form a large cavity. I have seen them large 
enough to hold a pint. 
When tubercles are in the gray or yellow stage inhalation is of the utmost ser- 
Pathology or Tuberculous Consumption. 42 
vice, by promoting their absorption without destroying the substance of the lungs; 
and hence the wisdom of applying early for treatment, when there is the slightest 
suspicion of such a state of things, while there is the most probability that the 
disease may be ovefcome. When cavities are formed, the disease is then said to 
be in the third stage; and here astringent inhalents act upon the surface, 
secreting matter by constricting the vessels, arrest it, and thus promote the adhe- 
sion of the sides and the formation of a membrane, to secrete mucus instead 
of matter. Such are the ways in which Inhalation arrests the progress of this 
formidable malady. 
LETTER XIX. 
Complications with Consumption. 
It is imposssble to conceal from ourselves the appalling frequency and fatality of 
diseases of the chest in the United States, and I consider that I am fulfilling a pub- 
lic duty in contributing my mite toward making their symptoms and treatment 
familiar to the mass of the people, so that, early apprised of danger, they may 
address themselves in time for relief. 
My last letter contained an explanation of the mode in which tubercles are 
deposited in the air cells and finer air tubes, namely: That any impediment to the 
free circulation of blood in the air cells, by preventing the due conversion of 
venous blood to arterial, is the immediate cause. Such changes in the structure 
of a vital organ can not occur without the system at large sympathizing, and 
various others become deranged, often to such a degree as to draw off the physi- 
cian’s attention from the real point of danger. Under the head of Latent Con- 
sumption, it has been stated that the complaint may proceed to the utmost 
disorganization of the lungs without cough or expectoration being present. In 
such cases the prominent symptoms are derangements of some of the abdominal 
organs. Dyspepsia is the most common, and in ignorance of the true state of 
things, the efforts of the physician are too often directed to removing the effect 
instead of the cause of deranged health. 
Many cases are treated for liver disease, when large cavities in the lungs actu- 
ally exist and hectic and night sweats are excessive. It is only three weejts ago 
since we were called to a patient, who stated that he had been treated, up to the 
time of our visit, for liver disease. The appearance of the patient, his emaciation, 
his cough, excessive expectoration and sweating, indicated too surely phthisis, 
as the enemy. On removing his clothing we were horrified to see the unhealed 
sores of tartar emetic ointment, and scarifications of cupping still recent over the 
region of the liver, showing that a frightful and inexcusable mistake had been 
made as to the nature of his disease. As it was important to him to know his 
true state, we were obliged to tell him the melancholy truth, that he was in the 
last stage of consumption, and that his life could not be prolonged beyond a few 
weeks. Diarrhea often masks consumption; this is found among adults, but it is 
still more common among children. The investing membrane of the lungs, called 
pleura, is often the seat of chronic inflammation, and water or matter is infused into the cavity constituting hydrothorax or empyema. The lung is sometimes 
perforated, so as to admit air into the pleura, when a chronic inflammation is set 
up with the same result as the preceding; this is called pneumothorax. The larynx 
is often the seat of ulceration, and completely masks the disease in the lungs 
to a superficial observer. Such are some of the complications of phthisis, and are 
the result of the blood imperfectly aerated in the diseased lungs, circulating 
throughout the body, and by its impurity provoking disease in the different 
organs; this is often described by the term sympathy. It will not seem superflu- 
ous caution to warn the reader of the importance of paying watchful attention, and 
not to rest content with a superficial or hastily formed opinion. Few medical men 
possess any but the most superficial knowledge of the use of the stethoscope, and 
still fewer are competent to give an opinion worth a rush in the earliest stages 
of consumption. For an opinion to be of any value, it can be so only after a careful 
and thorough examination. As usually conducted, it is but an idle form, and 
would be farce but for the important stake at hazard. 
I have witnessed the exploration made through a creaking starched shirt, or 
muslin collar, several folds of clothing, even through solid, old-fashioned corsets. 
Then to see the pomposity and parade of learning that this is done with, is enough 
to provoke a laugh or a tear. There is one consolation, that these gentlemen could 
not discriminate any more if they did not examine en cuerpo. The knowledge of 
the stethoscope requires a study apart, a special devotion to it, and much experi- 
ence in a hospital. I am informed, the practiced stetlioscopist distinguishes all the 
sounds of the lungs, healthy or diseased, as readily as a tuner appreciates the con- 
dition of the notes of a piano. A man who practices as physician, surgeon, and 
accoucheur, and honestly and laboriously tries to master all the branches of his 
profession, can never acquire a tithe of the proficiency in the use of the stetho- 
scope that he will attain who devotes himself specially to its use. 
43 
LETTER XX. 
Time to Treat Consumption. 
In discussing the question of treatment, upon the period of the complaint at 
which a case of consumption presents itself for treatment, will very much depend 
the probability of a cure. I have pointed out, that the earlier a case is taken in 
hand, the greater the certainty of a cure; and that the chances of this favorable 
result diminish in an almost arithmetical proportion, the more the disorganization 
of the lungs is allowed to progress before applying for treatment. Unfortunately, 
the largest proportion of these cases, which have hitherto come under my care, 
have been fin the last stage of confirmed consumption—cases in which part of one 
or both lungs was not only broken down into ulcerous cavities, but the strength of 
the constitution exhausted by the progress of the disease, and by the different 
kinds of treatment to which they had been subjected. I need hardly say, that 
such cases are no proper test of the efficacy of any system of treatment. Human- 
ity, with the desire to relieve, is the only influence that can induce the physician 44 
to receive such as patients at all—since many seek for treatment in an utterly 
hopeless state, and can but be made comfortable bv the highest skill within the 
power of man. 
I have been obliged to refuse several applicants who wrere so far gone, that even 
the poor comfort of temporary relief seemed unavailable. Yet, notwithstanding 
all these disadvantages and discouragements, a larger proportion of recoveries 
have taken place among this class, through the instrumentality of Inhalation, than 
has ever hitherto been possible to attain from any and every other means of treat- 
ment. I have cases now under treatment, where there are cavities in one or both 
lungs, which, humanly speaking, I feel confident of restoring to health. 
This, then, should be firmly impressed on the mind, that the earlier the presence 
of pulmonary disease can be detected, and the sooner the patient comes under 
treatment, the better char.ce for deriving benefit and stronger probability of ulti- 
mate cure; but to insure this the treatment must be persevered in as long as the 
least vestige of disease remains, for it would act as an irritating nucleus for the 
reproduction of the complaint. 
It will be recollected that the commencement of consumption, is the deposit of 
gray tubercles in the lungs, and that this is commonly synchronous with the little 
hack and short-windedness on exertion, that are usually the first symptoms 
remarked patients or their friends. In the second stage, these tubercles 
undergo a change of structure, and become yellow and cheesy. Now the hack 
becomes a decided cough, and a stickey, clear or grayish mucus is expectorated 
chiefly in the morning. The third stage consists in the yellow tubercles becoming 
infiltrated with matter, softening down, breaking into the bronchial tubes, being 
expectorated, and leaving cavities secreting matter. In this stage, we have hectic 
fever, exhausting sweats and diarrhea, with the other concomitants that rapidly 
wear out the patient. 
The specific manner in which Inhalation acts upon these several phases of dis- 
ease, will form the subject of my next letter. 
LETTER XXL 
Treatment of Consumption—First Stage. 
It has been a desideratum with the medical profession, since the days of Hippo- 
crates, to discover some effectual mode of applying remedies directly to the dis- 
eased surfaces of the lungs, for it has always been received as an accepted fact, that 
where attainable, local applications should always be employed along with the con- 
stitutional remedies, wdiich latter are often rendered unnecessary when the former 
can be used. Accordingly, we find in the writings of Hippocrates, and the chain of 
medical writers from his time down to the present, traces of efforts to apply this 
method to the diseases of the lungs, but all of the crudest kind, resolving them- 
selves into inhaling fumigations arising from burning gums, resins, and herbs, the 
fumes of heated cinnabar, realgar, and other substances volatilizable by heat. 
These were received into the throat by holding the nose and mouth over the as- 45 
cending vapors, and drawing them into the lungs in inspiration. Any one curious 
in such matters will find a description of this method in Boerhaave’s Commentaries, 
article “ Consumption.” This was the condition of the therapeutics of inhalation 
for two thousand five hundred years. I think that Dr. Mudge, of London, is justly 
entitled to the merit of having taken the first practical step toward the modern 
mode of inhalation; although he was not aware of the full extent of the reforma- 
tion in treatment of the lungs, that he had initiated. The philosophy of the treat- 
ment of the chest diseases is apparent, when we consider that the lungs and air 
passages are the parts affected, and that if we introduce air impregnated with med- 
icated vapors, we thereby bring the remedial agent as directly in contact with the 
diseased surfaces as a wash to a sore on the leg. But it may be objected that we have 
no proof that medicines can act thus certainly on the lungs, or on the system 
through the lungs. To developing this portion of the subject, I shall devote my 
letter to-day. Inhalation of chlorine will produce a temporary arrest of the secre- 
tion of the bronchial tubes, or, in other words, a dryness of the surface. The use 
of expectorant and emollient vapors will produce the directly opposite effect, and in 
the first stage of acute bronchitis, when the tubes are dry and tumid, no remedy 
by the stomach will produce the resolution of this state, with anything approach- 
ing the speed with which such inhalants act. Is the patient sitting up, at two in 
the morning, choking in all the agonies of the worst fit of asthma, an anti-spasmodic 
inhalant will procure perfect relief for the night in three or four minutes. Is the 
case one of chronic bronchitis, where the secretion is profuse and semi purulent, the 
use of balsamic and astringent inhalants will soon diminish the quantity and im- 
prove the quality of the expectoration. These are facts patent to the observation 
of every medical man, wTho will take the trouble to make the trial. But it will 
serve to make the power of inhaled remedies over the general system more evi- 
dent, if a few examples be given. The power of chlorine and iodine over consump- 
tion is proved by the exemption of workmen from this disease who work in fac- 
tories where the vapors are floating about in the air, and by cures being affected 
upon the tuberculized by resorting to such establishments for work. 
Piorry gained his fame for curing consumption, by pouring in iodine in every way, 
by inhalation and otherwise. But he often left his patients, as Dr. Kingston said, 
the victim of iodism,& scarcely less deplorable state than the victims of mercurialism. 
This unhappy result is avoided by combining the use of various vegetable discutients, 
that aid the effects of iodine, and procure salutary effects of their own. A drachm 
of chlorform will produce little or no effect, when taken into the stomach, but the 
same quantity inhaled into the lungs will cause profound intoxication, with total 
loss of sense and motion, and even death. A grain of arsenuretted hydrogen swal- 
lowed has little effect, but the hundredth part of a grain, inn*ded into the lungs, 
will cause death, with all the symptoms of arsenical poisoning. The late professor 
of Chemistry in Calcutta College, was exhibiting Marshe’s test to his class, and an 
accidental draught blew the fumes toward him, and he inhaled perhaps not the 
thousandth of a grain, certainly not the five hundredth; he was seized with violent 
arsenical poisoning, and his life was despaired of for some time. General Gates, who 
introduced the use of strammonium leaves when smoked, for the relief of asthma, 
fell a victim to an overdose, and yet the quantity of empyreumatic oil introduced 
into the lungs must have been very minute. The preceding remarks have been 46 
thrown together to prove that medicines inhaled into the lungs produce not only 
direct local effects, but are capable of acting on the system at large, as alternatives- 
narcotics, discutients, etc., and these in very much smaller doses than by the stomach' 
They are adduced as specimens of the proofs upon which the practitioners of Inha- 
lation rely for the maintenance of their assertions, and these proofs might be accu- 
mulated ad infinitum. With this preamble my readers will be able to understand 
the rationale of the process by which a cure is effected in consumption through In- 
halation, which will form the subject of my next letter 
LETTER XXII. 
In my last letter, I explained the principles upon which the cure of consumption, 
in the first stage, or that of gray tuberculization, is founded, and that this result 
is certain in the greater number of cases, by means of Medicated Inhalation. I 
propose to discuss the mode in which the cure of the second stage, or yellow tuber- 
culization, is accomplished. The tubercles, from being gray and glistening, become 
converted into a yellow, cheesy matter; they may exist isolated, or they may coa- 
lesce and form masses of various sizes. When they soften, it is from the outside 
to the center, which accounts for the appearances noted in the expectoration in 
the second and third stages. During the first period, it is sticky, and varies in 
appearance, from transparency to a dark, blueish gray. When the yellow tuber- 
cles soften, this expectoration becomes streaked with yellow, and at last altogether 
yellow, and small specks of cheesy matter are found interspersed; these are the 
centers of yellow tubercles which have escaped softening. The chemical composi- 
tion is changed from that of the gray tubercle, as they are found to contain a 
considerable quantity of carbonate and phosphate of lime. It is upon the 
existence of these insoluble salts, that the choice of inhalants is made. If we can 
introduce into the lungs, vapors which possess the property of attacking these 
insoluble salts of lime, and converting them into soluble ones, this will produce 
liquefaction of the tubercles, and their consequent absorption or expectoration. 
Those familiar with chemistry will easily recall to their memories several vapors cer- 
tain to effect this chemical change. Valuable papers on this subject were written fif- 
teen years ago by Mr. Murray, M. R. C. S. L., and Dr. Boudet, of Paris, but seem most 
unaccountably to have been overlooked by the profession. The local disease being 
thus removed by inhalation, let it be the physician’s care to pay strict attention to the 
removal of any local causes that may have induced the complaint, and to adopt 
judicious, constitutional treatment to remedy the depraved state of the blood 
that favors the deposit of tubercles. A very few years ago, bleeding, depletion, 
and low diet, were universally resorted to for the cure (?) of consumption, with the 
effect of removing every chance of a spontaneous healing, and accelerating death. 
The folly of this course has at last been recognized by the profession, and the 
opposite plan is now pursued. It is by combining a local and a general treatment, 
that Medicated Inhalation is so successful; it operates directly on the seat of dis- 
ease and removes the local affection, while the general treatment puts the system 
Treatment Continued—Second Stage. 47 
at large in such a state, that the blood is so improved as no longer to deposit fresh 
tubercle. In this stage, the proportion of recoveries is not so great as in the first; 
but still a very great number recover by means of Inhalation; and, of course, the 
earlier it is resorted to the better the prospect of cure. Those who expectorate 
most on rising in the morning, and perceive yellow streaks in the spit, have reached 
the second stage; and when this becomes decidedly yellow, the third stage is nigh 
at hand, if not already begun, when the chances of successful treatment are very 
much lessened. 
The next letter will contain an exposition of the mode of cure in the third stage 
of Phthisis. 
Consumption—Treatment Continued.— Third titage. 
LETTER XXIII. 
In my late letters I have pointed out the mode in which inhalants act, in curing 
the first and second stages of consumption; and to close this part of the subject, 
I shall do the same in regard to the third stage. In this case, masses of yellow 
tubercle soften and are expectorated, carrying with them the lung tissue, so leav- 
ing caverns lined with a membrane, secreting matter abundantly, and accompanied 
by severe constitutional disturbance, indicated by hectic fever, drenching night 
sweats, etc. 
In this state of things, we employ vapors that are capable of stimulating the 
ulcerated surface to set up a new action, and also of diminishing, and finally 
arresting the secretion of matter. The sides of the cavity either become glued 
together, or it is lined with a pseudo-mucous membrane. This is the true explana- 
tion of the way that Inhalation performs a cure in consumption, and is so simple 
and reasonable as to convince every unbiased mind at first sight. Until this 
mode of treatment was introduced, consumption in every stage was invariably 
fatal; and it does seem the very acme of infatuation for a consumptive to put him- 
self in the hands of a physician, who confesses that he is powerless to do anything 
to avert the fatal termination of consumption. It seems more in accordance with 
common sense, that the patient should shun such a Jack Ketch of a practitioner, 
and put himself in the hands of one who follows a treatment that has been proved 
to be capable of effecting what it professes, viz: to cure consumption; and the only 
way yet discovered, seeing that the old mode of practice confessedly holds out 
death as the inevitable result of its treatment. It passes comprehension, that any 
one afflicted with consumption can be found so foolish as to go near such; they 
should be carefully avoided. Inhalation is daily working its cures, and raising 
patients from their beds, who under the old treatment would soon have been 
tenants of the cold and silent tomb. It is sad to see the young, the lovely, the 
gifted and the loved marshaled to the grave, in the grasp of the foul ogre—con- 
sumption—when so many might be saved by a timely resort to treatment by In- 
halation. The statistics of death by consumption, showed such a marked diminu- 
tion in the city of New York, when Inhalation was extensively introduced there, 
by Drs. Melville, Thomas, Robinson, etc. that the newspapers noticed the fact with 48 
enthusiasm, and were unanimous in attributing it to the success of the new mode 
of practice. 
The constitutional medical treatment of consumption resolves itself into sub- 
duing certain derangements of the functions, which, if not controlled, would 
exhaust the patient before the local treatment by Inhalation could affect the 
healing of the lungs. The most prominent of these are night sweats, and colliqua- 
tive diarrhea. Defective composition of the blood, dyspepsia and costiveness, may 
also demand treatment. These include nearly all the circumstances calling for 
general remedies. It must be borne in mind, that consumption is a disease of 
debility, and all means that tend to depress the vital powers must be avoided— 
such as active purging, calomel, and other mercurials, tartar emetic, and bleeding 
Opium and its preparations act injuriously by impairing the digestion, lessening 
the appetite for food, deranging the liver, causing costiveness, and producing that 
very condition of the body that increases the depravity of the blood. It is unfortu- 
nate that all advertised nostrums for the cure of consumption, and the ordinary 
run of orthodox prescriptions, have opium or a salt of morphia as their basis. 
Temporary abatement of the cough is produced, and the expectoration seems less 
in quantity, because opium diminishes the amount of water (not of matter,) 
secreted in the lungs, thus thickening the spits without really lessening the quan- 
tity of matter, although the spittoon may take longer to fill; while under this 
apparent improvement, it is rapidly sapping the constitution, as may easily be 
inferred from the bad effects just pointed out. 
In my next letter I shall review the different modes of treatment that have 
been in vogue for the last two hundred years, and show that they were, and are, 
not only useless, but positively mischievous; and that no mode, except that of 
Medicated Inhalation, has ever been discovered capable of benefiting consumption 
in the slightest degree. 
LETTER XXIY. 
Popular Modes of Treating Consumption. 
It is proposed to show in this letter that the usual modes of treatment, other 
than Inhalation, are utterly incompetent to effect any good in consumption, and 
to review the various plans advocated. Seeing that the regular practice, homeo- 
pathy, hydropathy, all fail, it is no wonder that the public have a deep-rooted 
belief in the incurability of consumption. 
Blood-letting was recommended in this disease, some two hundred years ago, by 
a Doctor Morton, on this ground, that “consumption, being the result of inflam- 
mation of the lung-structure, bleedings, frequently repeated, was the proper rem- 
edy.” Upon this erroneous supposition, from that time to this, crowds of victims 
have been hurried to the grave, secundum artem, by bleeding, leeching, and cupping, 
and that practice has been recommended by such high authorities as Dr. Mead, 
Sir John Pringle, Dr. Hossack, etc., and it was in full blast as late as eighteen or 
twenty years ago, but it is now totally abandoned, except by some of the less tal- 
ented or informed of the profession, who, however, only venture to resort to 49 
blood-letting in the early stage, yet to the great injury of the patient. Consump- 
tion being essentially a disease of debility, and being preceded always by a depres- 
sion of the powers of life, it requires very little reasoning ability to perceive that 
so far from lowering the system, by abstracting the arch principle of vitality, the 
blood, we should build up the strength of the body by all the means in our 
power. 
What shall I say of the cruel and ridiculous practice of giving repeated emetics, 
even every morning, to cure consumption, and this supported by the authority of 
men holding professors’ chairs in America, Britain, France, and Italy ? Like Cod 
Liver Oil, it excited a furore some twelve or fifteen years ago, and, although not so 
prevalent, is still persisted in by many orthodox practitioners of respectable repu- 
ation in this and other cities. One gives white vitriol, another gives blue, a third 
prefers squills. Tartar emetic and ipecac, each have their friends. Amidst this 
crowd, which is most orthodox or regular it is hard to tell. I have known many 
cases, where white or blue vitriol has been administered a few hours before death. 
What cruelty! This mode of treatment is only calculated to exhaust the strength 
of patients, and destroy the tone of the stomach, while it exercises no curative 
power over the disease of the lungs, and is fast becoming obsolete—happily for the 
sufferers. 
Having extended this letter to a sufficient length, I shall continue the subject in 
my next, when I think I shall succeed in showing very conclusively that every 
mode adopted by the regulars hitherto for the treatment of consumption have 
been only decorous methods of ushering patients surely and swiftly to the portals 
of the tomb. 
LETTER XXV. 
Popular Modes of Treating Consumption—Concluded. 
In my last letter, I pointed out the injurious results from blood-letting, or courses- 
of emetics, in consumption, and shall pass in review some of the other fashionable 
treatments. 
Mercurial Treatment.—Some two hundred years ago, this mode was greatly in 
fashion, but gradually dropped into oblivion, not only because it did no good, but 
positive harm; and in the opinion of many, brought on consumption in those who 
would never have been attacked, if mercury had never been given to them for 
other complaints. Unhappily for mankind, Dr. Wilson Phillips brought out a work 
twenty years ago, “ On the Influence of Small Doses of Mercury,” and it become fashion- 
able to treat consumption with it. Happily the conviction has become impressed 
on the minds of the profession, that it is injurious, and few physicians now use it 
except stealthily, and they do it in order to be doing something, not from any faith 
in its efficacy. After killing its thousands, let us hope it is buried never to be 
resuscitated. 
Tonics.—In opposition to those who look upon consumption as an inflammatory 
disease, and employ bleeding, we have physicians who regard it as a disease of 50 
debility, and rely on tonic3. Now each of these is regular orthodox practice, and 
which is right? It is an axiom in practice, that tonics are useless in organic dis- 
eases and often aggravate the disease. Tonics have no power to cause absorption 
or removal of tubercles in the lungs, and consequently the tonic doctors have not 
been able to sustain their position any better than the advocates for the modes of 
treatment already discussed. 
Digitalis and Iodine have had their days, and very flourishing days they were; 
but now, alas! they are consigned with ignominy to the tomb of all the Capulets, 
by the most learned of the profession. 
Counter-Irritation means establishing a running sore on the surface of the 
body, in the neighborhood of an inflamed, internal surface, with a view of remov- 
ing the natural, by an artificial disease. With this view, poor consumptives have 
had, and still unfortunately too often have, their chests seared with hot irons— 
covered with pustules from tartar emetic ointment—tortured with perpetual blis- 
ters, or other modes of effecting the coveted object. The most learned now allow, 
that counter-irritation has no affect in causing the absorption or removal of tuber- 
cles, therefore it docs no good. But it does positive harm; we know that the cause of 
hectic and night sweat, is to be found where there are surfaces secreting matter. 
Now, if the ulcers in the lungs cause the irritative fever, it is only adding to the cause, 
by establishing a large, running sore on the outside of the chest, to keep those in 
the inside, company. Counter-irritation is only of use to relieve pleuritic pains; 
and this can be best effected by a mild rubefacient anodyne liniment, or dry cup- 
ping. This cruel, and unphilosophical treatment is abandoned by the leaders of 
the profession; but, alas! is too common among their humble followers. 
Cod Liver Oil.—This great quack medicine—this panacea—this god send to the 
stupid physicians, who had no trouble in prescribing while it was the fashion. 
“Doctor, I have a bad cough.'’ “0, your lungs are weak; take Cod Liver Oil.” 
Alas for the tribe that this physic made easy has gone out of fashion. Who does 
not recollect the buckets full that were swallowed a few years ago, and now how 
little? It is of no use, unless there is wasting of the body. It is not medicine but 
food; and like osmazome, alcohol, coffee, tea, etc., possesses, in a high degree, the 
property of preventing the wasting of the tissues. Instead of being looked upon as 
a remedy for every consumptive, cases are selected that are suited for its employ- 
ment, just as with other curatives; and with the heads of the profession it is 
dying out. 
Change of Climate.—That cheval de bataille—that convenient way of getting rid 
of dying patients, has received its coup de grace from the recent writers on the sub- 
ject, and now no longer commands the faith of educated medical men, although 
many still keep up the cruel farce of sending moribunds in search of that health 
which they will never recover on this side of the grave. The subject of climate, is 
too extensive to enlarge further in this letter. 
I might cite Stokes, Billings, Louis, and many others, to prove that, as yet, no 
mode of treatment they employed was of the slightest use in curing consumption; 
but they had not tried Inhalation. I shall not detain you, by going over again 
the names of men of the highest standing in the profession who tried Inhalation, 
and have given it their unqualified approval. The practice is still in its infancy 51 
and confined to a few, but its success is already such, that in a few years it will 
supersede every other mode of treatment. This it will not accomplish until the 
great mass of the profession shall see the chest practice in the hands exclusively 
of those who follow the very rational treatment by Inhalation. 
LETTER XXVI. 
A cotemporary writer observes: It is a popular error to regard every disease at- 
tended with difficult breathing as asthma. Consumptive patients, and those suffer- 
ing from disease of the heart, constantly ascribe the oppression and shortness of 
breath they experience to this cause. Now, though we never have asthma without 
shortness of breath, it is very common to have great shortness of breath where the dis- 
ease is essentially different from asthma; I wish I could add less distressing or fatal. 
By asthma, I mean a spasmodic disease of the lungs, which manifests itself in 
successive Jits, paroxysms, or attacks—coming on suddenly—attended by great diffi- 
culty of breathing—lasting for a few hours, and then passing off with free expecto- 
ration, leaving the breath but little obstructed, and the patient as comfortable as 
before the attack. Although this is the usual course of asthma, it will be seen, as 
we proceed, that there are many and grave deviations from this rule. 
The approach of asthma is known, by those who have once had an attack, by a 
feeling of languor and indisposition to exercise—yawning and oppression—a feeling of 
fullness and windiness about the stomach, with a sense of tightness and constriction 
around the lower part of the chest. In some there is headache and dryness of the 
nostrils toward evening, while others have a greatly increased flow of saliva, or a 
sense of chilliness and general discomfort. 
The attack may come on at any time, but it usually manifests itself toward even- 
ing or at night. Some suffer as soon as they lie down, but the majority are sud- 
denly awakened out of sleep in the middle of the night, or toward morning, by a 
difficulty of breathing—a sense of weight and constriction in the chest. The chest 
feels as though it were bound. They sit up in bed, pant and gasp for breath—call 
for the windows to be raised and the doors to be thrown open. The house seems 
“ too small to breathe in." If the fit is severe, perspiration starts out and stands in large 
drops over the forehead; the face is haggard, the lips pale, the extremities cold, the 
heart palpitating violently. It is no unusual thing for the asthmatic to rush to the 
open window and lean out over the Bill for hours in the coldest weather of winter, 
the body being rendered by the disease insensible to every influence and every 
feeling, except the desire for air. The distress experienced during a fit of asthma, 
can only be likened to partial strangulation protracted through a period of several 
hours. If you have ever run up a long hill with rapidity beyond your strength, as 
you stood at the top, with your hand pressed over the heart, panting and gasping 
for breath, you can have a faint idea of the agony which for hours, and often for 
days, the poor asthmatic suffers. 
Happily for the victims of this disease, the suffering of the present is ever light- 
ened by the conviction that nature will soon come to their relief—hope and confi- 
Asthma—Its Symptoms, Pathology, and Treatment. 52 
dence never flag for an instant. After a longer or shorter period—generally a few 
hours—the tightness at the bottom of the chest relaxes; the breathing becomes more 
easy—the patient can speak and cough without difficulty, and now begins to expecto- 
rate freely. The anxiety of the face disappears; the lips lose their lividity, and— 
exhausted by the violent efforts, and worn out by the distress—the poor sufferer 
falls asleep: the attack is at an end. 
The cause of all the distress, and the reason why asthma comes on so suddenly, 
and passes off so mysteriously, are very simple. The air tubes have a muscular 
coat which gives them power of contracting or expanding. Anything which irritates 
the nerves that supply the muscular coat, may cause a spasmodic contraction to take 
place on the instant, and when it does take place, the tubes are so much dimin- 
ished in size, that it is impossible to force air enough through them to purify the 
blood. The distress is caused, not by the spasm, but by the want of air which it occa- 
sions. Any obstruction in the windpipe, sufficiently great to limit in the same 
degree the quantity of air that can be drawn into the lungs, would produce the 
same distress, even though no spasm existed. The spasmodic contraction occurs, 
like cramp, instantaneously, and like cramp may continue for several hours and 
then pass off in an instant. From this you will understand that whatever irritates 
the nerves of the lungs may cause asthma, and whatever soothes that irritation 
relaxes the spasm and relieves the patient. 
When we come to speak of the kinds of asthma, you will observe that all forms 
of this disease arise from causes which act directly and primarily upon the lungs; 
thus showing that however theorists may contend for the hereditary taint and con- 
stitutional character of consumption, they must all admit the purely local nature of 
asthma. 
LETTER XXVII. 
Asthma Continued—Nervous Asthma, Hay Asthma, Dry Asthma, etc. 
As the object of this paper is chiefly to illustrate the success of the treatment 
of Asthma, I shall pass over with a very brief notice the changes which take place 
in the lungs, and the varieties and forms of this disease, reserving for some future 
period a more complete history of the many phases and complications which it 
manifests. 
I. Nervous Asthma—Comes on suddenly, without the usual premonitory symp- 
toms, and passes off with very slight and often no expectoration. It occurs in 
persons who are said to be nervous—those whose nervous systems are extremely 
susceptible to every influence. It is most common in hysterical females, but also 
occurs in males, and at all ages. It may be produced by anything which quickens 
the circulation, as the receipt of good or bad news, fear, etc. Ipecacuan is a very 
common cause. Many persons begin to wheeze the moment a bottle of powdered 
Ipecacuan is brought into the room. I know two medical men who are wholly 
unable to make up powders which contain this drug. It is sometimes produced 
by cheese when merely placed on the table; and has ever been known to arise from 
so ridiculous a cause as the presence of a cat in the room. Laennec notices two 
singular examples which occurred under his own observation. One was invariably 53 
seized with Asthma on attempting to travel in a certain direction, and immedi- 
ately relieved on turning his back. The other was sure to be seized with Asthma 
if his lamp went out during the night, although he was asleep at the time. 
II. Hay Asthma—Hay Fever—Rose Cold.—These different names are applied to a 
kind of Asthma very common during the summer months. It occurs as a com- 
mon cold in the head or catarrh, and then rapidly runs into Asthma. First, we 
have irritation of the nose, eyes, and the whole of the air passages, attended by 
itching, or burning, or tingling in the same parts. An acrid water runs from the nose 
and eyes, and is attended by much sneezing, occurring in paroxysms. These symp- 
toms are speedily followed by a prickly sensation in the throat, more or less 
cough, difficulty in breathing, and wheezing in the chest. The disease began in the 
nose as a catarrh, it has now reached the lungs, and the oppression and want of 
breath which it occasions are so great as to deserve the name of Asthma. Hay 
Asthma is most common during the months of June and July, and is caused by 
inhaling the aroma or the pollen of some kinds of flowers or grass which are in 
maturity at this season of the year. It is often produced long after the hay season 
is over, by simply going into a barn where hay is stored, or by having hay brought 
to a stable near the house. 
III. Dry Asthma is the most common form of this disease, the most serious in its 
inroads on the health, and the most difficult of cure. It begins as follows: A per- 
son to all appearance in perfect health, perceives that his breath is shorter than 
other people’s on exertion, and that every morning, or after meals, he raises, with 
a good deal of “ rasping,” a small particle of pearl gray, or bluish colored mucus. 
This continues for a longer or shorter period, the quantity expectorated gradually 
becoming increased and attended by more frequent efforts to “ clear the throat," and 
by a greater sense of oppression in the chest. In some the expectoration is very 
slight, but still the rasping and clearing the throat are always present in some 
degree. This condition of things may go on for years, but sooner or later, gener- 
ally from taking fresh cold, though frequently without apparent cause, spasmodic 
contraction of the tubes takes place, and we have at once a violent attack of 
asthma, which every fresh cold, every exposure to irritating gases or vapors may 
renew, until in a short time it becomes habitual. There is no greater mistake 
than to suppose asthma a simple disease. If this form be not arrested by treat- 
ment, it soon disorganizes the part of the lung in which it is seated and steadily 
progresses until it has involved the whole of one lung and rendered life a deplor- 
able burden. 
LETTER XXVIII. 
Asthma Continued—Emphysematous Asthma, Humoral Asthma, etc. 
Emphysema is asthma, which has ended in enlargement, in. rupture, or in destruc- 
tion of the air cells of the part in which it is situated. Fortunately the part of the 
lung affected is usually small, though sometimes the whole of one lung is in a 
greater or less degree disorganized, and we rarely find one lung seriously diseased 
without the other being slightly affected. The symptoms of Emphysema are the 
same as of common asthma, in addition to which we have always more or less 54 
shortness of breath in the interim between the attacks; some cough and palpitation of 
the heart, and when it has continued for a length of time, swelling of the ankles. 
Persons suffering from Emphysema can not lie down with the same ease as other 
persons, because in this disease the breathing is almost wholly abdominal, and in the 
recumbent position the stomach, spleen, and liver, press against the diaphragm or 
floor of the chest and restrain the freedom of its movements. And, for the same 
reason, fullness of the stomach, as from a hearty meal or from wind, always adds 
greatly to the difficulty of breathing. The expectoration is frothy, and when col- 
lected in a cup looks like gum-water or slippery-elm tea covered with foam. The 
most common cause of Emphysema is dry bronchitis. The viscid mucus secreted in 
that disease is often found adhering to the sides of the air tubes, in such a manner 
as to form a kind of accidental valve, which offers less resistance to the entrance of 
the air than its expulsion. The air rushes in and finds its way to the air cells with 
but little obstruction, but when it returns the obstruction is so great that we are 
compelled to make a labored and forced effort to expel it. This labored expiration 
would of itself gradually bring about the dilatation of the air cells, but it is probable 
that this effect is greatly hastened by part of the air remaining imprisoned at each 
expiration, until the air cells are blown up and ruptured, or the resistance has be- 
come sufficient to force the plug of viscid mucus out of the tube and relieve the 
part. That you may understand this, suppose we have six little India-rubber bags 
attached by short tubular stems to a larger tube, and that six cubic inches of air 
will just fill them. Now, when these are filled, they bear some relation to a cluster 
of air-cells in the lungs. If we force six cubic inches of air into them and then ex- 
pel five, and continue to do this, in a short time they will have swelled up to two or 
three times their former size, and in the end will burst and be destroyed. This is a 
mechanical illustration, but not a bit more mechanical than takes place in the lungs 
in most cases of Emphysema. This form of asthma often ends in consumption, in 
which case we are generally warned of what is taking place by two very significant 
symptoms, spitting of blood and gradual wasting of flesh. We do not always have the 
spitting of blood, but invariably sensible emaciation. 
Humoral Asthma is another form of this disease, arising from the very opposite 
condition to that I have described under the head of Dry Asthma. Instead of the 
discharge being small in quantity, thick, and sticky, it is thin and watery, and flows 
in large quantities. The attacks come on as a common cold, with stuffing in the 
nose, followed by oppression, great want of breath, and wheezing in the chest; and 
they pass off with copious expectorations, amounting often to one or two pints of 
a thin watery secretion, looking precisely like the white of raw eggs and water covered 
with froth. Humoral Asthma bears the same relation to Humid Bronchitis that Dry 
Asthma does to Dry Bronchitis. Both forms of asthma are caused by the corres- 
ponding varieties of bronchitis. Humoral Asthma is most common in those who 
have passed the age of forty-five, and in old people; but it occurs also in young 
persons, and is found at every age in life. In the intervals between the attacks 
there is usually some cough and expectoration, with a strong liability to become 
wheezy from every slight exertion and exposure. 
In addition to these forms of asthma there are several others, as Acute Asthma, Con- 
gestive Asthma, etc., which we had intended to describe, but find that our observa- 
tions have already greatly exceeded the limits contemplated. 55 
LETTER XXIX. 
Asthma Continued—Its Treatment. 
There are a few facts in the course of this erratic disease which we have over- 
looked in the preceding descriptions, to which we will briefly refer before preced- 
ing to speak of treatment. The recurrences of the fits of asthma are extremely 
various. In some we have a single fit, and, when this is over, the disease ceases 
altogether, and the patient returns to his former health. More commonly we 
have two or three fits occurring night after night and then passing off. In some 
they recur with great regularity once every few weeks or months. Others have an 
attack, lasting for several days or a week, regularly once a year. Sometimes, 
after asthma has harassed a person by frequent attacks, it leaves him altogether, 
and does not return for several years. There are three conditions of the air which 
constantly induce asthma: 1st. The electrical state of the atmosphere. 2d. The 
foreign matters in the atmosphere. 3d. All causes which produce catarrh and bron- 
chitis. The immediate cause of this disease in those subject to it, is the great 
delicacy and morbid sensibility of the pulmonary nerves and the mucous membrane 
lining the air tubes and air cells. There is a great deal of difference in the influ- 
ence produced upon different persons by the same cause. Hence it is, that some 
asthmatics breathe best in the smoky atmosphere of the city, while others can not 
pass a single night in it without the unwelcome companionship of a paroxysm. 
Some are comfortable on the low moist grounds surrounding a marsh, while many 
can only sleep in the pure air on the top of some mountain range. These are rad- 
ical distinctions, and can easily be accounted for; but we find that many persons 
will sleep in one street of the same town and can not in any other, and on one 
side of a street, but not on the opposite, and even in the back room of a house, 
but can not in the front. The reason for these differences can not always be traced 
satisfactorily. The cause is too subtle for discovery without a protracted and 
minute investigation of all the influences, both beneficial and injurious, in opera- 
tion in the opposing localities. But, whatever the cause may be, there can be no 
doubt that it is produced by inhaling the impurities with which the air is impreg- 
nated in one position and not in the other. 
Treatment.—The hitherto abortive efforts to cure asthma have produced a pro- 
found public conviction, that this malady, when treated by any and every usual 
form of medication, is beyond the skill of our art. Physicians, too, almost univer- 
sally regard it as incurable, while patients have long since ceased to expect more than 
palliation of their sufferings. This state of the popular, the professional, and the 
invalid mind is, in itself, the strongest testimony that can be offered against the 
truth of those principles of practice which have hitherto directed the administra- 
tions of the physician. If any good is really to be effected by medicines, it must 
be in some radical change, either in the medicines used, or in the manner of their 
use. The treatment pursued for ages has been one continuous round of experi- 
ments through the same channel. There is scarce any article in the Materia Med- 
ica, which has not at one time or another been tried as a remedy for asthma, and 
yet from each and all failure and disappointment have been the only returns. 56 
Why is this? We can find no sufficient reason, in either the cause, the pathology, 
or the progress of asthma. A disease may spring from so deeply rooted a vice in the 
system, or depend on such extensive disorganizations, or be so rapid in its progress, 
as to place at defiance the most efficient remedies. But we have here a disease 
most simple in its origin, and in the changes to which it gives rise, and remarkable 
for the slowness of its progress. What is asthma? An affection of the air 
tubes of the lungs, arising either from a morbid sensibility of the mucous mem- 
brane, or of the pulmonary nerves. It comes from a local cause, and is main- 
tained by a local condition If we seek to investigate its nature more closely, 
pathological anatomy only confirms this opinion. Unless, after a long continuance 
or in cases of very aggravated character, every organ in the body, except the lungs, 
is found healthy. In the lungs we find in one case morbid sensibility or irritability; 
in a second, thickening of the mucous membrane; in a third, ulceration of this mem- 
brane ; in a fourth, the expansion of the air tubes here and there into bags, pouches, 
or cavities; while in a fifth, the air cells of the part in which the disease is seated, 
are ruptured, and more or less completely destroyed. But there is nothing malig- 
nant in the character of asthma. It comes from such causes as produce our sim- 
plest colds or severest inflammations. It progresses slowly, and for a long time the 
general health continues tolerably good—far better, in fact, than is usual in other 
serious local affections. Reasoning, a priori, therefore, we should expect to find 
asthma one of the most curable diseases; yet, strange to say, nothing has hitherto 
been done to prove it such. To account for this result, there must be some great 
fallacy in the treatment. 
LETTER XXX. 
Asthma— Treatment— Continued. 
In assuming the fallacy of the usual treatment, and the entire curability of 
asthma by inhalation, it is not our intention to claim any wonderful knowledge or 
miraculous skill, but merely to explain the grounds and results upon which we 
base this opinion. Experience has abundantly proved that we accomplish no good 
by sending local remedies on a blind mission through the stomach and general sys- 
tem. Where a fact has become so indubitably established by the trials and testi- 
mony of ages, it is unwise and unprofitable to dispute it. And this fact is clearly 
established, not only with reference to asthma, but applies with equal force to 
every chronic local disease that can be reached by local medication. We say chronic, 
because acute inflammations form a partial exception to this rule. Chronic affec- 
tions of the eye, of the throat, of the organs of generation, of the skin, the bowels, the 
stomach, etc., are all treated with great success by the direct application of medicines 
—as washes, ointments, injections, mixtures, etc. Now, analogy is clearly in favor 
of applying the same principle to the treatment of all chronic diseases of the lungs, 
and especially so to the treatment of asthma, an affection we have shown to be so 
purely local, both in its cause and effects. If we had no facts, we might reason 
from the nature of this disease alone, with great force in favor of a local treatment. 
But is not the analogy placed beyond all question by well-known facts regarding 
the beneficial action of medicines in this disease? Has not the little relief which 57 
the poor asthmatic has hitherto obtained, been procured by inhaling? The old cus- 
tom of burning “ saltpeter paper,” of “ smoking stramonium"—and the more recent em- 
ployment of “ ether ” and “ chloroform” during the fit, are illustrations of the action 
of inhaled remedies. And though these can only be regarded as partial in their ap- 
plication, and limited in their usefulness to affording relief during the fit, the relief 
they have thus afforded, overbalances the benefits obtained from all others a 
thousand-fold. And if this be true of the inhalation of these simple palliatives you 
can readily understand how prompt and radical must prove a thorough and judi- 
cious treatment by inhalation under the care of a physician, practically acquainted 
with the action of inhaled remedies, and who directs his efforts not merely to relax 
the spasm and afford relief during the fit, but to subdue the morbid irritability and 
sensibility of the mucuous membrane, and break up the Chronic Bronchitis on 
which the asthmatic attacks depend. 
It has become the practice of medical men to meet all alleged cures of consump- 
tion from inhaling, by contending that such cures “ could only be of cases of chronic 
bronchitis simulating consumption.” Though such a view is wholly erroneous, as as- 
suming the incurability of Phthisis—let us accept it in this instance, to save argument. 
What is asthma, in the great majority of cases, but mere Bronchitis attended 
by spasm of the muscular coat of the air tubes ? The same condition exists in nine 
cases out of ten, without fits or paroxysms, and we call it ehronic bronchitis (dry or 
humid as the case may be)—in the tenth, with labored, irregular, and interrupted 
breathing, and we call it asthma. If inhalation is sufficient to cure bronchitis when 
so inveterate as to resemble consumption, it must surely be sufficient to cure asthma 
in all cases depending on simple bronchitis—and of such are eight cases out of 
every ten. Again, in asthma arising from morbid sensibility, soothing and tonic in- 
halations soon overcome the susceptibility of the air tubes, and restore their lost 
tone. Of purely spasmodic or nervous asthma, therefore, there are very few cases 
that do not admit of radical cure. This narrows the incurable cases down to those 
old and inveterate emphysemas, which depend on 'structural changes. These cases 
are beyond repair; but the ulcerations of the mucuous membrane can be healed 
and the secretions corrected, and the lungs can be so strengthened and invigorated, 
as to render them but little susceptible to those influences which bring on the fit, 
thereby saving the patient from the suffering of repeated attacks, and rendering his 
life comparatively comfortable. 
The length of time necessary to break up the diseased condition of the mucous 
membrane of the lungs, on which asthma depends, is necessarily much greater 
than for the cure of the same condition when unaccompanied by asthmatic fits. 
The reason of this difference is the extreme sensitivensss of the lungs in this dis- 
ease, and the almost impossibility of preventing many drawbacks from relapse 
during the progress of the cure. Certain mild forms of asthma are often radi- 
cally recovered in the brief space of a few months. But after asthma has endured 
for many years, and has become established and inveterate l?y age, progress can 
only be'made slowly. The diseased condition of the lining membrane of the air 
tubes has become habitual—a kind of “ second nature,” and stoutly resists a return 
to health. Many of these cases occupy a year of close attention to treatment to 
overcome them. As a rule, the asthmatic invalid should make up his mind at the 
outset, to persevere in the use of the Inhaler for several months after every symp- 58 
tom has disappeared, and should be as faithful in all the details of their treatment 
as though in hourly apprehension of a return of the disease. Many patients 
defeat their own cure by abandoning treatment almost as soon as they have 
obtained relief. 
LETTER XXXI. 
Asthma Treatment—Concluded. 
Of all the chronic diseases to which the lungs are subject, there is, perhaps, not one 
which is more certainly curable, or which manifests more speedily the beneficial influ- 
ence of direct treatment than Spasmodic Asthma. Except in those aggravated 
forms of this disease in which the air cells and bronchial tubes of the diseased 
part are already disorganized and destroyed, cure is almost certain to follow a 
steady and proper use of remedies by Inhalation. A successful issue in cases of 
very long standing—as fifteen, twenty, and even thirty years—is only a question 
of time. There are no incurable organic changes. Asthma is almost wholly a 
functional disease. The chief organic difficulty to be overcome is the thickened, and 
as it were indurated state of the mucous membrane, induced, in old cases, by the 
long continuance of the chronic bronchitis on which asthma depends. 
But while asthma is so certainly curable, and so promptly responds to a proper 
treatment—encouraging us by great relief and improvement almost from the out- 
set—there is not in the whole catalogue of ills to which poor humanity is liable, 
one which requires a more determined and persevering employment of the means 
to attain the desired end. Nor is there one which, when partially cured, so read- 
ily relapses into the old condition, undoing in a few days all that it has required 
months to attain. To radically uproot an inveterate functional disease like asthma, 
in a constitution morbidly susceptible to every injurious influence—for of such are all 
asthmatic people—requires necessarily a great length of time. As a rule, one year 
should be set apart by all old asthmatics for their treatment, while mild and recent 
cases require usually six months to effectually break them up. We have seldom 
met with a relapse from the recovery of asthma, when the patient could bo 
induced to continue treatment for several months after the last symptoms had 
disappeared. We are the more particular in enforcing this to save those suffering 
from asthma from being over sanguine of rapid cure, and to dissuade them from 
the suicidal folly of regarding themselves as cured almost as soon as they are 
relieved. We would not have them begin treatment with hopes, which the very 
nature and past history of the disease ought to teach them, can not be realized. 
In the past, the physician, in attendance upon consumption and asthmatic cases, 
has done little more than silently contemplate miseries, which it was his province, 
but not in his power, to relieve. Let us hope a life of greater activity will be 
opened up to him by the success which has attended a more rational application 
of the principles of medicine to the cure of pulmonary diseases. Once practically 
acquainted with Inhalation, he will discover how very possible it is for the healing 
art to be retarded in its progress, and limited in its usefulness, by an inveterate 
devotion and immoderate zeal for the usages of the past. TESTIMONIALS. 
.No theory, nowever logically presented, 
is of any value to mankind, unless it finds 
its demonstration in facts. In the preced- 
ing pages, I have endeavored to show that 
the practice of pouring medicines into the 
stomach, for the treatment of diseases of 
the pulmonary structure, is not only il- 
logical and unscientific, but that it has 
always failed to effect any permanent good 
in restoring health to the pulmonary in- 
valid. It will now be my duty to present 
the evidence of the successful treatment 
of diseases of the nose, throat, and lungs, 
by Medicated Inhalation, including in such 
diseases consumption, asthma, bronchitis, 
nasal catarrh, sore throat, loss of voice, and 
other affections of the respiratory organs. 
In doing this, however, it is not claimed, 
either for myself or the treatment I em- 
ploy, the power to cure every case of pul- 
monary disease; for, alas ! such a pretension 
would but too surely result in disappoint- 
ment, and expose both to merited reproach 
by failure. The evidence will show, how- 
ever, that many persons who have been 
considered in a hopelessly incurable con- 
dition, with diseases of the nose, throat, 
and lungs, have been saved from premature 
death, and restored to comparative good 
health, through the instrumentality of in- 
haling remedies. In doing this, I claim an 
achievement of priceless worth to suffering 
humanity; one that will exert an influence 
for good in all coming time, and which will 
compel High Physic to take an advanced 
step in the practice of medicine, more in 
consonance with the common-sense and 
spirit of the age. 
Simply inhaling remedies will not in- 
sure the results desired. The whole ques- 
tion turns upon the skill, the observation, 
and experience of the physician, in adapt- 
ing proper remedies in the gaseous state, 
to control diseased conditions of the lungs 
and air passages. Experience has demon- 
strated that the practice of inhaling medi- 
cine through hot water is attended with 
injurious results, in all cases where there 
is much constitutional debility or expectora- 
tion from the lungs. The remedies found 
to be most effective in arresting and curing 
pulmonary disease consist of balsams, 
gums, resins, oils, and volatile chemicals. 
These can not be reduced to a vaporous 
condition by hot water, and therefore can 
not be used in the hot-water flask of Dr. 
Mudge, which is still found in the 
service of itinerant inhalists, who travel 
through the country, imposing their miser- 
able pretensions upon the sick and unin- 
formed. Indeed, if it were possible to 
employ this class of remedies in this way, 
the heat and moisture of the menstrum 
would not only neutralize their influence, 
but also induce a fatal debility in the 
patient. Hot water inhalants are therefore 
very unreliable, and, in a large majority of 
cases, not to be preferred to the practice of 
pouring medicines into the stomach. As a 
specialty, this mode of treatment is con- 
fined to itinerants—men who, gipsey-like, 
travel over the country, plying their voca- 
tion in search of patients, and extorting 
enormous fees for their pretended occult 
skill. 
It has come to my knowledge that many 60 
of this class of people represent themselves 
as practicing my system of treatment, and 
thereby obtain employment. I would in- 
form the public that all such are impostors, 
so far as the preceding statement is im- 
plied. One mendacious fellow by the name 
of Hunter, who publishes another man’s 
letters over his own name, and announces 
himself as Dr. Hunter from New York, out- 
doing all the rest in lying, declares himself 
my instructor. It is only necessary to state 
that these fellows are all of a kin in their 
infamous business, and that, having no 
merit of their own, they seek by misrepre- 
sentation to appropriate the merit of others 
to subserve their own selfish purposes. As 
a general rule, it may be safely inferred 
that the physician who can cure consump- 
tion, asthma, bronchitis, loss of voice, and 
other diseases of the nose, throat, and lungs, 
need not travel to find patients upon whom 
to demonstrate his ability. Sufferers will 
seek such a man, and give him legitimate 
fame and reward. 
In contradistinction to these pretenders, 
I would say that I have been located in 
Cincinnati eight years, and have selected 
it as my permanent place of residence; 
that I have treated thousands of persons, in 
all parts of the United States and Canada, 
for pulmonary disease during that time, 
and that a large majority of these have 
been cured j that I have never taught my 
treatment as a system to any man; and 
that, instead of hot, humid vapor, I employ 
dry, medicated air, at the temperature of 
the atmosphere. 
I claim to have successfully treated by 
cool inhaled remedies consumption, asth- 
ma, bronchitis, catarrh, loss of voice, and 
other diseases of the nose, throat, and 
lungs, after all other tried remedies had 
failed. 
I will here give reference to some of these 
cases, and in order to substantiate this claim 
the following notice, which appeared in the 
columns of the Free Nation of this city, 
forms an appropriate introduction to the 
TES TIMONIALS. 
To ascertain the truth of the following corre- 
spondence, which had been questioned by a co- 
temporary publisher, we called upon Mr. Glass 
at his banking house on Third Street, one day 
this week, and made known the object of our 
visit. We were treated very politely, and were 
informed that the letter was written by him as 
stated, in answer to Mr. Watkin’s note of inquiry, 
and that its statements were simply true. Mr. G. 
authorized us to say, in justice to Dr. Wolfe’s sys- 
tem of treatment, that he had saved his life, and 
that Dr. Wolfe was tin able physician, a courteous 
gentleman, and an honorable man. We have 
gone to this trouble to protect our readers against 
imposition, as well as to do justice to Dr. Wolfe, 
and can assure all that the Doctor’s references 
in this city are most honorable and reliable 
people.—Ed. Free Nation. 
Asthma Cured. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Cincinnati, Jan. 10, 1862. 
Geo. C. Glass, Esq. : 
Deab Sih—I have heard your name mentioned 
several times, among a number of prominent 
citizens, who have been benefited for asthma by 
Dr. Wolfe’s treatment by Medicated Inhalation. 
Would you recommend this treatment to others 
suffering from this disease ? and to what extent 
have you found relief by using his Medicated In- 
halation ? 
Please answer and oblige, among many others, 
Yours, very truly, Henby Watkin, 
139 West Third Street. 
REPLY. 
Banking House of Geo. 0. Glass & Co., 
No. 30 West Third Street, 
Cincinnati, Jan. 12, 1862. 
Henby Watkin, Esq.—Your favor of the 10th 
inst., inquiring to what extent I have been bene- 
fited by Dr. Wolfe’s treatment, and whether I 
would recommend it to others suffering from 
asthma, is received. In reply I would say, I have 
received much benefit from using Dr. Wolfe’s 
remedies; and what he has done for me I doubt 
not he can do for others. 
I have been troubled for the past fifteen years 
with asthma which invariably made its appearance 
in the fall of the year, and continued through the 
winter and spring. Last fall it came on with 
more than usual violence in all its symptoms. I 
called on Dr. Wolfe, and put myself under his 
treatment by Medicated Inhalation, and received 
relief immediately, and in one week my breath- 
ing was entirely free. I continued his treatment, 
however, for six weeks, under his advice, when 
I discontinued it, not feeling the slightest neces- 
sity for using it longer. It is now more than five 
months since I used his treatment, and have 
passed through the season during which I usually 61 
suffered most, but without any symptoms of my 
old complaint returning. I think I may now con- 
sider myself cured. 
I have no hesitation whatever in recommend- 
ing Dr. Wolfe’s treatment to persons suffering 
from asthma, or any other form of throat or lung 
complaint, and feel satisfied that any one using it 
will soon be of the same opinion as 
Very respectfully, yours, 
Geo. C. Glass. 
Three years have elapsed since the above 
letter was written, and up to the present 
time, 1865, Mr. Glass has had no return of 
asthma. Is not this “ a victory fairly 
won ? ” 
last all conceded that I was looking better— 
looking more natural, gaining flesh, aye, and 
strength too. My appetite returned, and again 
I felt like a newly-risen man, after shaking off 
the slumbers of the night. «New vigor, new 
strength, seemed to stream through my organi- 
zation ; and all this was accomplished without using 
one grain of medicine through the stomach. 
I continued your treatment three months, 
since which time, now almost two years, I have 
used nothing in the form of medicine. My health 
to-day is better than it has been for years. 1 
have steadily gained in flesh, and am feeling 
well. 
I do not hesitate to ascribe my recovery to 
your treatment, and never fail to speak of it with 
commendation to others. 
I am, very truly, your friend, 
W. Huie. 
Mr. Huie is now in the enjoyment of ex- 
cellent health, and is daily attending to 
his business on Walnut Street. 
The writer of the following letter is a 
well-known wholesale merchant in this 
city, of the firm of IIuie, Wallace & Co., 
on Walnut Street: 
Consumption Cured. 
104 Walnut Street, 
Cincinnati, Jan. 8, 1863. 
A very intelligent young lady, in an ad- 
vanced stage of pulmonary disease, pre- 
sents the following testimony in favor of 
Medicated Inhalation: 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I have been frequently called upon 
in person, and many times written to, by persons 
interested in your mode of treating diseases of 
the nose, throat, and lungs, and asked for my 
opinion respecting its merits and claims to public 
confidence and favor. Of course I could only tell 
such what my experience has been, and there I have 
submitted the matter for their decision. I now 
deem it but an act of justice to you, and a debt I 
owe the public, to say publicly what I have hith- 
erto limited to personal detail. 
About two years ago I found myself in very 
poor health. I had previously consulted several 
physicians of this city, reputed eminent for their 
skill, and placed myself under their professional 
care. My condition was considered by them, as 
well as my friends, to be consumption in an ad- 
vanced stage, and this was my conviction also. I 
was medicated in the usual way, and as usual 
found myself gradually losing flesh and strength. 
My recovery was thought very doubtful, and that 
was the most favorable opinion entertained of my 
case. 
By the advice of some friends, who heard of 
your success in treating consumption, I was in- 
duced to place myself under your management 
and treatment. I was soon sensible of the fact 
that the disease which was making sad work with 
my lungs, day by day, was checked. New hope 
began to dawn. I saw the interest you took in 
my welfare, and I again felt inspired with the 
conviction that 1 would regain my health. 
Friends shook their heads doubtingly, but at 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Sir—I owe you an apology for neglecting 
to write so long, but had I written sooner, per- 
haps, I could not have given you so good an 
account of myself as I now can. I now feel en- 
tire confidence in you as a physician, and am 
fully prepared to recommend your system of 
treating consumption by Medicated Inhalation. 
When I first wrote you, and gave a description 
of my case as nearly as I oould, I had very little 
confidence in any treatment for consumption— 
though yours appeared to be the most reasona- 
ble—and thought another trial would only incur 
needless expense and secure no real benefit. 
But could you have seen me as I was then, and 
see me as I am now, you would know better than 
I can tell you how happily I am disappointed. 
It was in July last that I sent to you for the 
medicine, and I had not then sat up all day since 
the preceding 22d of February, nor had I walked 
any since that time. Now I do not think of rest- 
ing in the bed from morning till night, and I can 
walk two miles without inconvenience. I do not 
know the exact condition my lungs were in at 
the time, but I coughed almost constantly, and 
raised a great deal of matter. My chest was 
sunken and compressed, and my lungs were so 
weak that I found it extremely difficult to talk 
much. My cough has now entirely subsided. 
Whitneyville, Kent Co., Michigan, 
November 19, 1862. 62 
I do not raise any matter. I can talk and sing 
without difficulty, and my chest is full, and my 
lungs seem to be expanded, • * * I have en- 
deavored to inform you how much you have ben- 
efited me by your treatment, and feel that I owe 
my life, through the blessing of God, to you. 
You will ever be remembered with gratitude by 
Mary J. Butler. 
Six months after writing the above letter 
Miss Butler again informs me : 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir— * * * My friends often tell me 
I never looked so healthy, and indeed I never 
felt so well, as I have done this spring. I can 
hardly realize myself the same person of a year 
ago. Then I was given up to die, and looked for- 
ward to an early grave; now my general health 
is good, and I can enter with energy and enjoy- 
ment upon the duties of every-day life. I am 
indebted to you for all this, and my friends join 
me in thanking you for your kindness, and the 
interest you have manifested in my welfare. 
On the 1st of March, 1864, Miss Butler 
again writes to an invalid in Michigan, Mr. 
John Barker, who had written to her for 
information respecting her experience with 
the treatment, as follows: 
To be personal, I will say my lungs were dis- 
eased in both lower lobes ; the upper lobe of the 
left lung had tubercles to a considerable extent, 
and the upper lobe of the right lung was als* 
slightly diseased. I used two months’ treatment, 
and reduced Dr. Wolfe’s book on Hygiene, and 
all the knowledge I previously possessed of 
physiology, to rigorous practice, and through the 
additional blessings of a kind Providence I was 
restored to excellent health. 
I am fully convinced, from my own experience 
in your system of treatment for lung diseases, 
that Medicated Inhalation will do what has never 
been accomplished by dosing through the stom- 
ach, viz: cure consumption. 
Seven months ago my health failed me, and I 
grew so feeble that my physician said it was 
utterly impossible that I could recover it again— 
an opinion in which my friends also shared. I 
had had several copious hemorrhages from the 
lungs, and expectorated from a pint to three half 
pints of bloody, rusty-colored matter per dny. 
My physician said I could not live two weeks. Under 
such circumstances I commenced your treat- 
ment, which, with the providence of God assist- 
ing, has restored me again to comparative good 
health. 
I am canvassing the neighborhood, and distrib- 
uting your books among those who seem to have 
lung disease. I owe this service to you in part, 
but principally to those who suffer, that they may 
know how to be made whole again. 
Very truly yours, 
Thomas G. Milligan. 
Catarrh and Bronchitis of Bong Standing 
Cured in One Month. 
The writer of the following letter is a 
highly educated gentleman, and was for- 
merly an officer in the U. S. Navy, but was 
compelled to resign his commission on ac- 
count of bad health: 
Isabella City, Mich., May 4, 18G4. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Sir—In 1844 I had a severe attack of 
lung fever, from which, through the mercies of 
my Heavenly Father, I partially recovered, after 
a painful illness of many weeks. Since that time 
I have suffered constantly with my lungs and 
throat, with what I apprehend to be bronchitis 
and catarrh. Of late these had become very 
troublesome, and my general health very much 
impaired. I have tried the best skill and the 
most approved remedies, but the more medicine 
I swallowed into the stomach, the worse my con- 
dition became. 
I saw your advertisement in a Chicago paper, 
proposing to cure these diseases by inhaling 
medicated air. The plan looked reasonable, and 
I became inspired with hope. I have, for many 
years past, been an unbeliever in taking medicine 
into the stomach for the cure of diseased lungs. 
I sent for your treatment, and have now used it 
one month fairly, and am happy to inform you of 
its success in reaching and removing my disease 
from the nose, throat, and lungs, an-' doing me 
more general good than all the medicines I have 
ever taken into my stomach heretofore. My 
Here is a letter from an intelligent gen- 
tleman, who was pronounced hopelessly in- 
curable with consumption, and who was 
told by his physician that “he could not 
live two weeks.” Read his letter, and write 
to him if you doubt its genuineness. 
Consumption Cured. 
Somerset, Warren Co., Iowa, 
June C, 1863. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—I have waited to see the effects of 
your treatment fairly before writing you the 
results. I have used but half of the second 
month’s treatment, and find myself so much im- 
proved in health that I will not, I think, require 
any more. 63 
general health is as good as could be expected 
or hoped for at my age, and my relief has been 
so great, that I think it needless to send for 
another month’s treatment. I am well. 
I sincerely recommend your treatment to the 
afflicted every-where, who are laboring under any 
form of disease of the throat, nose, and lungs. 
I arn, with sincere regard, yours truly, 
Hobatio Brooks. 
ter of inquiry. * * * Allow me now to assure 
you of my esteem for you, both as a gentleman 
and physician; and say that I feel indebted to 
you for the recovery of my health. 
From the time I commenced your treatment 
till now, 1 read aloud, sing, and preach with per- 
fect ease. When I put myself under your treat- 
ment, I could not sing at all, and could not speak 
without pain. I have frequently commended you 
to my associates in the ministry and others, and 
can cordially commend you to all. 
I wish you the highest success in your humane 
and noble profession. I am, with sincere regard, 
Yours, very truly, T. E. Hughes. 
The writer of the following letter will be 
recognized by a large number of personal 
friends, who will be gratified to hear of his 
recovery. Mr. Tucker is now a citizen of 
Indianapolis, from which place, in a recent 
letter, he says: “I do n’t know but I will 
open an intelligence office for answering 
letters of inquiry about your treatment and 
the truthfulness of my certificate.” 
Tipton, Indiana, Oct. 23, 1863. 
N. B. Wolfe, M. D., Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Sir—Your letter inquiring to what extent 
I had been benefited from your treatment has 
been received. I will just say that I have been 
troubled for the last five years with disease of the 
throat and lungs. Early last spring I had con- 
siderable bleeding from the lungs, my voice 
failed, and at times I could not speak above my 
breath. My friends told me that I could not live 
long. I had about despaired of ever again having 
my health. I made up my mind to try your 
remedies, I must say without much faith, as 
every thing else failed to render me any relief. 
I have only used two months’ of your treatment, 
and I think I am about well. I can do as hard a 
day’s work as ever. My general health is good. 
I have no hesitation in recommending your 
remedies to the suffering, as I feel satisfied that 
any one using it will soon be of the same opinion. 
Any one wishing any further information from 
me can have it by writing to me. 
Yours, respectfully, Joshua Tucker. 
Sore Throat and Ilemorrnage Cured. 
Reading, March 18, 1863. 
Db. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir— When it is remembered 
that my diseases (sore throat and hemorrhage 
from the lungs) were brought upon me by teach- 
ing, my improvement under your treatment is 
the more remarkable, as I have lost no time 
from performing my school duties while employ- 
ing it. 
I am frequently called upon for information 
about your treatment, and am compelled to re- 
peat the story of my illness, treatment, and re- 
covery to each inquirer. To those who have 
lung disease, I say try Dr. Wolfe and his Medi- 
cated Air; it is certainly better than swallowing 
drugs into the stomach. Go see him or write to 
him; I believe he will help you, if not cure. I 
tell them not to depend upon any thing which is 
given through the stomach, for such medicines 
never reach the air-tubes or lungs, etc. 
You have for your success my best wishes. 
S. Burnside. 
Extract of a letter written by the Rev. 
I. N. Shepherd, of Muncie, Indiana, who 
was under treatment for sore throat and 
partial loss of voice: 
Sore Throat and Loss of Voice Cured, 
Muncie, Feb. 20, 1862. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Sib—My throat was so much affected, that 
ordinary conversation, in a low tone, in my family, 
was painful; it was extremely difficult to attend 
to reading a short paragraph in the Bible, and a 
brief prayer, in our morning or evening worship. 
But this has mainly passed away. I can talk as 
usual—lead in prayer, preach a short sermon, in 
moderate tone of voice, without any other diffi- 
culty than a slight sense of fatigue or relaxation 
in the throat; and I am much less nervous. In 
short, I am very much better—more benefited 
The following letters, written by two 
well-known gentlemen in this city and 
county—the first a highly esteemed clergy- 
man, (Old-school Presbyterian), and the 
other a teacher—will be read with interest 
by their numerous friends and acquaint- 
ances : 
Sore Throat and Loss of Voice Cured. 
Springdale, Hamilton Co., 0., 1 
March 26, 1863. J 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Sir—I have just returned from the army 
before Vicksburg, and find on my table your let- 64 
than I thought it best to express in my previous 
correspondence with yourself or Dr. Monfort, as 
I wished to have time to prove the benefit lasting. 
Mr. Shepherd, one month later, writes : 
I am still improving; there is still a little secre- 
tion on the back part of my throat, but it is nearly 
gone. I preach once on Sabbath, without incon- 
venience, and will soon resume my second serv- 
ice. I consider myself in a fair way of soon 
-eaching my usual standard of health. 
Since which time I have not heard from 
aim. 
apothecary shop of my stomach. <■ * * The 
result is, I am in better health to-day than I 
have been for many years'. I am doing more 
hard labor than any hand I have on my farm; 
and am worth four men such as I was when I put 
myself under your treatment. * * <■ 
I met Mr. J. Q. Peck a day or two ago, the 
gentleman you are now treating in this place for 
an old standing lung disease, and the first saluta- 
tion he gave me, was to express his gratification 
at the effects of your treatment upon his health. 
“Why,” said he, “every time I use that little 
Inhaler I feel new power, and new life, and new 
manhood in my whole system and he seems 
to think he will need no more treatment after his 
present supply of medicine is exhausted. 
“ Is it not wonderfhl,” said he, “ that after 
spending more than a thousand dollars with the stom- 
ach-drugging quaclts of the land these last ten years, 
that I should regain my health in one month’s time by 
using Medicated Inhalation t” 
This I have from his own lips. * * * 
Yours, truly, Reuben Cecil. 
A. Minnesota Farmer, 
Special attention is invited to the state- 
ments in the following letters from an in- 
telligent farmer, whose lungs were thought 
to be in a hopeless condition of disease. 
After using Medicated Air for three months, 
Mr. Cecil writes: 
Hastings, Dacotah Co., Minn., 1 
September 19, 1803. J 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I owe you an apology for neglecting 
you so long. My health is so much improved, 
that further treatment I do not think is neces- 
sary. The happy results of your treatment in 
my case must ever recommend it as preferable 
to all others for throat and lung diseases. When 
I contrast my present condition of health with 
what it was when I began your treatment, I can 
scarcely realize the truth as it is. I have no 
more of that burning or offensive discharge; and 
can take in a full inspiration, without experi- 
encing that fatigue from the effort, that I for- 
merly did. 
I have spoken without reserve in favor of you 
and your treatment, among my neighbors ; and I 
am happy to hear that Mr. Milton Keith, who I 
recommended to try your treatment for a very 
bad lung disease, about a month ago, is so much 
improved in health by your treatment as to be 
encouraged to continue it another month. 
Having no apparent use for further treatment, I 
wish to thank you for what you have done for me, 
and wish you every success in your noble calling. 
Your friend, Reuben Cecil. 
Mr. Cecil again writes under date of 
July 22, 1864: 
* * o * “Four years ago several physicians 
of Indiana pronounced my disease Consumption, 
nnd said I could live but a few weeks. They 
fed me on cod-liver oil until I got disgusted with 
both them and their quack remedy. My head 
and my stomach both revolted at making an 
I wish to call special attention to the fol- 
lowing case, as evincing the power of this 
system of treatment in arresting Consump- 
tion in the most advanced stage. We will 
give the patient’s own language, both in 
stating his case and respecting the progress 
of treatment: 
Consumption in its X7iird Stage Cured, 
EUcador, Clayton Co., Iowa, 
June 1, 18C2. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I wish to consult you respecting my 
health, which is very poor indeed. I have a very 
had cough, and raise large quantities of rotten 
matter, mixed with blood, from my lungs, a 
great deal of pain and soreness in my chest, and 
suffer also with my bowels and stomach. I have 
at different times thrown up a teacupful of rotten 
and otfensive matter, and two or three mouthfuls 
of clear blood, in two or three minutes time. I 
am very much reduced in flesh, and so weak 
that I can scarcely stand upon my feet. My ap- 
petite is gone, and I feel that life is drawing in 
its curtains to envelope me in shades of endless 
night. * « * Can you do any thing for me ? 
Yours, truly, Henry Brown. 
Hopeless as this case seemed, I forwarded 
treatment to Mr. Brown, and was plearsed 
to hear of steady improvement taking 
place, as he reported progress from time to 
time. At the end of his month’s treatment 
he wrote again : 65 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—Please find inclosed for another 
month’s treatment the amount of your fee, and 
forward immediately. My present supply will 
barely suffice until the new supply arrives. I am 
happy to be able to report favorably of your 
treatment in my case. I am doing as well as 1 had 
hoped to do, and much better than I expected 
when I commenced using your medicine. One 
month ago I could walk but a few rods; I was 
so feeble. I can now walk a mile with less fa- 
tigue. My lungs are growing strong, and free 
from pain. I do not expectorate so much, and I 
have seen very little blood since I commenced 
inhaling. Yours, gratefully, 
Henry Brown. 
In ordering his third month’s treatment, 
under date of August 29, 1862, Mr. Brown 
communicated the following gratifying in- 
telligence of his case: 
I am still improving. My general health is as 
good as it has been for several years. I have dis- 
charged a piece of my lungs half an inch square, 
but do not spit one-fourth as much as I did when 
I commenced using your medicine. I feel that 
my lungs are healing, and new life is streaming 
through them day by day. I don’t cough much 
now ; the rotten matter and blood that I formerly 
discharged in such profuse quantities has almosv 
entirely subsided and disappeared ; my appetite 
has again returned, and I have gained over ten 
pounds in weight in one month, though I don’t 
usually gain flesh in summer time. For the last 
three weeks I have been hard at work, and can 
do a pretty good day’s work, too. I feel well, but 
send me another month’s treatment, etc. 
One year after the above was written, 
Mr. Brown again wrote me to this effect: 
My cough has entirely gone, and I have ceased 
to spit any thing of a bad character. I will not 
forget my obligations to you for this great serv- 
ice. 
Mr. Brown is an intelligent farmer, who 
doubtless would take pleasure in giving in- 
formation to his neighbors of my treatment 
in his case. 
Elkador, Clayton Co., Iowa, 
July 23, 1862. 
to the lungs h»s left me entirely, and 1 am in 
hopes never to return. My head and throat feel 
natural again. You will never know how grate- 
ful I am for the services you have rendered me 
in this matter. May Providence guide and guard 
you in your noble mission to the afflicted every- 
where. 
My husband has derived very much benefit 
also from the use of your treatment. His asthma 
has been of such long standing, that he can not 
think it possible ever to get entirely well; still, 
since using your treatment, he has been able to 
labor every day, and has very seldom any 
“spells.” What he has is very light in com- 
parison to what they used to be, and do not con- 
tinue half as long. He joins in my good wishes 
for your success. 
The golden rule teaches us to “ do to others as 
we would be done by.” I am circulating your 
books among the afflicted in this neighborhood, 
and thus shedding light into dark places. All 
seem, who have read them, satisfied with the 
theory of your treatment; while myself and hus- 
band are witnesses of its power to control dis- 
ease. * * 
We join in wishing you God-speed in your be- 
nevolent labor; and for your personal welfare 
you have the best wishes of 
Mrs. Catherine Near. 
Mrs. Near writes again on April 11, '65 ; 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—We received yours of the 3d inst., 
and it becomes our duty to acknowledge your 
kind services. Your mediciue had a wonderfully 
good effect on my disease ; my throat and head 
are entirely well, and 1 ascribe the cure wholly to 
your treatment. I feel under great and renewed 
obligations to you for the interest you have mani- 
fested in my welfare—your prompt attention, ten- 
der Christian-like spirit, and untiring patience. 
May heaven’s richest blessings ever attend you 
in all your acts of kindness and charity to suffer- 
ing humanity. We have the fullest confidence 
in you and your treatment, and will ever recom- 
mend it to all. Many in our neighborhood are 
now convinced that yours is the only proper way 
of treating disease of the lungs and throat. 
With much respect, C. Near 
Since the above was written, I have 
received another letter from Mrs. Near, 
dated August 11, 1865, from which I ex- 
tract the following : 
I would embrace the present opportunity to 
again thank you for the services you rendered 
me in my hour of need. I have no pleasure, no 
enjoyment, arising from good health, for which 1 
am not indebted, through Providence, to your 
wise counsels and timely aid. At present my 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—My month’s treatment is now con- 
cluded, and it gives me very much pleasure to 
communicate to you the result thereof. The 
disease which I have had in my nose and throat 
for years, and which seemed gradually extending 
Le Roy, Oenessce Co., N. T., } 
September 17, 1804. J 66 
health is better than it has been for many years, 
and I can see no reason why it should not con- 
tinue. I am frequently recurring to your words 
of admonition and advice: “Remember, my 
dear friend, that the laws of health are founded 
in eternal principles of justice, not mercy, which 
it is your duty to understand and obey; that 
treatment, even though entirely successful in 
restoring your health, does not iron-clad your 
constitution, so as to prevent its failing again, 
when you transgress these divinely established 
laws of your being.” These words of wisdom 
have created a lasting impression upon my mind, 
and serve as a safeguard not to permit me to 
transgress the laws that regulate human life. I 
thank you for them, especially as they were 
brave, good words, spoken in season by a kind, 
judicious friend and counselor. * * * I have 
several times been written to by strangers, to 
know whether my testimony in your book was 
authentic, and whether, if so, I would recom- 
mend your treatment to others; one of these, a 
lady from New Jersey—Mrs. E. H. To all such I 
give a positive affirmation; and why should I 
not, if I wish to be truthful ? •> » * 
My neighbor, Mr. C., has been in bad health 
for some time, and by being swindled by a trav- 
eling doctor, has lost confidence in all physicians. 
1 advised him to try your treatment. He hesi- 
tates, and yet he says, “ I am convinced Dr. 
Wolfe’s treatment has helped Mr. Near; for I 
have watched him very close on the farm, and 
think he does as much work as any hired muti 
he has.” 
tween my fingers to find the sore spot. I do not 
have to snuff and hawk as before. 
Yours, respectfully, E. W. Thompson. 
Mrs. S. C. Fowler, of Berkshire, Dela- 
ware County, Ohio, had been in bad health 
for a year, and had every symptom which 
usually attends the first stage of consump- 
tion. She procured treatment, and wrote 
as follows, under date of 
Berkshire, Feb. 13, 1803. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—It is four weeks since I commenced 
using your treatment, and I am happy to say, I 
have steadily improved in health ever since. 
On the 10th of March, she writes 
I feel like a new being, andean not tell you how 
much I thank you for your good offices to me. I 
feel so well, that I do not think it will be neces- 
sary to continue treatment longer than the cur- 
rent month. Several of my neighbors w;;i 
doubtless call upon you soon, or perhaps write 
for treatment. They now think there is a cure 
for all diseases, since you have proven that con- 
sumption can be cured. 
Mrs. F. again writes, September 24, 1863 : 
My health was never better than it has been all 
this summer, up to the present time. You ask 
permission to make a public reference to my 
case. I have no desire to appear before the pub- 
lic, but for the sake of the suffering and afflicted, 
I cheerfully give the permission you ask. 
Catarrh and Sore Throat. 
An intelligent gentleman and well-known 
merchant, afflicted with catarrh and sore 
throat, wrote from 
The following letter from Mr. H. K. 
Steele, cashier of the Albia Bank, Albia, 
Monroe County, Iowa, will explain itself: 
Albia, Deposit Dank, Sept. 12, 1803. 
Da. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Sir—Your treatment having cured me in 
four weeks, of a bronchial affection of long stand- 
ing, I have recommended my neighbor, Mr. 
Hardesty, who is similarly afflicted, to try it. 
Inclosed you will please find a statement of his 
health in your circular; also your fee for one 
one month’s treatment. 
Very truly, yours, H. K. Steele. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—My throat has been quite sore since 
last March. For the last week it has pained me 
more than ever before—the pain is most severe 
about the Adam’s-apple, and keeps me snuffing 
and hawking to keep it clear. I appear to take 
cold in my head and throat very easy. If my 
disease is a curable one by your system, I would 
like to place myself under your treatment. 
Yours, truly, E. W. Thompson. 
Mr. T. is a model correspondent for brev- 
ity. His last note I publish entire : 
Washington, Daviess Co., Ind., 
May 27, 1863. 
Such letters as the foregoing and follow- 
ing, announcing the happy results of our 
efforts, when all hope of recovery of the 
patient had fled, fall upon the life of a 
physician, in his struggles to establish a 
true principle, with a cheering and sustain- 
ing influence, and encourage us to persevere 
to the end in our duty to our fellow-man. 
iVashington, Daviess Co., Ind., 
September 21, 1863. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
My throat has improved so much, that I feel 
almost well. I have to press the wind-pipe be- 67 
liaiscd from Med, 
Channahan, Will. Co., 111.,' 
April 20, 18G2. 
Shall 1 keep on with the medicine, or shall I 
only use it when I feel the symptoms of the dis- 
ease. Yours, very truly, 
John Harrison. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Sir—* * * My lungs are in a very bad con- 
dition. Inhaling causes me to raise very bad 
stuff from them; my cough is dreadful. I am 
obliged to be raised up in bed every time I cough. 
o << I raise a yellow matter, which remains 
in a jagged mass; it has a sweetish taste, and 
often makes me vomit to raise it. When I cough 
the water will sometimes run out of my mouth 
in a stream. My only hope for recovery 
is in your treatment; if that (ails, I can not live 
a year. I know God can cure all sickness, but 
he makes use of means. 
Mrs. L. A. Bennett. 
This lady patient soon began to improve 
in the condition of her health, from the 
treatment prescribed, and after two months 
felt well enough to intermit any further 
professional attention, as the following let- 
ter will show: 
‘..mnahau, July 6, 1862. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Sir—My health is very much better than when 
1 last wrote you. I am now able to keep busy 
most of the time, and am doing my own house- 
work, with the exception of ironing. My girl left 
me a week ago to be married, and I have done 
about as well without help as with. * * * My 
cough is very much better—some days I do not 
cough at all; and others I cough a few minutes 
and raise a little phlegm. 
I shall ever be grateful to you for the assistance 
rendered me, and should my lungs again trouble 
me, I will again consult you. 
Respectfully yours, 
Luthkra A. Bennett. 
Asthma Cured, 
Mr. Truman D. Oliver was afflicted with 
asthma for fourteen years. When he ap- 
plied for treatment, he wrote: 
Memphis, St. Clair Co., Michigan, i 
February 26, 1863. J 
Du. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—Herewith I inclose you the circular 
containing answers to your questions, and your 
fee for one month’s treatment, which you will 
please forward without delay. 1 would say that 
I take cold very easy, and every time I take cold 
I have very had attacks of the asthma. I have 
had it over fourteen years, and scarcely kuow 
what it is to be ever free from it. My lungs seem 
to swell at such times, and it is impossible for me 
to lie down at nights, except a couple of hours in 
the morning. Frequently, for three or four 
nights at a time, I am obliged to sit up all the 
time without any sleep, only as I gasp it in 
“snatches,” as I lean forward with my elbows on 
my knees, resting my head in my hands You 
can not tell, sir, how much 1 suffer w i a this 
dreadful disease. 
Yours, in hope, T. D. Oliver. 
Mr. 0. wrote again on the 13th of March : 
The night I received your treatment, I was 
suffering very much for want of breath ; I com- 
menced using it at once according to your direc- 
tions, and, thank God, was instantly relieved. 
Mr. Oliver again wrote on the 27th of 
May following: 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—To-day my neighbor, Mr. Francis 
Howe, called upon me to inqulTe what effect your 
treatment had upon my asthma, when I used it 
last March. He was satisfied from seeing me, 
and hearing me talk, that I was cured, and will 
shortly send you a statement of his condition for 
treatment. 
I suppose, my good doctor, you thought 
strange that I did not write to you again after my 
first month’s treatment was out; but as I believe 
you have effected a perfect cure, as far as I can 
judge, in my case, I did not think it wortn while 
to do so. 
I have given up the use of tobacco and feather 
pillows, and am gaining in flesh. My appetite is 
first-rate, and I can do as much work on the farm 
now as any man in this country, and do not losu 
breath as 1 used to. 
Yours, truly, T. D. Oliver. 
Fetter from an Asthmat. 
Delta, Fulton Co., O., October 2, 1863. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—When I suffered so severely with 
bloating, and wheezing, and hard breathing last 
March, your treatment in a few days gave me 
entire relief, and I have had no return of it since, 
until I wrote you again for more treatment, a few 
days ago. Since I received I have been using it 
according to directions, and with the same happy 
result. Your treatment seems to answer my 
case better than any I have ever tried. Before 
using it, I could not lie down at nights, nor was 1 
able to do any thing, from shortness of breath. 
I am now entirely free from all these symptoms, 
can sleep soundly without being disturbed, and 
am at work every day. 68 
“ To far advanced for any Treatment to 
reach,” and yet Saved by Medicated In- 
halation. 
In most of the cases for which treatment 
is sought, the patient is in the most ad- 
vanced stage of the disease, or has been 
given up to die by the home physician, and 
Inhalation is resorted to simply as an ex- 
periment—a forlorn hope. Instances are 
numerous, in my practice, where the order 
for treatment has been countermanded by 
the next mail, as the patient died a few 
hours after the order was dispatched. 
These facts should disarm harsh criticism, 
or at least modify the opinions of those 
who pronounce Medicated Inhalation a 
failure, and its advocates as empirics. 
The following communications from Dr. 
R. Peregrine, an intelligent and liberal- 
minded physician of Oakland, Spencer 
County, Indiana, will illustrate several 
things in which the reader may be inter- 
ested. He writes : 
March 22, 1804. 
Db. N B. Wolfe: 
Df.a i Sib—Several years ago I was in corre- 
spond nee with you, in reference to your system 
of treating diseases of the lungs by Medicated 
Inhalation. It then had my confidence, and I 
have no reason to withhold it now. Nevertheless, 
I am not so sanguine as you are, and will be con- 
tent if you can accomplish one-tenth the good 
which you say your treatment will confer on 
your fellow-man. I am fully satisfied that the or- 
dinary mode of medication in the treatment of 
consumption is almost, if not entirely, futile. 
I have now under my charge a patient that 
has tubercular disease of the lungs. It is, I 
am afraid, too far advanced for any treatment to 
reach. The tubercles have softened and broken 
down, and there has been a copious expectora- 
tion of bloody matter. Her strength is very 
much reduced, and she is incapable of sitting up 
but for a few minutes each day. Her cough is 
very troublesome, her breath oppressive, and her 
(ever and night-sweats quite severe. She has 
been confined to her room two months, though I 
have been attending her but one month. My 
ti ■•atment has kept up the strength a little, but 
I know she will sink again. She is fifty-six years 
old. 
Regardless of the adverse views of other mem- 
bers of the profession, I have recommended 
your treatment to the patient and her friends, 
and they have concluded to try it. 
Respectfully, 
R. Pf.bf.obine. 
This case was reported for treatment, and 
I forwarded at once the inhaler and balms, 
besides some constitutional treatment, and 
hygienic directions; with what result, I 
will extract from Dr. Peregrine’s letters to 
show, as he continued to supervise the 
treatment as it progressed : 
May 27.—Your inhaling balm helps her cough 
very much, I think, and the patient thinks so 
herself, tier expectoration is very light, and 
has had no blood in it for three weeks. Can you 
send something to check the evening fever and 
the night-sweats ? 
June 8.—I called to see your patient, Mrs. 
Schrode, to-day, and found her quite cheerful 
and hopeful. She certainly seems better. She 
is stronger, and her night-sweats have subsided 
entirely. She still expectorates a good deal of 
matter, and lately it has been streaked some 
with blood. Some slight pain in the chest. * * 
Please send another month’s treatment. 
July 8.—I have neglected to report regularly 
the condition of your patient, but will do so in 
the future. Mrs. Schrode is very much improved 
in her general health, and all are entertaining 
high hopes that your treatment will effect a final 
cure. The fever, and night-sweats, and cough 
have all grown beautifully less, though the ex- 
pectoration still shows blood. * * * Several 
persons afflicted with asthma have spoken to me 
about your treatment, and I think they will put 
themselves under your care. 
July 29.—Your last treatment has been in use 
one week, and, to use the patient’s own language, 
“ with the exception of a slight pain in my side, 
which may have come from riding on horseback, 
I am as well as I have been for years. I have no 
cough, no expectoration, no fever, no night- 
sweats, and have strength to ride five miles and 
back again without exhaustion.” The patient Is 
pleased, her husband is pleased, and I am 
pleased with this result of your treatment; and 
let me say, in conclusion, that I have entire confi- 
dence in your plan of treating disease of the 
lungs of a chronic nature, and am thoroughly 
convinced that Medicated Inhalation has accom- 
plished far more in the present case than the 
ordinary means of medication ever could. The 
ordinary means had been tried by other physi- 
cians before the case came under my care, for 
nearly two months, and all had failed to produce 
the satisfactory result that your treatment has. 
August 29.—Mrs. Schrode has now finished her 
third month’s treatment, and says her health is 
better than it has been for several years. She 
will, therefore, require no more for the present. 
October 7.—So long as I have the confidence in 69 
Inhalation for the treatment of chronic diseases 
of the lungs that I now have, I will speak without 
reserve in its praise, and proclaim it worthy of 
the most respectful and favorable consideration 
of thoughtful and scientific men. 
a pound every two days. I am also looking much 
better than I did. 
My aunt is so far gone with consumption, that 
if something extraordinary is not done for her 
soon, she will die. She says, if your treatment 
would do as much for her in two months as it has 
done for me in one, it would be wonderful; still 
she hesitates to put herself under your treat- 
ment, because she does not like to spend the 
money. Her husband and I tried to reason her 
out of such ideas. He tells her that he is per- 
fectly willing to meet such bills as yours. He 
thinks you can cure her; for, in his opinion, any 
doctor that cau operate so successfully upon a 
dead man (my sobriquet before I went to you) 
can cure his wife. He really thought, when I 
set out to visit you, that if I succeed in getting to 
your office, I would die there, and you would have 
to ship me back. 
I am constantly met by the inquiry, “ Bije, 
who’s doctoring you now ? ” I answer, Dr. 
Wolfe. They then ask about the treatment, when 
I show them the Inhaler, etc. 
Two of my neighbors are coming to see you. 
Please give them some of your books for circu- 
lation in this neighborhood, as there is a growing 
demand for them. Truly, your friend, 
Auijah H. Dorsett. 
From an A.sthtnat, 
Fort Wayne, Allen Co., Ind., 
August 10, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—Inclosed find a draft on the post- 
master at your city for $15, for another month’s 
treatment. You request your patients to report 
progress every ten days. Permit me to say, my 
health is much better; my asthmatic troubles 
denote improvement; my cough, when I com- 
menced your treatment, was distressing both day 
and night, but has so much subsided, that I lie 
down at night and sleep much better thau I have 
for months. My cough is not one-fourth as bad 
as before I commenced your treatment. The 
croupy rattling in my throat and lungs has nearly 
subsided ; the trouble in my nose still continues 
to improve, though quite slow. 
Yours, truly, H. N. Putnam. 
P. S.—Send soon, as I shall be absent from 
home, and wish to take it with me. 
A.n Iowa Fanner ltestored from the Verge 
of the Grave to Health. 
April 10, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—Your letter of the 28th of February 
came to hand in due time, and I would have an- 
swered it sooner, but I thought by waiting awhile 
perhaps 1 might give a better account of my 
health, iu which hope I have not been disap- 
pointed. 
I enjoy better health than I have for many 
years : better even than I did before my late 
illness, and am more fleshy than I ever remem- 
ber being before. When I commenced using 
your treatment I weighed one hundred and thir- 
ty-three pounds; I now weigh one hundred and 
sixty-two pounds. My recovery has astonished 
all my friends, as the best physicians here 
thought my case almost or quite incurable, and 
the most esteemed patent medicines had failed 
to give me any permanent relief. 
I have great faith in Dr. Wolfe and Medicated 
Inhalation, and believe it to be the only true 
practice in curing diseases of the nose, throat, 
and lungs, and wonder that others, who know my 
case, and are afflicted with similar diseases, do 
not consult you immediately. I have succeeded 
in persuading one to send to you for treatment, 
and hope others may soon follow his example. 
I shall always remember you with gratitude, as 
being instrumental, iu the hands of Divine Provi- 
Burnett, Wisconsin, April 10, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—You, doubtless, think it strange 
that you have not heard from me, but the pres- 
sure of my business has been so great that 1 
have not had time to write you before this. The 
first bottle of balm, except for the first three or 
four days, seemed to have but little effect, either 
on my throat or lungs; but after the first treat- 
ment with the second, my uvula became much 
contracted, the tickling in my throat ceased, and 
I have scarcely coughed since. My health now 
fts better than it has been for years. I think I 
shall not need your treatment longer ; and I shall 
ever take pleasure in recommending your Inhala- 
tion to all those who are afflicted with diseases 
of the throat or lungs. 
Respectfully yours, 
Marshall Herhiok. 
“ Bije, who’s your Doctor ? ” 
Eminence, lnd., August, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I received your letter to-day, and 
hasten to reply. I am getting well under your 
treatment so rapidly, that already I could, if I 
chose, perform a good day’s work in the hay- 
field. 
I have a slight hacking cough yet, but it is as 
nothing compared with the cough I once had. 
My flesh is commg up at the rate of a quarter of 70 
dence, in restoring me from the very verge of the 
grave to health, and the enjoyment of life. 
Your true friend and well-wisher, 
Daniel W. Hammond. 
good.” Mr. Swan, after using the treatment, 
writes on the 17th of May : 
Dear Sir—I am happy to inform you that I am 
greatly improved since I last wrote. I have been 
plowing and planting, nnd do as much as I ever 
did with as little fatigue ; have but very little pain 
in my chest. Yours, with respect, 
B. C. Swan. 
Spring Valley, Fillmore Co., Minn., 
June 11, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I have tried a great many kinds of 
medicine, but yours was the only kind that ever 
did me any good. I believe I should have been 
in my grave long ago if it had not been for your 
medicine, and so would recommend it to all who 
have any disease of the lungs; for I have tried 
Harrison’s Medicines, Hall’s Balsam, Cherry 
Pectoral, Hypophosphites of Lime, Extract of 
Tar and Wild Cherry, etc., nnd nothing did me 
any good until I undertook your treatment. 
The above is a paragraph from a letter 
of Mr. J. C. Johnson, of Spring Valley, 
Fillmore County, Minn., dated. June 11, 
1865. This gentleman, without any other 
promptings save those of his own benevo- 
lence, became the zealous advocate of a 
treatment to which he felt himself to be so 
great a debtor. 
The following testimony is from Miss 
Mary J. Richardson, Greenfield, Ind. : 
May 10, 1865. 
Dr. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—My medicines and letters all reached 
me in safety on the Saturday after you sent them. 
They found me very poorly indeed. I had not 
been able to leave my room all the latter part of 
the week. I commenced using your treatment 
on Sabbath morning, and have paid strict atten- 
tion to all directions; and yesterday morning I 
walked a mile and back again, and feel as well to- 
day as usual, with the exception of being a little 
stiff and sore. 1 have not spit any more blood 
since I wrote to you. You would be surprised to 
see me helping to do all the housework, when 
week before last I lay in bed almost all the time. 
On May 26th, Miss Richardson wrote, 
complaining of a severe pain below her left 
shoulder. In a letter of the 4th of July, 
she says : “ I am getting along finely. Iam 
almost entirely recovered. I don’t suffer 
one particle any more. I can run round 
the country with almost as much ease as I 
ever did. I send for another case of medi- 
cine.” 
Miss M. Protor, of Watertown, Ohio, 
writes: 
Nine days have elapsed since I wrote you con- 
cerning the state of my health under your treat- 
ment. I feel that I have improved very much, 
and am confident that your method will cure me 
if any thing will. 1 wish to make my improve- 
ment a means of convincing some of my neigh- 
bors, who continue to swallow medicine to cure 
lung disease, that they are on the wrong track ; 
for I know from experience that it does more 
hurt than good. 
Mr. Amos Watts, of Nashville, Washing- 
ton County, 111., gives this testimony : 
On the Sd of December, 1864, you received my 
application for treatment; you forwarded the 
medicines, and I have used them, and received 
great benefit. I want another month’s treatment, 
for which I inclose 815. Since taking your medi- 
cine, I have not been troubled with symptoms of 
bleeding at the lungs and night-sweats. I now 
weigh more than for the past three years; my 
voice is clear, and I can strike on my breast with- 
out exciting much cough, etc. 
Fair Haven, Preble Co., O.,' 
January 20, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—With feelings of gratitude for your 
invaluable remedies, I am happy to inform you of 
the great success that has attended your treat- 
ment of my lungs. I feel almost well, and am 
better than I had even hoped to be in so short a 
time. Very respectfully yours, 
Samuel Pinkerton. 
On the 20th of April, Mr. Pinkerton’s 
brother-in-law, Mr. B. C. Swan, also troubled 
with his lungs, wrote : “ Please send me 
your circular of printed questions imme- 
diately, so that I may send for treatment. 
Samuel Pinkerton, whom you treated last 
winter, is my brother-in-law; his health is 
Hear what Mrs. S. C. Honeywell, afflicted 
to despairing with the asthma, says : 
Sparta, Monroe Co., Wie., 
March, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—I have concluded to send for another 
month’s treatment. I fear at times that it will not 71 
cure me entirely. 1 am certainly better than I 
was when I commenced taking your medicine. 
I used to cough, when I would have an attack, 
for half the night sometimes; now I cough 
scarcely any ; still I sometimes think that it has 
been so long standing that it will take something 
powerful to remove it entirely, etc. 
This last sentence is plainly one of de- 
spair ; but what is her language on the 2d 
of June, 1865 ? 
You will think by this time that I am ungrate- 
ful, but I do not feel so by any means, for my 
health is wonderfully improved, for which I am 
very thankful. I am not competent to express 
my gratitude for what I now enjoy—that is, my 
health—which is in a measure restored. I had al- 
most given up in despair, never expecting to enjoy 
as good health as I do non). 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I am at this time in very good heal’h, 
and have during the summer been doing tolerably 
good work without much fatigue. 
If my letter of June 18 will do you, or my suf- 
fering fellow-men, any good, you are at perfect 
liberty to use it in any form you may wish. 
As regards the veracity of my statements, no 
one need remain in doubt, since it is an easy 
matter for me to give reference to many of my 
neighbors and acquaintances. Perhaps the best 
indorsement to my words is the fact that you have 
recently had several patients from this place, who, 
seeing what you had done for me, were thus in- 
duced to seek in your treatment what I had 
found—a cure. Accept the thanks and good 
wishes of your much obliged friend, 
Henry Muse. 
P. S.—The second box of medicine came to 
hand in due time. 
A Voice from Missouri in favor of Medi- 
cated Inhalation. 
From New Washington, Clark Co., Ind., 
Mr. R. Colvin writes the following, which 
could not be easily bettered: 
March 10, 18G5. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I received yours of the 2d inst. on 
the 4th. I made the wash the same day. I have 
been using the Inhaler for eight days, and feel 
much better. I don’t have to spit one-half as 
much as I did ; my throat looks better; the sore- 
ness in my lungs is much better; the sores in my 
nose are better; my general health is better. I am 
very well satisfied with the treatment. 
Whitesville, Andrew Go., Mo., 
June 18, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I deem it my duty to inform you, 
and 1 could heartily wish all persons afflicted as I 
have been were aware of the fact, that I have re- 
ceived very great benefit from your medicines and 
prescriptions. Indeed your first month’s medi- 
cines so far restored me that I believed I was per- 
manently cured ; I think so yet, but my wife, 
knowing what had been my alarming condition, 
insists that I shall apply to you for another 
month’s treatment, fearing a relapse. I yield to 
her kind solicitations, and make that application 
for her sake. Please forward the medicine to 
Savannah, Andrew County, Mo. 
For about fifteen years I have had, more or less, 
a most distressing cough, and became so enfeebled 
that I could scarcely walk to my barn-lot and re- 
turn. I frequently threw up my food ; my stomach 
and bowels were frequently out of order; I be- 
came enfeebled, despondent, and almost hope- 
less. I cough but little now; I eat heartily; my 
food digests well and properly; I am gaining flesh 
and strength rapidly ; my spirits are hopeful and 
buoyant, and I am filled with thanks and grati- 
tude to God and to you. I have gained from ten 
to twelve pounds in weight during your one 
month’s treatment. I can walk, run, or work as 
well as ever, allowing for my age, say fifty-three. 
With the highest respect and regard, 1 am your 
obedient servant, Henry Muse. 
P. S.—I inclose herein your charges, $15. 
I wrote to obtain Mr. Muse’s permission 
to publish the above letter, and on August 
8, 1865, he made the following reply : 
Mr. Edmund Robinson writes from Elgin, 
Wabashau Co., Minn., August 11, 1865 : 
I am happy to say my wife is getting well fast, 
and I have every confidence in the success of 
your treatment. 
Mrs. Robinson writes, under same date : 
I can now pound my chest without exciting 
cough; neither am I any longer troubled with 
short breath. Indeed*, I feel almost as well as I 
did before 1 was taken sick, except I have not 
quite so much strength—very nearly, too. I 
think another month’s treatment will quite cure 
me. 
Mr. Jacob Stakr writes, under date of 
August 14, 1865, from Bedford, Lawrence 
Co., Ind. : 
Dr. Wolff. : 
I have improved very much under your treat- 
ment, and am gaining rapidly in flesh and 
strength. When I commenced your treatment, I 
could not walk a hundred yards; now 1 can walk 72 
a half mile with ease. My appetite has improved 
very much, and I now sleep soundly and refresh- 
ingly all night, without being disturbed once by 
the cough. I am now able to ride horseback two 
miles without fatigue. 
Please send me another supply of medicine, 
for which find inclosed your fee of fifteen dollars. 
been using your treatment ten days; there is an 
improvement in my health. My throat is much 
better—I think almost well. When I first com- 
menced using the Inhaler, my lungs were so sore 
that I could not bear to have my chest struck ; 
now I can batter it without pain. I walked two 
miles to church this morning, and it did not tire 
me much. Before I commenced the use of your 
medicine, I felt that my hold on life was a slen- 
der one, but now I have hope, and the future 
looks bright. Very respectfully, yours, 
H. A. Flenner. 
Pleasant Valley, Athens Co., 0., 
February 24, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—1 received my box of medicine. I 
think my health is improving very fast; I feel 
much better than I have for many years. 1 am 
encouraged to think that I am going to get quite 
well. William Abbott. 
[Extract.] 
Delphi, Ind., March 1, 1865. 
Inclosed you will find fifteen dollars, for which 
you will please send another month’s medicine. 
I feel a good deal better than I did when I first 
commenced the use of your treatment. I have 
gained two pounds in flesh, etc. 
Miss Lucy Lennon. 
The following is from Miss Mary Heath, 
of Red Wing, Minn.: 
I write in haste, to let you know how I am pros- 
pering by this time. My friends say, “ Why, you 
look better than you have fora long time; you 
must be better.” I tell them I am better in 
every respect than I have been for two years, etc. 
Rev. J. H. Watts, of Collins Station, 
Clinton Co., 111., after one month’s treat- 
ment, writes : 
I am glad to be able to tell you I am rapidly 
improving. I cough less, I think, than I have at 
this season of the year for soven years, and am 
able to do more work. I am thankful to you, 
through Divine Providence, for the comfort I 
now have. 
Tonica, La Salle Co., III., 
April 15,1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I wrote to you on the 1st of this 
month. I had, as stated at that time, about eight 
days’ treatment yet on hand. The past month’s 
treatment has been quite a benefit to me, and I 
desire to continue it awhile longer. I have a 
much more healthy natural feeling in my chest 
than I have had for quite a number of years. I 
have not so much of that tight, oppressive sen- 
sation in the region of my heart and lower part 
of the lungs ; my appetite and general health are 
good. Your medicines have never produced any 
thing like dizziness, or an unnatural feeling in 
me; indeed, they all appeared to be very mild in 
their effect. Respectfully yours, 
Rev. D. II. Petefish. 
Mrs. Henry Payne, whose physician in- 
formed her that if blue pills could not 
cure her, nothing would, thus writes from 
Helena, Tama Co., Iowa, on the 24th of 
May, 1865 : 
I am happy to say I still feel well—much better 
than for years past. My lungs do not trouble me, 
my throat is entirely well, and the pain in my 
side is mostly gone. Should my complaint ever 
trouble me again, I shall well know whom to first 
consult, for I feel satisfied your treatment is the 
only one now in practice that can save the con- 
sumptive. 
You are, and ever will be, remembered by me 
while I journey on earth. Please accept my 
thanks for your kindness. 
Your friend, etc. 
Keokuk, Iowa, April 18, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—The box containing the second 
month's treatment and medicines has been re- 
ceived in good order, and is being used with good 
effect. 
There is no medicine, when poured into the 
stomach, that can equal medication by Inhala- 
tion, in giving strength to the lungs. 
Yours, respectfully, 
R. S. Montgomery. 
Logansport, Ind., July 3, 1805. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
My Friend—No doubt you have come to the 
conclusion that I have forgotten you ; but, Doctor, 
I have not. I am getting along pretty well, and 
think I will not need any more medicine, thanks 
to your kindness and treatment. 
My brother-in-law, Mr. Tuckef, visited us last 
Kansas, III., April 2, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—As you desire your patients to re- 
port progress, I send you a few lines. I have 73 
week. He is looking quite well, better than he 
lias for some time. How thankful he and all 
his friends are that he ever tried your treatment, 
for had he not, he would, no doubt, long ago have 
been in his grave. 
You have doubtless heard of the death of Mr. 
Jamison. He was trying the Medicated Air, and 
I believe thought himself better, but he died 
suddenly, some few weeks ago. I fear I am in- 
truding upon your time, consequently will close ; 
not, however, till I thank you for this medicine. 
Yes, many, many thanks both for your trouble 
and medicine. Wishing you much success and 
happiness, I remain 
Your true friend, J. It. Gotshall. 
without any trouble; can inflate the lungs without 
pain, and hammer them about as hard as I can 
strike. I still have a little fever in the afternoons ; 
have had but one night-sweat for a month, and it 
was very light. 
I put great confidence in your mode of treat- 
ment; in fact, I believe it is the only way to reach 
the lungs. Yours truly, 
J. M. Morgan. 
On the 28th of March, 1865, Mrs. Mar- 
garet Rorabaugh, of Kingsbury, White- 
sides County, 111., wrote : 
I do feel a great deal better than I did when I 
commenced to use your medicine this spring. 1 
know it has helped me. My breast and shoulders 
feel a great deal better, and I have pretty good 
hopes of getting well, for I weigh nineteen pounds 
more than I did last summer. I feel thankful to 
you, etc. 
On the 7th of June, 1865, Mr. E. Yoder, 
of Long Green, Md., wrote: 
After using your treatment for ten days, my 
general health is improved. I can breathe more 
freely, and my voice is much stronger and clearer. 
The expectoration is not so copious; the pain in 
my chest, however, remains unabated, and is 
quite severe at times ; but this, too, I hope soon 
to overcome. I shall use the Inhaler faithfully, 
as it is my only hope as regards the restoration 
of my health. 
I received the following letter from the 
same gentleman on the 10th of July, 1865 : 
Stanton, III., March 8, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sib—Your kind favor of the 4th instant is 
received. This is a very cold day; but, notwith- 
standing the unfavorable weather, I am happy to 
say that I am better. I feel quite encouraged. 
On the morning of the Gth instant I walked a mile 
and a half without feeling tired. I expected to 
feel the effects of the walk next day, and so I did, 
but they were very good. 1 can take much longer 
breaths than I could when I began taking your 
medicine. My voice is much improved, and 1 
can sing with ease. This delights me exceed- 
ingly, as I have not been able to sing for more 
than a year. 
Your remedy for removing pain acts like a 
charm; I fear that I shall never be able to do 
without it again. I have sent your essay and 
letters on the treatment of consumption to a friend 
in Minnesota who has consumption, and will send 
them to an acquaintance who has asthma. I am 
anxious for all fellow-sufferers to try your treat- 
ment. 
With many thanks for the interest you express 
for my improvement, I am truly and gratefully 
Yours, Sallie Chandler. 
Long Green, Baltimore Co., Md., 
July 10, 1865. 
Db. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—Your second month’s treatment has 
reached me in good order. I have used all of 
the first month’s treatment, and commenced on 
that of the second, with bright and renewed hope, 
and also most satisfactory results. I have not 
yet fully recovered my lost health, but have made 
such great and rapid improvement, as to induce 
the belief that in no very distant future I shall 
regain that health I had considered forever lost 
before consulting you. I am now able to take my 
daily part in the harvest-field, with little or no 
fatigue. The pain in my chest, which disturbed 
my rest so much, has almost entirely disap- 
peared, only occurring at long intervals. The 
expectorations have diminished to very trifling 
proportions. Thanking you for your ever kind 
and prompt attention, I remain, 
Very truly, yours, Eli Yoder. 
On the 31st of May, 1865, Mrs. S. V. 
Delany, of Morganfield, Union County, 
Ky., writes: 
My box of medicine came safely to hand on the 
30th inst.; it was warmly greeted, I assure you. 
I had been suffering with a rasping cough for two 
weeks, day and night. I raised a quantity of tough 
phlegm that often caused me to vomit. I was 
losing all I had gained from the first month's 
treatment; but, thanks to you, through kind 
Providence, am again improving. I am gaining 
Urbana, 0., March 11, 1865. 
Db. N. B. Wolfe: " 
Dear Sir—It has been about ten days since I 
commenced using your medicine, and I sit down 
to let you know how I feel. I think my lungs are 
decidedly better and stronger. I can draw as 
long a breath as any person. I use the Inhaler 74 
strength, and my friends say am looking much 
better, etc. 
On the 18th of June, Mrs. Delany says : 
I wrote you some two weeks ago, telling you of 
the improvement in my health from the use of 
Medicated Inhalation. I still improve daily, and 
feel full of life, health, and strength. Our family 
physician says he never saw such an improve- 
ment as there is in my health. Please accept the 
thanks of your friend, etc. 
Thus Mrs. Delany says she felt. The ob- 
servation of her son, Mr. G. Delany, lead 
to the following note : 
Dear Sir—After seeing the desired effects of 
your treatment, when practiced upon my mother, 
Mrs. Delany, and others, I feel it my duty, as one 
who cares for the welfare of my friends and to 
promote their happiness, to direct them to you 
as the only means of escape from the miserable 
death that awaits them if afflicted with consump- 
tion. L therefore write to you in behalf of my 
friend, Mr. Mercer Whayne, who wishes you to 
send him a pamphlet, that he may read and see 
for himself, etc. 
Mr. Delany’s friend, Whane, was living 
in another county. 
the present I do not think it necessary to continue 
treatment longer. Should the catarrh return, I 
will again consult you. I am very grateful foi 
what you have done for me, which almost seems 
providential, for it was by mere accident that I 
learned of your success in treating catarrh by 
Medicated Inhalation. Mrs. E. M’Coy. 
The following is a letter by Mrs. Seraeh- 
ine Wilson, dated Milan, Ripley Co., Ind., 
June 27, 1865: 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—God saw fit to bless the means you 
sent me. I am now able to write; this is the first 
I have written for some time. The day that Mr. 
Wilson went to see you, I did not know that I 
would ever be able to write again. This is the 
tenth day that 1 have used your remedies, and am 
glad to say the result so far is good. 
I am not very stout yet, still a great deal stouter 
than I was ten days ago; can walk one-third of a 
mile, also ride seven miles with very little fatigue; 
can sleep much better than two weeks ago. 
To which her husband adds : 
Seraphine is so very much belter than I ever ex- 
pected to see her, that I am deeply obliged to 
you for your advice, and feel that you are indeed 
a friend to the afflicted. 
On March 4, 1865, Rev. C. P. French 
writes : 
Mr. James M. Leslie, of Janesville, 
Bremer Co., Iowa, under date March 10, 
1865, says : 
I will have finished the present month’s treat- 
ment in three days, and I find that I have 
been benefited to the full extent of my expecta- 
tions. I feel but little pain in my chest, and for 
this benefit I am truly grateful. 
Buckhannon, Upshur Co., West Va., 
March 4, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—You will recognize me as a Presby- 
terian minister, who received a month’s treat- 
ment from you during the fall of 1863. When I 
saw you, I was living near Cincinnati, but soon 
afterward removed to Wheeling, West Va. At 
that time I was suffering from an affection of the 
lungs, and from catarrh of the throat and nose. 
One month’s use of your treatment so far restored 
my health that I was able to resume my duties as 
a minister. I have for about a year performed 
the duties of pastor of the church at this place 
and at French Creek, which is ten miles distant. 
During the winter now closing I caught a heavy 
cold, which has, to some extent, brought back 
my former troubles, etc. 
Memphis, Mo., May 4, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—As my health is improving, and 1 
wish another month’s treatment, I remit you fif- 
teen dollars. I have recovered from the sickness 
I had when I last wrote you. I have distributed 
the books you sent among my friends. The peo- 
ple here seem to be in favor of your treatment. 
One physician said it was the very thing for lung 
disease. Your friend, 
Mart L. Oliver. 
Catarrh Cured. 
Lafayette, Madison Co., O. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—Your treatment for nasal catarrh has 
worked like a charm in my case. I was troubled 
with it for twelve years, apparently increasing all the 
time in severity ; but now, after using by inhalation 
your medicated air for two months, I have not the 
slightest symptoms of it, and hope I never will. For 
Mrs. M. C. Frankenberger writes from 
Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas, as follows : 
Dr. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—It is with great pleasure I write you 
that my health is fast improving. I have just 
used half of the second month’s treatment, and 
do not think I shall need any more after I finish 75 
what I have on hand. You can not tell how truly 
thnnkful I feel for my recovery, after almost giv- 
ing up all hope. My cough has almost entirely 
disappeared, my lungs are stronger, and I feel 
less pain than I have felt for four years past ; in- 
deed, I may say I am free from pain altogether. 
I have a good appetite, and sleep well. * * * 
P. S.—I sent one of those books you gave me 
to my mother in Indiana, another to a friend in 
Illinois, and the other is out among the neigh- 
bors all the while. 
As regards Mrs. McGuire’s health, we are fully 
satisfied. Your treatment has been eminently 
successful as far as we have progressed with it. 
We wish to continue it another month at least, 
hoping that corresponding results will crown our 
efforts. Mrs. McGuire’s throat has so improved 
that she feels like another person. Her nasal 
orifices are enlarged and renovated, so that she 
can now use them in respiration with great satis- 
faction, (a thing she has not been able to do be- 
fore for years). Her lungs denote a healthy and 
vigorous tone; and her general health is unques- 
tionably improved. 
In order to secure the fullest benefit of your 
treatment, I inclose you the further sum of fif- 
teen dollars, etc. 
Very respectfully, yours, 
E. W. McGuire. 
I have not heard from Mr. McGuire since 
the above was written, but presume his 
wife regained her health, and resumed her 
wonted wifely duties. 
Prof. S. S. Thomson writes from Craw- 
fbrdsville, Indiana, October 12, 1863, being 
a short time treated for asthma and catarrh : 
All my symptoms are better. * <> <■ I have 
confidence the treatment will cure me. I have 
recommended your treatment to a student of the 
college, who is suffering greatly from asthma 
and catarrh. I suppose he will apply to you 
soon. 
Mr. G. F. Gibson writes from North Roy- 
alton, Ohio, January 26, 1863 : 
I have concluded to continue your treatment 
another month. My general health has im- 
proved very much; my cough is much better; 
am not troubled with cold feet any more, and my 
friends say I look like a new man. 
On the 29th of July, 1864, Mr. Thomas 
N. Masters, a gentleman well known in 
and resident of Booneville, Warwick Coun- 
ty, Indiana, of which county he had dis- 
charged the duties of sheriff, consulted me 
about his health. He had a bad catarrh 
of the nose, with general disease of the 
throat and air-passages leading to the lungs. 
The lower lobe of the right lung was quite 
impermeable to air. His cough spasmodic. 
I gave him Inhalation and other constitu- 
tional treatment, and learned, with gratifi- 
cation, the result, after one month’s treat- 
ment had been used: 
On the 23d of November, 1863, Mr. E. 
W. McGuire and wife, from Eaton, Preble 
County, Ohio, called at my office for con- 
sultation respecting Mrs. McGuire’s health. 
I found an old and stubborn catarrhial af- 
fection of the posterior nares of several 
years’ standing, a degeneration of the mucus 
follicles of the throat and larynx, and the 
upper lobes of both lungs in a fair way of 
demoralization. Her general health was 
very feeble. I prescribed Inhalation in 
connection with appropriate local treat- 
ment. In ten days’ time Mr. McG. writes: 
Mrs. McGuire is following your programme ex- 
actly to the leiler, and the beneficial results are 
daily manifested. I think her tri-monthly report 
will be found eminently creditable to your prac- 
tice. 
Mr. McGuire wrote the tri-monthly re- 
port December 29, 1863 : 
Eaton, Ohio, December 29, 1863. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I had intended writing to you last 
week, but transpiring events caused delay from 
day to day, until further procrastination becamo 
inadmissible. 
Booneville, Warwick Co., Ind., 
August 30, 1864. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I inclose you your fee for another 
month’s treatment, which please forward soon, 
as my present supply of inhaling balm and other 
remedies are growing short/ by degrees and 
beautifully less. My month is not quite up yet, 
still my health has been steadily improving from 
the first to the present day of using your treat- 
ment. I have considerable more strength, though 
I have only gained two pounds additional weight. 
In short, I feel like, and am, quite a new being to 
what I was a month ago. # * Believe me 
your true and grateful friend, 
Thomas N. Masters. 
Mr. Masters continued treatment an- 
other month, and was then discharged, 76 
cured. Ho is now laboring as a missionary 
in the work of recommending his neigh- 
bors to try Inhalation, and many of them 
are trying it with satisfaction to them- 
selves. 
blessings of Providence, I am indebted for its 
restoration. I feel it my duty to speak of your 
treatment to all in terms of highest praise. I 
have not only been benefited by it myself, but 
those to whom I have introduced it, all speak 
warmly of its value to them. I am thinking of 
devoting one day in the week to spreading your 
publications among the infirm in this neighbor- 
hood. I am sure the more your treatment is 
used and its principles understood, the more 
benefit to humanity will accrue, and the less con- 
fidence will all have in swallowing poisonous 
drugs into the stomach. 
Your friend, Nelson Bakhkk. 
Prof. Albert Hurd, of Knox College, 
Galesburg, Illinois, writes, April 30, 1862: 
When commencing to inhale, it was somewhat 
difficult to inflate the lungs fully with either com- 
mon or medicated air, without feeling more or 
less pain in their lower portion ; now they can be 
fully inflated without pain. Mrs. Hurd has no 
cough—has had no night-sweats for the last eight 
days—the catarrh seems to be diminishing, and, 
upon the whole, she thinks she is benefited by 
your treatment. 
Mr. Alfred Dippe writes from Windsor, 
Fayette County, Iowa, August 30, 1863 : 
Your advice and treatment has benefited me 
very much. I believe the directions you 
respecting diet, exercise, washing, etc., will tend 
more toward establishing health than all the vile 
stuffs ever concocted by man as medicine. In- 
haling your medicine has been a great agent to 
assist nature in throwing off disease from the 
lungs. I have recommended your treatment to 
several neighbors. 
Mr. Stillman Finney writes from Bour- 
bon, Crawford County, Mo., May 6, 1863 : 
Since using your treatment, I feel improved in 
every feeling. My cough has left me, and my 
strength returned. I am again at work, thank 
God and Medicated Inhalation. I have now more 
faith in your treatment than all the doctors I 
have ever known. I had resolved to die a nat- 
ural death rather than swallow any more of their 
trash or poison. 
Mr. Coroden T. Round, of Moulin Rouge, 
Wayne County, Michigan, suffered with 
asthma nineteen years. After two months’ 
treatment, he writes, March 31, 1863 : 
I have not had an attack of asthma since I com- 
menced using your treatment. 1 think I never 
felt so well as I do now. I am able to work all 
the time, without feeling the slightest symptom* 
of the old disease. 
The writer of the following letter had 
been in bad health for several years, and 
had medicated to an extent to show the 
entire inefficiency of all medicines swal- 
lowed into the stomach, to remove or cure 
a disease in the lungs. His disease was 
latent consumption, rapidly advancing to 
its final stage of development. Read the 
letter: 
Mr. T. W. Lytle, a well-known and 
highly esteemed citizen of Williamsburg, 
Clermont County, Ohio, writes under date 
of August 16, 1864, after using one mouth’s 
treatment by Medicated Inhalation, for an 
old disease of the lungs : 
I used the last of my month’s treatment some 
time ago, and, am happy to say, have received 
very much more relief than I ever expected again. 
My neighbors say I am looking better, and I know 
I am feeling better. 1 wish to continue treatment 
another month, and send you your fee by Mr. 9. 
P. Peterson, who visits the city to-day. 
Since using your treatment I have no trouble 
with my liver or spine, as formerly, and, unless I 
take cold, my lungs are entirely free from all sore- 
ness and coughing. * * * * 
Washington, Daviess Co., Ind., 
April 13, 1864. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Sir—I am happy to inform you that my 
kinsman, Mr. William Barber, has again recov- 
ered his health under your treatment, for which 
ho desires me to return you the sincere thanks 
of himself and friends. His condition was such 
that all had given him up to die; and now that 
we see him again pursuing his daily calling on 
the farm, in the enjoyment of good health, and 
all the blessings of life, it seems, indeed, more 
like a miracle than the result of human agency. 
My own health is quite satisfactory. I continue 
to follow your advice, as contained in your little 
book on Hygiene, and find it an invaluable coun- 
selor. My cough has subsided, and my throat is 
quite well. Indeed, my health gives me no con- 
cern, except to remind me that to you, under the 
The following letter, written by a Pres- 
byterian clergyman, located formerly at 77 
Mineral Kidge, Trumbull County, 0., will 
be read with interest by his many friends. 
His health was thought to be hopelessly 
broken down two years ago, about which 
time he commenced using Medicated In- 
halation : 
Windham, 0., August 5, 1865. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I have often thought that I ought to 
write to you to let you know the sequel of my 
case. After I ceased taking your medicine, I fol- 
lowed your direction, and spent the most of my 
time out of doors and in labor. In November I 
took my ax and went into the woods. In De- 
cember I engaged in Government employ as 
Quarter-master Clerk, and in that capacity went 
with the army to Mobile, and thence to Texas. 
I am now at home a few days on leave of absence. 
My lungs seem sound, with some indication of 
adhesion to the right side. My weight and my 
strength have slowly and permanently increased ; 
my weight was one hundred and forty-one pounds. 
I can not say the same of my voice, which seems 
permanently disabled, at least so far that at pres- 
ent I see no hope of resuming my professional 
duties. 
Let me say, in conclusion, what I really believe ; 
that to you, under God, I owe my life. Your 
treatment saved me at that time from the grave. 
My life was ebbing fast, and had not my wife, with 
faith in the system, pursued your directions with 
energy and efficiency, I had even then sunk, for 
I had no strength of myself to do any thing, and 
even begged her to let me alone. 
I have recommended your system to my friends, 
and should I again fall under the power of lung 
disease, I should resort at once to your skill. 
Yours, truly, J. H. Scott. 
treatment, I would say that I have rapidly im- 
proved from the first day I used your medicines 
up to the present time. And this, too, notwith- 
standing the disadvantages a sick man labors 
under in camp life for getting well. My throat 
is almost entirely well, and my voice is very 
much improved. Feeling as I do, I can not help 
having the fullest confidence in your treatment, 
for the cure of all diseases of the luqgs. 
Mr. Egbert again wrote from his home at 
Tiffin, Ohio, March 9, 1863, whither he had 
returned, broken down in health, from the 
hardships of the campaign in Tennessee : 
The quickness with which your treatment 
again helped me strengthens my belief—before 
strong—that it is the only sure cure for lung dis- 
eases. It must be from fear of losing practice, 
that physicians oppose a theory, no longer merely 
a theory, but proved to be a blessing to thousands 
in restoring health, even after hope had fled. 
Mr. J. Smith writes from Perote, Ashland 
Co., Ohio, January 20, 1863 : 
My wife has improved in health far beyond our 
expectations, since she employed your treat- 
ment. Her cough is almost nothing now to what 
it was before using the Inhaler. The soreness 
has left her lungs entirely, and she feels well and 
in good spirits. We feel that in a very short time 
she will be restored to perfect health. You have 
our sincere thanks. 
Mr. A. W. Seymour, a well-known gen- 
tleman residing in Bainbridge, Boss Co., 
Ohio, had been troubled with sore throat and 
a severe cough for a long time, until it was 
thought his lungs were seriously involved. 
He used Medicated Inhalation, and got 
well in two months. Two years afterward 
he wrote, June 4, 1863 : 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—Please find inclosed your fee for one 
month's treatment for Mrs. , to whom I have 
recommended Medicated Inhalation. The con- 
dition of her health you will find reported on the 
circular. I sincerely hope and believe your 
treatment will benefit her. 
My own health continues first-rate. My throat 
gives me no trouble whatever, and my cough 
has entirely subsided. I am again able to breathe 
with freedom, and can inflate my lungs fully, 
without any discomfort. * * * I never had 
much confidence in swallowing medicines into 
the stomach for a disease in the lungs, and 
that I have found the value of inhaling Medicated 
Air, I have no confidence whatever in dosing the 
stomach. 
Fetter from a Cashier. 
Frostburg, Alleghany Co., Md., 
October 1, 1864. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—Inclosed find check on Bank of the 
Republic, N. Y., for 515, for which send medicine 
to inhale the throat and nose. I neglected to 
send when the supply was exhausted last spring. 
Fact is, I was so much better—felt well—thought 
I would n’t require any more. Last day or two 
feel a slight indication of the old difficulty, 
brought on by a cold. Send, as before, to Cum- 
berland, by express. 
Yours, G. W. McCulloch. 
Mr. N. 1). Egbert, a soldier, writes from 
camp near Monroeville, Huron Co., Ohio, 
September 3, 1862 : 
As you requested me to report progress of 78 
The following letter from a Presbyterian 
clergyman was received on the 16tli of De- 
cember, 1863: 
Elm Grove, Ohio Co., West Virginia. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Sir—I have now used your treatment one 
month, according to directions, and, am happy to 
say, with good results. My throat gives me but 
very little uneasiness now, and my general health 
is decidedly better. I think I will be able to get 
along without any more treatment. I expect to 
continue to follow the advice given in your little 
work on Hygiene, by doing which I know I can 
keep up a good standard of health. Should I be 
disappointed, however, I will certainly apply to 
you for professional aid. 
In closing our correspondence, I desire to thank 
you for the interest you have taken in my welfare, 
and also for the services you have rendered me 
in assisting me to regain my health. 
I am, with great respect, yours very truly, 
Charles P. French. 
to such of my ne.gnoors as labor under any form 
of disease of the nose, throat, or lungs. 
Extracts from letters written by Mrs. 
S. Annie Carylon, of Union Grove, Ra- 
cine Co., Wisconsin, April 25, 1866: 
I have been inhaling ten days, and feel better 
than when I commenced. 1 think I am stronger, 
and I know my appetite is improving. Surely my 
breath is not so short, and I feel almost like singing 
again. My last physician told me my left lung 
was entirely obstructed and useless, but I feel 
the medicated air is again opening it. I have 
great faith in your treatment, and believe it to be 
the thing I needed. My husband and family join 
with their good wishes for your health and hap- 
piness. * * * 
Mrs. Carylon makes her second report 
of the treatment May 9, as follows : 
1 have used the medicated washer for the nose 
and throat with excellent effect, and am just com- 
mencing the use of Balm No. 2. I am grateful, 
indeed, that I can report a “ continued improve- 
ment” in my health up to this time. I cough 
still, and raise some in the morning, but my gen- 
eral health is so much improved that I scarcely 
mind it. 
My brother saw me last week for the first time 
since I commenced your treatment, and was 
much surprised to see me so much changed for 
the better in so short a time. The walk from the 
depot to my father’s house, although a short dis- 
tance, would tire me so much that I was com- 
pelled to take the rocking-chair, while some of 
them would untie my bonnet, to rest; but last 
week I went home for a visit, and mother drew 
up the rocking-chair as usual, and would hardly 
believe it when I told her I was n’t tired a bit. 1 
can never feel sufficiently thankful to you, sir, for 
what you have already done for me. May our 
Father’s choicest blessings rest upon you and 
your labor of love. 
Mrs. Carylon writes again for a renewal 
of treatment, May 24, 1866: 
I have just finished my first month’s treatment, 
and wish you to send me a supply of medicine for 
the second month. I have improved so much in 
every way that I feel quite hopeful another 
month’s treatment will almost entirely restore 
my health. 
I have been attended by half a dozen physi- 
cians, and taken any quantity of patent medicines 
that were “sure to cure,” and yet my health con- 
tinued to fail under all these services and prom- 
ises. My last physician helped me most of any, 
but he told me all he could do was to patch me 
Miss Mary A. Rowles writes from Al- 
bia, Iowa, March 30, 1864: 
Db. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—This is the 30th day of your treat- 
ment. I have complied with your directions 
strictly, and have been very much benefited. My 
lungs are stronger than they have been for some 
time, and I feel more active, and better generally 
in health. 1 will wait awhde and see how I am 
when not under the influence of your treatment, 
and if 1 should need any more of your medicine 
I will send for it. * * * I wish you success in 
all your efforts. I, for one, am greatly in favor of 
your mode of treatment, and will speak of it to 
my friends. Yours, very truly. 
Mr. James G. Clanahan writes from Gol- 
contla, Pope Co., 111., Dec. 17, 1865: 
1 have followed your directions strictly in using 
the treatment, and feel myself improving very 
fast. I have gained six pounds in weight in three 
weeks, and am in most excellent spirits, believing 
as I do that my health will be restoied by the 
time my present supply of medicine is exhausted. 
Mr Edmund Naylor writes from Je- 
romeville, Ohio, March 5, 1866: 
My condition is so much improved as to be able 
S engage again in my farm work. I am now 
hiding fence, and that is hard work. * * * I 
must ever feel grateful for your kind and efficient 
treatment, and do not hesitate to recommend it 79 
up for this summer at the longest, that my left 
lung was entirely useless, and my right lung fail- 
ing- « 
I want very much to see him now and let him 
see how much I’ve improved. He was quite 
willing I should trv inhaling, “ it would be satis- 
faction to try it,” but I think he hadn’t much 
faith in it. llis own daughter is dying of con- 
sum ption, and I do wish he would try your treat- 
ment, though it may be too late in her case. I 
w ish I could tell every one how much good your 
treatment has done me. 
The last letter received from Mrs. Cary- 
lon, dated Union Grove, June 30, 1866, 
reads as follows: 
I have used half of the second month’s treat- 
ment, and am better and better. I do nearly all 
my own work now ; my friends are afraid I am 
doing too much, but I think not. I do enjoy it so 
much, and I take care to rest when tired. 
I should have written sooner, but was away 
from home. Do you think that it would be best 
for me to have the next month’s treatment as 
soon as this is done ? My husband wants me to 
do just ns volt think best—any thing that will do 
me the most good. If it is perfectly safe, I 
thought I should like to try a month or two 
without it, but please tell me what is best. * * 
I feel as if I could fill every letter with expres- 
sions of gratitude, and then you would not begin 
to know, sir, how very grateful I feel for the good 
you have done for me. 
In reading these extracts from Mrs. 
Carylon’s letters, it will be observed the 
improvement in her health continued to 
gain steadily from the commencement of 
the treatment until she was “ able to do 
nearly all her own work.” Surely such 
testimony in favor of cool medicated air is 
worth something. 
Topeka, 111., May 6, 1866. 
Dear Doctor—I have just finished using your 
treatment for one month, and with better results 
than either my friends or myself had dared to 
hope for. My expectoration and cough has en- 
tirely disappeared, and I am feeling strong and 
hearty almost as ever I did. I will not require 
any more treatment at this time, and wish to 
thank you for your kind attention and skill in re- 
storing me to health again. Yours truly, 
W. R. Coppel. 
From Missouri. 
Bucklin, Linn Co., Slo., April 12, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I write this to inform you that my 
health has very much improved since I com- 
menced using your treatment, which has been 
one month ago to-day. I was then hardly able 
to sit up long enough to have my bed made ; now 
I rise at six o’clock, and continue up the whole 
day, and can take a good deal of exercise in the 
open air. I do not cough but very little, and my 
expectoration has decreased to the most insigni- 
cant quantity. I expectorate some little seeds 
(milliary tubercules, doubtless), in a string half 
an inch, some an inch or more in length, which 
are of a white color, and sink in water. I sent 
you hy express $15, on the 6th inst., for a renewal 
of treatment. I feel thankful for the benefit I have 
received from the use of your medicine. 
Respectfully yours, 
M. Van Derroof. 
Mr. Van Derroof writes again, May 
10: 
Dear Sir—Yours of the 30th April is at hand. 
I am, indeed, pleased to inform you that I have 
taken no other medicine than w hat you sent me, 
and that I am again on my feet and walking 
about. My cough has entirely left me, whether 
for better or worse, I am not able to say, though I 
think for the better. 1 will not send for any more 
medicine at present, as I think my health will 
now be all right. Accept my thanks for your kind- 
ness to me, and believe me, 
Yours truly, 
M. Van Derroof. 
Miami, Ind., April 23, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—My wife is better in every respect. 
She has gained, thus far, eight pounds in the last 
month. I wish to renew her treatment, and in- 
close your fee for the same. We did not think it 
necessary to fill a circular with answers to the 
questions thereon, as you have a statement of her 
case on record, which was furnished when treat- 
ment was first ordered. 
Wishing you much success, personal and pro- 
fessional, I am, yours truly, 
David Hockman. 
Letter from an old patient: 
Lawrence, Kansas, July 12, 1866. 
Dk. N. B. Wolfe : 
Deak Sib—I hardly know how to express the 
gratitude I feel for the benefit I received from 
using your treatment a year ago last February. 
I believe sincerely, had I not consulted you, and 
used your Inhaling Balms, I should have passed 
long ago to “ that bourne whence no traveler re- 
turns.” God bless you, and your noble work in 80 
behalf of suffering humanity. From a recent se- 
vere cold, I experience a good deal of bronchial 
irritation, and thought it best to advise you of it. 
If it continues a few days yet, I will send you an 
order for treatment. I am glad to know you are 
located, and may always be found when wanted. 
I take great pleasure in recommending your 
treatment and skill to my friends and neighbors, 
and shall continue to do so. From your grateful 
friend, 
Mrs. Caroline Attleberry. 
Do your Ttullicst, Doctor. 
The following letter is the last received 
/rom the writer, who, when commencing 
treatment, wrote, “I want you to do your 
bulliest, doctor, and put me in marching 
trim again.” He#was a “bummer” in the 
late march to the sea, and a good soldier 
“you bet.” He can speak for himself: 
hear him: 
Sandusky City, Erie Co., O., June 21, 1806. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—My health continues to improve. I 
don’t know what I will come to if 1 continue to 
gain. I am getting as fat as a pig since my cough 
left, and I now weigh one hundred and twenty-two 
pounds. I have gained just twenty-two pounds in the 
last month. I am free from pain, and can walk 
several miles right off, at my ease. I sleep 
sweetly, and eat splendidly. Send me another 
month’s treatment—I'm bound to put it through ; 
and also some books, to hand around. I have 
distributed those you sent me, and Mr. Walker 
will send for treatment for his case in a day or 
two. I gave him one of the books. I was oat 
picking strawberries yesterday, and eat about a 
bushel. Do you like strawberries and creamt I 
would send you some, but they are most too good 
for doctors, and I am afraid they would make you 
sick. I think I ’ll get my picture taken, for I am 
getting to be quite a good-looking young man 
again. Well doctor, I will close, by signing my- 
self, your grateful patient, 
Thos. A. Morrow. 
The following letter, written by the gen- 
tleman whose name is attached, will show 
the estimation in which Medicated Inhala- 
tion is held by the writer. He is well- 
known and respected throughout Southern 
Illinois, as well as by a host of admiring 
friends elsewhere. He would not misstate 
his case to deceive the public. Read his 
letter: 
Richview, Illinois, Feb. 22, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe, M. D.: 
Dear Sir—I received the box of medicines you 
sent me Jan. 8, and commenced the use of them 
immediately, and, in all due candor, I must say 
that I never had any treatment to do me ns much 
good in the same length of time. When I re- 
ceived your treatment of Medicated Inhalation, I 
had an incessant cough, was throwing up small 
tubercles, from the size of a pin head to that of a 
pea, which would sink in water immediately, 
when thrown into it; also, I was expectorating a 
heavy yellowish pus in such quantities that it 
would almost strangle me. I was suffering from 
pain in my chest all the time; could not talk in a 
loud tone more than thirty minutes. I have used 
your treatment one month, and I feel like a new 
man. I weigh ten pounds more than I did when 
I commenced the use of your medicines. I have 
had no cough for the past three weeks. My ap- 
petite is good, respiration good, pulse regular ; in 
fact I feel better than I have for the past four 
years. I have been preaching day and night for 
the past twenty-six days, and feel better now than 
I did when I commenced. And let me say I feel 
that this is all attributable to your treatment, and I 
would recommend all persons who have diseased 
lungs to try Dr. Wolfe’s treatment by Medicated 
Inhalation. You can have this published if you 
desire. I do feel that I am a well man again. 
Yours truly, 
Jas. P. Dew, 
Pastor of Richview Station, 
Southern Illinois Conference. 
The following letter, written by a well- 
known and highly respected legal gentle- 
man, speaks for itself: 
Robinson, Crawford Co., III., Dec. 13, 1865 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—The box, with medicines and letter, 
came safe to hand. My health still improves. I 
have regained nearly all my lost flesh ; gained 
eleven pounds in first thirty days under your 
treatment, and am now very near well. The 
chronic inflammation or irritation that has been 
troubling my air passages is entirely removed, 
with the exception of the anterior part of my na- 
sal passages, and a spot at the head of my tra- 
chea, just beyond the reach of gargles, that I 
clean out twice a day by hemming. It is getting 
better steadily. Nose improves very slowly. My 
cough \ngone, and my lungs and bronchi feel as 
well as they have at any time within the last fif- 
teen years. 
Although I shall continue your treatment dur- 
ing second month, unless I shall relapse, will not 81 
further report to you, as I think it unnecessary. 
I, therefore, take this opportunity of thanking 
you for the benefit I have received from your 
services. 
I shall take plensure in recommending your 
treatment to such of my acquaintances as I may 
find afflicted with the complaints you treat. 
Yours truly, 
Jas. H. Stef.l. 
I have not had a spell of asthma since I used 
your medicine. 
Mr. E. 0. Young writes, from Dover, 
Bureau Co., 111.: 
I am gaining health as fast as I could reasona- 
bly expect under your treatment. That severe 
pain I had in my side and lungs is gone. I be- 
lieve Medicated Inhalation to present the only 
chance for successful treatment for diseases of 
the throat and lungs. 
Mr. Thomas Rose, a very intelligent 
gentleman of Hanover, Jackson Co., Mich., 
ordered treatment for his wife, whose 
health was almost hopelessly broken down 
by pulmonary disease and asthma. After 
treatment had been employed one month, 
he wrote, March 18, 1864: 
I feel more encouraged about my wife; her 
symptoms are better. She has now no fever or 
night sweats—coughs much less than she did, 
and sleeps well at night. She says she feels 
stronger, though she is much wasted in flesh, 
and occasionally has slight attacks of asthma. 
The pain in her side has subsided. We had fears 
for awhile that it would prove serious. 
In May following, Miss Mary J. Rose, 
the accomplished daughter of the above 
writer, wrote: 
As the urgent duties of the spring season make 
constant demands upon my father’s time and 
strength, and as it tires Ma, more than any thing 
else, to write, it seems to devolve upon me to 
write to the doctor. Ma’s health has been stead- 
ily improving for the last month, as rapidly as we 
ought to expect. She is now able to work among 
her flowers some every day, and also assist some- 
what about the house—more, I think sometimes, 
than she ought to; but she says when she is at 
all able to be about, she can’t keep still. * <• # 
Her cough has almost entirely censed, and she 
finds no more use for the spittoon, for which she 
is abundantly grateful. Three months since there 
were few, either in our own family or among our 
neighbors, that expected ever to see Ma stay in this 
world through the month of March, and she herself 
indulged no hopes of life—or next to none. But 
through the blessings of a kind Providence upon your 
remedies, we now hope to keep her here many years. 
* * She says she thinks a good deal of her in- 
haler, but has shed a great many tears over the nose 
wash. 
Mr. Eben Wilcox writes, from Brook- 
ville, Wisconsin, October 6, 1865: 
I consider it providential that my attention was 
directed to your advertisement in the Advocate. 
It may be too late, but your treatment is doing 
wonderfully well for me. All my symptoms are 
improved, and some have disappeared entirely. 
Inhalation seems to dissipate disease from the 
system as heat dissipates ice, first to water, then 
evaporates. I shall ever feel grateful for your 
kind words and encouragement, and the benefits 
1 have received. I feel confident your mode of 
treatment will cure me, if it is possible for me to 
be entirely restored. 
B. McCoy, Circleville, Ohio, writes: 
Am in excellent spirits. Believe I will be 
cured. Eat like a—mill-hopper. 
Miss Sarah Brundage writes, from 
Trenton, Northumberland Co., Upper Can- 
ada, October 5, 18G4: 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Sir—I wish to continue your treatment 
another month, for which I inclose you your 
usual fee. My health has improved very rapidly 
under your treatment. My lungs seem entirely 
free, and I have not had an attack of asthma since 
I commenced using your inhaling balms, and do 
not feel like it. The pain that has given me so 
much trouble in my lungs has entirely left me. 
My friends all tell me I am looking better, and I 
can scarcely realize myself as the suffering one 
of a month ago. How different every thing looks 
when the eyes sparkle with health. 
I wish to consult you about my mother. * * 
Please send an invoice with your next treatment, 
as the other box was in bonds, 
Gratefully I remain yours, etc., 
Sarah Brundage. 
Mr. D. D. High, Smith’s Mills, Clearfield 
Co., Penn writes: 
Rev. A. Bradshaw writes, from Decatur, 
Macon Co., 111., October 31, 1863: 82 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—Having a moment’s leisure, I 
thought I would drop you a line to inform you 
that since I have been using the second month’s 
treatment, I feel I am almost well. Every part 
of your treatment has had the desired effect, and 
come fully up to my most sanguine expectations. 
My wife wishes to consult with you. * * I am 
fully satisfied that your treatment for nose, throat 
and lung complaints, if fairly tried, will give en- 
tire satisfaction. I got my old friend, Dr. Roberts, 
to examine my throat yesterday, and he said he 
never saw it look so well. My voice is almost as 
clear as ever it was, although I do not preach 
very often, ns I do not wish to provoke a relapse 
by any indiscretion. “A burnt child,” etc. 
I remain your friend and brother sinner, 
A. Bradshaw. 
On the 23d of November, 1863, Mr. E. 
W. McGuire and wife, from Eaton, Preble 
Co., Ohio, called at my office for consulta- 
tion respecting Mrs. McGuire’s health. I 
found an old and stubborn catarrhal af- 
fection of the posterior nares of several 
years standing, a degeneration of the mu- 
cous membrane of the throat and larynx, 
and the upper lobes of both lungs in a fair 
way of breaking down. Her general 
health was very feeble. I prescribed in- 
halation in connection with appropriate 
local treatment. In ten days’ time Mr. 
McGuire writes : 
Mrs. McGuire is following your programme ex- 
actly to the letter, and the beneficial results are 
daily manifested. I think her tri-monthly report 
will be found eminently creditable to your prac- 
tice. 
Mr. McGuire wrote again, December 29, 
1863: 
I had intended writing to you last week, but 
transpiring events caused delay from day to day, 
until further procrastination became inadmissi- 
ble. 
As regards Mrs. McGuire’s health, we are fully 
satisfied. Your treatment has been eminently 
successful as far as we have progressed with it. 
We wish to continue it another month at least, 
hoping that corresponding results will crown our 
efforts. Mrs. McGuire’s throat has so improved 
that she feels like another person. Her nasal 
orifices are enlarged and renovated, so that she 
can now use them in respiration with great satis- 
faction (a thing she has not been able to do be- 
fore for years). Her lungs denote a healthy and 
vigorous tone ; and her general health is unques- 
tionably improved. 
In order to secure the fullest benefit of your 
treatment, I inclose you the further sum of fifteen 
dollars, etc. 
llegarty's Cross Roads, Clearfield Co., Pa., 
July 8, 1864. 
Db. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—My business having called me from 
home during the last month, I have had no op- 
portunity of writing until the present. Your 
treatment has benefited me very much, and my 
health has been better since using it than it has 
been for years before. My breathing has been 
easy. My lungs seem free, and the pain has left 
my side entirely ; this, and the pain I had in my 
head, has troubled me for years, and very much 
for the last year. I desire another month’s treat- 
ment, as I will now have an excellent chance of 
using it while at home. Respectfully yours, 
Abraham Beter. 
Extract.—Well, Doctor, I am so much better 
of that troublesome asthma that I am persuaded 
we have straightened him out, and we can take a 
little time to blow. * * Still, I think we had 
better give him another dig—so help me O-l-d 
A-b-e! Now, my dear sir, I hope you will send 
me something this time that will fix me up sub- 
stantially. I want to be put in a marriageable con- 
dition, for a man is not fit to marry when he has 
the asthma, you know, and that’s what’s the 
matter. Yours truly, 
D. P. Anshutz, 
Morefield, Switzerland Co., Jnd. 
Friend Anshutz is married! Has ex- 
changed phthisic for teasing! Which is 
the best or worst, Davy ? 
Mrs. Marriett Cole, an intelligent lady 
of Whitewater, Walworth Co., Wisconsin, 
writes, after a month’s treatment, March 
8, 1863: 
I am happy to inform you, Doctor, that your 
treatment has had good success with me. I have 
gained everyday since I commenced its employ- 
ment. In fact, I feel well. I neither cough nor 
expectorate, as formerly, and am entirely without 
pain in my chest and in my sides. I can now walk 
and exercise without feeling much tired, and feel 
Rev. J. S. Estep writes, from Chandler- 
ville, Illinois, March 2, 1864: 
I have had no return of asthma since I com- 
menced inhaling, and my general health is very 
much improved. 83 
new life-currents strengthening me every day. 
My feet and limbs are warm, and I feel happy 
with the thought that I shall again enjoy good 
health, if I continue as now. I have taken much 
medicine to get health, but the more I swallowed 
the further off I seemed to be from my object. 
Inhalation has saved me, and I thank you for it. 
My health was never better than it has been all 
this summer up to the present time. You ask 
permission to make a public reference to my 
case. I have no desire to appear before the put 
lie, but for the sake of the suffering and afflicted, 
I cheerfully give the permission you ask. 
Miss Mart Irwin, an accomplished 
young lady, had suffered a great deal with 
her throat and lungs, and was rapidly 
lapsing into phthisis. Hearing of my 
treatment, and the success attending it, 
she visited the city for consultation. She 
commenced treatment, and continued it 
two months. At the expiration of that 
time, she wrote: 
Huntsville, Logan County. O., April 4, 1864. 
Da. N. B. Wolff., Cincinnati, Ohio: 
DearSir—My health is so much improved that I 
am able to do general housework without exhaus- 
tion. I feel assured you fully understand the na- 
ture of my disease, and have judiciously treated 
it. I shall ever feel grateful for the assistance 
rendered me, and should my lungs again trouble 
me, or my health fail, I will again consult you. 
She discontinued treatment in April. 
On the 14th of December, 1863, she again 
wrote: 
I have been suffering for a few days with neu- 
ralgia, in consequence of the sudden changes of 
the weather, but my throat and lungs remain 
comfortable. One year has wrought a great 
change in the condition of my health. When I 
began your treatment, almost a year ago, I was 
not able to do any hard work, without feeling ex- 
hausted and weary with the slightest exertion. 
Not so now! The spirit of energy carries me 
through the household labors, and I enjoy the 
fun of work as a health-provoking exercise. 1 
continue to follow the advice you have given mo 
from time to time in your letters, besides read- 
ing your little hand-book regularly once a month. 
* * Accept my thanks for the copy of your 
boGk you have been pleased to send me, in which 
I am pleased to learn jour system of treatment 
is meeting with public favor. I take pleasure in 
recommending it to my friends and neighbors, 
and sincerely wish you the highest success in 
your noble efforts to lessen the sufferings of the 
infirm of health. 
The following letter come3 from a sol- 
dier, who, after using one month’s treat- 
ment, writes: 
Chattanooga, Tenn., May 16, 1864. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—After using your medicines and in- 
haler for one month, I am happy to inform you I 
find my health so much better than it was ; I feel 
like a different man. The pain in my lungs, 
which has given me so much uneasiness, has dis- 
appeared in a most mysterious manner. I won- 
der where it wentt after punishing me so long. 
[The vital forces were equalized through the 
lungs, and hence there can be no pain.—N. B. W.] 
My step is more firm. I perform labor with more 
ease, and, in fact, every thing goes better with 
me. It seems that new life is making its appear- 
ance in my system. * * I wish to assist you in 
spreading knowledge among my fellow-men, and 
am circulating your books accordingly. 
Yours in Faith, Hope and Charity, 
A. W. Flinchbaugh. 
Mrs. S. C. Fowler, of Berkshire, Dela- 
ware County, Ohio, has been in bad health 
for a year, and had every symptom which 
usually attends the first stage of consump- 
tion. She procured treatment, and wrote 
as follows, under date of 
Berkshire, Feb. 13, 1863. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—It is four weeks since I commenced 
using your treatment, and, I am happy to say, I 
have steadily improved in health ever since. 
On the 10th of March, she writes: 
I feel like a new being, and can not tell you 
how much I thank you tor your good offices to 
me. I feel so well that I do not think it will be 
necessary to continue treatment longer than the 
current month. Several of my neighbors will 
doubtless call upon you soon, or perhaps write 
for treatment. They now think there is a cure 
for all diseases, since you have proven that con- 
sumption can be cured. 
Mrs. F. again writes, September 24,1863: 
Rev. James H. Turner writes, from 
Prairieville, Barry County, Michigan: 84 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I came across a lady who had been 
a patient of yours (a Mrs. Allen), and learned 
from her lips that your treatment in reaching 
her disease (consumption) was almost like a mir- 
acle. She gave me several of your books for 
distribution. One I gave to Mr. Owens, who 
herewith sends for treatment. After he was done 
with it, I designed handing it to Mr. Jones, but 
found a Mrs. Mead, to whom I gave both. Will 
you please send me a copy of your letters, and 
the other work on Hygiene, for Mr. Jones. He 
is much in need of help, and I hope, God per- 
mitting, you will be the instrument of relief to 
him. 
for the benefit you have done me ; nnd I believe 
thousands join with me in commending your val- 
uable life to his special keeping. 1 do not think 
there is any thing in the world that could have 
benefited me as your treatment has done. When 
I commenced using it, I only expected relief for 
a season, as 1 had been so long diseased and my 
age such that I thought it would be unreasonable 
to expect more. In this how happily have I been 
disappointed I I have had no return of my old 
“ torment,” and do not expect it. * <■ Believe 
me, with sincere respect and gratitude, 
Yours truly, 
Mrs. Clarissa Allen. 
Deasburg, Crawford Co., Mo., March 16, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I would have written sooner, but 
have been waiting to see the full effects of a 
month’s treatment on my system. It is with sin- 
cere gratitude I am able to report the condition 
of my health as being better than it has been for 
five years. If I am not well, I do not know why! 
I feel like a well man, and am again able to take 
hold of things as I used to. My neighbors are 
astonished, and look upon my recovery so soon as 
almost a miracle! What great thing has the 
Lord wrought with me I I must ever regard my 
recovery as the fruit of your treatment, under the 
guidance of the Lord. My disease (catarrhal 
asthma) had been troubling me for more than 
five years, and yet, in one month’s treatment by 
Medicated Inhalation, it has left me free from 
every symptom. Thanks! thanks to you, my 
dear doctor, and may God abundantly bless you, 
as you are the means of blessing the sick and 
afflicted of the human family. 
Ever gratefully yours, 
Wm. II. Harrison. 
College Corner, Butler Co., 0., May 5, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I have now used your treatment 
three months, according to directions, and with 
feelings of gratitude would say my health is very 
much improved. My throat gives me little or no 
uneasiness now my lungs feel stronger and bet- 
ter, and my voice is stronger, I think, than it has 
been for years. 
I think I will be able to get along without any 
more treatment; but should I be disappointed, 1 
will certainly call on yon again for medicinal aid; 
and before closing our correspondence, I would 
desire to thanle you for all the trouble and interest 
you have taken in my welfare. I wish you success 
in nil your efforts, and will recommend your 
treatment to others. 
I am, with great respect, 
Yours, very truly, 
Anna Stewart. 
Ashmore, Coles Co., III., Jan. 6, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—I owe you an apology for neglecting 
you so long. Your second month’s treatment 
was received in due time. I have been using it 
faithfully since. I find my health gradually im- 
proving. The soreness has nearly all left my 
breast, and I can stand almost as much hammer- 
ing on it as I ever could. I took cold a few days 
ago. 1 had three chills, and they made me feel 
a good deal like I did before I commenced using 
your treatment. You may know that I am doing 
well; my weight is 176 pounds, which is 19 pounds 
more than when I commenced using your treat- 
ment. My brother is gaining very fast. 
Yours truly, 
C. S. Olmsted. 
The following letter is from an old pa- 
tient, treated several years ago for asthma 
and catarrh. It will speak for itself: 
Otsego, Allegan Co., Mich., July 21, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Sir—Your advertisement in the “ North- 
Western” has recently come under my notice, 
from which I am gratified to learn you are still 
pursuing yournoble calling in Cincinnati. I have 
for along time been thinking of writing to you, 
but did not wish to obtrude upon your valuable 
time. Now I can resist the temptation no longer, 
if it is only to tell you “ I still live,” and have en- 
joyed uninterrupted good health since I was dis- 
charged as your patient. I feel, however, a deep 
and heartfelt gratitude to my heavenly Father 
Hillsboro, Highland Co., 0.,May 23, 1866. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—As my treatment has about run out, 
I thought I had better inform you how I am get- 
ting along. My health has been improving very 85 
feat since I saw you last, and I am gaining flesh, 
which is not common in summer. I breathe per- 
fectly free, and am entirely free from, pain there- 
fore I do not think 1 will need any more medi- 
cine. I have distributed all those pamphlets you 
gave me, and could find room for as many more 
if I had them. Wishing you success in all your 
undertakings to restore the afflicted, I remain as 
ever, Yours truly, 
John Holmes. 
Rossville, Allamakee Co., Iowa, July 23, 1866. 
N. B. Wolfe, Esq. M. D.: 
Dkau Sik—Excuse me addressing you in this 
manner, but I have just read your letters on the 
treatment of consumption, asthma, etc., and 
must acknowledge the treatment of Medicated 
Inhalation as the only proper method of impart- 
ing strength, tone and firmness to the diseased 
cells and membranes. I am a practicing physi- 
cian here, in good and high standing in the com- 
munity ; have been located here for almost three 
years, vl graduated at the “Lind Medical Col- 
lege,” Chicago, 111. Since that time have been in 
the practice at this place. You will see that I be- 
long to the “ old school of Allopathic physicians.” 
I have for the past five or six years been trou- 
bled by a chronic cough, which I think will, if not 
attended to properly, end its course in consump- 
tion. I have read your questions in your circular, 
and wish to ask you if you would not let me have 
the receipt, for myself, for my own use and bene- 
fit, for the cure of consumption in its early stage. 
It will be of no use to answer your questions here, 
till I get your reply to this, at which time I will 
particularize my complaints. 
Your circular says very plainly that those who 
desire your treatment should send 815, but my 
being a brother practitioner, you may, perhaps, 
deviate from your printed rules. 
You have a few patients around this section of 
country, of whom I learned of you. 
Enclosed please find stamp for return favor. 
Please let me hear from you at your earliest 
convenience. 
Yours, fraternally and respectfully, 
H. A. Blood, M. D., 
Rossville, Allamakee Co., Iowa. 
The Answer, 
Frankfort, Ky., January 18, 18G6. 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe : 
Dear Friend—My month’s treatment lacks a 
few days of being out. I send for another month’s 
supply of medicine. My health has improved 
since using the treatment. I have gained ten 
pounds, and my skin looks better, and I feel bet- 
ter generally. I have faith in your treatment, but 
as my case is of so long standing, I expect I shall 
have to use it several months. 
I am, yours truly, 
Geo. W. Jackson. 
Mr. Jackson recovered bis health in 
three mouths’ treatment, and is again ac- 
tively engaged in business, “ as well as 
ever he was; ” so he writes from Southern 
Illinois, recently. 
Ramsville Warren Co., Ind., July 16, 1866. 
Du. N. B. Wolfe, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
Dear Siu—I am getting along first rate since I 
commenced the use of your medicine. I am get- 
ting along so well that 1 must have some more of 
your medicine. I do not cough one fourth as 
much as I did before I commenced the use of 
your medicine. My throat is much better, and 
my breathing is much easier, and my general 
health is much better. I send you fifteen dollars 
by express to Williamsport, Warren Co., Indiana. 
Yours, 
James Brier. 
PULMONARY INSTITUTE, No. 101 SMITH St., 
Cincinnati, O., July 27,1866. 
H. A. Blood, M. D., Rossville, Iowa: 
Dear Sir—I am in receipt of your let- 
ter, but can not accede to your request. You 
are in error in supposing my treatment of 
Pulmonary Disease by Medicated Inhala- 
tion to be based upon a solitary prescrip- 
tion, a specific, which may be transferred 
to others, and with it the necessary quali- 
fication to “ cure all.” This foolish thought 
has infatuated the heads of many outside 
of the profession of High Physic, and, 1 
fear, too generally prevails among those 
who should know better, for the country is 
swarming with a class of people, who have 
taken up the business of “Inhaling DOC- 
Instructive Correspondence, 
There is a vast amount of inexcusable 
ignorance prevailing among many in ref- 
erence to the real character of my system 
of treatment, which the following corre- 
spondence will effectively dissipate, and 
hence I have it inserted in this place. We 
do not desire to have any misapprehension 
about this matter: tors,” who claim to be qualified precisely 
in this way. This implies downright 
quackery, and I can not lend any support 
to such damaging errors. God help the 
poor invalid who falls into the hands of 
such unscrupulous and unthinking rou- 
tineists! 
I regret very much that your estimate 
of my profession should be so unworthy 
of its real character, for it is a legitimate 
inference that you judge of men somewhat 
by their calling or occupation. Thus, 
when a man writes himself “a gentleman 
of leisure,” you instantly add “000, with 
no visible means of support,” giving en- 
tire freedom to your fancy to ascertain 
what the critter lives on. Think of it! 
Could the mere possession of a first-rate 
set of dental instruments, without the 
manipulatory skill, make you an accom- 
plished operator or a successful dental 
surgeon ? You remember Hamlet’s requst- 
ing Guildenstern that he govern the ven- 
tages of the flute while blowing, and it 
would discourse most excellent music. 
The moral of the story is that the music 
depended more upon the skill of the per- 
former than upon the possession of the 
flute. 
My practice has no connection whatever 
with the ordinary administration of drugs. 
It lays its foundations upon the change- 
less principles of Mature, Reason and In- 
tuition, to the study of which I have devoted 
the best part of my life. When I shall 
have acquired sufficient wisdom to enable 
me to teach others, then, and not till then, 
will I espouse the “new calling,” and de- 
vote the balance of my days in that line 
of duty. 
Thanking you, in behalf of our suffer- 
ing humanity, for your manly recognition 
of the value of Medicated Inhalation in 
the treatment of Consumption, Asthma, 
etc., I remain, with respect, 
Yours very truly, 
N. B. Wolfe, M. D. 
To the foregoing testimonials hundreds 
could be added from letters received in my 
correspondence with patients in all parts 
of the United States and Canada, and all 
attesting to the value of Medicated Inhala- 
tionin the treatment of the various diseases 
of the nose, throat, and lungs. Space in 
the prescribed limits of this little book will 
not permit me to do this; nor is it neces- 
sary, for if the concurrent testimony of 
hundreds of living witnesses will not es- 
tablish a fact, no amount of testimony 
would, even though one should rise from 
the dead to give evidence of the truth. 
Among the large number of ladies and 
gentlemen who have used Medicated In- 
halation under my directions, the following 
may be referred to by those who desire 
information upon the subject, many of 
whom are well known to the public, and 
all of whom are well and favorably known 
in their respective localities: 
Rev. John F. Wright, 
Former Agent “Methodist Book 
Concern,” Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Rev. L. D. Potter, I). IX, 
Pres’t. and Prof, of “Glendale Fe- 
male College, Hamilton co., Ohio. 
Rev. J. G. Monfort, 
Editor “Presbyter,” Cincinnati. 
Rev. J. M. Wampler, 
Editor “Presbyter,” Cincinnati. 
Mrs. Martha Florence, 
Florence, Boone co., Ky. 
Mrs. Jacob Tanner, 
Hebron, Boone co., Ky. 
J. J. Brotherton, Esq., 
Bainbridge, Christian co., Ky. 
Thomas A. Logan, Esq., 
Court House, Cincinnati, 0. 
Mr. George Senior, (river pilot,) 
Covington, Ky. 
Mrs. John C. Burton, 
Brookville, Franklin co., Ind. 
John K. Truitt, Esq., 
Manchester, Adams co., 0. 
Mr. Warren Kendall, (engineer,) 
Hamilton & Dayton R. R. 87 
Mr. J. M. Phillips, 
“ Methodist Book Concern,’' Cin. 
Philip Phillips, Esq., 
“The Singing Pilgrim,” Cincinnati. 
Wm. Sumner & Co., 
Cincinnati. 
W. W. Ward, Esq., 
No. 36 York St., Cincinnati. 
Michael Sheridan, 
No. 277 Richmond St., Cincinnati. 
Rev. A. J. Jackson, 
Port Huron, St. Clair co., Michigan. 
H. A. Higley, Esq., 
Windham, Portage co., Ohio. 
Joseph True, Esq., 
Lower Salem, Washington co., Ohio. 
Col. T. C. Norris, 
Fostoria, Seneca co., Ohio. 
C. B. York, Esq., 
Westfield, Clark co., Illinois. 
Mrs. Charlotte C. Boyer, 
Charlestown, Coles co., Indiana. 
Miss Annie Hanson, 
Germantown, Bracken co., Ky. 
Daniel Hibarger, Esq., 
Polo, Ogle co., Illinois.♦ 
Peter Hageman, Esq., 
Clairmont, Richland co., Illinois. 
J, D. Adams, Esq., 
Frankfort, Franklin co., Illinois. 
L. P. Laybourne, 
Morrison, Whiteside co., Illinois. 
David H. Logan, Esq., 
Fairfield, Jefferson co., Iowa. 
John S. Smedley, Esq., / 
Bloomfield, Green co., Indiana. 
Mrs. Annie H. George, 
Piqua, Miami co., Ohio. 
Henry H. Moore, Esq., 
Bell, Highland co., Ohio. 
Miss Kate E. Lewis, 
Bridgeport, Lawrence co., Illinois. 
Mrs. Phebe II. Sterrett, 
McKean, Erie co., Pennsylvania. 
Edward Hammond, Esq., 
Stratford, Connecticut. 
Joseph C. Widney, Esq., 
Lisbon, Kendall co., Illinois. 
Thomas E. Augustus, Esq., 
Anderson, Ross co., Ohio. 
Mrs. Emily Rogers, 
Shelbyville, Slielby co., Indiana. 
Isaac C. Ogden, Esq., 
Oblong, Crawford co., Illinois. 
Mrs. A. D. Davis, 
Metropolis City, Massac co., 111. 
C. II. Brush, Esq., 
Mt. Union, Starke co., Ohio. 
M. H. Rayhill, Esq., 
Pana, Christian co., Illinois. 
Jas. A. Kirkland, Esq., 
Garnet, Anderson co., Kansas. 
James M. Petefish, Esq., 
Arcadia, Morgan co., Illinois. 
Miss Jennie Cox, 
Memphis, Clark co., Indiana. 
W. C. Fraizer, 
Highland, Highland co., Ohio. 
Wm. Olney, Esq., 
Pella, Marion co., Iowa. 
G. W. Johnson, Esq., 
Columbia, Hamilton co., Ohio. 
Miss Josephine Stickel, 
Decatur, Morgan co., Illinois. 
Nathan L. Springer, Esq., 
Highland, Doniphan co., Kansas 
Israel Lawton, Esq., 
Surrogate Office, Albany, N. Y. 
Jas. A. Smith, Esq., 
Flemming, Center co., Penn. 
W. L. Frankberger, Esq., 
Garnet, Anderson co., Kansas. 
Miss Annie E. White, 
Albia, Monroe co., Iowa. 
Geo. Bissett, Esq., 
Wyattsville, Winona co., Minn. 
Hardin Kuhn, Esq., 
Wellsburg, Brooks co., W. Va. 
Andrew J. Breed, Esq., 
Cleveland, Ohio. 
N. W. Thornton, Esq., 
Petersburg, Pike co., Indiana. 
Prof. John D. Wilkins, 
Lockland, Hamilton co., Ohio. 
John Wiggins, Esq., 
Nashville, Holmes co., Ohio. 88 
John M. Pinkerton, Esq., 
Summerville, Peoria co., Illinois. 
H. T. Hall, Esq., 
Wheelersburg, Scioto co., Ohio. 
Hollister & Leathers, 
Covington, Kentucky. 
Capt. A. 0. Bryson, 
Dayton, Kentucky. 
Thos. J. Richardson, Esq., 
Trenton, Clinton co., Illinois. 
Prof. A. Newton, 
Moore’s Hill, Dearborn co., Ind. 
A. J. Flesiier, Esq., 
Murraysville, Jackson co., W. Va. 
R. M. Case, Esq., 
Petersburg, Pike co., Indiana. 
Walter L. Henley, 
Waynesville, Warren co., Ohio. 
J. M. Combs, Esq., 
Ashmore, Cole co., Illinois. 
J. D. Joseph, Esq., 
Deaverton, Morgan co., Ohio. 
Wm. L. McCreery, Esq., 
Benton, Franklin co., Illinois. 
Mrs. Mary A. Harner, 
Townsend, Huron co., Ohio. 
Albert W. Cline, Esq., 
New Vienna, Clinton co., Ohio. 
L. Walker, Esq., 
Sandusky City, Ohio. 
B. E. Coberley, Esq., 
Fort Scott, Bourbon co., Kansas. 
Rev. Sampson Tiencher, P. E., 
Moore's Hill, Dearborn co., Indiana 
Thos. H. McNall, Esq., 
Glencoe, Belmont co., Ohio. 
M. M. Owens, 
Staunton, Fayette co., Ohio. 
I. W. Bonar, 
Harriettsville, Noble co., Ohio. 
Miss A. E. Brooks, 
Selma, Clark co., Ohio. 
S. K. Holland, 
Lima, Allen co., Ohio. 
Andrew McGee, 
Xenia, Clay co., Illinois. 
H. D. Adams, 
Burns, La Crosse co., Wisconsin. 
N. Harvey, 
Newcastle, Henry co., Indiana. 
Mrs. E. Yates, 
Wartrace Depot, Bedford co., Tenn. 
W. R. Baldwin, 
Newark, Marion co., Iowa. 
Josiah Neff, 
Poplar Grove, Howard co., Indiana. 
G. W. Criffield, 
Urbana, Champaign co., Ohio 
Miss J. Carr, 
Monterey, Clermont co., Ohio. 
S. F. Lupole, 
Driftwood, Cameron co.., Penn. 
Mrs. Nellie Morgan, 
New Pliila., Washington co., Ind. 
Mrs. M. A. Hays, 
Cuyahoga Falls, Summit co., Ohio. 
Mrs. W. E. Neal, 
Maysville, Mason co., Kentucky. 
Mrs. M. E. Campbell, 
Centerville, Montgomery co., Ohio. 
Mrs. Sarah Mahan, 
Berlin, Sangamon co., Illinois. 
Peter Steward, 
Lemont, Cook co., Illinois. 
J. S. Elder, 
Bremen, Fairfield co., Ohio. 
Mrs. Harriet Brown, 
Waretown, Ocean co., New Jersey. 
Wm. Canniford, 
Rockford, Winnebago co., Illinois. 
Mrs. R. B. Collyer, 
Brunswick, Medina co., Ohio. 
Miss Hannah Gregg, 
Powell, Delaware co., Ohio. 
S. 0. Wilson, 
Bethel, Clermont co., Ohio. 
Thos. Halberstadt, 
Currysville, Sullivan co., Indiana. 
Mrs. C. L. Parker, 
Briscoe Run, Wood co., West Va. 
Miss Margaret T. Garrett, 
Portland Mills, Putnam co., Indiana. 
Jno. McClellan, 
Monrovia, Morgan co., Indiana. 
Jos. Sutphin, Esq., 
Middletown, Butler co., Ohio. 89 
Miss Lizzie Newman, 
Knoxville, Knox co., Illinois. 
Dr. A. H. Trumbo, 
Hillsboro, Fleming co., Kentucky. 
Mrs. Martha S. Woodruff, 
Iola, Marion co., Iowa. 
W. T. McCoughtry, 
Raleigh, Union co., Kentucky. 
Geo. Potter, 
Clay City, Clay co., Illinois. 
Mrs. S. B. Gerry, 
Garden City, Blue Earth co., Minn, 
Mrs. Margaret Burgess, 
Nugent’s Grove, Linn co., Iowa. 
H. A. Gookin, 
Athens, Athens co., Ohio. 
Isaac Barkley, 
Mound Station, Brown co., Illinois. 
Mrs. A. A. Lowry, 
Sacramento City, California. 
Miss Lydia Inglesbie, 
Romeo, Macomb co., Michigan. 
Nathan Harvey, 
Newcastle, Henry co., Indiana. 
J. D. Hadermann, 
Norwalk, Huron co., Ohio. 
Dr. B. Harkins, 
Albion, Noble co., Indiana. 
Charles Perry, 
Genessee, Henry co., Illinois. 
Geo. Bond, Esq., 
Kansas, Edgar co., Illinois. 
G. W. POLAN, 
Sumner, Lawrence co., Illinois. 
Evan Ogan, 
Richmond, Wayne co., Indiana. 
W. F. Tiiornberry, Esq., 
Uniontown, Union co., Kentucky. 
Miss Margaret French, 
Ilarrisonville, Meigs co., Ohio. 
Emor McClelland, 
Mt. Liberty, Knox co., Ohio. 
James Gardiner, 
Boyd’s Station, Harrison co., Ky 
Wm. N. Benedict, 
Ridgefield, Connecticut. 
Sarah E. Ogden, 
Ogden Dubuque co., Iowa. 
Rev. J. S. Estep, 
Chandlerville, Illinois. 
B. A. Carpenter, 
Oswego, New York 
Rev. Asa Martin, 
Scott, Mahaska co., Iowa. 
A. A. Pearson, 
Nashville, Washington co., Illinois 
John Farmer, 
Jacksonville, Illinois. 
A. A. Veach, 
Mattoon, Illinois. 
William B. McAffertt 
Oconomowock, Waukesliee co., Wis. 
Mrs. Stafford Scranton, 
Opher, Lasalles co., Illinois. 
Rev. James H. Turner, 
Prairieville, Barre co., Michigan. 
William Sawen, 
Lowell, Dodge co., Wisconsin. 
William Hurd, 
Peoria, Illinois. 
Henry C. Fenn, 
Coldwater, Branch co., Michigan. 
James Hunt, 
Montgomery, Tippecanoe co., Ini. 
Mrs. E. H. Pontious, 
Hallsville, Ross co., Ohio. 
Rev. A. D. Cunningham, 
Michigan City, Indiana. 
Capt. James II. Anderson, 
Hillsboro, Highland co., Ohio. 
A. F. Boynton, 
Joliet, Will co., Illinois. 
H. B. Clark, 
Quincy, Adams co., Iowa. 
Mrs. Willie H. Pelton, 
Hopkinsville, Christian co., Ky. 
Mrs. R. S. Forsyth, 
White Eyes' Plains, Coshocton co., 
David Rodocker, 
Auburn, Nevada co., California. 
B. F. SOUTHWORTH, 
Owego, Pike co., Ohio. 
Daniel Folk, 
Nova, Ashland co., Ohio. 
Thomas C. Wright, 
Xenia, Green co., Ohio 90 
We are compelled to stop the list here for 
want of room, though, as before said, hun- 
dreds could be added if space permitted. 
It is not claimed that all have been radi- 
cally cured ; perhaps only a bare majority 
have been permanently restored to health ; 
the balance benefited, or restored to com- 
parative good health. People, in a major- 
ity of cases, neglect themselves, and do not 
think of trying Inhalation until all other 
remedies have failed, and their systems are 
broken down by the combined influences 
of disease and medicine. Thus many con- 
sult me in a dying condition, and some die 
before treatment could reach them. A few 
extracts from letters will have a sad inter- 
est to the sympathetic reader, in proof of 
this assertion, and also exhibit the danger 
of neglecting the early symptoms of dis- 
ease, and only become apprised of danger 
when death signals its presence. 
treatment earlier, I think she might be living now ; 
but I feel 1 did the best I could for her. Doctor, 
I have lost all confidence in those quacks who 
ignorantly or purposely deceived me about the 
true condition of iny wife. Had they not told me 
my wife would get along, I would have put her 
under your treatment at least a month or six 
weeks sooner than I did. 
Mr. Edward Newhouse writes from Ar- 
gos, Ind., August 22, 1862 : 
N. B. Wolfe, M. D.: 
Dear Sir—I write to you this morning with a 
sad heart, for our beloved son, James Newhouse, 
who was under your charge as a patient, has 
passed away. 
Having witnessed the effects of your treatment 
upon my son, and had some opportunity of judg- 
ing of your skill as a physician, I am free to say 
that I do think that if my son had been put under 
your care two months sooner he would have 
been restored to health. I have the utmost con- 
fidence that such would have been the result, and 
1 would confidently recommend any person that 
has weak lungs to try your treatment before the 
lungs become broken down into ulcers, for I be- 
lieve if my son had applied to you before his 
lungs became broken dowD, he would have been 
cured. 
In conclusion, I would say to you, sir, though 
we are strangers to each other, please receive my 
most grateful thanks for your kind admonitions 
and professional courtesies while treating my 
son, and allow me to subscribe myself your true 
well-wisher, Edward Newhouse. 
Mr. F. Wilson writes from Harmar, 
Washington Co., Ohio, July 21, 1864: 
Dr. N. B. Woi.fe. Cincinnati, 0.: 
Dear Sir—We thought it our duty to inform you 
of the death of brother Heber. I neglected to do 
this until the present time. We all think that if 
he had commenced your treatment earlier, he 
might have been well now. 
Mr. Wm. Maxwell writes from Cooks- 
town, Fayette Co., Penn., May 23, 1864 : 
Dr. N. B. Wolff. : 
Dear Sir—My symptoms do not denote any im- 
provement of late. I am compelled to lie down 
a good deal from weakness, while my cough in- 
creases, and my expectoration becomes more 
copious. I am gradually falling away, and have 
prostrating night-sweats. I fully realize that the 
disease had a too powerful grasp upon my vitals 
before I applied to you for aid. But, Doctor, if I 
die, I shall uphold your treatment in my dying bed, in 
my dying hour. J feel positive, sure that, if I had 
commenced sooner, I would now be a well, instead of a 
dying man. Good-by, Doctor. I remain your sin- 
cere well-wisher, William Maxwell. 
Mrs. Margaret Harris writes from Pop- 
lar Grove, Putnam County, Ohio, April 25, 
1864 : 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—We received your medicine, but 
too late to effect any good results. My hus- 
band only used it one day, when a tubercle broke 
in his left lung, and he had not strength enough 
to throw off the matter thus suddenly discharged. 
The day he died he told me he had a great deal of 
faith in your system of treatment and medicine, and 
told me to write and let you know how it was. 
I will close these extracts and letters, 
which have a sad interest in them, by the 
following, written by Edward Pierce, a 
very intelligent gentleman of Xenia, 111., 
May 13,1864: 
Dr. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—Doubtless you have been expecting 
to hear the sad intelligence of the death of our 
Mr. A. J. Lane writes from Adamsville, 
Muskingum Co., Ohio, January 12, 1864: 
Dr. N. B. Wolfe: 
Dear Sir—Mrs. Lane died on the 3d of the 
present month. She appeared to improve under 
your treatment for about three weeks when she 
began to sink. * * Had I put her under your 91 
beloved son, William A. Pierce, lately your pa- 
tient. He left us for that clime where there is no 
sickness or sorrow, April 20, after a week’s severe 
suffering. He followed your directions faithfully 
in the first and second months of your treatment, 
and thought himself improving, but he was un- 
able to use any of the third month’s treatment. 
He wished us to write to you, expressing his 
thanks for your kind attention while under your 
charge. He thought, had he applied to you for 
treatment at an earlier date, he might have re- 
gained his health. As it was, we were all well 
aware his condition was a hopeless one, when 
your treatment was brought in. Still we must say 
we have the greatest confidence in your treat- 
ment, and shall ever feel grateful for your kind 
attention. Most truly, yours, 
Edward Pierce. 
humanity, while death 19 gathering the 
victims of this criminal folly by hundreds 
of thousands yearly. The priests of this 
practice draw their inspirations from those 
who believe in astrology—in witchcraft and 
the occult forces. It is time for the think- 
ing people to ignore such teachers, and they 
are doing it. 
It is due to myself and the friends of 
Medicated Inhalation to distinctly declare 
that no pretense is made that all cases of 
disease of the nose, throat, or lungs can be 
cured by this or any other system of treat- 
ment. It is only claimed that it can do 
more, if properly employed, than any treat- 
ment hitherto known to man. I say this 
on the authority of ONE THOUSAND casks 
OP CONFIRMED CONSUMPTION, ASTHMA, BRON- 
CHITIS, Sore Throat, Loss of Voice, Weak 
Lungs, etc., that I have treated within two 
years, of which number eight hundred and 
fifty were again restored to health. I say 
this, and have the proof. 
When physicians say consumption can 
not be cured, they speak for their own prac- 
tice only, not for mine. If they can not 
cure it, why do they not tell their patient so, 
and let him be free to try Inhalation ? The 
man who receives a fee for a service, when 
he knows he can confer no benefit, abases 
himself in the estimation of all right-think- 
ing people. 
Let the sick man look his physician in 
the eye and ask him if he can cure con- 
sumption—if he expects to remove a dis- 
ease in the lungs by pouring medicine into 
the stomach. If he evades a direct answer, 
or stammers or hesitates in his speech, it 
is madness for you to expect him to be 
the dispenser of health to your wasting 
system. You had a thousand times better 
turn away from his “ doses,” and trust your- 
self to God and nature to vouchsafe their 
blessing. 
N. B. W. 
The living and dying alike testifying 
to the value of Medicated Inhalation, even 
when not successfully employed I Was ever 
stronger testimony offered to any cause on 
earth? Dying men and women in their 
last hour proclaiming their unshaken faith 
in its value to the diseased I With this 
cloud of spirit-witnesses ever about me, I 
feel the inspiration of a new strength, 
drawn from sources unseen to keep me firm 
to my purpose and faithful to my trust. 
The practice of medicine is yet in its in- 
fancy, and the man who thinks or insists 
upon it, being a finished, an exact, and well- 
rounded science, has too little knowledge to 
know himself a fool. A few years ago, says 
the Professor, sick people were made to 
swallow burned toads, and powdered earth- 
worms, and the expressed juiceof wood-lice. 
The physicians of Charles I and II pre- 
scribed abominations not to be named. 
Barbarism as bad as Congo or Ashantee. 
Traces of this barbarism linger even in»the 
greatly improved medical science of our 
century. The solemn farce of drugging is 
going on the world over. The most dis- 
gusting and poisonous compounds of liquids, 
and powders, and pills, blanketed “ medi- 
cine,” are being poured into the stomach of A. CARD. 
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL. 
The reader, who has followed me thus far in the perusal of my little book, has a right 
to know something more of the writer and hia business. This information I will state 
as briefly as possible. 
I am a native of Lancaster County, Penna., but have been a resident physician of 
Cincinnati, Ohio, for many years, devoting my time exclusively to the treatment of 
Consumption, Asthma, Bronchitis, Nasal Catarrh, Loss of Voice, and other diseases of 
the Nose, Throat and Lungs. I live in my own house, No. 146 Smith Street, between 
Fourth and Fifth streets, and am permanently located. I am well known in the city, 
and do not leave it to travel through the country, seeking patronage or hunting patients. 
I have advertised my business through the Christian Press of this city, and thousands 
of sufferers from all parts of the country have consulted me, either by letter or in person, 
for professional aid or advice. Some of these were laboring under Consumption of the 
Lungs, in almost every stage of its development ; others had disease of the Bronchial 
Tubes, leading to and in the lungs; others, again, were suffering from that terrible mal- 
ady called Asthma, or Phthisic, than which no more fearful disease afflicts the pul- 
monary invalid; and still others suffering from Catarrh in their Nose; and some 
with the delicate structure of their vocal organization almost in ruin, and their throats 
deranged and demoralized with frightful disease. To alleviate all such of their afflic- 
tions, I have devoted my best skill and finest judgment, and have the satisfaction to 
know that my efforts have been attended with gratifying success. There were many 
among those who thus consulted me who were thought to be in a dying condition, or 
hopelessly incurable, but who still survive, and in good health, to bear witness to the 
efficacy of medicated air in controlling diseases of the air-passages. Indeed, I believe 
that all diseases of the air-passages, from the nose to the. remotest air-cell in the lungs, 
can only be successfully treated by medicated air, for in no other way than by inhala- 
tion can these parts, if diseased, be reached and controlled. Pouring medicine into the 
stomach for a disease along the air-passages, or in the lungs, is an absurdity so gross 
that only the most profound ignorance or unreasoning credulity could tolerate its prac- 
tice. Drugging the stomach for Consumption, Asthma, Bronchitis, etc., with all kinds 
of patent medicines and empirical mixtures, I have no doubt, has destroyed thousands 
of valuable lives, that otherwise would have been spared, even if nothing had been done. 
But the argument is in the book, and need not be reproduced any further in this place. 
If this book should find its way to the hands of any one laboring under Consumption, 
Asthma, Bronchitis, or any other disease of the Nose, Throat, or Lungs, who may, after 
examining its contents, desire to use my treatment by Medicated Inhalation, they can 
do so by sending me a statement of their condition, with an order to have an Inhaler 
and Inhaling Balms forwarded to their address. 
To assist those who thus desire to consult me, I have prepared a list of questions for 
them to answer, such as I would ask them if they were present with me in person. 
These questions are printed on page 94, and are numbered, so that it is only neces- 
sary to indicate the question by the number, and write your answer accordingly. The 93 
questions need not be torn from the book, as by so doing the usefulness of the book be- 
comes lost in this particular to other persons. After having written answers to all the 
if you still have any special information respecting the origin or peculiar 
character or symptoms of your disease, write the same fully, and send it along with 
the order for treatment. 
When I receive the order for treatment, I examine the report of the case carefully, 
and prepare such inhaling Balms and other medicines as I may deem most appropriate 
and useful in restoring the health of the patient. These, and the Inhaling instrument, 
with full written and printed instructions for using, I pack securely and safely in a 
small box for transportation, and forward, by express or post, to all parts of the United 
States and Canada. 
The mode of using the treatment is very simple, and, with the instructions given, is 
so easily understood that a child can employ the Inhaler without mistake. Besides, I 
keep up a regular correspondence with the patient during the month, and if any infor- 
mation is required, it may, through such correspondence, be freely communicated. 
Where there is any constitutional disturbance, requiring the mediation of extra med- 
icine, I, in all cases, send such medicine with the treatment, without making extra 
charge for so doing, preferring to do this at my own expense, rather than write pre- 
scriptions and let my patients incur the risks and mistakes of irresponsible and unedu- 
cated drug clerks. 
MY FEES, which, in all cases, must be sent with the statement of the case, and the 
order for treatment, are as follows : 
Office consultation and treatment, $20.00. 
For the first month’s treatment, ordered by circular, $18.00. 
Including the Inhaler. 
For every subsequent month’s treatment, ordered by circular, $15.00. 
When the patient desires to renew treatment, the order should be given in time to ad- 
mit the reception of the new supply of medicine before the old is quite exhausted. 
I, in no case, make any other reduction in my fees than is above indicated. Neither 
do I ever send treatment unless the fee accompanies the order, nor for a less period than 
one month. 
Money is never lost, and may be sent at my risk, if forwarded in either of the first 
three following ways: 
1. When most convenient, buy a post-office order for the amount you desire to send, 
and send it in a letter; or, 
2. Buy a draft on New York from your best bank for the amount, “ payable to Dr. N. 
B. Wolfe, or his order,” and inclose the draft to me; or, 
3. Send the amount of the fee by express, and pay the carriage on it; or, 
4. Send the money in a letter, and have the postmaster to register the letter ; or, 
5. Inclose the amount in a common letter, and direct it plainly with my address, and 
my Post-office Box No. 399 superscribed. In this way, I receive most of my remit- 
tances. 
When I receive the order and fee, I instantly return a receipt to the person sending, 
and inform them, at the same time, when I will send the package, and to what point I 
will send it, so they may know when to expect it, and where to look for it. 
I have made my fees so moderate, that I can not afford to pay express charges either 
on the money packages ordering treatment, or on the packages containing treatment, 
which I send. In all cases, these charges must be paid by the patient. 
All letters should be plainly addressed, 
DR. N. B. WOLFE, 
P. 0. Box 399, Cincinnati 0. 
See Questions on Next Page. 94 
CIRULAR OF QUESTIONS 
It is not necessary to send the Circular itself, simply writing the figure 
prefixed to each question, and writing the answer to the question thus indicated, 
conveys the information desired as well. Let this Circular remain in the Book. 
Note to the Reader. 
1.—Write your name. 
2. The name of your Post Office. 
3.—The name of your County. 
4.—What State. 
5.—Where is your nearest Express Office ? 
6.—What is your age ?_ 
7.—What is your height ?. 
8.— What is your weight now ?_ 
9.—What has been your weight in health ?_ 
10. —Are you married or single ? Widow or widower ? 
11.—What is your occupation?. 
12.—Does it seem to agree with you ? 
13. — What name do you know your disease by?. 
14.— \re you confined to the bed or house ?. 
15. —Have you lost any blood-relatives by consumption?. 
16.—Tf so, state who they were ? 
17.—Is your breast full or sunken under the collar bones ?. 
18.—Is one side of your breast more full than the other?. 
19.—Do you stand erect or stooping ? 
20. — Can you strike your breast without exciting cough ? 
21.— Can you hold your weight by your hands ?_ 
22.—How far can you walk at a moderate gait without fatigue ? 
23.—Are you subject to short breath or palpitation of the heart ? 95 
24. —If you have bled from the lungs, state wrhen and how much ?_ 
25.—Have you a cough ?_ 
26.—When is it most troublesome ?_ 
27.—Can you lay on either side without coughing ?. 
28. — Does the matter you raise sink or swim in water ?_ 
29.—Is its color yellow, white, or greenish ?_ 
30.— Is it ever streaked or mixed with blood ?. 
31.— What quantity do you raise in a day ?_ 
32. —Do you have chills or fever at any time ?_ 
33.—Do you have night sweats ? 
34. —Do you have Diarrhea ?_ 
35. —How is your appetite ? 
36.—Does your food seem to strengthen you V. 
37.—Are you regular in your bowels ?. 
38.— Are you troubled with the Piles or Fistula ?_ 
39. — When you take cold does it generally affect your head ?. 
40.—Do you breathe ordinarily through the nose ?. 
41.—Do you take cold easily ?. 
42.—Is your voice strong and clear ?. 
43. —How long can you read aloud before your voice is cracked ?_ 
44.—Have you an unpleasant breath ?. 
46.—Are you subject to sore throat ?_ 
46 —Do you “ hem and hauk ” much to cleanse your throat ?_ 
47.—Are you subject to Asthma ?. 
48.—What most generally brings it on ? 
49.—Is it accompanied with itching about the eyes or sneezing ?_ 
50.—At which season of the year is it worst ?. 
51.—Does it most frequently occur in tho night or day time ?_ 52.—How long does a regular attack last ?. 
96 
53.—Are you subject fo cold hands and feet?. 
54.—Have you any running sores on you, or salt rheum, or any other 
other disease of the skin ? 
5 5.—To what cause do you ascribe the loss of your health ?_ 
56.—Have you ever been salivated ?_ 
5 7.—Do you chew or smoke tobacco ?_ 
58.—Do you “rub” or “pinch” snuff ?_ 
59.—Do you use spirituous liquors habitually ?_ 
0.—How often does your pulse*beat in a minute ?. 
61.—Are you naturally of a joyous disposition ? 
62.—(For Ladies Only.)—Are you troubled with pain in your side, 
or a weak back ? 
63.—Are you regular in your “ changes ? 
64.— Are they scanty, profuse, or suppressed ?. 
65.—At such times have you nervous or sick head-ache ?_ 
66. Are you troubled with “ whites ” or painful menstruation ? 
67.—Have you given birth to any children ?. 
68.—How many?. 
How old is the eldest ?_ 
69.—How old is the youngest ?_ 
70.—Have you had any miscarriages ? 
71.—If so, what was the cause ? 
72.—Have you recovered well after confinements ?. 
73.—Are you nursing a child now ?_ 
74.—Are you now enciente ?.