Although the affection often heals spontaneously without treatment, it is always necessary to consult a physician. In the first place. it is of paramount importance to determine whether the affection is actually erysipelas. If not, the physician can reassure the patient and his friends, and thus spare them unnecessary excitement.
Erysipelas and conjuration are intimately correlated in the beliefs of many people, and it is the opinion of the superstitious that a sufferer from . that disease must needs have it conjured in order to be cured. This belief is widely disseminated, particularly in European countries, not only among the rural population, but also among the dwellers in cities. It is not at rare•that the physician pays his visit in the morning, while in the after noon the " wise woman " murmurs her magic words at the patient's bedside. It seems almost unnecessary to say that conjurations or charms are abso lutely without any effect. Every insignificant inflammation, every inno-. cent red spot on the skin, may be mistaken for the much-dreaded erysipelas. Such slight disorders disappear rapidly and spontaneously. Also mild forms of erysipelas may heal in a few days without having caused any severe symptoms. In such cases the patient usually waits for two or three days before sending for a " wise woman," and it may frequently happen that the spontaneous disappearance of the disease takes place simultane ously with, or soon after, the administration of the magic treatment. It
being the inclination of human beings to ascribe every occurrence to a visible and tangible cause, the patient will rather connect the improvement in his condition with the conjuration or charm or " absent treatment " which he is able to see or hear, than with the forces of Nature which work silently in his body. For this reason superstitious patients often deceive themselves as to the cause of the improvement.
The prevention of the disease may in many cases be accomplished by protecting fresh wounds from contamination, and by timely treatment. The physician should be consulted as early as possible ; as. for instance, when the navel-wounds of nurslings have an unhealthy appearance. It is of the highest importance that all rooms which have been occupied by erysipelas patients, or in which they have been treated, should be thoroughly disinfected. The bacteria of erysipelas are possessed of great vitality and resistance. They are difficult to kill, and may remain adhering to the walls or to the floor of the sick-room, causing the disease to appear in susceptible indi viduals, or to recur in persons previously affected. It is a criminal thing for a person with erysipelas, even of the mildest type, to come anywhere near a recently-confined woman. The chances are very grave that the uterus may be infected with the erysipelas-germ, and that blood-poisoning will develop, possibly with deadly consequences.