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119
are the manifestations of Tuberculosis that certain patients
showing such signs and some even in the second and third stages
of the disease actually get better, or at least the disease becomes
arrested, without the application of any particular form of
treatment. Unhappily such cases are none to common, and as
in the present state of our knowledge it is impossible to tell
which cases of Tuberculosis will get better of themselves, it
behoves us to take time by the forelock and apply suitable
methods of treatment to all coming under our notice. At the
same time it should be remembered, in any claim we may make
for the success of any particular method of treatment, that such
cases do exist and that nature must be given a share of the
credit for cures, no matter by what method the latter are
apparently effected.
Early cases may be treated, and treated successfully, either
at the Dispensary or at a Sanatorium, according to circumstances.
Where the home conditions of such a patient are good in the
administrative hygienic sense, attendance at the Dispensary
and appropriate administration of Tuberculin will, it may be
said, bring about a cure in a large number of cases. Similarly,
treatment of such patients at a Sanatorium, although much more
expensive than Dispensary treatment, will also account for a
large percentage of cures and is to be recommended where the
home conditions are bad or incapable of adequate improvement
for the time being. Of course, better class patients- -where time
and money are no object—would naturally prefer sanatorium
treatment, but as such patients will hardly ever come under the
notice of the Tuberculosis Officer the present remarks will
suffice.
Between tuberculous cases in the early stage and patients
so ill as to be bed-ridden, or at least unable to leave the house,
we have many different forms of the disease, all taking varying
courses. Some cases progress rapidly, others more slowly, some
are practically stationary, and a few actually show evidence of