ar rheumatism if
employed at the onset of the trouble.

=CHRONIC RHEUMATISM.=--Chronic rheumatism is a disease attacking
persons of middle age, or after, and is seen more commonly in poor,
hard-working individuals who have been exposed to cold and damp, as
laborers and washerwomen. Several of the larger joints, as the knees,
shoulders, and hips, are usually affected, but occasionally only one
joint is attacked. There is little swelling and no redness about the
joint; the chief symptoms are pain on motion, stiffness, and
tenderness on pressure. The pain is increased by cold, damp weather,
and improved by warm, dry weather. There is no fever. The general
health suffers if the pain is severe and persistent, and patients
become pale, dyspeptic, and weak. The disease tends rather to grow
worse than recover, and the joints, after a long time, to become
immovable and misshapen. Life is not, however, shortened to any
considerable degree by chronic rheumatism. Heart disease is not caused
by this form of rheumatism, although it may arise from somewhat
similar tendencies existing in the same patient. It may be
distinguished from other varieties of rheumatism by the fact that the
larger joints are those attacked, and also by the age of the patients
and general progress of the disease. It very rarely follows acute
rheumatism.

=Treatment.=--The treatment of chronic rheumatism is generally not
very successful unless the patient can live in a warm, dry climate the
year round. Painting the joint with tincture of iodine and keeping it
bandaged in flannel affords some relief. The application of a cold,
wet cloth covered with oil silk and bandage, by night, also proves
useful. Hot baths at night, Turkish baths, or special treatment
conducted under the supervision of a competent medical man at one of
the hot, natural, mineral springs, as those in Virginia, often prove
of great value. Rubbing and movement of the joints is of much service
in all cases; any liniment may be used. Drugs are of minor importance,
but cod-liver oil and tonics may be required. These should be
prescribed by a physician.

=RHEUMATIC GOUT= (_Arthritis_).--Notwithstanding the name, this
disease has no connection with either gout or the other forms of
rheumatism described. It occurs much more frequently in women, with
the exception of that form in which a single joint is attacked. The
disease may appear at any age, but more often it begins between the
years of