CHAPTER I.
HINTS IN REGARD TO THE TREATMENT OF COMMON DISEASES.

It is my design in a subsequent part of this work, under the head of emergencies, to refer to those exceptional cases in which there is peculiar danger, where some prompt action, something done immediately may either save life or save from protracted disease. In such cases the well instructed nurse may often do something without assuming undue responsibility.

But I now intend to give such instruction in regard to the treatment of minor ailments and complaints which are liable to arise in every family daily, as will enable the mother or nurse to often relieve present distress, and prevent future sickness and suffering. But I hope it is fully understood that while I give such instruction as is founded upon many years of study, and experience, and observation, I do not expect that any one can become a doctor by the perusal of this small treatise, or that the student of this book will ever set herself in opposition to those who have devoted years to the study of the healing art. With the understanding, then, that the mother is to prescribe medicine only in such cases as mothers usually do prescribe, I will now give some directions that will enable the nurse or mother to act with promptness and assurance and efficiency.

Some medicine should be kept in every house, and I suggest the following as a good list: Aconite, veratrum, paregoric, aromatic ammonia, spirits camphor, essence peppermint, spirits nitre, syrup ipecac, witch hazel, adhesive plaster, chlorate of potash, gum arabic, compound licorice powder, carbolic acid, and the sanguinaria powder.

The last, which is the medicine that I always use in diphtheria, may be prepared according to the following formula: Take of pulverized blood root ½ ounce, Ferri sulphas Exsiccata ½ ounce. Triturate together. Dose, 1 grain put on the tongue dry every four hours. The medicine should be kept dry and is best kept in a phial corked.

All the medicines should be labeled with the name and ordinary dose.

A small quantity of medicine will suffice to keep in the house. I suggest the following amounts and labels: ½ oz. tinct. aconite. Dose, 1/20 of a drop (or less) every hour. Poison. ½ oz. veratrum viride. Dose, ½ drop every two hours. 1 oz. paregoric. Dose, 1 drop to a teaspoonful. 1 oz. aromatic ammonia. Dose, 20 drops diluted in water. 1 oz. ess. peppermint. Dose, 10 drops. 1 oz. spirits camphor. Dose, 1 to 5 drops. 1 oz. syrup ipecac. Dose, 5 drops to a teaspoonful. 1 oz. spirits nitre. Dose, ¼ teaspoonful in water. ½ oz. fld. ex. witch hazel. Dose, 1 drop every hour. ½ oz. chlorate potash. ¼ lb. compound licorice powder. Dose, 1 teaspoonful. 1 oz. gum Arabic. ¼ yd. adhesive plaster. 1 oz. carbolic acid and glycerine. Poison. 1 oz. sanguinaria powder. Dose, 1 grain.

I will now give my treatment of diphtheria which is mostly by the use of the Sanguinaria powder, as this very well illustrates the benefit of having some mild safe medicine in the house, and using it early in the disease. Nearly thirty years ago I was so well satisfied of the efficacy of this medicine, that I advised all the families with which I was acquainted and where I was their physician, to keep the powder in the house and use it whenever any of them had sore throat; very many of them did so, and it has happened that so far as I know, there has not been a fatal case of diphtheria among them.

I advise that it be given in all cases of sore throat, for although it is not so important a remedy in all these cases, it will very generally be useful in a greater or less degree, and as the sore throat is usually the first thing complained of in diphtheria, its early application is thereby assured.

A very small dose will suffice, but there is no objection to taking two or three grains for a dose every 4 hours, except the disagreeable taste. I advise that it be taken alone, and not covered up, as I believe that it acts locally perhaps directly upon the organism or germ that is the cause of the disease. I have not, however, relied exclusively upon the one medicine, but have always directed that they should give about a teaspoonful of the saturated solution of chlorate of potash every hour, and that they keep kerosene applied on the outside of the throat or neck. Give plenty of milk and other nourishing diet, and but little other medicine is usually required.

The SANGUINARIA (bloodroot) POWDER is properly given in other cases besides diphtheria. A small dose given three times a day is not only a good worm medicine, but will prevent the subsequent developement and growth and multiplication of worms for some time. It is also a cure for a cough that is dependent on an irritated state of the fauces.

Three grains taken after each meal is a good remedy in chlorosis or suppression of the menses. In these cases it can be taken covered up in wafers or in rice paper, thereby avoiding the bitter taste.

Aconite should be kept in the house, and very small doses given in cases where there is a little feverishness, and no marked symptoms of disease. It is useful when there is an ordinary cold, and may be given two drops of the tincture in half a glass of water, one teaspoonful every hour. These small doses may be given to a little child, and yet they have some effect upon older persons.

Ordinary colds, however, require more efficient treatment, and I often direct the following: A teaspoonful ginger, a teaspoonful cream of tartar, and three large teaspoonfuls of sugar in a small glass of water, to be drank as one draught after being stirred. Heat the feet and keep them warm especially at night. The combination of ginger, cream of tartar, &c., opens all the secretions so that the lungs, liver, bowels, skin, and kidneys act in a natural manner, and there is immediate benefit.

Veratrum has already been mentioned as a remedy in inflammation. If good extract or tincture is used it can always be relied on to reduce the force and frequency of the pulse. It is frequently applicable because in most of our diseases the force and frequency of the pulse is increased. The pulse should be counted when it is first given, and counted occasionally afterwards, and when the pulse becomes less frequent the dose must be diminished or omitted. If an overdose is given it is commonly vomited, otherwise it might be dangerous. Ordinarily half a drop every two hours of the fluid extract is sufficient, but for adults two drops may sometimes be given and repeated in an hour. We have so many maladies that are inflammatory, where the pulse is full and hard, that the indications for its use are frequent. Even in the commencement of fevers, when the pulse is full and quick—where it was formerly the practice of physicians to bleed, veratrum should be given till it has a decided effect upon the pulse. In intermittent fever the effect of this sedative upon it, given at the commencement of the fever or hot stage, is as salutary as is the effect of quinine given during the intermission.

Moderate doses are not liable to do harm except to those who have become quite weak and low. A convenient way of administering it is to prepare twenty drops of the extract in twenty teaspoonfuls of water, and the dose can be easily regulated.

Croup may generally be cured if veratrum is given early and in efficient doses. It is of no avail to administer it at an advanced stage when there is apnoea; the pulse becoming feeble and intermitting, the lips blue, the skin losing its heat; and when drowsiness, coma or other fatal symptoms are coming on. When cough, hoarseness, catarrh, and loss of voice are noticed in a young child, it should be narrowly watched and protected against all circumstances likely to aggravate inflammation; it should be kept in the house, and a warm, moist air should be kept in the room (about 65°), its diet should be milk or farinaceous food; the functions of the bowels and skin should be attended to; some aconite should be given; if there is a slight, ringing cough, place the patient in a warm bath for ten minutes, then confine it to bed; keep the air of the room moist by the evaporation of boiling water; give castor oil or other physic, and small doses of syrup ipecac, and spirits nitre. If the respiration becomes sonorous and difficult, the voice hoarse and gruff, the cough croupy and brassy as it is called, you have the characteristic symptoms of croup. But the peculiar breathing, making a sort of crowing sound with each inspiration, will always distinguish it, and there will always be some fever attending it. Croup sometimes commences with sore throat, and I believe that the sanguinaria powder will usually be efficacious in its cure; but prompt doses of veratrum are still more effectual. At the early stages you may give two drops of the extract, and the dose may be repeated in half an hour, and perhaps repeated afterwards. If there is not evident improvement an ounce of syrup of ipecac or a teaspoonful of sugar and alum pulverized together, may be given if necessary to make the child vomit.

In the meantime hot fomentations should have been applied to the throat. A sponge the size of a large fist, dipped in water as hot as can be borne, should be squeezed half dry and applied under the child’s chin so as to cover the larynx, and the temperature maintained by resoaking it every two or three minutes.

Baths may be used during the second stage of the croup; if the child has a temperature of 104°, a warm bath ought to be administered, and the child immersed in it up to its chin for fifteen or twenty minutes.

After the breathing is relieved, still give small doses of syrup of ipecac, or alum, or veratrum, sufficient to keep up nausea for a time. After there is a decided amelioration of the symptoms, give the following: To a teacupful of ginger tea add a teaspoonful of aromatic ammonia, and a teaspoonful syrup of ipecac, and give a teaspoonful every hour.

Veratrum is the medicine upon which you must rely in croupy cases; this disease requires vigorous treatment, but vigorous measures in the start will generally save the life of the patient.

Paregoric is a useful medicine for pain, diarrhoea, cough and restlessness, and may generally be given advantageously when two of these symptoms are present. Opium has some beneficial effect in inflammation, and very generally paregoric can be given where there is febrile excitement. I would never give it when the child is only cross and irritable, as a bad habit may thereby be engendered. There is always danger of giving an overdose of any opiate; and although an adult may sometimes take as much as two ounces of paregoric when he is suffering severe pain, I do not advise that it be given to children often in doses that exceed five drops.

Diarrhoea may be treated in the following manner: To four ounces of ginger tea add one teaspoonful paregoric, one teaspoonful aromatic ammonia, one teaspoonful ess. peppermint, one half teaspoonful spirits camphor, and two ounces of mucilage of gum arabic, and shake the whole together. This is good medicine for all forms of summer complaint, diarrhoea, dysentery, or cholera morbus. One-half teaspoonful of this is a dose, but it can be given efficiently in a larger or smaller dose. It acts by correcting the disordered state of the stomach, and it is upon this usually that these diseases depend.

If the diarrhoea continues for a day or two, some mild astringent may be given; perhaps three drops every two hours of the extract of witch hazel. The diet is important, and it is well in these cases to have some wheat flour boiled. (F. 47.) The flour grated from it and sifted, and made into a gruel, may be profitably used with milk.

A thin solution of gum Arabic with milk affords both food and drink, and is one of the most useful, and safe, and efficient remedies.

Such medicines as F. 74, 77, 79, 80, may be given in almost every case with benefit. The alkalies neutralize the acids in the stomach, and the aromatics have a grateful action. If the pain continues, a warm bath may be given. Should the gums be swollen, they should be cut down to the teeth.

But there are many cases of diarrhoea where my prescription would be the following: Give no kind of food save that of the milk of the mother, and that only once in four hours. Should the thirst require more fluid to satisfy it, give from time to time a teaspoonful of cold water; put flannel on its body, and woolen stockings on its legs; rub the abdomen three or four times a day with the bare warm hand; do not ever wake the child when asleep; when awake give it five drops paregoric every two hours.

In the preliminary stage of CHOLERA INFANTUM, besides giving the diarrhoea mixture with ar. ammonia, I would enjoin absolute rest in the recumbent position, with warmth to the surface and extremities; perhaps total abstention from mother’s and cow’s milk, and would order either condensed milk or arrow root prepared with water. I would also make counter irritation over the abdomen by poultices and sinapisms.

Dysentery when first coming on is attended with more fever than diarrhoea is. It will be distinguished by the character of the pain and the discharges. The patient is tormented by a sensation as if there was some excrement to be dislodged; he goes often to the night chair, and strains to get rid of the irritation; he discharges but little, and what is voided is either a jelly like or bloody mucus; perhaps mixed with films and membranous shreds. The pulse is hard and frequent, the skin hot, the face flushed, and the patient complains of headache and thirst.

You may give some veratrum at first; one-half drop of the extract every two hours for one day; and to allay the thirst, give cold water in which some wheat flour has been stirred.

My principal remedies if the diarrhoea mixture does not cure, is to give the sour drops (elixir vitriol), and either large or small doses of ipecac. I also use injections of starch and laudanum, and rectal suppositories. (F. 155, 160.)

You may find much benefit from some domestic remedies. Give either occasional doses of strong table tea, or spoonful doses of vinegar and table salt, or freshly prepared melted mutton suet.

Aromatic spirit of ammonia is useful in hysteria, flatulent colic and nervous debility. It is not a powerful medicine to overcome disease, but it is a medicine that ought to be at hand to relieve many little ailments that are liable to occur, when much medicine cannot be given. I advise those that are suffering from sick headache to take 30 or 40 drops of it as a stimulant antacid. It may be well also to take a teaspoonful of paregoric, and to lie down till sleep gives relief. Fainting fits or FAINTING may demand a remedy, and 15 drops ar. spts. ammonia may give the desired relief, if the sufferer lie down and a little cold water be sprinkled in her face also.

This medicine is a grateful antacid in cases of SOUR STOMACH, and it will usually give some relief in the flatulence and distress of DYSPEPSIA.

It may often be used as a slight stimulant, but as it is an alkaline remedy it should not be given conjoined with acids.

Essence peppermint and SPIRITS CAMPHOR are often used in ailments similar to those in which I use aromatic ammonia, and this may be given in combination with them. Some persons have a decided preference for essence cinnamon, or wintergreen, and these may be substituted for peppermint; aromatics also, such as sweet flag, will have a similar effect.

Spirits nitre is often a grateful stimulant to the stomach, but it is also used in febrile affections, and inflammatory complaints. Four parts of spirits nitre to one of ar. ammonia is diuretic, diaphoretic, and is well suited to certain states of febrile disease.

When given to promote the action of the kidneys, a half teaspoonful or more may be given every two hours in a spoonful of water. Scanty and high colored urine, especially when it is acrid and burning, is an indication for its use.

Syrup of ipecac is used as an expectorant and emetic in colds and coughs. If given to a child, one teaspoonful is an emetic dose, to be repeated every fifteen minutes till it operates. If given to loosen a cough, five or six drops repeated every half hour will suffice; but it may be given in much larger doses. It is often given in combination. (F. 137, 139.)

Witch Hazel. Pond’s Extract Hamamelis is kept by many people in the house, and as it is usually accompanied with directions, I shall refer to it very briefly. The ordinary fluid extract is perhaps five times as strong as Pond’s extract, and when used may be diluted accordingly. It is astringent, and a medicine of that kind is often useful both internally and externally. A few drops taken each day may prevent bleeding, when there is a tendency to hemorrhage, although ergot would be a more efficient remedy if given for immediate effect.

Chlorate of potash is very generally given in diphtheria, and is generally safe; no harm can come from the advice to keep it constantly in the house; it is not very soluble, and the saturated solution is not too strong for use. It is a good way to put a half teaspoonful of it in a glass, and keep a little water on it all the time, and give ten or twelve teaspoonful doses of the solution a day for any kind of sore throat or mouth.

Compound licorice powder (F. 108) is a mild laxative, and may be given to a young child in half teaspoonful doses. In larger doses it will serve well for older persons for physic. While I think it well to keep this in the house and to occasionally administer it, some other sort of cathartic may at times properly be preferred. A great variety of this sort of medicine is attainable, no one kind is always the best; this powder is however a good laxative, in doses of a teaspoonful repeated in eight hours if necessary.

Gum arabic is not often kept in the house as a medicine, but I think it eminently proper to keep it; scarcely any other medicine is so safe and harmless either in large or small doses, and few are more decidedly useful than this in some cases. Made into an emulsion and taken either alone or in combination with other medicine, or used as food, it is good in every variety of bowel complaint. A teaspoonful of the mucilage stirred into a cup of cold water and drank by the patient, may serve as medicine and drink and sustenance when he can take no other food. It may properly be added to expectorant and diuretic medicines; but the beneficial effects are most obvious when it is administered for inflammatory affections of the gastric and intestinal mucous membrane. Slippery elm and flaxseed tea have a similar effect, but are not so decidedly beneficial.

Carbolic acid nine parts and GLYCERINE one part may be kept mixed together; not because the glycerine assists or modifies the action of the carbolic acid, but because it renders the acid soluble in the water, so that the solution may be of any strength desired. Carbolic acid is not much used internally; it is so powerful that it ought to be regarded as a poison; its effect is good, however, if given in small doses very much diluted. It is believed to be destructive to disease germs, and may very properly be given in bad cases of diarrhoea and dysentery. Two drops of the acid in a glass of water is a weak solution, and may be given without harm; a half teaspoonful every two hours.

There is not space in this work to describe particularly the various cases in which it may be used externally. A solution one part in 100 of water, may be applied advantageously to any inflamed part or to any CUTANEOUS ERUPTION, or may be used as a wash or gargle in any SORE MOUTH or SORE THROAT. To cure sores or eruptions, however, it is often necessary to apply it much stronger. I apply a 1 to 5 solution to the sores once or twice, and to burns a solution 1 to 30 for a few days.

I will give more particular directions for its use in HEMORRHOIDS or PILES. Apply the acid and glycerine (9 to 1) to the piles by dropping 3 drops upon a bit of tissue paper and pressing it against the tumors, and into the anus. Repeat this each day for three days, then use a mild ointment or suppositories. (F. 206.)

A few doses of the compound licorice powder will be useful for piles if the bowels are not regular.

I have already given some specific directions in regard to some diseases in very young children; what further instructions I give will be of a general character.

HOME REMEDIES AND APPLIANCES FOR SICK CHILDREN.

Dentition predisposes to sickness, if it does not cause it, and it may call into activity latent tendencies to disease. It may cause such symptoms as the following: redness, heat, and tenderness of the gums; an increase of saliva; starting as if in fright; restlessness, or interrupted sleep; eruptions on the head or body; derangement of the digestive organs, and sometimes convulsions. During the period of dentition, be especially careful that the child has its food and sleep regularly, and that it is restricted to suitable quantities of food at a time. Keep the head cool and the feet warm; wash the child daily in cold water, and allow it to be much in the open air. If a child is worrisome and irritable it will be necessary to cut the gums. Lance them at the elevated points, cutting them down to the teeth. At the same time, aconite can be given, and perhaps a warm bath; and if there is considerable fever give ordinary doses of veratrum. These remedies are so generally useful where there is fever, that I will venture to recommend them when either THRUSH, MEASLES, German measles, MUMPS, SCARLET FEVER, CHICKEN POX, or WHOOPING COUGH is coming on or suspected. Each of these diseases have a natural course which they must run before they terminate, and it is best, as in diphtheria, not to give medicines powerful enough to interfere with the natural course of the disease. Do not give physic. (F. 121, 122.)

So in OPTHALMIA it is better to have nothing but a little salt in the water than it is to use harsh things to bathe the child’s eyes. Do not rub the eyes; let a small stream of tepid water trickle onto them, and wipe the discharges away with a soft rag. Burn the rag, wash your own hands, and keep them away from your own eyes, on account of the danger from contagion. (F. 210, 211.)

Constipation cannot be treated in all cases without giving some aperient medicine. (F. 108, 109.) Oat meal gruel as a diet may be helpful; and fresh vegetables—cabbages, turnips, onions, ripe fruit; oatmeal porridge with molasses, and brown bread may be taken freely. Infants may be partly fed on corn starch, and older children may have cracked wheat (F. 35), or peas, beans, squashes, and other fresh vegetables and fruits in their season. A good draught of water on rising and retiring is advisable; and a teaspoonful of soda and molasses mixed together and taken daily for a week may cure a costive habit. A suppository of castile soap may induce a movement in a child, or it may be best to give an injection of tepid water, or soap and water.

For CHAFINGS bathe the parts well in tepid water, dry with soft cloths, and apply by means of a soft sponge, F. 212.

The following diseases are inflammatory, and demand at first mild treatment with aconite, veratrum, and warm baths:

In TONSILITIS (quinsy), use the blood root powder and bicarbonate of soda. The patient can apply the bicarbonate of soda to the inflamed tonsil with his finger, or it can be blown into his throat through a quill, or through a hollow roll of stiff paper that contains a few grains. For the chronic form of tonsilar enlargement use F. 213.

Coryza or snivels is an inflammatory affection of the mucous lining of the nose, attended with an abnormal secretion. Sometimes the child can only breathe through its mouth; in such cases you may draw the breast milk, and feed the child by means of a spoon. Give aconite, and as a local application the inside of the nose may be often smeared with vaseline, or cold cream, or carbolated cosmoline.

Bronchitis, pneumonia, pleurisy, and other inflammatory diseases, may not show their distinctive character in their incipient stage, but there will be at first sufficient fever to indicate the need of aconite, veratrum, and perhaps the warm bath. Accessary means may be used, such as the following: the patient should be placed in a warm room (about 65°) and have only light bed clothing; if the child is taken out of bed he must have on a warm wrapper, or be otherwise well covered; he should not lie flat in bed, but he should be somewhat propped up with pillows; and it may be best to keep on a continuous poultice to the chest in front and back. The patient should be kept very quiet, have mucilaginous drinks and farinaceous diet; and the air of the room should be moistened by steam or the evaporation of wafer; and the ventilation of the apartment must not be neglected. They must have frequent sips of cold water to allay thirst, besides marshmallow, slippery elm, or flaxseed tea, and revulsives must be used as well as poultices and fomentations.

By the aid of a CLINICAL THERMOMETER many diseases may be distinguished even in the incipient stage.

If a person without any premonitory symptoms is seized with a chill, followed by rapid breathing, a dull pain in the chest, cough, high fever, and comparatively slow pulse; if the thermometer indicates a temperature of 104° or 105°, and the pulse does not beat over 110 a minute, the case is one of ACUTE PNEUMONIA. Sometimes the temperature is below 90°; if it exceed 120° it is almost certain to be fatal.

Ague. Chills recurring regularly for a few days indicate the intermittent nature of a disease. But during the first chill if the thermometer is applied, we may know that a case is one of fever and ague, if while the skin is yet cold the thermometer rises to 105°, and later to 107°, and during the stage of sweating the instrument shows a decline of 2° every fifteen minutes till it has reached 98½°. This rapid rise and decline is due only to malaria, and quinine is indicated. (F. 182.)

Tubercular Phthisis. If a patient has been losing flesh of late and been troubled with a short, dry cough, take his temperature at about six P. M. for a few evenings. If the thermometer records 99° to 100°, and no other cause exists for this regular nightly increase of temperature, the case can be put down as one of incipient consumption, especially if tuberculosis has been in the family. Endeavor to improve the general nutrition by attention to the quantity and quality of the food (as generous diet as can be taken without disturbing the stomach or increasing the feverish symptoms); by enjoining a residence in a healthy climate; by exercise in the open air; by warm clothing; by daily tepid sponging, with friction of the skin; and by cod-liver oil or petroleum emulsion with hypophosphites. An animal diet is generally necessary. If digestion fails and there is acidity of the stomach, give pepsin. (F. 72.) Add a teaspoonful of sweetened lime water to a tumbler full of milk, and if this agrees with his stomach, he can take that amount four times a day.

In TYPHOID FEVER the patient may complain of lassitude, headache, pain in the back, etc., for several days before he is feverish. Then his temperature is 99°, and it may be one degree higher each night, until on the sixth and seventh evening it is 104°; it being each morning one degree less than at night. Even if there is no diarrhoea, tympanitis, or eruption, we may by observing the temperature, feel sure that we have a case of typhoid fever. If it is a moderate case the temperature will be 104° at night, and 103½° in the morning, till the fourteenth day, when it may decline one degree in the morning, and half a degree or one degree in the evening. After that it may decline regularly till on the 21st day it may be 98½°. Relapse or chest difficulty may modify this regular decline, and the nurse must carefully note and report to the physician the temperature each morning and night.

In TYPHUS FEVER the temperature reaches its height, 104° or 105°, within thirty-six hours. It continues at that height, with morning remissions of one-half degree, till the eleventh or thirteenth day, when it rapidly falls to the normal; a sweat or a long sleep ushering in the favorable termination.

Scarlet Fever. If a child is suddenly taken ill with a chill, vomitings, very rapid pulse, and the thermometer records 105° or more, very early in the disease, it denotes scarlet fever; and from this sign alone, even without any sore throat or eruption, a diagnosis may be made. This disease may very frequently go on well without any danger till the eruption subsides, but danger arises from exposure of the child to cold any time during the subsequent four weeks.

Hysteria. There may be pain perhaps in the bowels, abdominal tenderness, and vomiting; or there may be symptoms of inflammation in some other part; if the thermometer does not register more than 98½° it is probably hysteria. Assafoetida, valerian, and such remedies will probably cure.

Apoplexy. In this disease the thermometer soon after the attack shows a temperature of only 97°, and lower still if there should be a second effusion to still more compress the brain. On the contrary, in a fully developed case of sunstroke, the thermometer will not record less than 107°.

It would be a good thing if every nurse and every mother kept a clinical thermometer.

CHAPTER II.
EMERGENCIES, ACCIDENTS, SUDDEN SICKNESS.

The diseases last named were there mentioned because their distinctive character could be determined by the thermometer. They are, however, examples of the kind of cases that I design now to speak of particularly; where there is apparent cause for alarm, and where there is apparent necessity that something should be done immediately.

These cases demand the services of a physician, and my design is only to instruct you what to do before the doctor arrives; or rather I should say, the instructions that I give are not intended to supercede medical advice, though some cases may be of a kind in which little or nothing can be done. These emergencies are of every variety, and I shall bring the different kinds before you as fully as I can. Ordinarily it is not at first apparent what the real malady is.

We will suppose that during the heat of summer a man drops down unconscious. At first no one knows whether it is apoplexy or SUNSTROKE. Do not get excited and do things that are rash; if you do not know what ought to be done, do nothing; if you are not excited you may at least use what knowledge you have acquired.

Send a message to the doctor, giving a description as far as you can of the case, so that he may come prepared to treat it. Secure plenty of fresh air and room, and get rid of those who are around, who cannot be useful; if respiration is suspended, and there is immediate danger, something may be done at once; at least to know if the man has merely fainted. Have him laid in a horizontal position; you may soon have him carried to the nearest house. For this something should be provided on which he can lie horizontally; instruct the bearers to avoid unnecessary jolting; have a bed ready to put him on; if the case is supposed to be fainting give aromatic ammonia or a little stimulant of some kind; do not raise the head, but keep it low as the feet. If it is a severe case of sunstroke, the skin is hot and the pulse weak and fluttering; there may be convulsions, but probably there will be no movement; remove the clothing with as little disturbance as possible; do not cut anything that can be ripped; throw cold water on the head and chest, or put the patient in a cold bath of about 70° at first, and gradually reduce the degree of cold; give a cup of good table tea; do not give alcoholic stimulants without medical advice. If consciousness returns and the temperature again rises, repeat the cold applications to the head, neck, and chest; give ice water or ice tea; it may be best to rub the head and body an hour longer, and to give stimulant enemata.

Apoplexy can be distinguished from syncope by the pulse, which beats perhaps with unnatural force; the face instead of being pale is generally flushed, and turgid, and the respiration goes on though it may be labored and stertorous. The condition of the sensorial functions is much the same as it is in narcotic poisoning, or when a man is dead drunk. The nurse should make all necessary enquiries so that she can furnish the physician with a full history of the case to help him in his diagnosis. In apoplexy the pulse is rather slow though full, and the pupils of the eyes, one or both, dilated. There may be paralysis of one side.

Loosen the clothes, elevate the head and chest, apply cold water to the head, and heat to the extremities, and perhaps sinapisms also. Giving physic may be deferred until the doctor arrives; and in general you may pursue a similar course whether the case is one of CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN, or COMPRESSION or narcotic poisoning; cold may be applied to the head by means of pounded ice in a bladder; keep the head cool and the feet warm.

Many of this class of cases require still very careful nursing after the dangerous symptoms are relieved. The skin should be kept healthy by daily friction and bathing. The bowels must not be permitted to become costive; the diet should be light, the food well chewed, the mind kept cheerful and free from excitement.

POISONS.

In cases of poisoning no time is to be lost in administering relief, and it is important that the nurse should be familiar with all the usual antidotes.

Most commonly in a case of poisoning, speedy free vomiting should be induced by those articles that are at hand, and that are quick and prompt in their effects.

Even if the poison has been taken hypodermically, emetics may be given; these will do no harm: Sulphate of zinc (white vitriol), is very prompt in its action, and may be used when it can be procured (F. 134); and if vomiting be present, we may aid it by giving warm water, or perhaps pulv. ipecac, or some other vegetable emetic.

But either common salt or mustard is nearly always at hand and may be given. Stir up a tablespoonful of salt or a teaspoonful of mustard in a cup of warm water, and give immediately, and repeat until a pint is swallowed; do not stop to stir them very much, but give as quickly as possible. You may tickle the throat with a finger or a feather to induce immediate vomiting. Do not give tartar emetic; do not give fluids so as to distend the stomach too much; some bland fluid may be given with or immediately after giving mustard and salt; either milk, lime water, white of egg, flour and water, gruel, drinks sweetened with honey or sugar. Oil should not be given unless ordered.

Before naming the antidotes for particular poisons I wish to instruct the nurse to not only note the symptoms, but also to examine every article of a suspicious nature, (such as phials, boxes, or papers containing powders), and preserve them. Preserve also all vomited matter and everything that may afford a clue to the poison for after inspection, if the nature of the poison is likely to be a subject of after inquiry.

In regard to the symptoms it may be well to know that Prussic acid, cyanide of potassium, strong ammonia, pure carbonic acid gas, or pure carbonic oxide may KILL almost at once, as indeed almost every poison may if taken in a very large dose; strong acids, alkalies, aconite, antimony, arsenic, tobacco, or lobelia may cause SPEEDY COLLAPSE.

Belladonna, hyoscyamus, strammonium, canabis indica, alcohol or camphor, may cause DELIRIUM.

Nux vomica, strychnine, antimony, or arsenic may cause TETANUS or tonic contraction of the muscles.

Antimony, arsenic, carbonic oxide, aconite, strong acids or alkalies may cause CONVULSIONS.

Gelsemium, conium, aconite, arsenic, or lead may cause PARALYSIS.

Belladonna, atropine, hyoscyamus, or strammonium causes DRY SKIN; and opium, aconite, antimony, alcohol or lobelia causes MOIST SKIN. The skin is almost always moist in collapse.

Belladonna, atropine, hyoscyamus, stammonium, aconite, alcohol, chloroform or conium may cause DILATED PUPILS.

Opium or chloral may cause CONTRACTED PUPILS, especially during sleep.

Prussic acid, laudanum, alcohol, carbolic acid, acetic acid, ammonia, chloroform, creosote, iodine, phosphorus, camphor, or nitro benzole can often be smelled in the BREATH.

Belladonna, atropine, hyoscyamus, strammonium or opium cause the MOUTH and TONGUE to be DRY.

Arsenic, ammonia, cantharides, jaborandi or mercury cause SALIVATION.

Arsenic, antimony, corrosive sublimate, cantharides, digitalis, colchicum or colycinth causes VOMITING and PURGING.

Lead, colycinth, copper, or arsenic causes COLIC. Arsenic, antimony and lead cause CROUP.

ACIDS OF AN IRRITATING CHARACTER.

These include ACETIC, CITRIC, MURIATIC, NITRIC, OXALIC, SULPHURIC, and ARSENIOUS acids. Their irritating and corrosive character depend upon their strength and concentration, or the amount taken, some or all of them being salutary in small diluted doses. Their injurious effects are severe the moment they are swallowed, as they excoriate the throat and gullet at the time of swallowing. But antidotes will lessen their power on the stomach and bowels if given soon, and if given with the emetic will render the vomited matter less irritating. Their corrosive character causes severe pain, which may be followed by symptoms of shock.

Alkalies are the antidotes. Give some one that is at hand, either calcined magnesia, a solution of soda or soap, lime water or whiting. At the same time the emetics and alkalies are taken, give demulcents, such as milk, mucilage, gruel, flaxseed tea, etc. Of course the inflammation consequent on the poison must be treated.

Carbolic acid might be included among those above named; the same treatment would be proper, except that strong alkalies are ineffectual as antidotes. Besides emetics give milk, demulcent drinks, and carbonate of magnesia, with a little paregoric in water. Secure rest and warmth to the body, use counter irritants externally.

Arsenious acid is included in the above list. The antidote for this is hydrated peroxide of iron, recently prepared, and given in large doses. It is prepared by the addition of liq. ammonia to muriated tinct. of iron, or liq. ferri sulph., which yields the hydrated peroxide of iron as a dense precipitate; and this should be given in tablespoonful doses every five minutes until the symptoms are relieved. The nurse and attendant’s duty, however, is to give emetics and demulcents freely.

Alkalies are like the acids, irritating; if strong they excoriate the fauces and esophagus. Caustic potash, lye, soda and hartshorn are examples. In these cases give acids such as vinegar and lemon juice as antidotes, and oils also to unite with the alkali and render it less irritating. Demulcent drinks must be given with the emetics, and acids must be continued afterwards.

For LUNAR CAUSTIC (nitrate of silver) give two teaspoonfuls of salt in a pint of water, also the white of egg with other demulcents.

Corrosive sublimate. For this poison the antidote is white of egg and milk, or a mixture of wheat flour and water and soap, which may be given with emetics, or after them; before if no emetic is at hand. The attendant nervous symptoms may be alleviated with paregoric.

Tartar emetic of itself produces vomiting, but this may be kept up by giving mucilage and such astringent infusions as common tea, &c.

Copper. The sulphate or acetate of copper might act as an emetic, but small quantities remaining in the stomach might act as irritant poisons. Give large doses of simple syrup as warm as can be swallowed; give also the whites of eggs and large quantities of milk; and as an antidote the hydrated peroxide of iron.

For BISMUTH, IODINE, or COPPERAS taken in an overdose, give the same emetics and demulcents as for copper.

Zinc and Tin. The sulphate of zinc and the salts of tin when not vomited entirely, produce severe irritating effects on the stomach. Besides milk and albumen give carbonate of soda in solution.

Colycinth, CROTON OIL, and SAVINE OIL may produce like the above, vomiting, diarrhoea, and also constriction of the throat. Give copious doses of barley water, etc.; give opium and perhaps stimulants. These cases and all the rest of the above may be benefitted by taking freely of gum Arabic mucilage, and may demand treatment for inflammation.

Cantharides may produce severe pain in the bowels, bloody evacuations, strangury, burning thirst and fever. Give emollient drinks with enemata, to which some laudanum may be added, and also camphor; oil must not be given in cases of poisoning by cantharides or phosphorus.

Toadstools, AGARIC, ACONITE, BELLADONNA, CONIUM, COLCHICUM, HELLEBORE, and ALCOHOL, are acro-narcotics which may cause severe irritation of the throat and stomach, and such symptoms as burning heat of the esophagus and stomach, thirst, violent nausea, purging, dryness and constriction of the mouth and throat; and be followed by such symptoms as are produced by narcotic poisons: vertigo, headache, perversion of vision, sense of suffocation, disposition to sleep, numbness or paralysis of the limbs, prostration of the strength, cold extremities, feeble pulse, and stupor.

Strammonium, CAMPHOR, CHLORAL, DIGITALIS, BITTER-SWEET and HYOSCYAMUS may be called narcotic poisons. Give prompt emetics, demulcents, witch hazel, active purgatives, strong coffee; keep the patient roused, use electro-magnetism, cold douche, and employ friction.

For PHOSPHORUS, which a child sometimes obtains from the ends of matches, give emetics, and administer big doses of magnesia in water and mucilage. There are a few other poisons which might be classed as irritant, such as nitrate potash (salt petre) which need the same class of remedies as those already named. For nitre give also stimulants freely.

Opium and BELLADONNA are antidotes to each other, and if a person has taken an overdose of one, the other should be given if it is at hand. Evacuate the stomach perhaps by tickling the fauces; give also strong coffee, active stimulants, witch hazel; employ friction, perhaps electro magnetism, and keep the patient moving. Morphine of course demands the same.

For NUX VOMICA and STRYCHNINE, besides giving an emetic give aromatic spirits ammonia, and also chloroform internally in ½ drachm doses diluted. Give tannin and also animal charcoal, milk and spirits camphor in large doses.

Carbonate and ACETATE of LEAD sometimes act as poisons. Give sulphate of zinc as an emetic, and epsom or glauber salts as a cathartic. A mixture of syrup and persulphuret of iron may be given as an antidote to any mineral poison.

Hydrocyanic or PRUSSIC ACID, LAUREL WATER, and CYANIDE OF POTASH cause immediately extreme prostration, nausea, giddiness, pale countenance, slow breathing, and paralysis. Dash cold water on the face to produce a shock, taking care not to soak the clothes of the patient; we may produce a more decided effect if we alternate cold and hot effusions. Have the patient inhale steam containing liquor ammonia or hartshorn; give internally aromatic ammonia and chloroform; use friction, especially along the spine and feet; artificial respiration may be necessary. Give chlorine water of the strength of two drachms to the ounce.

Animal Poisons. For BITES OF SERPENTS apply a ligature above the wounded part; use carbolic acid or any active caustic; apply cupping glass (or mouth, when there is no sore in the mouth). Bisulphite of soda in large doses is said to be an antidote. Give stimulants in large quantities.

Mad Dog Bites. A person having been bitten by a mad dog, or one suspected of rabies, the wound must first be made to bleed, then washed, and finally cauterized. Enlarge the wound so that the blood may flow out freely; press out still more blood, and you may safely suck out some if you do not have any sore on your mouth or lips. After tying a bandage above the wound it must be washed until cauterization can be effected. This can be made either with Vienna paste, butter of antimony, chloride of zinc, or a red hot iron. If the dog can be secured and shut up it is better than that he should be immediately killed. If the dog does not prove to be mad, the person bitten should know the fact, as this may prevent the alarming fears that of themselves sometimes prove disastrous. The bitten person should have his mind diverted as much as possible.

Carbonic Acid Gas. A person having been poisoned by inhaling choke damp or the fumes of burning charcoal, loosen the clothing, dash cold water on the head and face, give plenty of fresh air, stimulants, and inhalations of ammonia. Employ artificial respiration if necessary. If the body is cold employ hot applications.

OTHER EMERGENCIES, PERSONS ASPHYXIATED FROM DROWNING, HANGING, &C.

When a person is asphyxiated treat him instantly. Give all the fresh air possible; remove all light clothing from the chest and neck and face; try to restore respiration first; clear the throat by placing the patient on the face with one arm under the forehead; the tongue falls forward and leaves the windpipe free; then wipe and cleanse the mouth.

To excite respiration turn the patient on his side and apply some stimulating agent (as camphor or ammonia) near the nostrils, and dash cold water, or hot and cold water alternately on the chest, which may have been previously rubbed briskly. (The effort to promote warmth and circulation by rubbing should be kept up continuously as far as possible.) Should there be no respiration immediately you can use

Marshall Hall’s method to imitate respiration. “Turn the patient again on his face, raising and supporting the chest well on a folded coat or other article of dress; make gentle pressure on the back, after which turn him over on his side; then again on his face, and again press a little; repeat these motions at the rate of fifteen a minute. During the operation let one person attend to the movements of the head and the arm placed under it.” If there is respiration and consequent life, dry the hands, in cases of drowning; and as soon as you can, strip the body and gradually reclothe or cover it; but if the breathing is not satisfactory, after continuing these same efforts to restore respiration for about fifteen minutes, you may use

Sylvester’s Method. “Place the patient on the back on a flat surface, inclined a little upward from the feet; raise and support the shoulders and head on a cushion or a folded article of dress; draw forward the patient’s tongue, and keep it projecting beyond the lips, by having a band or string around the tongue and chin, or by raising the lower jaw so that the teeth retain it; standing at the patient’s head, grasp the arms near the elbows and draw them steadily upward above the head, and keep them stretched upwards for two seconds; then turn down the patient’s arms and press them gently and firmly against the chest for two seconds; repeat the movement alternately about fifteen times every minute until a spontaneous effort to inspire is perceived; then proceed TO INDUCE CIRCULATION AND WARMTH.” Rub the limbs upward with energy, and continue the friction under the blanket and over the dry clothing; promote the warmth of the body by applying flannels, bottles of hot water to the pit of the stomach, the armpit, the thighs, and the sole of the feet; then if the power of swallowing has returned, stimulants and coffee should be administered.

A STROKE OF LIGHTNING may cause immediate death by its effects on the nervous system. Sometimes it produces unconsciousness without being fatal. In attempting resuscitation employ artificial respiration, and if there are any signs of life treat as directed for shock. If there are burns complicating the case, of course the burns must be treated. When there is SHOCK the patient lies in an apoplectic state, the surface pale; there is faintness, trembling, cold perspiration, low temperature, feeble pulse, and probably nausea and vomiting. Keep the patient’s head low, give aromatic ammonia, and apply heat to the extremities and to the stomach. Strong beef tea should be given, and hot tea and coffee.

There are but few exigencies that generally occasion more alarm than CONVULSIONS. Fits may come on without premonitory symptoms; there is sudden loss of consciousness, accompanied by irregular and powerful contractions of the muscles. All the voluntary muscles may be affected, or there may be only spasm of the features, or of one side, or of a single limb. During a general paroxysm the countenance is distorted, and the face pallid or livid; generally there is stertorous breathing, and as the attack subsides a disposition to sleep. It is seldom fatal in adults, unless caused by brain or kidney disease.

Do not attempt too much treatment, but you may put the patient in such a condition as to help his recovery. His dress is to be loosened, and all clothing about his neck removed; place him where he can breathe pure and cool air, and you may prevent his falling out of bed; if the face is flushed, cold may be applied to the head and warmth and sinapisms to the extremities. If occurring in a young child you may give a warm bath, or a warm hip bath. If there is ability to swallow, give bromide of potassium, either alone or simultaneously with the administration of chloroform and ether.

GIVING ANESTHETICS.

If you give chloroform you may pour a few drops on a handkerchief and hold it an inch from the patient’s nose and lips. Ether and chloroform together may be poured, a teaspoonful at a time on a little cotton inside a cone of paper made large enough to fit over the mouth and nose, the air being nearly shut out. The head of the patient must be kept low while he is under the influence of it. Observe the pulse while giving it; a feeble pulse is a sign of danger, and if the pulse is growing weak, or the face is growing livid or pale, stop giving the chloroform; if the symptoms continue, and there is no natural respiration, draw the tongue forward so that it will not obstruct the trachea; have plenty of fresh air; apply friction by rubbing the limbs, and if necessary artificial respiration.

Accidents from fire are very likely to cause a panic, but possibly you may by effort so cultivate coolness and presence of mind, as to act wisely and deliberately even then, even if your own clothes are on fire. If you are able to think at all, the question will be if there is water within reach that can be used to extinguish it immediately; if there is not, how can it be smothered? Possibly the burning portion can be enveloped in that part of the dress that is not burned; or a rug may be within reach, or some woolen thing that may be used to stifle it, without pressing it against the person’s flesh. But very probably the best that the person can do is to lie down on the floor and roll on the carpet. If you see another woman on fire, do not scream or run away; grasp her clothes all together, if you can without pressing the fire against her person; or if you can immediately put out the fire by catching up a rug or some heavy woolen thing and enveloping her in it, do so. Remember at the same time to avoid inhaling much of the flames or setting fire to your own clothes.

Burns and Scalds. There are various modes of treating burns, but one good general rule is that the dressings should be so applied as to exclude the air. If the skin is not destroyed or removed, either the bicarbonate of soda may be applied dry, or in a strong solution; or wheat flour may be applied dry, and the burn covered with a thick layer of cotton batting; or the white of egg may be spread over it, and another layer put on as soon as one dries, until some six or eight layers are applied. If the skin is abraded either olive oil or vaseline or carbolated cosmoline applied and covered with cotton or wool is a good dressing. (F. 187, 214.)

Burns produced by strong acids should be first bathed with some alkaline solution such as soda or ammonia; on the contrary if lime or caustic potash cause the injury, neutralize the alkali by applying acid diluted; a teaspoonful of vinegar or lemon juice in a teacupful of water would suffice.

If a BAD SCALD is occasioned by a child falling backward in the water, carefully undress the child; lay it on a bed on its breast if the burn is on its back; then dust over the parts with bicarbonate of soda; lay muslin or cotton wool over it, and so arrange the bed by means of two boxes and a board that the covering cannot press on the scald.

If a FRAGMENT OF LIME GETS INTO THE EYE, bathe it immediately with a weak solution of vinegar or lemon juice.

If something like dust or dirt gets in the eye, it may be cleaned out by taking hold of the eye lash and pulling the upper lid down, and forcibly blowing the nose. You may sometimes wipe the dirt from the eye with a soft handkerchief. Always wipe the eye towards the nose.

When something like a PEA or CHERRY PIT IS IN THE NOSTRIL direct the patient to draw in a full breath, then close the mouth and the other nostril and try to blow the offending object out. If he fails you can probably remove it by means of a hair-pin; or while the other nostril is closed, blow forcibly into the mouth and dislodge the object.

Remove insects from the ear by oil or tepid water. A little oil or glycerine may first be dropped into the ear; and then it may be syringed with warm or tepid water, taking care not to close the opening with the nozzle of the syringe. This may be tried if the substance in the ear is hard.

If a child is choked let it get on all fours and cough. Anything stuck or lodged in the throat may sometimes be worked out with a hair-pin or bent wire.

If a CROCHET NEEDLE’S HOOKED POINT IS IN THE FLESH make certain on which side the hook is, then put an ivory bodkin or any similar article down to the hook, and draw both out together.

If a FINGER OR THUMB IS CUT in two, without any crushing of the parts, the severed portion should be immediately applied to its place; if the cut is clean, the hewn off part may be made to unite, possibly if it has been off for two hours. The wound should be washed with carbolic solution if that is immediately procurable, and the severed parts should be accurately fixed by sutures (stitches) in their normal position, and a splint applied.

Life is sometimes destroyed suddenly by persons drinking a large quantity of cold water when greatly fatigued. To avoid all danger in these cases, a small quantity should be sipped at a time; and washing the face, hands and temples before drinking is a good precaution. But if by drinking cold water the system is severely chilled so that prostration takes place, endeavor to secure warmth by giving a teaspoonful paregoric, and rubbing the hands and body briskly; and if the patient can be brought sufficiently to his senses he should be made to drink enough warm water to induce vomiting; this excites circulation and perspiration, and determines towards the surface. Warm applications should be made to the feet and to the region of the stomach, and the body should be warmed as soon as possible.

There are a hundred little accidents liable to occur in a household which a very little surgical skill would suffice to set right.

Besides medicines, there are several handy articles which should be always kept ready in a clean drawer, should an emergency arise that demands their use. Have a little case containing a lancet, scissors, pins, needles and thread; have also one or two bandages, some lint and oiled silk, a bit of lunar caustic (nitrate silver), and some strips of adhesive plaster, a stimulant lotion, an eye lotion, a liniment, and one or two kinds of ointment.

Use the lancet to open small abscesses or gum boils; the pins are handy for fastening bandages, &c., and should be of different sizes; the thread should be strong and white; the needles of fair size, with good large eyes; charpie may take the place of lint; it is made by scraping old linen; it is often useful; for instance, to heal old sores, dip LINT or CHARPIE in clean, cold water, to which a few drops of carbolic acid has been added; then apply it to the sore, which it must more than cover; then apply oiled silk and a retaining bandage. The lint may be used for water dressings to wounds, and these may take the place of poultices in treating swellings which we wish to reduce or soothe.

Keep the best ADHESIVE PLASTER procurable; and it ought to be cut up into different breadths. When it is necessary to use this plaster, see that the wound is perfectly clean, and apply long narrow slips. Warm the plaster by holding it against a can of boiling water for a few seconds, then apply it across the wound. In case of scalp wounds the hair must be cut off before the plaster is applied.

In a case of fractured ribs, strapping should be applied to the injured side.

Lunar caustic is used to cauterize dog, or cat, or skunk bites that are supposed to be POISONOUS.

An excellent LOTION for HEADACHE and other pain is made of a quart of water, a teacupful of common salt, one ounce of hartshorn, and a half ounce of spirits of camphor; mix and keep in a bottle tightly corked; saturate a cloth and apply to seat of pain.

That form of conjunctivitis (sore eyes), which occurs in new-born infants, is in the vast majority of cases, easily removed by lukewarm water, or by such simple astringents as alum and borax. (F. 193, 215, may be properly kept in the house for ordinary sore eyes.) Of course severe cases require skilled treatment, but in all ordinary cases careful wiping away of the secretion, the use of the alum solution, and the greasing of the skin to avoid excoriations, are in order. For oedematous inflammation with little purulent or mucous secretion, but with the tissues loaded with serum, a dilute wash of the witch hazel extract acts very beneficially.

The teeth of children when they are pressing on the gums and trying to make their way out, should sometimes be lanced by cutting the gums. Cut down to the new tooth until it is felt under the lancet; for incisors and cuspids a straight line; for molars a cross cut.

The best way to do it is—let the operator and nurse sit opposite each other, close together; the child is laid down face upwards, its head in the operator’s lap, and its feet in the nurse’s lap; the nurse holds the limbs of the child quietly; with his left hand the operator takes the jaw between his fingers, and then slowly and firmly does the cutting. As the child is still, there is no false cut.

Sprains caused by a twisting of the ankle cause very much pain, although there is no displacement of bone. When it first occurs, put the foot and ankle in hot water and let it remain for an hour in water as hot as can be borne; then wrap the part in several folds of flannel which have been wrung out of hot water, and cover it with a dry bandage, and let it rest for several days, keeping it elevated as high as may be comfortable. When first used again, support the joint by strapping. Strips of adhesive plaster cut an inch wide, may be applied both above and below the joint. It may be best to renew the straps every day,—the hair should be shaved off before the plaster is applied.

There are many LITTLE AILMENTS that may be cured or relieved by regimen; or by such articles as are in every house.

WATER.

A glass of HOT WATER taken in the morning before breakfast washes off a coating which is sometimes adhering to the lining membrane of the stomach, and affecting the digestion.

Hot water after continuous application renders great service to the WEARY EYE and cures the slighter maladies of the eye. If an eye is contused and blackened, foment the parts continually with hot water until the pain ceases, then keep the eye wet with a lotion, or bind on a bit of lean, fresh beef, to remove the dark discolored spot.

The itching of pruritis may be much relieved by the application of a cloth wet in hot water.

The HOT FOOT BATH is especially efficacious for some HEADACHES. If the head is filled with blood and the temples throb, soak the feet in very HOT WATER in which a spoonful of ground mustard or of salt has been stirred. The blood will be drawn from the head and relief obtained.

For those who are troubled with EXCESSIVE SWEATING, tepid sponging of the neck, face, chest and hands with equal parts of vinegar and water at bedtime is useful and agreeable.

Convulsions may frequently be cut short by turning the patient on the left side; but as soon as possible put the feet in a basin of warm water in which is a little mustard, and apply a cloth saturated with cold water to the forehead.

A woman who suffers acute pain in the pelvic region a few days antecedent to the menstrual flux, should take a WARM SITZ BATH of fifteen minutes’ duration before retiring at night.

The ENEMA OF TEPID WATER may be useful in constipation, and in looseness of bowels, in spasmodic colic, and in painful menstruation; also for piles. The temperature of the enema should be agreeable to the patient.

The itching that accompanies many skin diseases is much reduced by a warm bath containing a handful of borax, and a handful of bicarbonate of soda, in about thirty gallons of water.

Those who practice daily bathing, and indulge freely in COLD WATER, are seldom troubled with a cold. Frequent bathing, the head being well dipped, will brace the system and render a person proof against draughts.

There are many obstinate affections of the head that have been known to give way to affusion of COLD WATER upon the part. For inflammation of the brain, headache, earache, drunkenness, delirium tremens, the delirium of fever, epilepsy, rheumatism of the head, diseases of the eye, deafness, loss of smell and taste, and in nose bleed this remedy may be brought to bear. One mode of taking the HEAD BATH is for the patient to lie down, placing the back of his head in a shallow dish filled only an inch or two with water.

The WET GIRDLE is a useful medical appliance to give tone and strength to certain parts. Two and a half or three yards of good toweling with tapes arranged at one end, the corners of which have been turned over so as to form a point, is a good girdle. It should pass about three times around the body; one-half having been wet and put on so as to have two thicknesses of the wet part upon the abdomen and one upon the back. The girdle may be worn every day, but the folded wet sheet is used for a time in febrile diseases, such as inflammation of the lungs, or of the bowels, colic, cholera morbus, &c. Fold a common coarse sheet four double; wet two thicknesses of this in cold water to come next the body; have the patient lie in bed with the four thicknesses around her, using warm bricks, bottles, &c., for the feet.

A table spoonful of CHARCOAL powdered, stirred into a glass of water and drank at once, is excellent in many cases of headache from SOUR STOMACH, FLATULENCE, &c.

Children who complain of choking sensations in the throat (caused by worms), may find relief from swallowing salt and water.

Those who are suffering from DYSENTERY should have a little WHEAT FLOUR stirred into the water that they drink.

TAR WATER.

Every body ought to have TAR WATER in the house. It is made by adding one pint of wood tar to four pints of cold water, mixing thoroughly and shaking frequently during twenty-four hours, and then filtering the water which may be poured from the tar. Given internally it is stimulative in its action, and acts somewhat upon the kidneys; is useful for cough and hoarseness, and for incipient urinary difficulty; locally applied it is slightly astringent, antiseptic and disinfectant; and by destroying the putrefactive germs, it prevents or restrains the process of suppuration. It is especially useful in puerperal septic diseases, as it is antiseptic and disinfectant; the resinous principle which it contains, exerts a healing action upon the genital lesions, and suppuration is prevented. It may be used three times a day as a vaginal wash during the lying-in period, and cloths used to protect the vulva and receive the discharges should be moistened with it. It is a useful local application in the treatment of various diseases of the vulva and vagina, especially for the horrible itching of pruritis. Its use renders innocuous the irritating discharges, and its sedative and alterative action restrains and stops the morbid process. It has a curative value in skin diseases, and in general it may be used in the various cases where carbolic acid is usually prescribed. Other medicine may be dissolved in it.

SALT WATER.

Salt is a promoter of health and longevity, and people generally who like salt, vinegar, &c., should be allowed to gratify their taste. If the blood is too rich, salt may restore it to a normal condition; and may restore to it the needed elements if the blood is impoverished. One of the best remedies for SPITTING OF BLOOD is to drink a little salt water.

For persistent bleeding from the nose, cut a piece of raw fat salt pork, about four inches long, and near half an inch thick and over half an inch wide, wedge shaped at the ends, and force it through the nostril clear back to the pharynx.

A teaspoonful of salt taken just before a fit of the ague may effectually break up an intermittent fever, and prevent a recurrence of the chills.

A spoonful of vinegar with salt in it is an excellent remedy for dysentery.

CARBONATE OF SODA AND WATER.

Probably the anesthetic, antiseptic, and disinfectant property of bicarbonate of soda is due to the ready disengagement of carbonic acid from it. For BURNS AND SCALDS where the skin is not broken, powdered bicarbonate of soda may be strewn over the burned parts. If the burns are deep and attended with much suppuration, linen rags sprinkled with a solution of the soda (1 to 50) should be laid on, and as soon as these rags become dry, they should be replaced by others, or be moistened again in the solution. But for most burns the rags should be kept on constantly, and moistened by pouring the solution over them, as changing the compresses would cause more suppuration and delay the healing process.

If a hand or foot is burned, and soda, &c., is not obtainable, it may be kept immersed for a considerable time in cold water with a salutary effect.

A teaspoonful of baking soda taken each day, dissolved in a pint of water, is a good remedy for habitual constipation.

HONEY AND TAR.

“For the BITES OF REPTILES (rattlesnakes, moccasins, &c.), give the patient about a gill of strained honey every ten or fifteen minutes until vomiting is produced.”

A table spoonful of powdered charcoal mixed with honey, milk, or cold water, and taken every morning will tend to cure any one who is troubled with either constipation or diarrhoea.

OIL.

The application of OIL to the whole surface of the body is a simple method of treatment of such infantile complaints as ATROPHY, BRONCHITIS, CONVULSIONS, DIARRHŒA, and FEBRILE DISTURBANCE generally. Smear SALAD OIL all over, from the crown of the head to the toes, three or four times a day.

For PRURITIS ANI rub on linseed oil freely at bedtime each night.

SPIRITS NITRE.

For RHUS POISONING (poison oak) apply sweet SPIRITS OF NITRE. Where the discharge of urine is attended with heat and pain, pound a handful of melon or pumpkin seed with a lump of white sugar, add a quart of boiling water, then add half an ounce of spirits of nitre and rub them together. A teacupful may be taken every two hours by adults.

OTHER REMEDIES, REGIMEN, &C.

For STRANGURY use bee tea made by pouring a pint of boiling water on fifteen or twenty honey bees.

For ERYSIPELAS apply cranberries locally, either cooked or uncooked. Another good local application for erysipelas is ELDERFLOWER TEA. Linen cloths wet with the cold infusion should be applied, and before they are dry should be wrung out of clean water, then dipped in the infusion and reapplied. The patient should also drink some of the elder flower tea. (F. 177.)

For BEE and WASP STINGS apply the tincture of arnica, or sweet oil.

Lean fresh meat is the best absorbant substance to apply to relieve the pain of a WASP STING.

“To give relief to a child that has the EARACHE close the mouth and blow into the nose.”

Children suffering from whooping cough should inhale the vapor of turpentine. Place this on plates and allow these to stand in the room.

Where there are suppurative DISCHARGES FROM THE EAR, the dry dressing with ABSORBENT COTTON, after dry cleansing with the same, protects the wound from the air, and attracts the discharge from the middle ear. It is mildly stimulant and conduces to healing.

For SOFT CORNS wear loose shoes, and every morning place a little ABSORBANT COTTON between the toes.

For mosquito bites apply a mixture of carbolic acid and glycerine in the proportion of one of the former to twenty of the latter.

For the vomiting which often complicates cases of CONSUMPTION and chronic BRONCHITIS, give three or four grains of alum in a little ginger tea every three or four hours.

Inhalations of steam are useful in quinsy; and all affections of the throat that are painful, are much relieved by inhaling steam impregnated with the oil of peppermint.

Tea and coffee are of some value in nervous headaches produced by cerebral congestion, and are indicated when the face is flushed.

A weak solution of COMMON SALT snuffed up into the nose daily, is a remedy for CHRONIC CATARRH; if a decoction of GREEN TEA is snuffed up immediately afterward the remedy is more effectual.

Cold tea is a good mild astringent application to sore eyes.

Patients who suffer at night from cramps may find relief by having the head of the bed raised. Cause the head of the bed to be raised the thickness of two bricks.

Those persons who are troubled with dizziness after smoking early in the morning, may avoid it generally by not smoking until after eating.

To remove needles, nails, &c., from the extremities, make a small incision at the place of entrance through the skin, and with an obtuse pointed stick, and the stronger solution of carbolic acid on the end of it, by a boring action penetrate to the necessary depth, occasionally making search with a metalic probe to learn of its whereabouts. When reached remove with small forceps.

For PRURITIS PUDENDI, NEURALGIA, TOOTHACHE, SICKNESS and vomiting, when these are due to the pregnant state, apply a blister to the back, over the fourth and fifth dorsal vertebra.

Children who are exceedingly SHORT SIGHTED, may by WEARING GLASSES be benefitted, not only physically but mentally; becoming more active and lively and less reserved and taciturn. A child may be thought a dullard, and to have no aptitude for observation or learning, because his misfortune is to have bad sight; and such a character may be fastened upon him for life, because in his young days he was cut off from the enjoyment of the visible world which his fellows were favored with.

Oculists say that when with the arrival of middle life the focusing power of the eye declines so far that at the usual distance for reading, a sufficient adjusting force no longer exists, it is the preferable thing to put on WEAK MAGNIFYING GLASSES, to take off strain, rather than to postpone their use as long as possible. My own opinion is that when a man can, by sitting with his back to the window and holding a book in the light, at the usual distance from the eye, read the fine print of the newspapers, it is better to avoid wearing magnifying glasses. But we should always be careful to have the light shine on the paper, and not on our eyes when we are reading.

Many invalids, especially those who suffer from uterine disease, are distressed to find that they begin to fail to command the services of their eyes. When persons are recovering from any severe illness such as fever, or from protracted exhaustion, or after prolonged lactation, or watching with invalids, or great loss of sleep; where there has been much grief and weeping, or a severe mental strain, or loss of blood, or in severe or chronic dyspepsia, impaired eye power is pretty sure to appear. The essential condition to recovery lies in restoration to vigor, and sound health, and habits.

They can probably develop and recover their ocular energy by the graduated use of their eyes, beginning with short periods and advancing by small additions.

Ladies that suffer from painful menstruation should not read in bed at the time of the menstrual flow. Weakly persons should not read while lying down; and to them umbrellas, and parasols, and colored glasses become needful as protection from the sun and wind. For such it is hurtful to read in railway cars or in carriages; and to them an atmosphere of smoke, or the air of an ill ventilated, crowded, or brightly lighted room is injurious.

For SLEEPLESSNESS the best remedy is to so REGULATE THE BREATHING that it shall induce the right circulation in the brain, and the repose of the faculties. In breathing have the inspirations and expirations of equal length, and it will at least conduce to the repose of the brain.

For a SLIGHT ILLNESS all that you need to do very often is to breathe full, so as to make deep inspirations for half an hour; and you can rear healthy children if you can secure to them good round chests. To do this, first measure each of them with a tape; then teach them to practice forced inspiration through the nostrils several times a day; offer a prize for the first inch gained in circumference. Flat chested children will soon grow round and full, and the breathing space large. The result will be good health of the children.

A child not more than four years old is sometimes afflicted with DIABETIS; this is usually due to farinaceous food, and the child should be debarred from starchy food and sugar.

One important means to arrest BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE is to put a tight ligature on a finger or on a larger limb. An attempt may also be made to check the hemorrhage by firmly grasping the nose with the finger and thumb, so as to prevent any air from passing through the cavity.

A GARGLE of strong BLACK PEPPER TEA used freely will sometimes be an effectual remedy for APHONIA, when the patient is not able to speak louder than a whisper.

But little pure milk can be obtained in cities, and a substitute may sometimes be used; but where good milk can be obtained, it may usually be made the principal food of young persons.

The mother’s milk, if the mothers are healthy, is the best food for infants; and those that nurse should not as a general rule be weaned during the summer months, when diarrhoeas most prevail. When the mother has a sufficient quantity of milk, an infant requires and should receive no other food but breast milk until the sixth and perhaps the ninth month, when other food than breast milk must be provided. New-born babies until the age of twenty-one days should be fed with one part of milk to three of water; between the ages of three and six weeks, with one of milk and two of water; from six weeks to three months, two of milk to three of water; at three months, half milk and half water; at six months three of milk and one of water. It should be good new milk, and the water should be warm, or only hot enough to bring the temperature to that of breast milk.

This diet is better than any variety of starch food, but if the best milk that is obtainable does not agree well with the child, a light gruel made from any of the derivatives of starch may be substituted for water in the above admixtures. If a feeding bottle is used, the food should be given at regular intervals, as has been heretofore directed in regard to nursing. As soon as the child’s meal is over, the tube should be removed from its mouth. The bottle and teat should be thoroughly washed after each meal, and the former always kept in a basin of cold water when not in use. A sweet feeding bottle is of great importance, and neglect of scrupulous attention to it is a frequent cause of sickness in a child.

A few more general directions will be given to afford some guide under varying circumstances.

The degree of dilution of the milk may vary with the richness of the milk used.

When the mother gives evidence of feebleness it may be best to wean the child at six months, or even sooner if the mother evidently suffers from lactation. If the mother’s health is robust it may be well to nurse it to the twelfth or thirteenth month, but we should always endeavor to know whether the child thrives best on the mother’s milk. Before the twelfth month she should gradually diminish the allowance of the breast, and increase the supply of suitable food; perhaps suckling the child twice in the twenty-four hours, and otherwise feeding it at proper intervals.

If the child is weaned at seven or eight months or later, it may take for a meal a breakfast-cup full of milk to which is added a teaspoonful of lime water, or a weak solution of soda; and sometimes it may take the yolk of an egg well beaten up in a teacupful of milk, or a dessert spoonful of pearl barley jelly dissolved in a breakfast-cup full of warm milk, and slightly sweetened with white sugar.

Food for infants or for the sick should neither be rewarmed nor kept warm on a stove or in an oven, especially if either sugar or salt has been added to the composition; it is better to prepare no more than is required at once, but if any should remain and be used, let it be brought to a proper warmth by the addition of a little hot water, broth, or gruel, as the case may be.

Food made of bread so as to constitute pap or PANADA has a great tendency to become sour, and a quantity only sufficient for a single meal should be made at a time.

Oatmeal and Indian meal have a loosening effect upon the bowels, but these as well as wheaten bread, contain more nutritive matter than sago, tapioca, and similar substances which may be regarded as modifications of starch.

For the sick have hot things very hot, and cold things very cold. Food should never be prepared in the presence of the sick, nor so that the smell of cooking be allowed to reach them if it can be avoided.

Never taste of the patient’s food in her presence or with her spoon; give food regularly, but in most cases the patient should not be roused from sleep for food; some light food at night will often serve to send the patient to sleep.

Rice forms an excellent diet for the sick and for convalescents.

COOKING FOR THE SICK AND FOR YOUNG PERSONS.

Preliminary remarks. Cleanliness is eminently essential in cooking for the sick and for infants. The vessel in which milk or gruel is boiled should not be used for anything greasy or seasoned; a sauce pan in which broth has been made, flavored perhaps with onions or parsley, unless very nicely cleaned will impart a disagreeable taste to delicate food. Whatever vessel is used the food should not be allowed to remain in it, but should be poured out as soon as done, and the vessel put to soak in cold water. If it is of tin it should soon be cleansed with wood ashes, but enameled sauce pans or granitized iron ware may be washed clean; when taken down for use wipe with a clean, dry cloth.

For stirring use either a silver or wooden spoon; not one of iron or other metal.

The earthenware dishes, basins or whatever else may be used for keeping food already cooked, or for milk, should be scalded after using, made perfectly dry with a clean cloth, and left to become quite cold before milk broth or whatever it may be, is put into them. For preserving liquids (broth, gruel, or milk), a wide, shallow vessel is better than a thin, narrow one; milk should never be kept in a jug; cooked food should not be shut in with a lid; a hair sieve, or wire cover, or common colander may preserve from cats, mice, slugs, &c.

The cake of fat which collects on the top of broth tends to preserve the liquor while it remains unbroken; but if the skin or fat at top is broken, and if the broth or gruel is designed for use at a subsequent meal, the fat should be removed, and the remainder should be transferred to a clean, dry vessel.

FOOD FOR CONVALESCENTS.

Many questions in regard to diet are left by the physician to the nurse, especially while she has the care of convalescents. I give for her guidance a few more aphorisms and directions:

1. While it is true that as a general rule people who like salt, vinegar, &c., ought to be allowed to gratify their taste, and that the cravings of a sick person are not always to be denied, yet appetite and taste were intended to govern the choice and quantity of food in health; and even then, they should be guided by reason and experience. Such articles as fruit, jam, cake, cheese, butter, and milk may generally be taken if there is a craving for them, but if they are not digested, the stomach must be consulted, and not the cravings. Milk and eggs are important articles of food, but they must not be forced upon the patient; cheese is sometimes craved; it is concentrated nutriment, but in some person’s stomachs it is digestible, and it may perhaps favor digestion of other food; do not entirely disregard the desires and taste of the patient; as a rule if meat is craved it is allowable, and it is better to chew and swallow it, than it is to chew it and spit out its nutritive contents.

2. During convalescence, as soon as ANIMAL FOOD can be taken with impunity, that which is most digestible should be selected. With the exception of poultry the flesh of middle aged animals affords the most digestible food. Keeping animal food for a certain time before it is cooked lessens the density of the fibre and renders it more tender, but the utmost caution is requisite to prevent the change from advancing so far as to present the slightest trace of taint in the food.

3. Gellatine in the form of BOUILLON or concentrated broths is valuable in fevers, &c., as an addition to other diet, as it prevents or rather retards the process of denutrition.

4. Sour milk is to some sick persons and convalescents an agreeable beverage, and in cases of atonic dyspepsia and many other cases, it is a good adjuvant in the treatment of slow digestion, where flatulence and a sensation of cramp in the stomach are prominent symptoms. The good effects of drinking a tumbler full or half a tumbler full of ordinary cold sour milk or BUTTERMILK, is probably owing in a measure, to the lactic acid which it contains. It may be taken regularly half an hour after each meal, in cases of weak stomach.

5. Milk is digestible when it is drunk immediately after it is drawn from the udder of the cow or that of the goat, but it is often necessary in convalescence to dilute it in water. It may be kept for some time from souring in warm weather by adding to each quart fifteen grains of bicarbonate of soda. When there is evidence of over-acidity of the stomach, lime water may be added in any proportion up to one-half.

6. Raw egg somewhat in the form of an emulsion, has been useful in certain diseases. Four raw eggs may be beaten up in a pint of cold water, a little flavoring and sugar added, and the patient may take it by sips during the day. This is a light and nutritive diet, but eggs are much less digestible in this form than when they are lightly boiled.

7. Raw oysters are somewhat nutritive, but are not easy of digestion. Lobsters, CRABS, PRAWNS, CRAYFISH, SCALLOPS, and other shell fish are more objectionable than oysters. Fish, especially of the white kind, is not stimulating; if it is simply boiled it is admissable for convalescents, and for those laboring under some acute diseases. In the decline of fevers some animal food may be given; first beef tea, chicken broth, and mutton broth, and other liquid animal decoctions; then white fish and a more generous diet.

8. The value of soups depends upon the freshness of the meat, the manner in which they are boiled, and the delicacy with which they are seasoned; for the latter any of the vegetable condiments may be used according to the taste of the consumer.

9. The nurse should know that certain articles in a certain form cannot be digested in the stomach, because they cannot be dissolved in the fluid contained there. Rich pastry, pieces of hard potato, rich puddings and dumplings, hard stringy meat, and greasy fibred meat, new bread, and rolls that are not well baked are, in general, indigestible. Pie is not essentially indigestible; indeed indigestibility cannot be affirmed of any article of food, apart from a consideration of the digestive capacity of the particular stomach, the powers of which are to be tested.

10. Some mild ESCULENT ROOTS are fitted for the use of the sick if they are boiled in two waters, but they are not well adapted to those who are liable to sour stomachs. Some vegetables, on account of their peculiar qualities, have peculiar effects as remedies. It is asserted that spinach and asparagus act as diuretics, dandelion as a tonic and laxative, tomatoes as a cholagogue, beets and turnips as a tonic, onions, garlic, and leeks as stimulants and narcotics, the red onion as a narcotic in neuralgia and insomnia, and cabbages, tomatoes, and other salad material as anti-scorbutics.

11. Fruits produce the most diversified effects; but peaches and nectarines, very soluble pears if they are ripe, apples if they are roasted, the orange if it is fully ripe, grapes if the skin be rejected, strawberries and mulberries are pretty generally admissible.

FLUID ALIMENTS.

12. Fluid food can in most cases be taken more conveniently by suction through a BENT GLASS TUBE. After feeding, dry the mouth if the patient cannot well do it for herself.

13. Water is demanded in every disease in which a dry skin and an elevation of temperature is present. The temperature of the water may be from 60° to 50°. Small bits of ice swallowed whole are excellent to control nausea. It is refreshing and harmless.

To keep a small piece of ice from immediately melting: Cut a piece of flannel six inches square, snip one or two holes in the centre for water to run through; confine it by an elastic band about the edge of a tumbler or goblet; depress the middle of the flannel, and a small piece of ice may be kept in it for some time; bits of ice may be split off from it with a knife. Ice and water should be pure.

14. Toast water when properly prepared forms a useful beverage in the sick room. As it contains a small proportion of gluten it is slightly nutritive.

15. While febrile symptoms are present, farinaceous matters such as barley water gruel, arrow root, mucilage or sago acidulated with lemon juice, and sweetened to the taste of the patient, are most commonly suitable, but water is the most salutary diluent.

16. Gruel is less mild and demulcent than barley water, and is more likely to sour, but it is nutritive food.

17. Tea is refreshing, and may be taken in moderate quantity, provided it be not strong. Coffee may be taken largely combined with milk.

18. Beer, brandy, and other stimulants should be given only after proper medical examination and advice.

Recipes for Beverages and Food.

FORMULA 1. FOOD FOR INFANTS.

Take of new milk, warm water, of each equal parts; table salt, sugar, of each a small quantity, to salt and sweeten it slightly; warm the milk by the water, so that it will be of the same temperature as the mother’s milk—about 90°; the proportion of milk may be a little less than this when the infant is newly born, and should be increased as it grows older, but water must always be given with the milk. Give by means of a feeding bottle that has been properly cleansed.

2. GUM ARABIC MUCILAGE.

Take of gum Arabic one ounce, boiling water one pint; after the gum Arabic is dissolved, add two table spoonfuls of sugar and the juice of a lemon; cool and add ice. This may be taken as a drink in diarrhoea.

3. INFUSION OF FLAX SEED.

Take of flax seed two table spoonfuls, water one pint, sugar two table spoonfuls; steep for an hour or more and strain, then add the juice of a lemon and set on ice. Use as a demulcent drink.

4. MILK AND CINNAMON DRINK.

Take of cinnamon one teaspoonful, boiling water one pint; steep for a few minutes, sweeten with sugar, and mix with half a pint of milk. Good in diarrhoea.

5. VINEGAR WHEY.

Take of milk one pint, vinegar one ounce; boil for a few minutes and separate the curd. Good in dysentery, and may be taken freely.

6. DECOCTION OF BRAN.

Take of wheat bran one pint, boiling water three pints; let the mixture stand in a covered vessel for two hours; strain and serve, with sugar and cream. This is slightly laxative.

Take of the dried leaves of sage half an ounce, boiling water one quart; infuse for half an hour and then strain. Sugar and lemon juice may be added in the proportion required by the patient. In the same manner balm and other teas may be made.

8. A REFRESHING DRINK IN FEVERS.

Boil one ounce and a half of tamarinds, three ounces of cranberries, and two ounces of stoned raisins, in three pints of water till the water is reduced to two pints; strain and add a bit of lemon peel, which should be removed in an hour as it gives a bitter taste if left long.

9. TOAST WATER.

Take slices of toast nicely browned, enough hot water to cover them, cover closely and let them stand until cold; strain the water, sweeten to taste, and put a piece of ice in each glassful. If the physician thinks it safe add a little lemon juice. Good for nausea and vomiting.

10. APPLE WATER.

Take three juicy pippins or other fine flavored apples, one quart cold water; pare and quarter the apples, but do not core them; stew the apples to pieces in a tin or porcelain sauce-pan, closely covered; strain the liquor at once, closely pressing the apples in the cloth; sweeten and ice for drinking. Slightly laxative.

11. SLIPPERY ELM BARK TEA.

Break the bark into bits, pour boiling water over it, cover and let it infuse till it is cold.

12. JELLY WATER.

Take one large teaspoonful currant or other kind of jelly, one goblet ice water; beat up well. A good drink in fever, and if of wild cherry or blackberry jelly it is very good for those suffering from diarrhoea.

13. CORN TEA.

Take a cupful of dry corn, parch it brown, grind it, or pound it in a mortar; pour over it two cups of boiling water, and steep for a few minutes. This is nutritious.

14. TARTAR WHEY.

Take of milk one quart, cream of tartar half an ounce; boil until the curd separates. This is somewhat laxative.

15. HERB TEAS.

Take of the dried or green leaves about one ounce, boiling water one pint, and let them stand until cold. Catnip tea is good for colds and coughs in infants; spearmint and peppermint tea is good for disordered stomach and bowels; pennyroyal for a cold if recently taken; chamomile tea is a good tonic, blackberry root tea is good for summer complaint, raspberry leaves (green) for dysentery, sweet apple tree bark tea for a child’s cankered sore mouth, pumpkin seed and parsley tea for suppression of urine; mullien leaf tea is good in kidney complaints; mullien leaves infused in milk makes a medicinal drink in a case of phthisis.

16. MILK AND ISINGLASS (GELATIN.)

Dissolve a little gelatin in water and mix with half a pint of milk. Boil and sweeten to taste.

17. EFFERVESCING LEMONADE.

Take the juice of a large lemon, two or three teaspoonfuls of sugar, half a pint of spring water; add half a small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda. Stir and drink while effervescing.

Take of Indian meal one small teacupful, wheat flour one table spoonful, boiling water two quarts; wet the meal and flour to a smooth paste, and stir into the water while it is boiling. Boil slowly for thirty or forty minutes, frequently stirring from the bottom; salt to taste; add sugar and nutmeg if you like; if too thick reduce with boiling water to the desired consistency; if a laxative effect is desired omit the flour. Raisins may be boiled with the gruel, and cream may be added if desired.

19. OATMEAL GRUEL

is made in the same way as the above. Gruel drank warm at bed time is a soothing remedy for a bad cold.

20. MILK AND RICE GRUEL.

Take boiling milk one quart, ground rice two table spoonfuls wet with cold milk, salt one salt spoonful; stir in the rice paste and boil ten minutes, stirring constantly. Season with sugar and nutmeg, and eat warm with cream.

21. TAPIOCA JELLY.

Take of tapioca two spoonfuls, water one pint; boil gently for an hour, or until it assumes a jelly-like appearance. Add sugar and nutmeg with lemon juice to suit the taste of the patient.

22. RICE GRUEL.

Take of ground rice one ounce, cinnamon one drachm, water one quart; boil for thirty minutes, adding the cinnamon near the conclusion. Strain and sweeten it.

23. PANADA.

Take of wheat bread one ounce, cinnamon one drachm (or if preferred a little mace), water one pint; boil without stirring until they mix and turn smooth. Then add a grate of nutmeg, a small piece of butter, and sugar according to taste. Some add a table spoonful of wine.

24. BREAD JELLY.

Steep stale bread in boiling water, and pass through a fine sieve while still hot. This is a light, nourishing diet for a weak stomach, which may be taken alone, or after being boiled with milk.

25. RICE CREAM.

Steep a quarter of a pound of whole rice in milk, and put in a sieve to drain and cool; mix the rice with a gill of cream whisked to a froth, and a little powdered sugar, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Some add wine but it is not necessary.

26. TO MAKE FAT.

The diet to be prescribed when the aim is to produce increased weight should include such articles as fat meats, butter, cream, milk, cocoa, chocolate, bread, potatoes, peas, parsnips, beets, farinaceous and flour puddings, pastry, almond puddings, and biscuit, custards, oatmeal porridge, sugar and sweets, porter, &c.

27. MILK PORRIDGE.

Take wheat flour two table spoonfuls, milk one pint, water one pint; mix the flour with cold water to form a thin paste; put the milk and water over the fire, and when they come to a boiling point add the paste, carefully stirring.

28. FRENCH MILK PORRIDGE.

Stir some oatmeal and water together, let the mixture stand to clear, and pour off the water; then put more water to the meal, stir it well and let it stand till the next day; strain through a fine sieve and boil the water, adding milk while so doing. Let the proportion of milk exceed one-half. With toast this is good diet for the sick.

29. LIME WATER AND MILK.

Take of lime water one to two ounces, milk four ounces. This will sometimes be retained on the stomach when other food is rejected. The addition of fifteen grains of bicarbonate of soda has a similar effect if added to a quart of fresh milk, and prevents milk from turning sour for several hours.

30. MUSH AND MILK.

Take of Indian meal one coffee cupful, water two quarts, salt to taste; when the water is boiling, stir the meal into it, adding meal gradually till it thickens so that it is difficult to stir. It should be permitted to remain where it will cook slowly for twenty or thirty minutes, stirred often with a pudding stick. Eat with milk.

31. LEMON JELLY.

Soak half a box of gelatin in a cup of cold water; steep the grated or pared rind of two lemons in a pint of boiling water for ten minutes, add the gelatin, one cup of sugar, and four table spoonfuls of lemon juice. When all is dissolved, strain and place in a vessel to cool.

32. ALUM WHEY.

Take alum one teaspoonful, milk one pint; boil together and strain to separate the curd.

33. TABLE TEA.

Allow a small teaspoonful of tea to each half pint of water. After rinsing the teapot with boiling water put in the tea, and let it stand a few minutes in the steaming pot; add the water freshly boiling, and let it stand where it will keep hot three or four minutes.

34. NUTRITIOUS COFFEE.

Take one pint of nearly boiling milk, and add half an ounce of freshly ground coffee, and boil together for three minutes. Clear it by pouring into a cup and dashing back. Add a little isinglass dissolved in water and leave to settle. If preferred, beat up an egg with sugar and pour the coffee upon it.

35. NUTRITIOUS LAXATIVE.

Take one table spoonful of lump magnesia, pulverized, one teaspoonful of saleratus or soda, sugar and salt as desired, and stir them in a quart of hot milk porridge made in the usual way. This will operate as an antacid and as physic if taken during the day; at the same time it is nourishing.

36. POTUS IMPERIALIS.

Take half an ounce of cream tartar, the juice of one lemon, and two table spoonfuls of sugar; pour on them a quart of boiling water, and let it stand on ice till cold. If this is drank it will increase the action of the kidneys.

37. VEGETABLE SOUP.

Take one potato, one turnip, one onion; let them be sliced and boiled in one quart of water for an hour. Add as much salt and pepper as is agreeable, and pour the whole upon dry toast. Add butter if desired.

38. SWEET PTISAN, FOR A DRINK IN DYSENTERY.

Take of sheep’s suet two ounces, milk one pint, starch half an ounce, water one pint; boil slowly for fifteen minutes.

Take of starch one ounce, powdered cinnamon one drachm, gum Arabic one ounce, boiling water three pints; boil until reduced to two-thirds and strain. This is a useful drink in dysentery.

40. BOILED FLOUR.

Take of fine wheat flour a pound, tie it up in a linen cloth, boil until it becomes a hard dry mass. A table spoonful of this may be grated off and used to make milk porridge.

41. TOAST.

The bread must be cut thin, the crust trimmed off, and then the slice held in a toaster over a bed of coals, and turned from side to side till all the moisture is removed, then allowed to become a golden brown. Serve it on a hot plate as soon as it is done.

42. VERY NICE PANADA.

Take three Boston crackers, split them and arrange them in a bowl in layers, sugar and salt scattered among them; cover with boiling water, and set in a warm place with a close cover over the bowl, to remain one hour. A little nutmeg should be added, and it should be eaten from the bowl.

43. HOW TO PREPARE ARROW ROOT.

Put two teaspoonfuls of the powder into a basin, mix them smooth with a few teaspoonfuls of cold water, and let another person pour boiling water over the mixture while you continue to stir it until it forms a starchy looking substance. It may be used in the same manner as gruel, a little milk and salt being added to it.

Take two teaspoonfuls arrow root, wet them up with a little cold milk; stir for three minutes in a cup of boiling milk, take from the fire and stir in an egg, already well beaten; boil two minutes longer, flavor with vanilla or rose water, and pour into moulds.

45. BOILED RICE AND COCOA-NUT.

Take one teacupful of rice, one heaping teaspoonful of cocoa-nut, and the milk from the centre of the nut; one quart of water, one pint of milk, and salt to taste; boil three or four hours in a double boiler. If it boils away too much add more water. Serve with canned strawberries for sauce.

46. BREAD JELLY FOR CHILDREN WEANED.

Take a quantity of the soft part of a loaf, break it up, cover it with boiling water and allow it to soak for several hours; the water is then to be poured off completely, and fresh water added; place the mixture on the fire and allow it to boil until it becomes smooth. The water is then to be pressed out, and the bread on cooling will form a thick jelly. Mix a portion of this with sugared milk and water as it is wanted.

47. HOW TO COOK RICE.

In preparing it only just enough cold water should be poured on to prevent from burning at the bottom of the pot, which should have a close fitting cover, and with a moderate fire the rice is steamed rather than boiled until it is nearly done; then the cover is taken off, the surplus steam and moisture allowed to escape, and the rice turns out a mass of snow white kernels.

Take half a pint of oysters, cut into small pieces, put them into a gill of water and let them simmer for eight or ten minutes. Skim and strain, then add a little new milk, salt, and pepper.

49. POACHED EGG.

A fresh egg broken into boiling water and cooked till the white is congealed, then laid on a piece of newly toasted bread dipped in hot milk and buttered, is an appetizing dish for convalescents.

50. CHICKEN TEA.

To relieve the nausea and vomiting of cholera morbus: Kill a chicken, and strip off the feathers as soon as possible after it is killed; boil the wings and legs in a little water. This, if simply seasoned with a little salt, will be acceptable to the stomach.

51. RESTORATION SOUP FOR INVALIDS.

Take one pound of newly killed beef or fowl, chop it fine; add one-half pint of pure water, and perhaps four or five drops of pure muriatic acid, one-half teaspoonful of common salt, and stir well together. After three hours the whole may be thrown in a sieve, and the fluid allowed to pass through on slight pressure; on the flesh residue in the sieve pour slowly one-half teacupful of water, and let it run slowly through the sieve while squeezing the meat. There will thus be obtained about ten ounces of cold juice (extract of meat), having a pleasant taste of soup, of which a wineglassful may be taken at pleasure. If preferred one part of meat may be taken with two parts of white sugar, one teaspoonful every three hours. The two may be pounded in a mortar.

Take one pound of beef minced very fine, and put it in a common earthenware pot with a pint and a half of cold water; stand the pot on the stove, so that it may simmer for at least three hours.

53. CHICKEN BROTH.

When it is desired that chicken broth should be very nutritious, take an old fowl; cut up and break the bones with a mallet; cover with three or four pints of cold water, and add some rice or tapioca; salt to taste and boil for two hours.

54. MUTTON AND VEAL BROTH.

Take of either mutton, beef, or veal one pound and a half, cold water two quarts, rice two ounces; simmer for four hours, boil for a few minutes, strain and serve.

55. EGGS, CREAM, AND EXTRACT OF BEEF.

Wash two ounces of the best pearl sago until the water poured from it is clear, then stir the sago in half a pint of water until it is tender and very thick; mix with it half a pint of good boiling cream, and the yolks of four fresh eggs, and mingle the whole carefully with one quart of good beef tea, which should be boiling; serve. Good in cases of lingering convalescence after acute diseases.

56. BEEF TEA MADE NUTRITIOUS.

To a pint of beef tea add bread crumbs, and boil for five minutes; or mix a table spoonful of cooked oatmeal or rice with two of boiling water, add a cupful of strong beef tea and boil a few moments. Serve with toast.

57. MUTTON BROTH.

To a pound of meat cut in small pieces put a quart of cold water, boil slowly three or four hours in a closely covered kettle till the meat falls to pieces; strain, remove all fat, and put in two table spoonfuls of rice that has been soaked half an hour; simmer until the rice is well cooked, season with salt, and serve with toasted cracker.

58. BEEF TEA.

Take lean beef, cut into shreds one pound, cold water one quart; boil for thirty minutes, taking off the scum as it rises; when it grows cold, strain.

59. ESSENCE OF BEEF.

Take of lean beef sliced, one pound; put into a bottle or fruit jar, cork it loosely and place it in a pot of cold water (attaching the neck by means of a string to the handle of the vessel.) Boil for two hours and then decant the liquor and skim it.

60. BEEF JUICE.

Take a nice juicy steak, remove all the fat, broil it over a bright coal fire long enough to heat it through; then with a meat or lemon squeezer press out the juice into a cup; set in hot water. Remove any fat that may be in it; shake the salt box slightly over it and serve.

I shall not refer to the different alimentary preparations now thrown in the market, which come with printed directions on the packages, farther than to say that I have a favorable opinion of Carnrick’s Soluble food for infants. I have tested it well.

The nurse will not often prescribe medicine, but it may be of use to know how to read the prescriptions of others, and to know a few of the general rules or principles upon which physicians act in trying to produce the greatest curative effect with least possible inconvenience.

THE DOSES OF MEDICINE.

Generally in the following prescriptions the ordinary dose for an adult is stated. The young require a smaller dose than older persons, or those at maturity; and the very aged cannot bear as large doses as the middle aged. The following is designed to exhibit the dose proportioned to the age; the dose for a person of middle age being one drachm:

That for a person from	14	to 21	will be	2	scruples.
That for a person from	7	to 14	will be	½	a drachm.
That for a person from	4	to 7	will be	1	scruple.
That for a person of	4	years	will be	15	grains.
That for a person of	3	years	will be	10	grains.
That for a person of	2	years	will be	8	grains.
That for a person of	1	years	will be	5	grains.

There are some medicines however which require to be given to children in much larger proportioned doses than those stated above. For example, a child of three years might require half as much castor oil for a dose as an adult. Females usually require smaller doses than males, and those of sanguine temperament than the lymphatic and phlegmatic. Idiosyncracies sometimes exist in individuals rendering them peculiarly susceptible to the action of certain remedies, or causing a medicine to act on an individual in a manner wholly different from the ordinary mode.

In general the susceptibility to the action of a medicine is diminished by its frequent use; some medicines are of variable strength, and all these considerations should lead to great care in prescribing; some medicines require more care than others, however, and such formula will be selected for insertion here as may be pretty generally used with safety. I believe they do not require more effort to adapt them to particular cases than ordinary patent medicines.

MODE OF ADMINISTERING MEDICINE.

Medicines given together should be combined with a definite purpose in regard to each article in the formula. Remedies of the same general character may be given together in order to increase their efficacy. In F. 74 there are several aromatics because a small amount of each when combined, will be more certain in their action than a large amount of one kind, and at the same time they will be less irritating.

The effects of one medicine are in many cases increased by the influence of another in augmenting the natural susceptibility of the system to its action.

One medicine is given with another to counteract the more disagreeable effects of the more active one.

One medicine is sometimes given as a vehicle for another; perhaps to cover the disagreeable taste or odor and to render the medicine acceptable to the stomach. For example, the aromatics and ammonia in F. 74 are much more agreeable to the stomach than either of them would be separately.

In the mixing of medicines care should be taken that they are neither chemically nor physiologically incompatible. When the action of an acid is desired, an alkali should not be given at the same time, as they unite to form a compound different from either. A soluble salt should not be given with another, or with an acid that would decompose it, and produce an inert compound. If medicines are given that have an apparent physiological incompatibility, it should be with a full understanding of their effects, and with reference to them. The FORM in which medicine is given must vary according to the nature of the medicine, the taste of the patient, or the condition of his stomach, as it is always desirable to have it so that it can be swallowed without difficulty.

The physician should always write his prescription with neatness, order and precision, but it will be found an advantage to the nurse to have a ready comprehension of the symbols and abbreviations used in writing prescriptions. Hence I have appended a table designed to explain the signs and abbreviations habitually used. Ordinarily the Roman numerals are employed, and follow always the symbols to which they relate. A glossary which will include some latin terms will hereafter be added.

Sign or Abbreviation.	LATIN WORD.	ENGLISH WORD.
?	Libra or librÆ.	A pound or pounds.
?	Uncia or unciÆ.	An ounce or ounces.
?	Drachma or drachmÆ.	A drachm or drachms
?	Scrupulus or scrupuli.	A scruple or scruples
aa.	Ana.	Of each.
Add.	Adda.	Add to it.
Ad. saturand	Ad saturandum.	Until saturated.
Ad. lib.	Ad libitum.	At pleasure.
Alt. hor.	Alternis horis.	Alternate hours.
Ante Cib.	Ante cibum.	Before food.
Aq. ferv.	Aqua fervens.	Hot water.
Aq. pluv.	Aqua pluvialis.	Rain water.
Aq. pur.	Aqu pura.	Pure water.
Aq. tepida.	Aqua tepida.	Tepid water.
Bis die.	Bis die.	Twice a day.
Bull.	Bulliat.	Let it boil.
Cap.	Copiat.	Let him take.
Coch. mag.	Cochlear magraum.	A large spoonful.
Coch. parv.	Cochlear parvum.	A tea spoonful.
Colent.	Colentur.	Let them be strained
Collyr.	Collyrium.	An eye water.
Comp. or Co.	Compositus.	Compound.
Contus.	Contusus.	Bruised or crushed.
Cong.	Congius or Congii.	A gallon or gallons.
Decoct.	Decoctum.	A decoction.
Det.	Detur.	Let it be given
Dil.	Dilutus.	Dilute.
Div. in p. Æq.	Divitur in partes Æqualis.	Divide in equal parts
Duo.	Duo.	Two.
Ft.	Fiat.	Let them be made.
Garg.	Gargarisma.	A gargle
Gr.	Granum or granÆ.	A grain or grains.
Gtt. or gut.	Gutta or guttÆ.	A drop or drops.
Haust.	Haustus.	A draught.
Ind.	Indico.	Daily.
Infus.	Infusum.	An infusion.
Inject.	Injectio.	An injection.
Min. or M.	Minim.	1–60 of a fluid drachm
M.	Misce.	Mix
Mass.	Massa.	A mass
Mist.	Mistura.	A mixture.
Pil.	Pilula or pilulÆ	A pill or pills.
ppt.	Preparata.	Prepared.
Pulv.	Pulvis.	A powder.
P.R.N.	Pro re nata.	As occasion requires.
q. s.	Quantum sufficit.	A sufficient quantity.
?	Recipe.	Take.
Rad.	Radix.	A root.
S. or Sig.	Signatur.	Write.
ss.	Semisis.	A half.
Tinct.	Tinctura.	A tincture.
2 dis.	Duo dis.	Every two hours.
f. ? or fl.	Fluid uncia or unciÆ.	Fluid oz. or ounces.

The succeeding chapter is composed of formulÆ giving numerous examples of the different forms in which prescriptions are written. Good taste requires that all directions should be in the English language, and that hieroglyphics and absurd abbreviations should be discarded as much as possible. Very many physicians write the directions in latin, and the druggist is expected to write the same in English and attach a label thus written to the bottle containing the medicine. I have given some examples of the old-form prescriptions written entirely in latin, and also some where the new notation (figures, &c.) is used. Whoever reads them over will learn how to read prescriptions; but I have given none but such as I value highly, and I have used almost every one in my practice, and tested its excellence. I advise people to obtain these rather than those patent medicines whose composition is secret. The person who desires one of these prescribed medicines can obtain it by copying the formula accurately and taking it to a druggist. I adopt the usual

CLASSIFICATION OF REMEDIES.

Antacids neutralize acids existing in the alimentary canal, or circulating with the blood; ANTISEPTICS counteract putrefaction; ANTISPASMODICS relax spasm and calm nervous irritation; ASTRINGENTS cause vital contraction of the organic textures; ANTHELMINTICS destroy worms, or expel them from the bowels; CATHARTICS act on the bowels, producing a purgative effect; CAUSTICS destroy the life of the part upon which they act; DIAPHORETICS increase the cutaneous discharge; DIURETICS produce an increased flow of urine; EMETICS produce vomiting; EXPECTORANTS augment the secretion from the pulmonary mucous membrane; ENEMATA cause evacuations from the rectum, &c.; EMMENAGOGUES excite the menstrual secretion; NARCOTICS affect the cerebral functions; TONICS exalt the energies of the whole system. I shall give examples of remedies which are designed to produce these several effects, besides some belonging to other classes.

Where the word teaspoon is used it signifies one holding about 55 drops of water = ? j. (one drachm); 1 table spoon about half an ounce, and this is written ? ss; one wineglass equals two ounces, written ? ij; one teacup equals four ounces, written ? jv.; one coffee cup equals eight ounces, and is written ? viij.

The gramme of the French metric system equals about 15 grains, and this is the unit of weights. The system is of the decimal character and the latin prefixes deci, centi, milli, &c., are used to indicate its subdivisions, and the Greek deca, hecto, kilo, myria, &c., are its multiples, always on the scale of ten.

	.001	gramme	= 1 milligramme.
	.01	gramme	= 1 centigramme.
	.1	gramme	= 1 decigramme.
1		gramme
10		gramme	= 1 decagramme.
100		gramme	= 1 hectogramme.
1000		gramme	= 1 kilogramme.

Physicians, many of them, prefer to employ latin names to designate the ingredients of their prescriptions, and to write the directions to the druggist in latin. I will first give a few latin prescriptions with the translation.

Formula 61. FIAT HAUSTUS.

(Let a draught be made.)

?	MagnesiÆ sulphatis	drachmas duas.
	Infusi sennÆ	fluidunciam.
	Syrupi rhei	fluidrachmam.

Misce et fiat haustus, in jusculo calido, partÍtis vicibus sumendus.

The above prescription translated into English would read:

Take of	sulphate of magnesia	two drachms.
	Infusion of senna	one fluid ounce.
	Syrup of rhubarb	one fluid drachm.

Mix and let a draught be made to be taken in divided doses in warm broth.

The following is a convenient form and one not liable to mistakes:

?	MagnesiÆ sulph.	? ij.
	Syr. rhei	f ? j.
	Infus. sennÆ.	f ? j. M., et fiat haustus.

S. To be taken in divided doses in warm broth.

62. FOR COLIC.

?	Magnes. alb. ust	? j.
	Tinct. foetid	gtt. lx.
	Tinct. theb	gtt. xx.
	Aq. font	? j.

Take	Calcined magnesia	20 grains.
	Tincture of assafoetida	60 drops.
	Laudanum	20 drops.
	Water	1 ounce. Mix.

S. Dose. 20 drops for a child, in sweetened water.

?	Sal tart. vel carb. sod	gr. xxx.
	Gum Arabic.
	Sacch. Alb	aa. ? j.
	Tinct. theb	gtt x.
	Aq. Font	? iij.

Take	salt of tartar or soda	20 grains.
	Gum Arabic and loaf sugar	each 1 drachm.
	Tincture of opium (laudanum)	10 drops.
	Water	3 ounces.

To the above a drop of oil of cinnamon may be added and it may be given in doses of one teaspoonful in lime water and milk, when cholera morbus is followed by diarrhoea and dysentery.

64. FOR CROUP, &C.

?	Tr. phytolac dec	gtt. vj.
	Tr. aconit	gtt. iij.
	Aqua.	? iv. M.

Take	Tinct. of poke root	6 drops.
	Tinct. of aconite	3 drops.
	Water	4 ounces. Mix.

Dose a teaspoonful every five or thirty minutes, as is necessary.

For a case of mammary abscess it may be given internally, and also rubbed upon the breast in the forming stage.

65. FOR CHRONIC ENLARGEMENT OF THE SPLEEN.

?	Tinct. cinch. comp.	? viij.
	Aq. menth. pip.	? xij.
	Ammon. murias	? j. M.

S. Dose one teaspoonful three times a day, one hour before meals.

66. CHRONIC RHEUMATISM.

?	Pulveris guaiaci resinÆ,
	PotassÆ nicratas	aa. ? j.
	Pulveris ipecacuanhÆ	gr. iij.
	Opii	gr. ij.

Fiat pulvis in charletas sex dividendus.

	Pulverized gum guiac,
	Nitrate of potash	of each 1 drachm.
	Powdered ipecac	3 grains.
	Opium	2 grains. Mix.

Divide into six powders.

S. One powder to be taken every three hours in syrup or molasses.

67. FOR SCIATICA AND FOR THE KIDNEYS.

?	Ol. cubeba,
	Ol. copaiba	aa. f. ? jv.
	Ol. tenebinth.	f. ? ij.
	Spts. nit. Æth.	f. ? vj.
	Mucilagio acacia	f. ? ij. M.

Take	oil of cubebs,
	Oil of copaiva	of each four fluidrachms.
	Oil of turpentine	two fluidrachms.
	Spirits of nitric ether	six fluidrachms.
	Mucilage of gum Arabic	two fluid ounces. Mix.

Mark. One teaspoonful three times a day.

68. FOR GASTRIC ULCER.

?	Morphine sulphatis	gr. j.
	Bismuth subnitratis	? ss. M. S. Ft. Chart. No. vj.

Take	morphine	1 grain.
	Sub nitrate of bismuth	½ drachm. Mix.

Make six powders. Mark. One powder to be taken every four hours.

69. CARBONATE OF MAGNESIA.

?	Magnesia carbonatis	grs. 80.
	Extracti opii liquidi	min. 30.
	Spiritus etheris	fl. drs. 3.
	Aqua mentha viridis	ad fl. oz. 6. Mix.

One fourth part occasionally. Useful where there is much oppression from flatulency.

70. CHALK MIXTURE AND HOPS.

?	Tincture lupuli	? vj.
	Tinct. cardamomi compositae	fl. ? jv.
	Vini ipecacuanhÆ	fl. ? ij.
	Extractii opii liquidi	min. xxx.
	Mistura creta	ad. fl. ? vj. M.

Take	tincture of hops	6 drachms.
	Compound tinct of cardamom	4 fluidrachms.
	Wine of ipecac	2 fluidrachms.
	Liquid extract of opium	25 minims.
	Chalk mixture (add to it)	6 fluid ounces. Mix.

Mark. One teaspoonful every three or four hours. Useful in diarrhoea due to acidity in the stomach.

71. FOR HEARTBURN.

?	Liquor magnes. carb.	? ss.
	Sp. lav. comp.	? ij. M. Ft. haust.

Take	liquor of carbonate of magnesia	½ ounce.
	Compound spirits of lavender	2 drachm.

Make a draught. Take immediately and repeat if necessary.

72. FOR ACIDITY OF THE STOMACH.

?	Pepsin	5 grains.
	Sub nitrate bismuth	5 grains.
	Glycerine	½ ounce. M.

Sig. After each meal.

?	Magnesia carb.	? ij.
	Tinct assafoetida	min. xx.
	Aqua.	? ij. M.

Sig. Thirty drops and repeat every half hour until relieved.

74. FOR DISORDERED STOMACH.

?	Aqua ammonia	? ij.
	Essence cinnamon
	Tinct. ginger	aa. ? ss.
	Tinct. pimento	? j.
	Alcohol	? ij.
	Water	? viij. Mix.

Of this one teaspoonful may be put in a glass of water, of which the patient may take a teaspoonful every hour.

75. NAUSEA AND VOMITING.

No. 1. ?	Bicarb. potass.	grs. xxx.
	Water	f. ? ij.
	Bromide potass.	grs. xxx. M.
No. 2. ?	Citric acid.	? j.
	Water	? jv.
	Syrup	f. ? x. M.

Add a table spoonful of No. 2 to a teaspoonful of No. 1 and drink immediately.

76. A POWDER FOR HEARTBURN.

?	Magnesia calcinatÆ	? ss.
	Bicarbonate sodÆ
	Pulveris zinziberis	aa. ? j. M.

Sig. A small teaspoonful occasionally.

77. CHALK MIXTURE.

?	Prepared chalk	? jss. to ? ij.
	White sugar
	Pulv. gum Arabic	aa. q. s.
	Peppermint water	? vj. M.

Sig. A table spoonful for a dose every two hours. When administered for diarrhoea, astringents and laudanum may be added.

78. CHOLERA MIXTURE.

?	Chalk mixture	? j.
	Spirits chloroform	xx.
	Tinct. opium	min. jv. M.

To be taken every four hours.

?	Bicarbonate of potash
	Pulv. rhei	aa. ? ij. Mix and add of
	Boiling water	f. ? viij.
Let	it stand for two hours,	filter and add
	Brandy	f. ? j.
	Essence peppermint	f. ? j.

Add white sugar to an agreeable sweetness.

Highly useful in diarrhoea, dysentery, summer complaint, &c., especially of children.

80. FOR DIARRHŒA AND DYSENTERY.

?	Oil cinnamon
	Oil cloves
	Extract ginger	aa. ? ss.
	Morphine	grs. ij.
	Rhubarb	grs. xx.
	Aqua ammonia	? ij.
	Spirits camphor	? ij.
	Alcohol	? viij.
	Water	? iv. M.

S. Dose, ¼ teaspoonful every two hours, in water.

81. SODA MINT FOR NAUSEA, &C.

?	SodÆ bicarbonas	? j.
	Aqua Menth. pip.	? xvj.
	Spirits ammon. arom.	? ss. M.

Dose. 1 table spoonful.

82. FOR FLATULENT DYSPEPSIA.

?	Salacylate of bismuth	2 parts.
	Calcined magnesia	3 parts.
	Oil of anise	1 part. M.

Of this powder a small teaspoonful may be taken before a meal.

ANTISEPTICS.

83. LAVENDER AND CAMPHOR.

?	Spirits of camphor	min. xx.
	Spirits of lavender	f. ? j.
	Gum trugacanth mucilage	f. ? vij.

Make a draught. To be taken every six or eight hours by a nervous attendant in a sick room.

?	Liquoris chlorinatÆ	? j.
	Tinct. opii	min. xv.
	CamphonÆ aquÆ	f. ? xij. M.

A table spoonful three times a day relieves the fetor, and is otherwise useful in low cases of fever, gangrene of the lungs, &c.

ANTISPASMODICS.

85. AMMONIA MIXTURE.

?	Aromatic spirits of ammonia	fl. ? j.
	Dilute hydrocyanic acid	min. ij.
	Syrup ginger	min. f. ? j.
	Caraway water	fl. ? vÎj.

Make a draught. To be taken twice or three times a day if there be flatulence or languor. In dyspepsia, debility, irritable stomach, &c.

86. FOR ASTHMA.

?	Tinct. lobelia	? j.
	Ammon. iodide,
	Ammon. bromide	aa. ? ij.
	Syrup tolu.	? iij. M.

Sig. A table spoonful every one, two, three, or four hours.

87. FOR WHOOPING COUGH.

?	Aluminis	? ijss.
	Syrup zinzib.	? j.
	Syrup acaciÆ	? j.
	Aqua	? j. M.

Sig. One teaspoonful three times a day.

88. FOR ASTHMA.

?	Ext. Jamaica dogwood	fl. ? ij.
	Syrup ipecac	fl. ? j.
	Syrup aurant. cortex	? ss. M.

Sig. A teaspoonful every hour until the paroxysm should cease. Afterwards every four hours for the day.

89. ASIATIC MIXTURE FOR CHOLERA.

?	Gum opii,
	Gum camph.	aa. ? j.
	Ol. caryoph.	f. ? j.
	Capsicum (cayenne)	? j.
	Sp. Æth sulph. Co.	Oij. Digest 15 days.

Dose for an adult, 20 to 60 drops every 2, 3, or 4 hours.

?	Tinct. gelsemium,
	Tinct. camphor,
	Tinct. opii deodorized	aa. ? ij. M.

S. Dose 20 drops every two hours until relieved. Useful in dysentery after the operation of Epsom salts.

91. HOFFMAN’S ANODYNE AND LAUDANUM.

?	Liquoris anodyne Hoffman’s	? iij.
	TincturÆ thebiacÆ	gtt. lxxx.
	Aqua cinnamomi	? vj.

Fiat Mistura. Signa, A teaspoonful every hour in hysteria, &c. May sometimes be taken in a dose of a table spoonful.

92. FOR AFTER PAINS.

?	Morphia sulphas	gr. j.
	Pulv. camphorÆ,
	Creta preparata,
	Pulv. glycerhiza	aa. ? j. M.

Given in 10 grain doses and repeated, when required, every 4 hours.

ASTRINGENTS.

93. FOR DYSENTERY.

?	Acidi tanici	gr. xxx.
	Tinct. camphorÆ comp	f. ? j.
	Aqua cinnamomi	ad. f. ? viij. M.

Label. One sixth part three times a day, about an hour before each meal.

94. CINNAMON MIXTURE.

?	Tinct. cinnamon	f. ? ij.
	Cinnamon water	f. ? j. M.

Make a draught to be taken thrice daily. In menorrhagia especially, but also in other varieties of passive hemorrhage.

95. CHLOROFORM, OPIUM, AND CASTOR OIL.

?	Chloroform	min. x.
	Tinct. camph. comp.	f. ? ij.
	Castor oil	f. ? iij.

Make a draught to be taken immediately. In choleraic diarrhoea.

?	Tinct. ergot,
	Oil of turpentine	aa. f. ? ij.
	Tinct. chloride of iron,
	Laudanum	aa. f. ? j.
	Gum Arabic mucilage	f. ? viij. M.

Sig. Take one table spoonful hourly.

97. IN HEMOPTYSIS (BLEEDING FROM THE LUNGS.)

?	Fld. ext. ergot,
	Paregoric,
	Syrup tolu equal parts.	M.

S. Half a table spoonful every hour if necessary.

98. FOR PHTHISIS WHEN NIGHT SWEATS AND COUGH ARE BAD.

?	Acidi sulphurici diluti	gtt. x.
	TincturÆ opii deodoratÆ	gtt. x.
	Syrupi hypophosphatis	f. ? j.
	Extracti Pruni Virginiani fluidi	f. ? ij. M.

For a dose ter. die.

It will be more convenient to have the above put up according to the following form:

?	Elixir vitriol	? iij.
	Deodorized laudanum	? jss.
	Syrup hypophosphitis	f. ? xv.
	Fld. ext. wild cherry	f. ? xxx. M.

Sig. Take nearly a table spoonful three times a day. (For an adult.)

99. FOR INFANTILE DIARRHŒA.

?	Sub. nitrate bismuth	? ij.
	Laudanum	min. ij.
	Gum Arabic mucilage	? jv. Mix.

S. A teaspoonful every two hours.

100. FOR CHOLERA MORBUS.

?	Spirits am. arom.	? j.
	Spirits lav. co.	? j.
	Tinct. opii camph.	? ss. Mix.

S. A teaspoonful in water every two hours or oftener, until relieved. In cholera morbus, colic, dysentery, &c.

?	Bismuthi sub carbonatis	gr. xvj.
	Pulv. ipecacuanha comp.	gr. j.
	Pulv. sacchari albi	grs. xij. Mix.

For viij. powders. One to be taken every three hours in the mother’s or cow’s milk.

102. FOR CHRONIC DYSENTERY.

?	SodÆ bicarbonas	? ss.
	Zinci oxide	? ij. M.

Sig. 6 grains every six hours.

103. FOR PROLAPSIS UTERI.

?	Fld. ext. nux vomica	f. ? j.
	Fld. ext. blue cohash	f. ? ss.
	Fld. ext. ergot	? ij.
	Simple syrup	? ij.
	Chloroform	min. x. M.

S. One-half a teaspoonful three times a day.

104. ASTRINGENT POWDER.

?	Sub. nitrate of bismuth	grs. xij.
	Pulv. geranium root	grs. jx.
	Dover powder	gr. j. M.

Divide into six powders. Give one powder every six hours.

CATHARTICS.

105. THE WHITE MIXTURE FOR RHEUMATISM.

?	Epsom salts	? jss.
	Carbonate magnesia	? ij.
	Peppermint water	f. ? viij.
	Wine of colchicum	f. ? ij. M.

One-sixth part early every morning.

106. FOR DYSENTERY.

?	Syrup of rhubarb	f. ? ij.
	Syrup of ginger	f. ? iij.
	Tincture of opium	f. ? j.
	Oil of cloves	gtt. xxx. M.

S. One teaspoonful every two or three hours.

?	Rad. columbo (columbo root),
	Rad. ginger (ginger root),	aa. ? ss.
	Fol. senna (senna leaves)	? j.
	Boiling water	Oj.

Sig. Wineglassful before meals.

108. COMPOUND LICORICE POWDER.

?	Powdered senna leaves,
	Powdered licorice root	aa. ? vj.
	Powdered fennel seed,
	Powdered sulphur	aa. ? iij.
	Powdered sugar	? xvj. M.

Dose one teaspoonful as a mild laxative.

109. AS A LAXATIVE FOR ANTIPARTEM ADMINISTRATION.

?	Senna leaves	? iij.
	Sulphate of magnesia	? xx.
	Bruised ginger	? x.
	Boiling water	cong. j.

Let the mixture stand over night; filter. Dose, two or three ounces.

110. FOR PILES.

?	Magnesia sulp.,
	Magnesia carb.,
	Sup. tart. potass.,
	Sulphur sublim.	aa. ? j. Mix thoroughly.

Sig. One, two, or three teaspoonfuls of the powder before eating in the morning.

111. FOR DYSENTERY.

?	Mucilaginis tragacanthÆ	fl. ? ij.
	Aqua cinnamomi	fl. ? iij.
	Olei ricini	fl. ? xij.
	Tinct. rhei,
	Syrup aurantii	aa. fl. ? vj.
	Tinct. opii	min. xxx. Mix.

S. One-eighth part for an adult every three hours. In dysentery where there are scybala in the rectum. Also where an aperient with a sedative is needed.

112. TO EXPEL THE ROUND WORMS.

?	Santonin	gr. 3.
	Sacchari lactis	gr. 10.

Make a powder to be taken early in the morning in a table spoonful of milk or cream. Its exhibition should be followed at the end of six hours by mild physic.

113. FOR TAPE WORMS.

?	Oil of turpentine	4 drachms.
	Gruel (not too thick)	3 ounces. Mix well.

Abstain from supper; take a mixture on waking in the morning, and lie down until it operates.

114. FOR WORMS.

?	Santonin	16 grs.
	Flu. ext. spigelia	16 drops.
	Simple syrup	2 ounces. Mix.

Sig. Teaspoonful morning and night.

CAUSTICS AND RUBEFACIENTS.

115. CHROMIC ACID.

?	Acidi chromici	grs. 60.
	Aqua	fl. drs. 4. M.

Apply directly to warts, &c., to destroy them.

116. IODINE PAINT.

?	Iodini	grs. xl.
	Potassai iodidi	? ss.
	Spirits vini rectificati	f. ? j. M.

To be applied with a camel’s hair brush.

117. BURNT ALUM.

The alumen ustem is made by depriving the alum of its water of chrystalization by heat. It is applied in powder to fungous granulations of ulcers, and mixed with sugar is used to remove nebulous spots on the cornea.

118. FOR PRICKLY HEAT.

?	Sulphate of copper	grs. xx.
	Water	? ij. M.

Apply daily by means of a camel’s hair brush or a sponge. It is applied after a morning bath, after the skin has been well rubbed with a towel, and it must be allowed to dry on the skin before dressing.

DIAPHORETICS.

119. A PLEASANT DIAPHORETIC IN FEVERS.

?	Citratis potasÆ preparatÆ	? ij.
	Aqua distilatÆ	? jv. to ? vi.
	Olei limonis	gtt. ij.
	Sacchari alba	? j. Misce.

S. A table spoonful to be taken every two hours. Spirits of nitre may be added.

120. INFUSION OF BONESET.

?	Eupatorii perfoliati	? j.
	Aqua bulientis	Oj.

Infuse for thirty minutes in a covered vessel; then decant and take a wineglassful every hour till there is free perspiration. The infusion must be taken hot as it can be drunk, otherwise it may produce vomiting.

121. DECOCTION OF BARLEY WATER WITH NITRE.

?	Decocti hardei	Oj.
	Nitratis potassÆ	? ij.
	Succi limonis	? j. to ? ij. Fiat potus.

Take	barley water	one pint.
	Salt petre	two drachms.
	Lemon juice	one ounce to two ounces.

Make a drink to be drank warm by the patient.

122. MODIFIED DIAPHORETIC.

This and the following prescriptions in doses of from two to eight grains may be used as a

?	Morph. sulph.	? j.
	CamphorÆ,
	Oreta prep.,
	Saccharum	aa. ? xx.

124. DIAPHORETIC AND EXPECTORANT.

?	Potass citrat.	? j.
	Suc. limonis	f. ? jss.
	Syr. ipecac.	f. ? ss.
	Tr. opii camph.	f. ? iij.
	Syrupi	q. s. ad. f. ? iij. M.

S. Dessert spoonful every two hours. For colds and coughs.

DIURETICS.

125. NITRE, JUNIPER, AND ETHER.

?	Potassa nitratis	grs. 60.
	Spiritus juniper	f. dr. 1.
	Spiritus oetheris nitrici	f. dr. 3.
	Decocti chimaphilÆ	ad. f. oz. 8. Mix.

One-sixth part every six hours.

126. DIURETIC AND LAXATIVE.

?	PotassÆ tartratis	? iij.
	Infus. buchu	f. ? viij. Mix.

S. One-sixth part three times a day.

127. FOR CYSTITS—IRRITABLE CONDITION OF THE BLADDER.

?	Acidi benzoici,
	Sodii biboratis	aa. gr. x.
	Inf. buchu	? ij. M.

Sig. This amount three times a day.

128. INFUSION OF UVA URSI.

?	Uva ursi foliorum	? j.
	Aqua bulientis	Oj.

Pour the water boiling hot on the leaves and let them macerate for several hours. To be taken cold, from half a pint to a pint daily. Chiefly used for irritable bladder and strangury.

?	Potass iod.	? ij.
	Vin. calc. rad.	f. ? ij.
	Tinct. guiac ammon.	f. ? iij.
	Fld. ext. belladonna	min. xx.
	Aqua cinnamon	? iij. M.

A teaspoonful in water three times a day.

130. FOR MUSCULAR RHEUMATISM.

?	Potasii iodide	? j.
	Vini colchici rad.	f. ? ij.
	Morphia sulphatis	gr. iij.
	Syrupi	f. ? j.
	AquÆ	f. ? iij. M.

S. A teaspoonful three times a day.

131. FOR DROPSY.

?	Fld. ext. apocynum Canabinum	? ij.
	Spts. lav. comp.	? ss.
	Syrup simplex	? iij ss. M.

S. A teaspoonful every three or four hours.

132. FOR URETHRAITIS.

?	Tinct. gelsemii	? ss.
	Potassii bromidi	? ijss.
	Potass. bicarb.	? ss.
	Aqua	? iv. M.

S. Dessert spoonful in water three times a day.

EMETICS.

133. POWDER OF IPECAC.

?

Pulvis ipecacuanha

? ij. Divide into two doses.

Signa. One to be taken in a little sweetened water or warm water. If one powder does not produce the desired effect within thirty or forty minutes, the second to be taken in like manner. It may be followed by a draught of tepid water after vomiting commences.

134. POWDER OF SULPHATE OF ZINC.

?

Sulphate of zinc

10 grs. to ? ss.

Signa. To be taken in syrup, and followed by a draught of warm water.

? Very young children in some instances suffer from indigestion. If delicate give five grains ipecacuanha, and after that sickens the child give a dose of castor oil to remove the offending matter from the stomach.

136. EMETIC USED IN CAPILLARY BRONCHITIS OF CHILDREN.

?	Zinchi sulphatis	gr. iij.
	Pulveris ipecacuauha	gr. ij. M.

For one dose; to be repeated every ten minutes until emesis is produced.

EXPECTORANTS.

137. SEDATIVE COUGH MIXTURE.

?	Vinum ipecacacuanha	fl. dr. 1½.
	Spiritus etheris nitrosa	fl. dr. 6.
	Infusi senega	ad. fl. oz. 8. Mix.

One-sixth part every six hours. In chronic bronchitis when an expectorant and sedative is desired.

138. INFUSION OF FLAXSEED, &C.

?	Seminum lini	? j.
	Radicis glycerhiza	? ss.
	Aqua bulientis	Oij.

Macerate for two or three hours near the fire in a covered vessel, strain, and add lemon juice sufficient to make it agreeable. This may be given as a common drink in catarrh.

139. COUGH SYRUP.

?	Morphine	grs. viij.
	Fld. ext. ipecac.	f. ? jss.
	Tinct. bloodroot	f. ? j.
	Water	? vj.
	Simple syrup	f. ? xxv.
	Chlorate potash	? ss.
	Muriate of ammonia	? j. M.

S. Dose for an adult, a teaspoonful three times a day and after each fit of coughing.

?	Picis liquida	Oij.
	Aqua	Cong. j. M.

Stir them together with a wooden rod for ten minutes, then let the tar subside. Strain the water and keep in well corked bottles. A pint may be taken daily.

141. FOR WHOOPING COUGH.

?	Ammon. bromide	? j.
	Tinct. strammonii, sem.	gtt. xx.
	Syrup simplex	? ij.
	Aqua	? ij. M.

Sig. A teaspoonful three times a day for a child.

142. FOR PNEUMONIA.

?	Syrup senega	? ss.
	Spirits nitre,
	Tinct. digitalis	aa, f. ? ij.
	Morphine	gr. ij.
	Simple syrup	f. ? ij. M.

Sig. Dose, a half teaspoonful every three hours or oftener.

143. PNEUMONIA.

?	Tinct. aconite	gtt. xxx.
	Fld. ext. jaborandi,
	Spirits nitre dulcis	aa. ? ij.
	Aqua	? jv. M.

Sig. A teaspoonful every four hours for an adult.

144. FOR COUGH.

?	Syrup wild cherry	? iij
	Tinct. sanguinaria	? j.
	Morphine	grs. ij.
	Chlorate potash	grs. xv.
	Muriate of ammonia	grs. x.
	Aqua	? j. M.

Sig. Dose, ½ a teaspoonful every six hours, and after each spell of coughing.

ENEMATA AND INJECTIONS.

145. FOR ASCARIDES.

?	Sulphuric ether	5 to 20 drops.
	Water	½ pint to a pint. M.

Inject into the bowels.

?	Acid carbolici	? j.
	Potassa chloratis	? ij.
	Aqua	Oj. M.

Warm to 98° and inject into the bowels.

147. INJECTION FOR THE VAGINA. (THIS MAY BE USED DILUTED WITH WATER.)

?	Tannin	? j.
	Zinci sulphatis	? ij.
	Aqua tepidi	Oj. M.

Inject with a Davidson or a fountain syringe.

148. ENEMA FOR PINWORMS.

?	Argenti nitratis (nitrate silver) cryst.	8 grs.
	Aqua distilat	6 oz. for an enema.

Repeat this each day for four or five days. This will stain clothing.

149. ENEMA TO MOVE THE BOWELS.

?	Ol. ricini (castor oil)	f. ? ij.
	Ol. terebinth. (spirits turpentine)	f. ? i.
	Aqua fervent	Oij.

To be administered at once.

150. FOR ASCARIDES CAUSING VAGINAL DISCHARGE.

?	Tinct. ferri chloridi	? ss.
	Aqua calcis	Oj. Ft. injectio.

Inject one-half into the rectum at night and the other half the next morning.

151. EMMENAGOGUE ENEMA.

?	Aloes barbadensis	gr. x.
	Tepid milk	f. ? M.

To be injected twice a day when the menstrual flow is due, for one or two days.

152. FOR IRRITABLE UTERUS.

?	Bromide potash	? j.
	Water	Oj. M.

Use as a rectal injection. Where there is pain in the part, one drachm of the tincture of opium hyoscyamus or conium may be used in the same way.

The vaginal injections most used when disinfection is the special object, and the usual proportions are the following:

? Corrosive sublimate, 1 to 1000 or 2000; carbolic acid, 5 or 10 to 1000; thymal, 1 to 1000; sulphite of soda, 5 to 1000; permangenate of potash, 5 to 1000; liquor sodii chlorinatÆ (Labaraques solution), 1 to 2; chlorine water, 1 to 2; salacylic acid, 1 to 1000 hot water.

For medicinal astringent vaginal injections, give alum, sulphate of zinc, or lead, copper, and iron, salts of the strength of one or two per cent.

The permangenate of potash, silver nitrate, and iron solutions all make almost indelible stains on the linen.

If the injections are corrosive, a large straight glass syringe should be used.

154. INJECTION FOR LEUCORRHŒA.

?	Alum,
	Sulphate of zinc,
	Borate of soda,
	Pure carbolic acid	aa. ? jss.
	Water	Oij. M.

Of this two table spoonfuls in a pint of water.

155. VAGINAL INJECTION.

?	Zinci sulphatiz,
	Aluminis exsiccata	aa. ? j.
	Acidi tannici	? ij. Mix. Label.

Half a teaspoonful to be mixed with a pint of tepid or cold water to form an injection.

156. INJECTION FOR DYSENTERY.

?	Mucilage of gum Arabic or starch	? ij.
	Laudanum	gtt. xx. M.

For an injection.

157. INJECTION FOR FETID LEUCORRHŒA.

?	Chlorate of potash	? j.
	Laudanum	f. ? j.
	Tar water	Oij. M.

S. Three table spoonfuls to be added to the pint of warm water as a vaginal injection.

EMMENAGOGUES—UTERINE THERAPEUTICS.

158. STIMULANT EMMENAGOGUE.

?	Potassa bromide	? j.
	Tinct. cantharides	f. ? jss.
	Tinct. cinnamomi	f. ? jv.
	Aqua	q. s. ad. f. ? jss. M.

S. Teaspoonful three times a day for amenorrhoea and hysteria.

159. FOR CHLOROSIS.

?	Tinct. ferri per chloridi	f. ? jss.
	Potassa chloratis	? jss.
	Tinct. actea racemosa	f. ? jv.
	Infusi serpentaria	ad. f. ? M.

Sig. One-eighth part three times a day.

160. RECTAL SUPPOSITARY.

?	Ext. opii aq.	3 grains.
	Ext. belladonna	1½ grains.
	Buteri cacao	q. s. 1½ ounces. M. ft. suppos. No. 12.

S. Apply one to relieve pain in the region of the uterus or rectum.

161. FOR PAINFUL MENSTRUATION.

?	Ferri carbonate pulv.	? iij.
	Ext. conii mac.	? ijss.
	Ol. cinnamon.	min. xx.
	Syrup tolutani	? ij.
	Syrup simplici,
	Aqua	aa. ? vij. M.

S. Dose, a table spoonful four times a day. To be given for a week or ten days before the menstrual period.

162. FOMENTATION FOR PAIN IN THE BLADDER AND UTERUS.

?	Flores chamomelÆ	3 ounces.
	Pulv. semen lini	3 ounces.
	Herb hyscyami,
	Herb belladoni,
	Herb strammonii	aa. 1 ounce. M.

Sig. Make fomentations. To be applied topically and covered with oiled silk to retain heat and moisture.

163. VAGINAL SUPPOSITARY.

?	Zinci oxide vel bismuth carbonatis	? jss.
	Extracti belladonnÆ	? ss.
	Olei theobroma	? j.
	Olei olivÆ	? ij. M.

Divide into eight pessaries. Used in chronic leucorrhoea, vaginitis, &c.

NARCOTICS AND SEDATIVES.

164. FOR HEADACHE.

?	MorphiÆ sulphatis	gr. ss.
	Sodii bromidi	gr. xj. M. et fiant. charlutas No. ij.

Sig. Take one powder dissolved in a wineglass of water, to be repeated in an hour if necessary.

165. FOR SUBACUTE RHEUMATISM.

?	Vinum colchici rad.	f. ? j.
	Morphia sulph.	gr. v.
	Magnesia sulph.	? j.
	Potassa iod.	? iv.
	AquÆ	f. ? iij. M.

Sig. Half a teaspoonful in water.

166. EPILEPTICAL SEIZURES AT THE MENSTRUAL PERIOD.

?	Potassa bromide	grs. xx.
	Tinct. belladonna	min. ij.
	Syrup,
	Aqua	q. s. ad. ft. ? jv. M.

S. One dose three times a day.

167. OVARIAN NEURALGIA.

?	Ammon murias	? ij.
	Tinct. aconit.	? j.
	Syrup aurant. cort.	? xij. M.

S. One teaspoonful three times a day.

?	Pot. bromide	? ss.
	Ferri pyrophos	? j.
	Elixir humuli, AquÆ	aa. ? jv. M.

Sig. Table spoonful three times a day.

169. FOR HEADACHE.

?	Ammonia murias	? iij.
	Morphia acetat.	gr. j.
	Caffeine citrat.	? ss.
	Spts. ammon. aromat.	? j.
	Elixir guarana, Aqua rosÆ	aa. ? jv. M.

Sig. Dessert spoonful every ten or twenty minutes.

170. TOOTHACHE DROPS.

?	Chloroform	4 parts.
	Mastich	8 parts.
	Bals. Peru	5 parts. M. ft. sol.

Sig. Place two or three drops in cavity of tooth.

171. FOR FUNCTIONAL PALPITATION.

?	Tr. digitalis	? v.
	Tr. veratrum	? ij.
	Tr. aconite	? j.
	Tr. ginger	? ijss. M.

S. One teaspoonful three times a day.

172. STIMULANT EMMENAGOGUES.

?	Ferri phosphatis	? ij.
	Manganesii phosphatis	gr. xxx.
	TincturÆ columbÆ	fl. ? j.
	Syrupi zinziberas	fl. ? ij. M.

S. One teaspoonful in a wineglassful of water three times a day.

173. FOR NEURALGIA, &C.

?	TincturÆ aconiti	min. xx.
	Spiritus Ætheris	fl. ? jv.
	Mistura guaiaci	ad. fl. ? viij. M.

S. One table spoonful every four hours.

?	Spiritus ammoniÆ aromatic	fl. ? iv.
	Extracti cinchonÆ flavÆ liquidi	fl. ? jss.
	Tinct. rhei	fl. ? jv.
	Infusi rhei	ad. fl. ? viij. M.

S. Two table spoonfuls three times daily.

175. ACID MIXTURE.

?	Acidi sulphurici aromatici	fl. ? ij.
	Syrup aurantii	fl. ? j.
	Tincturi cinchonÆ compositÆ	fl. ? vj.
	Infusi cinchonÆ flavÆ	fl. ? viij. M.

S. One table spoonful before each meal in depressing disorders; if there is hemorrhage, give larger doses.

176. FOR LEUCORRHŒA.

? Water, one pint; sulphate of magnesia (epsom salts), as much as the water will dissolve; sulphate of iron, one drachm. Mix and add aromatic sulphuric acid, one fluid drachm. Dose, a table spoonful or a sufficient quantity to relax the bowels.

177. FOR ERYSIPELAS.

?	Spiritus etheris nitrici	f. ? ij.
	Tinct. Ferri chloridi	? ij.
	Quinia sulphatis	grs. xvj. M.

S. A teaspoonful every three hours after the action of a cathartic.

178. AROMATIC INFUSION IN DYSENTERY.

?	Bruised calamus root	? iij.
	Coriander seed	? j.
	Black pepper	? ss.
	Water	Oj.

Boil to twelve ounces and cool. S. Dose for an adult, an ounce, three times daily; for a child, one to three teaspoonfuls. Sweeten if preferred.

179. INCONTINENCE OF URINE.

?	Tinct. belladonna	? ss.
	Tinct. ignatia amara	? ss.
	Tinct. cantharides	? ss.
	Tinct. cinchonia comp.	? jv. M.

Sig. One teaspoonful in water three times a day.

?	Tinct. of Hops	f. ? ss.
	Tinct. of buchu	f. ? iij.
	Tinct. of senega	f. ? iij.
	Podophyllin, dissolved in spts. of wine	? ss. gr. j.
	Tincture of cochinael	gtt. xx.
	Distilled water	ad. ? xvj. M.

This is said to be the same as the nostrum which is sold for one dollar (costing only a few cents).

181. TONIC IN NEURALGIA.

?	Cinchonidia	grs. 5.
	Ferri carb.	grs. 10. M.

One to be taken every four hours, and when the pain is severe give a little opium or Dover powder.

182. FOR CHRONIC CHILLS.

?	CinchonidÆ	? vj.
	Acid sulph.	q. s. ad. solv.
	Ol. piper niger	? ss.
	Ol. limonis	? j.
	Alcohol	q. s. ad. solv. M. E. adde.
	Aqua	q. s. ad. Oj.
	Syrup	Oj. M.

Sig. One table spoonful every four hours.

183. FOR ST. VITUS DANCE. (CHOREA.)

?	Zinci sulphatis	gr. xxx.
	Ext. valerian (fluid)	? j.
	Syrup limonis	fl. ? iij. M.

S. A half teaspoonful three times a day, gradually increasing the dose.

184. TONIC AFTER SEVERE HEMORRHAGE.

?	Tinct. ferri chloridi,
	Tinct. nucis vomicÆ	aa. f. ? ij.
	Spiritus etheris nitrosi	f. ? iij. Misce fiat mistura.

S. Take a teaspoonful in plenty of water three times a day.

Apply to tumor and wear it constantly. Use also for indolent ulcerations where stimulation and purification is needed.

186. TO REMOVE CLOASMA, (BROWNISH DISCOLORATIONS OF SKIN.)

?	Hydrarg. bichlor.	8 gr.
	Boracis pulv.	2 drs.
	Acidi acetic	2 oz.
	Alcohol	2 oz.
	Aqua	4 oz. M.

If it roughens the skin too much omit its use and apply sweet cream. Sig. Apply locally to the spots. Poison.

187. SALVE FOR BURNS, &C.

?	Yellow wax melted and strained	f. ? j.
	Linseed oil raw	f. ? iij.
	Tannin	? j.
	Sub nitrate of bismuth	? j. Mix as follows:

Heat the wax in a clean tin vessel, add the oil and stir till they are thoroughly incorporated; then set off the fire and continue to stir until cold, adding first the tannin and then the bismuth.

188. TO CURE SORE EYES.

?	Sulph. zinc,
	Rock salt	aa. ? j.
	White sugar	? ij.
	Soft water	? xij. Mix and use as an eye water.

189. LINIMENT USED IN CEREBRO SPINAL MENINGETIS.

?	Oil sassafras	? ss.
	Chloroform	? ss.
	Aqua ammonia	? ss.
	Oil cloves	? ij.
	Tinct. camphor	? ss.
	Alcohol, strong	? jv. M.

S. Apply the whole length of the spine.

?	Rectified oil amber,
	Tinct. opium,
	Hartshorn,
	Olive oil	aa. ? ss. M.

S. Rub well the whole length of the spine two or three times a day, until there is tenderness of the skin.

191. AMMONIACAL GAS FOR DYSMENORRHŒA.

?

Spirits of ammonia

? j.

Put a teaspoonful of this in a chamber and have the patient sit for one or two minutes over it. In cases of severe tenesmus, or strangury, or dysmenorrhoea, relief may be obtained in about two minutes if the first pungent effects of the gas can be borne.

192. ANODYNE LOTION.

?	Tinct. aconite	fl. drs. 12.
	Aqua	ad. fl. oz. 4. Mix.

For acute superficial pain, pruritis, hyperesthesia of the skin, gout, &c.

193. COOLING LOTION FOR INFLAMED EYES.

?	Pulv. borax	½ ounce.
	Aqua camphor	1 ounce.
	Aqua cherry laurel	q. s. 4 ounces. M.

S. Drop in the eyes ad. lib. A good vehicle for the addition of one or two grains atropia sulphate when indicated.

194. ANAL TROUBLES.

?	Stramonium ung.	1 ounce.
	Extract conium	½ drachm.
	SodÆ salicyl.	10 grains. M.

Sig. Use quite within the anal folds once or twice a day.

195. LOTION FOR PRURITIS ANI.

?	Soda bibor.	? ij.
	Morphia muriat.	gr. xvj.
	Acid hydrocyan. dil.	? ss.
	Glycerine	? ij.
	Aqua ad.	f. ? viij. M.

S. For external use.

?	Acid carbolici	? ss.
	Acid acetici	? ijss.
	Aqua distilata	? ijss. M.

Sig. Apply pro re nata.

197. OINTMENT FOR SKIN AFFECTIONS.

?	Carbolic acid chrys,
	Sulphate soda	aa. ? j.
	Sulphur sublim.	? j.
	Adipis	? j. M.

S. Apply two or three times a day. This is effectual for scald head, and either with or without the sulphur is good for the eruption of poison oak, foul ulcers, &c.

198. FOR SORE NIPPLES.

?	Aqua rosÆ,
	GlycerinÆ	aa. ? ij.
	Acid tanica	? ij. ft. lotion.

Soak lint in the solution and apply to the nipples.

199. TURPENTINE LINIMENT.

?	Olei terebinthanÆ	? ij.
	Olei olivarum	? ij.
	Tinct. camphorÆ	? j.
	Aqua ammonia	? j. M. Fiat Linamentum.

200. A GOOD LINIMENT.

?	Oil lavendar	? ss.
	Alcohol	? jv. M. Digest then add.
	Sulph. ether	? iij.
	Laudanum	? ij. M. Apply externally.

201. BELLADONNA AND OPIUM.

?	Extract belladonna,
	Extract opium	aa. ? j.
	Laurel water	? jv. M.

To be painted over painful or inflamed parts. A sheet of tissue paper may be laid over this, and then a hot fomentation.

?	Unguentum tabaci	? ij.
	Pulv. camph.	? ij.
	Ext. belladon.	? jss. M. ft. ung.

203. FOR PAIN.

?	Sweet oil,
	Laudanum	aa. ? ij.

Rub on the affected parts.

204. BALSAM FOR WOUNDS.

?	Balsam fir,
	True Venice turpentine,
	Oil of almonds	aa. ? ij.

Add carbolic acid ? ss., previously dissolved in warm glycerine ? ij. Apply with a camel hair brush, having previously cleansed the wound with very warm water.

205. FOR BOILS.

?	Tr. arnica flowers	? j.
	Tannic acid	? ss.
	Gum Arabic pulv.	? ss. M.

Let the inflamed surface and all around it be painted with the medicine every fifteen minutes. It should be used as soon as prepared.

206. FOR HEMORRHOIDS. (PILES.)

?	Powdered opium	grs. xxx.
	Tannin	? j.
	Carbolic acid	gtt. xv.
	Oil of tobacco	gtt. x.
	Sol. of sub acetate of lead	gtt. xx.
	Vaseline	? j. Mix intimately.

Apply at night and morning.

207. FOR TENDER NIPPLES.

?	Sulphate zinc	gr. j.
	Cologne water	? j. M.

208. Fld. ext. pinus canadenses may be used topically for tender nipples.

?	Acidi tannici	gr. xx.
	Morph. sulphatis	gr. v.
	Ext. belladonnÆ,
	Ext. strammonii	aa. ? ij.
	Ungt. petrolei	? ij. M.

After bathing and cleansing, rub well on the parts once or twice a day.

210. FOR SORE EYES.

?	Ferri sulphas exsiccata	grs. vj.
	Rain water	? jv. M.

S. Use as a collyria. (Eye water.)

211. FOR OPTHALMIA.

?	Sulph. zinc	grs. ij.
	Sulph. morphia	gr. j.
	Glycerine	? jv.
	Rose water	? xij. M.

S. For eye water.

212. CHAFINGS.

?	Finely pulverized native carbonate of zinc	? j.
	Finely pulverized starch	? ij. M.

To be dusted on the parts.

213. FOR ENLARGED TONSILS.

?	Zinci sulphatis	gr. xx.
	Syrupi mori	fl. ? jv.
	Glycerina	fl. ? j.
	Infusi krameria	ad. fl. ? viij. Mix.

S. Use as a gargle.

214. FOR BURNS.

?	Beeswax melted and strained	? j.
	Flaxseed oil and sweet oil	? ij.
	Tannic acid	? j.

Mix as in formula 187, and after adding the tannin, add 6 or 8 drops of carbolic acid to the ounce.

?	Zinci sulphatis	gr. jv.
	Aluminis exsiccata	gr. jv.
	Tinct. arnica	min. x.
	Aqua distilata	f. ? j. M.

216. FOR TETTER AND RINGWORM.

?	Borax	? ss.
	Tar water	? ij. M.

217. FOR PRURITIS OF VULVA.

?	Borax	? ij.
	Morphine	grs. jv.
	Tar water	f. ? vij. M.

Sig. Apply three times a day to the affected parts by means of a sponge, &c. First wash with warm water and soap, and dry before applying the lotion.

218. DANDRUFF LOTION.

?	Tinct. of cantharides	? ij.
	Glycerine	? ij.
	Rose water	? iij. M.

219. SULPHATE OF IRON IN ERYSIPELAS.

?	Ferri sulphas pulverized	? j.
	Aqua	Oss.

Apply to affected cuticle with a cotton cloth well wetted in the solution every thirty minutes till the inflamed part is restored.

220. PRURIGO VULVA.

?	Soda bicarb.	? ss.
	Morph sulph.	gr. vj.
	Rose water	? viij. M.

S. Apply locally.

221. MAMMARY SWELLINGS.

?	Gum camphor	? j.
	Sulph. ether,
	Tinct. opii	aa. ? ij.
	Aqua	Oj.

Dissolve the camphor in the ether, then add the opium and the water. Wet linen or cotton cloths and keep applied to the breasts.

?	Muriate of ammonia	? ij.
	Water,
	Vinegar	aa. ? ij.

First foment the part with hot water if there is much pain, then keep the contusion wet with the lotion.

223. CHLORAL LINIMENT.

?	Chloral hydrat.	? j.
	Liniment saponis	f. ? jv. M.

Sig. For external use. Do not apply so as to cause much soreness.

224. BARBER’S ITCH.

?	Hydrarg. ammoniat.	10 grains.
	Bismuth. subnit.	1 drachm.
	Liq. carbonis deterg.	1 drachm.
	Lanolin	6 drachms. M.

Sig. To be applied night and morning.

225. COMEDONES.

?	Sulphuric ether	8 drachms.
	Ammonia carbonate	1 drachm.
	Boracic acid	20 grains.
	Water, to make	16 drachms. M.

Sig. Apply twice a day.

226. OINTMENT FOR FRECKLES.

?	Subnitrate of Bismuth	2 drachms.
	Simple ointment	2 ounces.

Apply to the skin at night and remove in the morning with a little cold cream previous to washing.

227. CHILBLAINS.

?	Acidi carbolici	1 drachm.
	Tinct. iodini	2 drachms.
	Acidi Tannici	1 drachm.
	Cerat simp.	4 ounces. Misce bene ut ft. ungt.

Sig. Apply two or three times a day.