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101
When he comes to the Dispensary it is clear either from his
physical signs or from the presence of tubercle bacilli in the
sputum that he is suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. If
he is not suffering from this complaint he is not accepted for
treatment but is recommended elsewhere.
If his temperature is not above 100° and it is a suitable
case, tuberculin treatment may be started, but if the temperature
is over lOO'1 he is made to rest in bed for a few days, and is
visited by the Medical Officer, and then later the tuberculin
treatment may be started at home, if such a course is considered
advisable.
If when a new patient presents himself at the Dispensary
no definite evidence of tuberculosis can be detected he is tested
by one of the diagnostic tests by tuberculin now in general
use, after which if a positive reaction takes place and the case
is a suitable one, the curative treatment of the disease is
commenced. Tuberculin is given as a curative agency in about
one-third of the cases.
Drugs are supplied to a greater or lesser extent in all the
Dispensaries, for the gift of a bottle of medicine is always
a necessary adjunct to any medical institution.
Nourishment in the form of cod liver oil and maltine is
rather freely supplied at all the Dispensaries.
CONCLUSIONS.
In our conversations with the medical staffs of the Dispensaries
we have elicited the fact that what is looked upon as one
of the most important features is the visiting of the homes of
consumptives and getting hold of the contact and early cases,
with a view to securing treatment for them whilst in that stage
in which a cure can most readily be effected.