not, that I have had many
additions of words during the conversation, and to use a homely phrase,
less sense than I started out with. My tongue is tired, my brain
exhausted, my hopes disappointed and my mind disgusted, that after so
much effort to obtain some positive knowledge of the disease in
question, which is whooping cough, that I have received nothing that
would give me any light whatever pertaining to the subject. It winds up
thus, that it may be a germ that irritates the pneumogastric nerve. I go
off as blank and empty as the fish lakes on the moon. I supposed writers
would say something in reference to the irritating influence of this
disease on the nerves and muscles that would contract or convulsively
shorten the muscles that attach at the one end to the os hyoid, and at
the other end at various points along the neck, and force the hyoid back
against the pneumogastric nerve, hypoglossal, cervical, or some other
nerve that would be irritated by such pressure on nerves by the os
hyoid, when pulled back and held against such nerves. The above picture
will give the reader some idea why I became so thoroughly disgusted with
the heaps of compiled trash. I say trash because there was not a single
truth, great or small, to guide me in search of the desired knowledge.
And at this point I will say on my first exploration I found all of the
nerves and muscles that attach to the os hyoid at any point contracted,
shortened and pulling the hyoid back to and pressing against the
pneumogastric nerve, and all the nerves in that vicinity. Also each and
every muscle was in a hard and contracted condition in the region of
this portion of the trachea, and extended up and into the back part of
the tongue. Then I satisfied myself that this irritable condition of the
muscles was possibly the cause of the spasms of the trachea during the
convulsive cough. I proceeded at once with my hand guided by my judgment
to suspend or stop for awhile the action of the nerves of sensation that
go with and control the muscles of the machinery which conducts air to
and from the lungs. That my first effort while acting upon this
philosophy was a complete relaxation of all muscles and fibers of that
part of the neck, and when they relaxed their hold upon the respiratory
machinery the breathing became normal. I have been asked what bone I
would pull when treating whooping cough? My answer would be, the bones
that held by attachment the muscles of the