THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE FAMILY DOCTOR: A COUNSELLOR IN SICKNESS, PAIN AND DISTRESS, FOR CHILDHOOD, MANHOOD AND O'-D AGE Containing in plain language, free from Medical terms. The Causes, Symptoms, and Cure of Disease in every Form, With important Rules for Preserving the Health, and directions for the Sick Chamber, and the proper treatment of the Sick ; the whole drawn from extensive observation and practice, BY Prof. HENRY S. TAYLOR, M.D. ©ill] €ngra1)inp at '^^thiiml |Iants lui^ Jtrte. list Edition. — Revised. " All men ought to be acquainted with the medical art. A knowl- edge of medicine is the sister and companion of wisdom." Hippocrates. PHILADELPHIA : John E. Potter, 617 Sansom St. 1 860. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by JOHN E. POTTER, Ib the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, In and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA ST'^RFnTYPRD BT GEORdE CHARLES, PKINTED BY KINO Si BAISD, ' > NO. 607 8ANS0M 8TBBBT. Kamedicd m rx\^ CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY WORDS. PAOB Regard to liealtli, 9 Dieting, 11 Hardening the constitution, 12 Cheerfulness, 13 Early rising, 13 Exercise, 16 Drinks 18 Bathing, 19 Tobacco, 24 SnufiF, 25 Important paragraphs 25 Quaint old song, 28 THE SICK ROOM. Yentilation and cleanliness, 29 Temperature and light 30 Cautions against infection, 31 Proper conduct to the sick, 32 Strong feelings, 33 Cookery for the sick, 35 Drinks 38 Poultices, 39 (3) '?06050 4 CONTENTS. DISEASES OF CHILDREN. PAns Introductory remarks and directions, 42 Common fits or convulsions, 50 Whooping congh, , 51 Croup, 53 Teething, 56 Tlirush 58 Cholera infantum 59 Colic 61 Hiccough, or hiccup, 63 Diarrhoea, 64 Costiveuess, or constipation, 68 Vomiting, 69 Worms, 70 Eicketts 73 Scalled head, 74 Eingworm, 79 Chilblains, 81 Chapped hands, 82 Itch 83 Eose rash, 85 The gum, 86 Nettle rash, 88 Chicken pox, 89 Measles, 89 Small pox, 92 Vaccination and cow-pox, 94 St. Vitus' dance, 97 Watery head, or dropsy of the brain, 93 Abscess within the ear, 101 CONTEXTS, 5 DISEASES OF MEN AND "WOMEN. PAOR Colds and coughs, 104 Influenza, or catarrh, 107 Consumption, 108 Asthma, 1 IS Dropsy, 118 Gout, 121 Eheumatism, 123 Lumbago, 126 Erysipelas, or St. Anthony's Fire, 127 Cramp, 120 Cholera morbus, 130 Malignant cholera 132 Diarrhoea 13G Dysentery, 130 Diseases of the bladder, 142 Dyspepsia, or indigestion, 147 Diseases of the liver, 151 Pleurisy, 157 Inflammation of the bowels, 1 59 Fevers, KU Yellow fever, 1 (54 Typhus fever, IGS Scarlet fever, or scarlatina, 171 Fever and ague, 173 Bilious fever, 177 Diseases of the throat, 173 Mumps, 184 Diseases of the teeth 185 Headache, 187 Diseases of the ear 189 6 CONTENTS. TAom Diseases of Ibe eye, 192 Neuralgia, 195 Apoplexy, 198 Insanity, 201 Hypocliondria, 206 Hysterical affections 209 Paralysis, or palsy, 211 Epilepsy, 216 Eupture, or hernia, 217 Palpitation of the heart, 219 Nightmare, 221 Heartbnrn, 222 Jaundice, 223 Vomiting, 225 Hemorrhage, 227 Piles, 228 Stitch, or pain in the side, 230 Mortification, 231 Hydrophobia, 233 Venereal diseases, 235 WOUNDS, ACC1D)!,NTS, AND MINOR DISEASES. General treatment of wounds, 244 Gun-shot wounds, 246 Fever-sore, 246 White-swelling, 247 Ulcers, 249 Wens and fistulas, 250 Whitlow, or felon, 251 Warts 252 Corns 25o CONTENTS. 7 PAOB Scrofula, or king's evil, 254 Scurvy 257 Scalds and burns, 258 Sprains, 2G0 Boils 2til Bruises, 262 Broken bones and dislocations 263 Falls, 264 Locked jaw 265 Recovery of the drowned, 266 Becovery of persons struck by lightning, 268 Choking, 268 Inversion of a toe-nail, 270 Sun-stroke, 271 Accidents from taking poisons, 271 Bites and stings of animals, 273 DISEASES OP WOMEN. General hints 276 Menstruation, 279 The whites, 284 Diseases of married life, 286 Diseases of childbirth, 295 Hints on weaning, 301 Barrenness, 303 MiSCBLLAXEOUS, 305 ILLUSTEATIONS. ^ • > » » PAOB Ornamental heading, 9 Skunk cabbage, 52 Catnip, 57 Spearmint, 66 Tansy, 71 Poke, skoke, garget, or coakum, 78 Bnake root, 84 Saffron, 91 Hoarhound, 106 Elecampane, 115 <5eneca snake-root, 116 Burdock 120 Indian Turnip, 127 Pennyroyal, 137 Bayberry, or Wax myrtle, 144 Wild carrot, 145 Blood, or Puccoon root, 153 Dandelion, 155 Lobelia, or Indian tobacco 169 Boneset, or Thoroughwort, 178 WUd Indigo, 184 Golden seal, 213 Solomon's seal 229 Mandrake 241 Plantain, 274 Comfrey, 285 (8) We need not spend many ^P^mj/jW/" words, friendly reader, in introducing our subject. As you have kindly solicited our counsel, we will meet you with a sympathizing spirit, and in kind language. We have about us neither mystery nor concealment; but are desirous only to understand your sufferings, and in the most simple and direct manner to minister the best remedies. We have no special object to pursue beyond what we avow; we have no par- ticular system to advance; and we have no wish to make (9) 10 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. our volume an advertisement of any nostrums of our cwn. Our plan is with all honesty, simplicity, and common sense, to guard our friends against what is prejudicial to healthy and then to tell them what to do when disease visits them. "We have realized much affliction, and know how to feel for those who suffer in like manner. And we earnestly request that the moment you think w^e do not understand your case, and feel that we do not render you the service you need, you will at once call in the living physician in whom you place most confidence. Our desire is to keep disease out of the world ; but if it really succeeds in coming in, as soon as possible to drive it away. "We hold that every man should desire to present before God and man a sound mind in a sound body. We are sure that without health we can neither enjoy happiness nor discharge the duties which devolve upon us; and we know also that, if we would enjoy a healthy old age, we must exercise the care and prudence of the old while we are yet young. We are ambitious to benefit our fellow- men, believing as we do, with the world-renowned John Wesley, that ** the best physician is not he who talks best, or who writes best, but who performs the most cures." We believe that the conditions of ^er/ed -health, either public or personal, are seldom or never attained, though attainable; that the average length of human life may be very much extended^ and its physical power greatly augmented ; that INTRODUCTORY WORDS. 11 in every year thousands of lives are lost which might have been saved ; that tens of thousands of cases of sickness occur which might have been prevented; that a vast amount of unnecessarily impaired health and physical debility exists among those not actually confined by sickness; that these preventable evils require an enormous expenditure and loss of money, and impose upon the people unmimbered SLud immeasurahle calamities, pecuniary, social, physical, mental, and moral, which might be avoided ; that means exist, within our reach, for their miti- gation or removal ; and that measures for prevention will effect infinitely more than remedies for the cure of disease. " A man," says ' HalVs Journal of Health,^ "may diet as well as physic himself to death. Some time since a young man called to see me, thin, ^;afe, despondent, and with a great variety of symptoms. On inquiry, I found he had been reading about diet, vegetable food, and other similar sub- jects, and concluding that many persons owed their ill- health to over-eating, he would eat very little of any thing, discarded meat of all kinds, and considered tea and coffee as decidedly poisonous in their ultimate effects. By this means, provisions being high, he concluded he would save money and health too. He had, for some time, been living on bread and potatoes, a small daily allowance, with as much cold water as he could possibli/ swallow, the object of 12 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. that being to keep himself washed out clean No ■wonder that such a man was an invalid — mind and body full of symptoms." Dieting is not starvation. It is living on substantial, nourishing food, in amount sufficient to satisfy the wants of the system. A man is in little dan- ger of eating too much, if he confine himself to two or three plain articles of diet at any one meal ; this is a secret which every man and woman in the land ought to know. Living exclusively on cold food will soon engender disease, especially in cold weather. And as certainly will a scanty diet do the same if persevered in. Men also talk about ^hardening the consiitutioTi,'' and with that view, expose themselves to sitmmer^s sun and winter's wind, to strains and over efforts, and many unneces- sary hardships. To the same end, ill informed mothers dip their little infants in cold water day by day; their skin, and flesh, and bodies, as steadily growing rougher, and thinner, and weaker, until slow fever, water on the brain, or consumption of the bowels, carries them to the grave; and then they administer to themselves the semi- comfort and rather questionable consolation, of its being a mysterious dispensation of Providence, when in fact the fault is their own. Providence works no miracle to counteract human follies. The best way we know of hardening the constitution^ is to take good care of it; for it is no more improved by INTRODUCTORY WORDS. 13 harsh treatment than a fine garment or a new hat is made better bj being banged about. The old people used to tell us that the best physicians were Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merryman, and no man can dispute that cheerfulness wonderfully contributes to health. " Laugh and grow fat,'' is a sound philosophical adage. Sterne tells us that every time a man laughs he adds something to his life. And Solomon, under the guidance of inspiration itself, says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." An eccentric philosopher of the List century used to say that heliked not only to laugh him- self, but to see laughter and hear laughter. Laughter is good for health ; it is a provocative to the appetite, and a friend to digestion. Dr. Sydenham said a merry-maker in town was more beneficial to the health of the inhabit- ants than twenty asses loaded with medicine. Even a grave and learned physician has before now been disposed to minister to the cheerfulness of his patient. The re- nowned Dr. Jenner, who first discovered vaccination, once sent the following epigram, with a couple of ducks, to a patient — *' I've dispatched, my dear Madam, this scrap of a letter, To say that Miss B is very much better; A regular doctor no loDger she lacks, And therefore I've sent her a couple of quacks." Early risiiig is a subject which has occupied thousands 2 14 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. of pens, and to omit a reference to -wliicb in a volume on health and sickness would be almost unpardonable. It is true the climate of some parts of the south and west of our country does not present very powerful arguments in favor of early exercise in the open air; but happily, time and cultivation are every year making even those far more healthy, while all the densely populated parts of the United States encourage the industry of early day. But we regret to say that even there early rising has generally been extolled in vain, for most people think that an ad- ditional hour's sleep is very comfortable, and can make but very little difference after all. Let such persons re- member that the difference between rising at six and rising at eighty in the course of forty years, supposing a person to go to bed at the same time he otherwise would, amounts to 29,000 hours, or three years, one hundred and twenty-one days and fifteen hours ; which will afford eight hours a day for exactly ten years ; which is in fact the same as if ten years were added to the period of our lives, in which we might command eight hours every day for the cultivation of our minds and the dispatch of business. Those who remember that our country and the world, are now calling on our young men both to acquire and impart knowledge, will see the propriety of our saying that to the student early rising is of special importance ; for while the physician teaches that one hour's sleep before INTRODUCTORY WORDS. 15 midnight is worth two after, so the scholar will testify that in most parts of our country an hour's exercise and &tudy in the morning is worth two at night. Many of the hest books now in use have been written by busy men who have given two of their earliest hours every day to their production. All such men who value their health, will gratefully accept the advice of the eminent Prof'^ssor Whitaker, of Cambridge, England, in the days of J^mes the First, to John Boyse, one of the translators of tl ^ English Bible. 1. Study chiefly standing or walking. 2. Never study at a window. 3. Never go to bed with cold feet. YTe are anxious to say a few words more on the second of these rules. As you value your health, your eye- sight, or your usefulness to society, we entreat you never to use a writing-desk or table with your face toward a wandow. In such case, the rays of light come directly upon the pupil of the eyes, and, causing an unnatural and forced contraction thereof, soon permanently injure the sight. Next, when your table or desk is near a win- dow, sit so that your face turns from, not toward, the window while you are writing. If your face is toward the window, the oblique rays strike the eye and injure it nearly as much as the direct rays when you sit in front of the window. It is best always to sit or stand while reading or writing with the window behind you; and 16 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. next to that with the light coming over your left side ; then the light illumines the paper or book, and does not shine abruptly upon the eye-ball. The same remarks are applicable to artificial light. "We are often asked what is the best light — gas, candles, oil, or camphene? Our answer is, it is immaterial which, provided the light of either be strong enough and does not flicker. A gas fish-tail burner should never be used for reading or writing, because there is a constant oscillation or flickering of the flame. Candles, unless they have self-consuming wicks, which do not require snuffing, should not be used. We need scarcely say that oil wicks, which crust over and thus diminish the light, are good for nothing ; and the same is true of compounds of the nature of camphene, unless the wicks are properly di- vested of all their gummy deposit after standing twenty- four hours. But, whatever the artificial light used, let it strike the paper or book which you are using, whenever you can, from over the left shoulder. This can always be done with gas, for that light is strong enough, and so is the light from camphene, oil, etc., provided it comes through a circular burner like the argand. But the light, what- ever it be, should always be protected from the air in the room by a glass chimney, so that the light may be steady. INTRODUCTORY "WORDS. 17 Scarcely less necessary is it, to impress on the minds of all, especially of the studious, the vast importance of exercise, especially that taken in the open air. "We know the difficulty of leaving the interesting volume or the fascinating sheet which invites us to place on it our best thoughts, to walk two or three miles without, as it appears at the moment, an object worthy of our pursuit. We knew, some forty years ago, an inveterate student, who suffered extremely from dyspepsia and from obesity on this very account, and at length convinced himself as to the duty of every day walking out three miles to drive a nail into a particular post, and then return to his studies. He did this for many years, as is attested by thousands of nails yet remaining in the post, which is now often visited as a curiosity. "We have before us an extract of a humorous letter, written by a friend to a man who neglected such exercise: — "No wonder you grow fat: it is often the case with lazy people. Do something — if it is nothing more than rolling snow — and you will feel happier and breathe more freely. Now — so horrid fat — what on earth are you good for ? You have filled the stage and the pew, and taken up the room of some three or four. Just work a little — exert yourself — and you will soon cease to be one • Of those hale, hearty fellows,' who, — ' Too lazy to respire themselves, Breathe through a pair of bellows !' " 2* B 18 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. To say all in a word, no remedy known to men hag such a powerful and permanent influence in maintaining or regaining health as the judicious employment of cheer- ful exercise in the open air ; and, if properly attended to in a timely manner, it will cure a large majority of cura- ble diseases, and will sometimes succeed when medicines have lost their power. Too much caution cannot be employed as to the drinks we use, as at least ninety-five per cent, of every thing stronger than tea or coffee are decidedly injurious. From all quarters where correct information is possessed, we learn the extreme difficulty of obtaining pure spirits, and are disposed to think that even stimulants are best in the form of medicine. Some very important facts have recently been presented to the public by Dr. Hiram Cox, chemical inspector of alcoholic liquors in Cincinnati. He says, that during two years, he has made two hundred and forty-nine inspections of various kinds of liquors, and has found more than nine-tenths of them imitations, and a great portion of them poisonous concoctions. Of brandy, he does not believe there is one gallon of pure in a hundred gallons, the imitations having corn whisky for a basis, and various poisonous acids for the condi- ments. Of wines, not a gallon in a thousand, purporting to be sherry, port or sweet Malaga, is pure, but they are made of water, sulphuric acid, alum, Guinea pepper, INTRODUCTORY WORDS. 19 horse-radish, and many of them without a single drop of alcoholic spirit. Dr. Cox warrants there are not ten gallons of genuine port wine in Cincinnati. In his in- spections of whisky, he has found only from seventeen to twenty per cent, of alcoholic spirit, when it should have from forty-five to fifty ; and some of it contains sulphuric acid enough in a quart to eat a hole through a man's stomach. As whisky is now the favorite beverage, these facts are worth consideration. An ingenious author asserts that the length of a man's life may be estimated by the number of pulsations he has strength to perform. Thus, allowing seventy years for the common age of man, and sixty in a minute for the common measure of pulses, in a temperate person, the number of pulsations in his whole life would amount to 2,207,520,000 ; but, if by intemperance, he forces his blood into a more rapid motion, so as to give seventy- five pulses in a minute, the same number of pulses would be completed in fifty-six years, consequently his life would be reduced by fourteen years. In every civilized country, and in every age, lathing has been regarded as a fountain of life. The author of " The Modern Syrians^^'' when speaking of that country, tells us: "Once on a time, a French doctor came to Da- mascus to seek his fortune. When he saw the luxurious vegetation, he said, 'This is the place for me — plenty 20 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. of fever,' And then, on seeing the abundance of water, he said, 'More fever — no place like Damascus.' "When he entered the town, he asked the people, 'What is this building?' 'A bath.' 'And what is that building ?' 'A bath.' 'And that other building ?' 'A bath.' 'Plague on these baths, they take the bread out of my mouth/ said the doctor ; ' I must seek fever-practice elsewhere.' So he turned his back, went out of the gate again, and hasted elsewhere." Many physicians very strenuously contend, that at all times and under all circumstances, a bath entirely cold is to be preferred ; and certainly, some of the most healthy people we know, have long been in the habit of using the cold bath, both in summer and in winter, twice a day — that is, morning and night. We are acquainted with a somewhat aged physician, who, a few years since, looked prematurely old, and was tormented almost to death with rheumatism ; he took, several years since, to cold bathing, and now looks hale and hearty, and assures us that he never feels even a twitch of the old enemy. In the case of many aged persons, and some others, the teind bath, that is, one neither hot nor cold, but which the patient feels is just about the heat of his blood, is to be preferred. After excessive labor, a fa- tiguing journey, or exposure to the sun ; or indeed, after excitement of any kind, we know of no greater luxury, or any thing more decidedly contributing to health, than INTRODUCTORY WORDS. 21 the tepid bath. It cools the whole animal system ; and we are persuaded that if it were used to the extent it ought to be, we should have fewer fevers than are now preva- lent. In cases of hysterics, paralysis and insanity, and eruptions and sores, the value of the warm bath is beyond all estimate. The beautiful skins of the French ladies, very generally arise from their constancy of this prac- tice. The warm bath should be used two or three times a week for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time, always, however, before meals, and not after them. A little sulphur may sometimes, in cases of eruptions, be taken with advantage, in connection with the bath. Hot baths are of three kinds: — 1. The general-hot bath, in which the body of the pa- tient is immersed as high as the chin. 2. The hot salt-water hath, is used in the same manner. 3. The partial hot-ivater hath, or foot-bath, in which the feet and legs only are immersed. While a patient is being bathed in a hot-bath, no draught of air should be permitted to blow; and a fire should be lighted, especially in winter, or in variable weather ; the nurse should also have in readiness, a warm flannel and sheet, and a large kettle full of hot water. The water of the various hot-baths should be heated to 100° or 105° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, or should be as warm as can be conveniently borne by the nurse's hand. 22 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. In making use of hot baths, take care to leave sufS- cient room in the vessel for the continual addition of hot water, which must be cautiously poured in from the ket- tle, so as to maintain as nearly as possible the same de- gree of heat during the whole time. The hot-hath frequently operates like a soothing charm, particularly in the diseases of children dependent on irritation of the bowels. Often whilst immersed in the water the child will cease to moan, and gently over- powered by the delicious sleep succeeding pain, smile as it slumbers on its mother's arm. The hot-bath, however, is not always advisable, even when recommended by learned authorities; when there exists great determina- tion of blood to the head, with a disposition to fits, the foot-bath is to be preferred ; neither should the use of the hot-bath be persevered in when it causes excessive agi- tation. Any large vessel, such as a washing-tub, that will con- tain a sufficient quantity of water to cover every part of the body excepting the head, will serve the purpose of a bath. The patient should be immersed as high as the chin, and be kept in ten or fifteen minutes by the clock, not by calculation. When taken out, the patient should be immediately wrapped up in the warm sheet, and wiped rapidly, for it is of more importance to dry quickly than completely. The patient should then be wrapped up in the warm flannel, and be put to bed, the quantity INTRODUCTORY WORDS. 23 of the coverings being gradually diminished as the pa- tient becomes hot, restless, and uncomfortable. Sometimes, it is extremely difficult to allay the agita- tion which children show in coming in contact with water, but patience, guided by good sense, will usually suc- ceed. It may be advisable in such cases at first only to immerse the legs, allowing the hot water gradually to cover the body, as the child becomes familiarised to it. A playful cheerful manner, on the part of the mother or nurse, will often prevail when all other methods fail. The hot salt-water hath^ is often highly serviceable in exciting a healthful and uniform warmth of the skin. In many dangerous bowel diseases, in rickets, and in dis- eases attended by extreme emaciation, the skin of the whole body, but more particularly of the feet and legs, becomes cold almost as marble; but if warmth can be re stored, the patient will frequently recover. One or two pounds of salt may be mixed with each gallon of water, the patient being immersed as high as the chin. Being generally much debilitated, they should not remain in the water longer than four or five min- utes by the clock, and must then be treated as after making use of the ordinary hot-bath. The foot-hath is useful in a variety of cases, especially when the legs are cold, the head hot, and the patient dis- posed to convulsions ; a common pail will hold a suffi- cient quantity of water. The legs should be immersed 24 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. nearly as high as the knees, room being left for the continual addition of hot water. Should the feet continue cold after the use of the foot bath, it may be proper to repeat it, adding to the hot water a quantity of salt, as in preparing the hot salt- water bath. Should the feet still continue cold, add also some flour of mustard, in the proportion of two or three tablespoonsful to a gallon, in order to render the hot water more permanently stimulating. "We regard Tobacco as one of the greatest enemies of the human family, and indeed of all life; hence no animal but man will touch it. Dr. Dixon very properly maintains that the use of tobacco, in any shape, is pro- ductive of the most fearful physical results. He at- tributes, in fact, most of the distressing maladies we are subject to, as well as the gaunt, sallow countenances of too many Americans, to the nicotin, or oil of tobacco, infused into the system by the general habit of smoking or chewing. "Nicotin," remarks this able physician, "was the awful agent chosen by Bocarme for poisoning his brother-in-law, because it killed and left no sign whereby to convict him." He adds, that "five drops of the oil of tobacco will kill a large dog." "We may add here that a distinguished college of phy- sicians, have decided that not less than twenty thousand persons die annually, in the United States, from the use of tliii prison, which is almost infinitely more injurious to INTROLUCTORY WORDS. 25 those who use it thaQ the most pernicious alcohol. A German periodical tells us that half the young men who die from twenty to twenty-five years of age, are destroyed by the use of tobacco. We are equally opposed to the use of Snuff. Scholars, orators, and soldiers have pursued this habit of snuff-taking till their brains have become seri- ously diseased, their strength has declined, and they have sunk prematurely into the grave. A gentleman once asked the celebrated Abernethy if he thought the moderate use of snuflf would injure the brain ? " No, sir," was Abernethy's prompt reply, " for no man with a single ounce of brains would ever think of taking snuflf I" The eminent Dr. Eush says, in his manuscript lectures, " I once attended a gentleman who had been for some- time troubled with pains in his stomach, accompanied with loss of appetite and considerable emaciation. Ob- serving that he frequently practiced the taking of snuff, to which I attributed his complaints, I advised him to suspend the use of it. This he accordingly did, and soon began to mend very fast. I was informed by him a few weeks after, that he had gained thirty pounds in flesh, and was at that period in the enjoyment of perfect health." We will close this section by condensing into a few sentences the result of much thought : — 3 26 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. A healthy stock makes a strong and healthy race; as you could not select your parents, get health yourself, that you may give it to those who follow you. Good morals preserve good health. Divellings on high ground in a dry situation and away from the town, are more healthful than those on low ground in damp situations and in close streets. Good ventilation and good drainage are of the first importance to health. Prevent had smells^ which are unpleasant and dangerous to life. Temperature from 60° to Q&^ is most healthful. Exercise is necessary to the health, both of body and mind, and both should be actively employed; if your business confines you to the house, endeavor to obtain exercise in the open air, either before your labors begin or when they have ended; gardening combines profit with exercise ; cricket and manly games exhilarate and strengthen the mind as well as the body. Air is to the lungs what food is to the body ; therefore, breathe all the fresh air you can. Rise early and retire early to rest ; let your bed-room be as clean as possible, and free from boxes, curtains, and furniture. It is m.ost healthful to imitate the birds, they roost above the reach of the vapors of the ground. Wash well; let your first waking act be to wash your INTRODUCTORY WORDS. 27 body, teeth, face, hands, and feet ; use plenty of soap, rub it on your skin with your hands or a piece of flan- nel, then rinse it off well with fresh water, and dry the skin well with a clean cloth ; if your occupations are dusty or dirty, wash before you sleep. Be regular with your meals, and eat them slowly ; three meals are enough for any one — breakfast, dinner and supper ; the tea, as a separate meal, is bad : tea and supper should be one. I^at and drink moderately ; to be light and bright at your work, carry a light load. Take nothing between meals ; if you are thirsty, drink water. Ardent spirits are wholly unnecessary ; the Indians call them fire-water, for they burn up the vital organs. Clothing should be clean and sweet ; woolen in winter cotton in summer. To keep your head cool and your feet warm, is a wise maxim. The chest should not be exposed to damp and cold, for in it are the lungs and the heart. For the same reason the chest should have free play, and the clothes should be hung from the shoulders and not from the waist. Pressure round the waist of any kind is hurtful and dangerous to life ; this custom is as injurious to women as tobacco is to men. Laugh and grow fat is a good adage ; cheerfulness begets health, and health begets cheerfulness ; and both, thankfulness for God's mercies. 28 INTRODUCTORY WORDS. To he arigry is to he contemptihU ; it destroys self-re- spect and digestion. Occupaiions that compel close confinement, stooping, leaning, etc., and those that injure the breathing, or ex- pose to unhealthy influences, must be counteracted by a strict observance of the rules of health. A quaint old song says : — Ye -who would save your features florid, Lithe limbs, bright eyes, unwrinkled forehead, From Age's devastation horrid. Adopt this plan ; 'Twill make, in climate cold or torrid, A hale old man. Avoid in youth luxurious diet. Restrain the passion's lawless riot, Devoted to domestic quiet, Be wisely gay ; So shall ye, spite old Age's fiat. Resist decay. Seek not, in Mammon's worship, pleasure- But find your richest, purest treasure, In books, friends, music, polished leisure— The mind, not cents. Make the sole scale by which to measure Opulence. This is the solace, this the science, Life's purest, sweetest, best appliance, That disappoints not man's reliance, Whate'er his state — But challenges, with calm defiance, Time, fortune, fate. THE SICK ROOM. HIS should be in the upper part of the house — diseases proving more fatal in the lower or lowest apartments, as in parlors, kitch- ens or cellars. It should be contin- ually and thoroughly ventilated by day and by night : the window or door should be frequently left open, the patient being screened from immediate contact with the draught : the fewer persons in the room the better ; one more than the necessary attendant is one too many ; the air of the apartment being rendered injurious by those who breathe it. Many diseases, especially those which are preceded by languor, lassitude, and drowsiness, are produced by a foul atmosphere, and by the effluvia from drains and eewers : the recovery of the patient will often entirely depend upon a removal to a pure air. The utmost possible cleanliness should be observed, and the room be entirely freed from unpleasant smells. A few drops of the oil of sandal-wood, which, though not in general use, may be easily obtained, when dropped on a hot shovel, will diffuse a most agreeable balsamic 3* (29) 30 THE SICK ROOM. perfume througbout the atmosphere ; or, a small piece of resin dipped in hot water, will add a peculiar prop- erty to the room, which will give relief to persons trou- bled with a cough. The heat of the water is sufficient to throw off the aroma of the resin, and give the same relief as is afforded by its combustion. It is prefera- ble to the combustion, because the evaporation is more durable. The same resin may be used for weeks. The temperature of the room should be as uniform as possible ; and as a general rule, we may say, that about sixty degrees of Fahrenheit will be found most agreeable to the feelings, as well as most favorable to the return of health. So far as the patient can comfortably bear it, it should also be light. A multitude of facts testify to its import- ance. Sir Andrew Wylie, who was for a long time at the head of the medical staff in the Eussian army, stated that the cases of disease on the dark side of an extensive barrack at St. Petersburg, have been uniformly, for many years, in the proportion of three to one of those on the side exposed to strong light. In one of the London Hospitals with a long range of frontage looking nearly due north and south, it has been observed that the pa- tients more rapidly recover on the sunny than on the shady side of the building. Scrofula is well known to THE SICK ROOM. 31 be more prevalent in dark and narrow streets, than in those which are broad and well ventilated. Any tax upon daylight, therefore, as Dr. Carpenter has well ob- served, is a direct tax upon Public Health and National Prosperity. Of course, light is injurious in cases of vio- lent fever. Nor is it less important that, as far as may be, every thing about the room should wear a cheerful aspect. It is a characteristic of music-loving Bohemia, that in a Lunatic Asylum of its capital, music should be considered one of the chief instruments for improvement of the patients. In addition to the garden concerts, in which all assist who can, there are quartets every even- ing in the wards, and a director is appointed, for the express purpose of superintending this part of the arrangements. In sleeping, that posture should be chosen which is promotive of deep and full inspirations, because nature renders the latter deeper when we are asleep than awake, except in action. Hence a high head, by cramping both the windpipe and the blood-vessels, is bad. The head should rest on a line with the body As you value your own health, never place yourself between the patient and the fire, for there is always a current in that direction from all parts of the room; hence the effluvia from the sick man passes by, and is breathed by you. 82 THE STCK EOOM. Never swallow your saliva, nor eat or drink any thing in a sick room. Do not go where the sick are while in a perspiration, nor under any circumstances of exhaustion. But above all things, it is most important, that your conduct while visiting the sick should be wise and pru- dent. We are aware that this subject is one of great delicacy, but it is one on which some plain hints are called for. "We have had much opportunity for obser- vation, and been painfully taught by experience. A sick room is no place for curiosity. Curiosity in a sick and dying chamber 1 Yes, reader, you have perhaps gazed upon an emaciated and suffering fellow-being, and used up a portion of the vital air needed by a gaspir.g mortal, when nothing but curiosity led you to that scene of suffering. If no good word is to be said, or kind service to be rendered in a sick and dying room, it is the last place to which one should go as a mere spectator. Every new face, the tread of every uncalled-for foot, the demands upon the air for breath, the breathing of such as must be in attendance, is an injury in sickness, and especially when debility is great. And yet the pro- testations of physicians, and the anxiety of family rela- tives, cannot control this evil or cure it. Nine persons out of ten feel as if it were an act of rude neglect, if they are not invited into a sick room, and a direct insult if told that they must not go. We have seen persons THE STCK ROOM. B3 go into such a room, and sit hour after hour, with their eyes fixed on the sick person, occasionally whispering to some equally indiscreet one that may chance to be nigh. This is intolerahle. We cannot endure the fixed gaze of half a dozen persons when well^ and what must it be to one sinking and dying I Others will hang about the door and peep at the sufferer, as they would steal a look at some show. We have seen this so much, that we can scarcely write and possess our souls in patience. Another practice where the patient is very sick, is that of feeling the pulse, looking at the finger nails, examining the feet, with sundry other acts, all of which are accompanied with a very wise look, a sigh and a whisper. These things are done by persons who very poorly understand their own tests of approaching death, and alike mistake the good and comfort of the dying. Think not that we would have the fact of approaching death kept from any friend or any fellow being; far from this — but let the matter be kindly, wisely and dis- tinctly stated to the patient, and not by such untimely, and, we may say, unkind hints and insinuations. It should never be forgotten, that in almost every case the patient is perfectly aware of all which is going on in the room, whether it may appear so to spectators or not. It is unwise to repress the expression of strong feel- ings on the part of the patient. A lengthy dissertation has lately been published by a physician of France, on 34 THE SICK ROOM. the beneficial influences of groaning and crying, on the nervous system. He contends that these are the two grand operations by which Nature allays anguish — that he has uniformly observed that those patients who give way to their natural feelings, more speedily recover from accidents and operations, than those who supposed it unworthy a man to betray such symptoms of coward- ice as either to groan or cry. He is always pleased with the crying and violent roaring of a patient during the time he is undergoing a severe surgical operation, be- cause he is satisfied that he will thereby soothe his ner- vous system so as to prevent fever, and insure a favora- ble termination. He relates the case of a man, who, by crying and bawling, reduced his pulse from one hundred and twenty -six to sixty, in the course of two hours. That some patients often have great satisfaction in groan- ing, and that hysterical patients experience great relief from crying, are facts which no person will deny. As to restless and hypochondriacal subjects, or those who are never happy but when they are under some course of medical or dietetic treatment, the French surgeon as- sures them that they can not do better than groan all day and cry all night. It is also sometimes useful to bring bfore the patient a pleasant reminiscence of the past. When the late Dr. Eush was a young man, he escorted a lady, on a holiday, to see an eagle's nest. Many years afterward he was THE SICK ROOM. 85 called to attend her in the acute stage of typhus ; and, on his entrance into her chamber, she instantly screamed out, " Eagle's nest 1" and it is said from that moment the fever began to decline. The importance of the subject will justify a few re- marks on Cookery for the sick. Much here depends on the taste, the previous habits, and indeed prejudices of the patient, and it is always pru- dent, except in extreme cases, to make no unnecessary de- parture from the patient's usual diet. Extremes should be avoided both in the use of animal food and of vegetables. A judicious blending of the two we judge to be far the better plan. Yery much depends on cooking. All food taken by the sick should be light, easy of digestion, and never taken in large quantities. We have long been of opin- ion that for the sick room Indian corn, in all its variety of cooking, is an unspeakable blessing. We will here throw together a few references to food and its cookery, which may at least furnish hints to good nurses ; who, however, know that a choice morsel of food unexpectedly placed before the patient is often the most acceptable and useful. Cut some codfish to bits the size of peas, and boil it a minute in water to freshen it. Pour off all the water, and add some cream and a little pepper. Split and toast a Boston cracker, and put tlie above 86 THE SICK ROOM. upon it. Milk and a little butter may be used instead of cream. Ham or smoked, beef maybe prepared in tlie same way. For a variety, beat up an egg and stir it in, in- stead of cream, or with the cream. Chicken tea is made by boiling any part of the chicken, and using the broth weak with only a little salt. Chicken broth is made by boiling the chicken a good deal, and skimming very thoroughly and seasoning with salt. A little rice or pearl barley improves it, or a little parsley may be used to flavor it. Chicken Panada is made by pounding some of the meat of boiled chicken in a mortar with a little broth and also a little salt and nutmeg. Then pour in a little more broth and boil it five minutes. It should be a thick broth. Calf 's -feet jelly is of great value in cases of sickness or convalescence, while its preparation is very easy. "Well clean two calf's-feet, boil them in a gallon of water till it is reduced to a quart. When cold, skim off all the fat. and carefully take up all the jelly quite clean, put it into a saucepan with half a pound of loaf sugar, a pint of sherry wine, and the juice of four lemons. Then take the whites of six eggs, well beaten up, and hav- ing stirred all up well, let it boil for a few minutes, Pour the whole into a large flannel bag, and having put THE SICK ROOM. 37 some thin lemon peel put into a large basin, drain the whole off, and when cold it is fit for use. The lemon peel greatly improves both the color and flavor. Another jelly may be made from Tapioca, or from Sago ; slowly boiled, and mixed with a little sherry or raisin wine, lemon juice and sugar to suit the taste of the patient. It is, we presume, entirely unnecessary to say a word on the advantages of water-gruel, caudle, mutton-broth, or beef-tea, or of the manner in which they ought to be prepared, as every good housekeeper may be supposed fully to understand these matters. These preparations might be extended to an indefinite length, but we have purposely refrained from this task. While it is sometimes necessary to tempt or stimulate the appetite, it is often quite as important to allow the sick to follow the dictates of Nature, and when they desire it, to abstain both from food and drink. Especially is this true in all cases of fever, where, except in danger of positive exhaustion, the less taken the better. A careful and experienced nurse, or a judicious physician, should always be consulted in cases where diet becomes a very serious question. A fact here may give a useful hint. In the city of Constantinople once lived a physician of great renown ; he was neither a professor of homoeo- pathy nor of animal magnetism, yet the cures he effected were considered as little less than miraculous ; multitudes •i 33 THE SICK ROOM. had been wonderfully relieved or restored by his almost superhuman skill, yet all he administered to each patient were three or four drops of a tasteless liquid, and the advice he gave was the same in all instances. The fame of his marvelous doings penetrated even to the ears of the Sultan ; he was summoned to the sublime presence, and commanded to divulge the secret nature of the wonder-working drops. " Light of the Universe," said the trembling doctor, " if once the nature of these drops is known, their efficacy is lost." " Slave," replied the Sultan, winking his sublime eye at a big black fellow called a eunuch, " no hesitation ! out with the secret, or prepare for the bowstring." "Three drops of water 1 three drops of water!" cried the doctor ; " nothing else, by the beard of the Prophet; my wonderful cures have all been effected by diet." The drinks of the patient in the sick-room, are of great importance, especially in cases of fever. A whey may be made, which will be found very useful in low fevers, of an ounce or an ounce and half of mustard, boiled in a pint of milk, and as much water till the curd be entirely separated. It should be strained through a cloth, and a tea-cupful sweetened with sugar given three or four times a day. In diabetes and uterine hemorrhasre. boil two drachms O I of powdered alum in a pint of milk till it is curdled, and THE SICK ROOM. 39 fheu strain out the whey. Give a wine-glassful, or what the stomach will bear, two or three times a day. In cases of fever, boil two quarts of water with two ounces each of tamarinds, currants, and raisins, till the whole be reduced to three pints. Strain it on a piece of lemon peel, which should be removed before it makes the drink bitter. Scalded currants, cranberries, or sliced or roasted ap- ples, or a few slices of lemon with boiling water, slightly sweetened with sugar, make pleasant and refreshing drinks. As lovers of simple remedies, we are fond o? poultices^ but to accomplish their purpose they should be carefully made, and we can find no better place than this in which to give a few directions on their preparation. In a bread and water poultice it is important to re- member, that little good can be effected by a slice of bread sopped in hot- water by a nursery sloven, and put like a pancake on the part. Such a poultice should be made of crumbs of stale bread, put into a basin and boil- ing water poured upon them; the whole must then be covered with a plate till the heat has subsided to a com- fortable warmth ; then lightly drain off the water, and apply the poultice quite wet to the part affected. A poultice is intended to answer the purpose of a continual fomentation, and must of course be renewed 40 THE SICK ROOM. immediately it becomes dry. In endeavoring to sootlie the irritation of highly inflamed parts, it is necessary to apply one four or five times a day; in every instance, where a poultice can be of any service, it should be re- newed two or three times a day ; and over its surface, when put on for the night, may be spread a little lard or sweet oil, to preserve its moisture. Linseed-meal poultices must also be applied quite moist to the part. These, as generally made, more fre- quently irritate than soothe, and can have no other effect than what would be produced by a piece of dry leather. A linseed-meal poultice often proves more eflQcacious than bread and water in removing incrustation from the head. As an instance of the usefulness of poultices, we may mention that of a poor woman who hdd received a very dangerous wound in the tendons of her thumb from a rusty nail, which threatened lockjaw. Her physician advised her to apply a large poultice, covering her whole hand, and arm, made of linseed with an ounce of lau- danum spread over it, which he ordered to be renewed twice a day. In three weeks she was entirely cured. A good yeast poultice may be made of a little ale or beer, in which should be boiled as much oatmeal as will make it quite thick, and on this poultice should be spread one or two spoonsful of yeast. Eye-meal poultice is made exactly like mush, except THE SICK ROOM. 41 that extreme care must be taken to make it quite smooth. Charcoal poultice is made in the same way as the one .we have just described, with the addition of two table- spoonsful of finely powdered fresh-made charcoal. Carrot poultice is often found useful in ulcers, swellings, and scrofulous sores. It is made simply of bruised car- rots, with a little flour and butter, and as much hot- water as will make it into a pulp. Dr. Bone, of New Jersey, strongly recommends, in cases of inflammation or ulcers, a poultice made of the powder of black willow bark, often called pussy willow, and common cream. It has been found very useful. 4* THE DISEASEIo OF CHILDEEN. ilROM the moment of birth to that of death we are liable to disease, and indeed are never free from it. ^ And yet with how much unconcern is this fact regarded. We cannot doubt the love of American mothers to their children, but we seriously deprecate the manner in which that love some- times shows itself; and believe there would be far less in- fantile disease and death, if such were properly trained as to their first duties to their offspring. Take, for instance, the recent testimony of a physician as to the improper withholding of air from a ^hild, ai-d be it remembered, the picture may be multiplied to almost any extent. Our friend remarks, " CJiildren have lungs P'' This fact is either not known to the parents, or very little regarded. The first thing a baby wants is fresh air, and plenty of it. From the moment a child is born, it should have air and light ; and neither be shut up in a dark room nor have its head covered up in a blanket. The other morning, making my first call on a lady (42) DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 43 with an infant, I saw a heap of blankets lying in a rock- ing-chair beside the bed, but there was no baby in sight. When I inquired for the newly-arrived, the nurse came, and after taking off fold after fold, there at last was the poor little half- smothered babe, gasping for breath. Mother and nurse got a lecture that time. Eeturning in an omnibus, a pretty woman got in, with her baby completely enveloped in its blankets. Per- haps it was none of my business ; but I think it was. The baby had as good a right to breathe and have the purest air to be had, as anybody ; and as there was no- body else to take its part, I did. "Madam," said I, "you are smothering that child." She smiled and shook her head. She did not believe a word of it. " You are making it breathe its own breath over and over again ; and no air is fit to breathe but once. I am a physician, and can't let you make your child sick." She uncovered the baby's head. It took a long breath — and if it had been old enough to talk, and been up in its manners, it undoubtedly would have said, "Thank you, Doctor!" In many cases of incipient disease of the brain, fatally advancing in the atmosphere of cities, the sea air will often act as a saving charm, and prove itself the breath of life. Little, however, will avail the purest breeze of heaven in invigorating the enfeebled infant, unless it 44 DISEASES OP CHILDREN. enjoy full freedom of respiration. The temporal salva- tion of a sickly child may be entirely dependent upon an increasing expansion of the lungs. That expansion is often completely prevented by the hateful bandages which are laced round the contracted chest in compli- ance .with a barbarous fashion. The feeble infant that pines away in dark, damp cham- bers, inhaling the foul effluvia from drains and sewers, may be compared with the faded and blighted plant that shares its confinement. Look on the sickly geranium that is secluded from the sunshine and the air ; how soon it ceases to put forth its crimson blossoms, and bows its head, and like a dejected being prepares to die. The earth may be loosened, and watered, and manured ; the "sear and yellow leaf," or withered branch, may be daily plucked away, but all in vain ; vain are the doc- toring and nursing of the fondest admirer ; the slow decay creeps on from leaf to leaf, from branch to branch ; the stem itself assumes the fatal hue. But even then, when life is at its lowest ebb, transport it from the murky town to open plains; let it enjoy the unpolluted air and light of heaven, and the progress of dissolution is at once arrested ; leaf after leaf display's its lively green ; the little bud peeps forth, slowly and timidly blushing into day ; another and another quickly succeeds, till all the blooming tribe start into life and revel in the sun. Air and sun will effect as wonderful a change in the state DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 45 of the infant as in that of the declining plant : when life is almost extinct and hope extinguished, transfer it from its sepulchral chambers to air and light, and at once the vital spark may revive. It scarcely need be said that the health of children is best promoted by exercise and reasonable abstinence ; strong children must have strong exercise, or suffer from disease. Let their diet be carefully regulated, and sometimes restricted ; animal food must be sparingly administered, and beer, wine and s{)irits be prohibited as dangerous poisons. Let them enjoy every opportu- nity of active exercise in the open air — in the air of the country if possible. A physician of this country, in paying a visit to Eng- land, discovered what many have known before him, that we have much to learn on the proper treatment of our children. Speaking of that land, he says, " Pretty children are seen in abundance everywhere — and so nicely kept 1 It seems to us, that nobody knows so well how to care for the physique of children as the English. They feed them with the simplest possible food, and are astonished when they hear that our young folks share the rich, heavy, high-seasoned dishes of their parents. Oatmeal porridge is considered a suitable breakfast for infant royalty itself; and a simple dinner at one o'clock, the proper thing for children whose parents dine sump- 46 DISEASES OF CHILDEEN. tuously at seven. Exercise is considered one of the necessaries of life ; and a daily walk or ride — not drive ■ — in the fresh air, the proper form of it. It might be superfluous to notice any thing so obvious, if it were not that so many people in good circumstances with us, neglect this, and keep their children immured in nurse- ries, or cooped up in school-rooms, with no thought of exercise in the open air as a daily requisite. We wish nothing so much for these benighted parents, as that they should once become acquainted with the habits and principles of a well-ordered English nursery." A very few general directions may be added here be- fore we treat of the special diseases of childhood. Under ordinary circumstances, let the child drink plentifully, and continually of cold or lukewarm liquids, as most agreeable to its inclination. Many children who have been reduced to mere skeletons by improper food or by perpetual physicking, have recovered, apparently from drinking freely, sometimes almost incessantly, cold water. The most proper liquid, under all circumstan- ces, is the clear water of the spring, flavored or not with toasted bread. When the child is merely thirsty, never give it barley- water, arrow-root and water, linseed tea, or other muci- laginous drinks, or, worse than all, milk, or milk and water. The child requires liquids, not food ; it will DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 47 swallow, with, eagerness and delight, pure, unadulterated water, but turns away in disgust from all such nourish- ing drinks In critical cases, barley-water, etc., is ex- tremely injurious, from disordering the stomach and bowels, and subsequently increasing the fever. When a child is in a state of violent fever, let it fast till the violence of the fever subsides : not a particle of food should be administered. When it has no appetite, beware of tempting or teaz- ing it to eat ; food should never be given unless there is a craving for it, if not by words, yet by such signs as a mother can understand. All niceties and dainties, such as currant-jelly, cakes, pastry of all kinds, sweetmeats, and raw fruits, are absolute poison to a child whose pow- ers of digestion are for the time completely lost : food, in such instances, is fuel to the flame that feeds on life : to complain that it cannot get well because it cannot take nourishment, is as rational as to complain that we cannot extinguish a fire by pouring on oil. Never be alarmed or impatient because a child refuses for a few days to take any kind of nourishment ; children in a state of fever may live without danger three or four weeks, without taking a single grain of substantial food. When it exhibits the symptoms of present or ap- proaching disease, let it be immediately fed for a day or two upon {!parc diet. A threatening disease will often 48 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. thus be averted, or, if inevitable, will be rendered less violent By spare diet, we mean such things as are derived from the vegetable kingdom ; they are sufficient to sus- tain life, but not to aggravate disease. Arrow-root, sago, or rice, boiled with water, not with milk ; captain's bis- cuit ; dry toast in water ; potatoes now and then as a variety, which some children prefer to all other food — as the appetite improves, gradually and cautiously pro- ceeding to light bread puddings ; light rice and tapioca puddings made without suet or fat, and boiled or baked apples in small quantities. During the prevalence of fever, we recommend only toast and fresh spring water, with or without a sop of toast in it, or a toasted captain's biscuit ; weak tea, of which some children are remarkably fond ; apple-tea ; the juice of oranges or lemons, plentifully diluted with water, and sweetened with a little lump sugar ; cream of tartar dissolved in water till the solution becomes as sour as weak lemonade — to this cream of tartar drink may be added a little lump-sugar and lemon-peel. When the tongue is red and parched, a little bicarbonate of soda dissolved in a large quantity of water, say in the pro- portion of half a tea-spoonful to a pint, is exceedingly useful in quenching inordinate thirst. Barley water, ar- row-root and water, linseed tea, and milk and water, DISEASES OF CIIILDREIC. 49 though often recommended, are bad, when the chief ob- ject in giving them is to quench thirst. Never be persuaded to administer stimulants, such as wine, porter or spirits, to children in a state of fever. A teaspoonful of wine will act as fatally in some instan- ces as if it had been a solution of arsenic. The fate of a sick child often depends on the events of a moment ; while the uncertain balance of its fate hangs quivering and trembling between Eternity and Time, a drop, a grain, injudiciously administered, may turn the beam. Never be persuaded by the nursery oracle, however venerable, to administer such things to a child as are said to drive out eruptions ; as those of the small-pox, measles, or scarlet fever. Saffron, saffron and gin, saf- fron and brandy, are sometimes prescribed, and often with deadly effect. Never administer composing medicines to children, unless from medical advice, whether such medicines be of known or unknown nature. The lightest slumber induced by cordials, stimulants or quack medicines, may prove destructive. IIow often may be seen the little spark of life still feebly flickering on its mortal shrine, reluctant yet to die; in tremulous brightness still sweetly shining on distracted hope ; now dimly visible and scarcely seen, now faintly struggling through retiring darkness, burning still — how often is that unextin- guished spark, that yet might live, quenched in a mo- ment by "that little quantity that can do no harm 1" 5 D COMMON FITS, OE CONVULSIONS. ITS are extremely perilous — the first fit endangers life, the second may destroy it. ^^^r*/^ /cr^^ When a child, therefore, is ^^^) attacked with one, send instantly for a medical man, but until his arrival the following measures should be adopted: — The clothes must be loosened, and every bandage untied ; all froth must be wiped from the mouth, and the mouth, if spasmodically closed, should be cau- tiously forced open if it can be effected without violence. The feet and legs, not the whole body, must as quickly as possible be immersed in water, sufficiently hot to oc- casion a slight degree of pain. If the face be flushed and purpled with blood, sprinkle the coldest water freely upon it, or dip a cloth in the water, wring it sufficiently dry to prevent it dripping on the body of the child, and wrap it loosely round the forehead, temples, and back part of the head, renewing the application every half minute, so as to keep the head continually cool; or pour cold water from a jug slowly and gently upon the child's head, the body during the whole of these proceedings being main- tained in an upright position, the head inclining rather (50) DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 61 forward. Many children have been saved by bleeding in the jugular vein. This must of course be entrusted to the medical practitioner. By all means let the understanding of parents be im- pressed with the importance of placing implicit confidence in the physician they may consult, and of exactly obey- ing the minutest directions he may give, however unim- portant they may appear. The most judicious measures, prompted by the wisdom of the best experience, approved by the soundest judgment, and resolved upon after the maturest deliberation, are often rendered nugatory by the officious interference and opposition of kind conceited friends. If superanuated and talkative acquaintances must pronounce their opinions, and suggest their infallible nostrums, let the parents refer them to the medical attend- ant, who will sufficiently thank them for their valuable communications. Be it ever remembered that the most ignorant persons are generally the most officious. THE WHOOPING COUGH. Its symj)toms are so well known as scarcely to need a description. It is contagious; and generally commences with a cold, sometimes attended with fever and discharge from the nose. These symptoms often continue through- 62 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. out the disease, which, if let alone, will torment the little sufforer for a hundred days or more. Every one knows that the disease itself is a convulsive strangulating cough, often attended with bleeding at the nose. In this com- plaint the patient should be confined to food easily digested, kept from all violent exercise, and, if possible, have change of air. The remedies are almost innumera- ble. A most excellent one is the following: Take a large tea-spoonful of powdered lobelia, the same quantity of bay berry bark, pounded fine, and about one third of the same quantity of skunk cabbage ; put these into a cup of warm pennyroyal tea, strain it through a cloth, and sweeten it. A large spoonful of this should be given every ten minutes, when the fit is on and the child cannot vomit. When it operates, give the patient a little water-gruel. A strengthening plaster kept on between the shoulders is often very useful, and castor oil, whenever needful, should be given to keep the bowels moderately open. We have often, on its first appearance, simply adminis- BKUNK CABBAGE. DISEASES OF CHILDREN-. 53 tered a very gentle emetic, being careful to keep the bowels open. A careful writer says, take the best kind of coffee pre- pared as for the table, and give it as a common drink to the child as warm as it can be drank, and a piece of alum to suck as often as it may wish. Most children are fond of alum, and will get all they need without being urged ; but if they dislike it, they must be persuaded to taste of it eight or ten times in the course of the day. It will effectually break up the worst case of whooping cough in a very short time. To adults or children in the habit of taking coffee, this remedy is good for nothing. We are also assured, upon practical knowledge, that a very great relief is obtained in this disease, by wearing about the neck a fresh tarred rope, of the size of a bed- cord, covered with a thin ribbon. The aroma of the tar has a wonderful effect in quieting the cough, and pre- venting spasms — two very essential items in the manage- ment of the disorder. CEOUP. Is a very serious, and often fatal disease. It is a species of asthma, attended with acute catarrh. It is most com- mon in crowded cities where air is deficient, and in 5* 54 DISEASES OF CniLDREN. marshy districts, where the air is impure. It often seizes the child suddenly in the night, and should never bo neglected, even for an hour. Call in a physician as soon as possible, who will, if the child be very fat, probably have recourse to bleeding. At any rate, as soon as the child has a dry, short, cough, with wheezing, and a rattling in the throat when asleep, is somewhat cold in the ex- tremities, the countenance pale, the skin feverish, and the veins in the neck full of blood, administer an emetic by putting six grains of emetic tartar into six table-spoons- ful of warm water, and give the child half a table-spoonful every ten or fifteen minutes, keeping up a constant vomit- ing for several hours. With as little delay as possible use the tepid bath, which we have already described, and open the bowels by a dose of castor oil. Apply a sponge or flannel dipped in hot water to the throat, renewing it every few minutes. By this time we hope the physician may have arrived. If not, and the symptoms have not abated, but have in- creased in their power, and especially if vomiting has not come on, obtain at once fifteen grains of calomel, and six grains of ipecachuana, mix them, and give a child six months old, one-third of it every fifteen minutes till it acts as an emetic. If the child be older, of course the dose must be increased in proportion. Keep giving this medicine till a moisture is produced on the skin, and the extremities become warm. The mucus must be removed DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 55 from the tTiront, or the child will die. The old people used to give the child the steam of warm vinegar to inhale, and place mustard-plasters between the shoulders. The juice of a lemon, loaf-sugar, and slippery elm, made palatable to the child, have been known to give relief; but in all cases of obstinate croup, the physician should be promptly called in. One of the most simple and efficacious remedies for croup which we have ever seen or heard of, and which has been largely used with the happiest effects, is this : — Mix fine powdered sugar in enough of lard to make a thick paste. As soon as the croup appears, give half a table-spoonful every fifteen raiinutes till it goes off. If vomiting is produced, so much the better. Dr. Goodman, of Virginia, also tells us that he has tested the efficacy of administering, in the first stage of the disease, a plaster made by greasing a piece of linen, covering it with common Scotch snuff, and applying it to the patient's chest. This may be tried: but we repeat, in a violent case of croup call in the physician. "We need not say that the diet must be light, such as water gruel, rice- water, and perhaps a little arrow- root. TEETHING. S always a time of suflering to chil- dren, arising from different causes. To these sufferings we must briefly refer. Dr. Arbutlinot tells us that more than a tenth part of the children born, die in teething or from diseases arising from it, and therefore much care is called for, and constant atten- tion is requisite during the whole process. This at- tention is frequently most needed in the cases of strong, fat and healthy children, as they are most liable to the vio- lent fever which frequently attends dentition. Though weakly and delicate children suffer much from vomiting and from debility, it usually happens that they pass through their sufferings more safely than others. It will be found also that the children who are most delicately brought up suffer most in teething, and most frequently are distressed by dangerous convulsions. The symptoms of teething are too well known to need any very particular description. Sometimes as early as the fourth month, but more generally about the sixth, the child begins to be restless, its bowels are relaxed, its gums swell, it often starts with pain slavers much (56) DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 57 about its mouth, and usually puts its fingers, to rub its gums. Great care is now required. The bowels, if tliey should be costive, must be gently acted on by syrup of rhubarb, senna, manna or magne- sia; incessant attention must be paid to cleanliness ; and the food must be light, easy of digestion, and given frequently and in small quantities ; and the drink should be an infusion of catnip flowers, or some such pre- paration, to which a little milk may be added. If there should be great difficulty in breathing, a slight em- etic should be given, and a Bur- gundy pitch plaster should be kept between the shoulders ; and if tha gums are greatly swelled and irri- tated, a physician should be called in to lance them. THRUSH. HIS is an infantile disease, wIiicTi de- ^' mands prompt attention to prevent its being fatal. It arises from the morbid state of tlie stomach, and appears in white ulcers upon the tongue, gums and palate, resembling small particles of curdled milk, which in three or four days become yellow and soon disappear ; leaving, however, the skin of a bright red color, that nurses often endea- vor to correct by the use of borax, which, however, does not remove the cause, and the disease soon returns. The pa- tient under this disease has usually a pale countenance, a feeble pulse, and cold extremities. It is irritable, and fre- quently disposed to vomit, and is unable to take its proper food in sufficient quantity to sustain its strength. The proper treatment of this disease is, first to give a dose of rhubarb and magnesia to correct the stomacb ; then make a wash. for the moutb of a little borax, honey, and alum mixed in sage tea, and with a rag tied to a stick wash the mouth gently two or three times a day while the disease remains. A tea made of red raspberry leaves has often been found useful. In very obstinate cases, where other (58) DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 59 means have failed, every ulcer may be touched once or twice a day with a preparation of ten drops of muriatic acid and twenty drops of rose-water mixed together. Special care must be taken that the food be very light, such as water-gruel, Indian meal, and a little milk. CHOLERA INFANTUM. As this is the most common of all diseases among chil- dren in this country, so, if it is neglected, it is the most fatal. When it obtains an introduction into a neighbor- hood, it usually prevails far and wide, and demands the skillful attention both of the mother and the physician. Perhaps the most frequent causes of the disease are im- proper diet and clothing, worms, teething and premature weaning. Its symptoms vary, but it generally comes in the form of simple diarrhoea, though occasionally it is attended with vomiting. The region of the stomach becomes very tender, and is often swelled ; the tongue is white, and the patient is thirsty; the skin is dry, the feet are cold, the head and stomach are hot, and the pulse quick. The eyes usually become dull, the child's sleep is irritable, and its conduct when awake becomes violent. We may add that the least irregular motion gives it pain, and it will scream on being scarcely touched; the 60 DISEASES OP CHILDREN. gums swell, and inflammation is almost everywhere apparent. As soon as any number of these symptoms appear, promptly administer to a child of from two to four years from four to eight grains of ipecacuanha in warm water, with three or four grains of calomel, well mixed. Should the looseness of the bowels continue many hours, with a dry skin, and no disposition to sleep, give the child a few drops of ipecacuanha wine through the day in a little warm tea. The tepid bath should be used once or twice a day. When the medicine has operated on the bowels three or four times, give about fifteen drops of paregoric, and a few drops of ipecacuanha. This will bring a gentle moisture on the skin. Should the child be teeth- ing when it takes this disease, the gums, if they are swelled and inflamed, must be lanced ; and if the vomit- ing should be very violent, administer a little weak lime- water and new milk, in which you may put a few drops of laudanum or paregoric ; or put a few green peach leaves over the stomach and breast. This is a valuable application for stopping bilious vomiting. In the event of all these failing, apply a blister on the pit of the stomach, or over the whole abdomen. An infant seized with Cholera Infantum should live, if possible, only on its mother's milk; but if this cannot be, mix a little gum arable in warm milk and water, and give a spoonful or two at a time. As soon as the patient begins to recover, a ride in the open air will be serviceable. COLIC. HE period wben children are most liable to colic is from the age of cue or two weeks till they have cut their first teeth. It shows itself by the tension or enlargement of the stomach, a drawing up of the knees toward the stomach, as if in pain, and an emission of wind from the stomach, which usually for a short time affords relief. It is frequently attended with costiveness and sometimes by vomiting. It arises usually from wet feet, or from the use of improper food, and is almost invari- ably attended with indigestion. Taken in its earliest stages, it is seldom difficult to cure, but is exceedingly debili- tating, and if neglected becomes dangerous. We have known bilious colic to remove by death even an adult in five or six hours. Convulsions in children are not unfre- quently caused by neglect of the colic. Not unfrequently it has been found that the colic of the infant has arisen from the state of its mother's sys- tem. In all such cases the health of the mother and her diet should be promptly attended to. Dr. Dewees states a case where the mother had suffered from toothache for 6 (61) 62 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. some months before her infant was born, and continued to suffer for six months after. Her infant had by this time become so emaciated from constant colic, that it was but a skeleton, and all his attempts to administer remedies failed till the mother's tooth was extracted, when the child became fat and hearty. To effect a cure, the diet of the mother and the child must be strictly attended to. When the disease overtakes any infant of two weeks old, twenty drops of the following mixture should be given it every fifteen minutes till relieved : viz., twenty grains of magnesia, twenty drops of laudanum, one drachm of tincture of foetida and one ounce of water, well mixed together. Of course larger dozes must be given in proportion to the increase of the child's age. A tea-spoonful of sweet oil, in something warm, as tea or sweetened water, may be given once or twice a day to keep the bowels open. Be careful to avoid the cruel shaking of the child, beating its back as it lies on the mother's lap, as also giving it brandy or other hot things. All these increase the disease rather than lessen it. An exceedingly safe, simple and ofttimes effectual remedy is this. Put half a tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper, with a little sugar, into a teacup, and fill it with hot water. When sufficiently cool, begin to sip it, and by the time it is all gone, or in the course of an hour, the pain should be entirely removed. This may always safely be given on the first attack, DISEASES OF CniLDEEN. 63 followed by any common purgative to wbich the patient may have been accustomed ; or a table-spoonful of cold- pressed castor-oil may be given, and a fomentation of hops applied to the bowels. Or the warm bath may be taken. But little food should be eaten, and that should be easy of digestion. Gentle exercise should be used when the patient begins to recover. HICCOUGH, OR HICKUPS. The symptoms of this troublesome disease need no de- scription. It arises from flatulence, debility, the use of improper food, cold drinks when the person is warm, worms, or having taken poison. It is a spasmodic affec- tion of the diaphragm, and perhaps of the stomach. Its remedies are numerous, and the propriety of each depends on the cause from which the disease proceeds. If from poison, immediate resource should be had to a tea-spoonful or two of common flour- of-mustard, mixed with hot water, and taken as an emetic, or plentiful doses of castor-oil and milk should be swallowed. When it proceeds from inflammation of the stomach the patient should be bled, and cooling drinks should be given, or a frequent administration of the sweet spirits of nitre in a cup of white-wine whey. The patient's 64 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. Stomach should be almost constantly fomented with cloths dipped in hot water, or a bladder of hot water may be thus applied. Or, what is still better, hops and worm- wood, simmered in vinegar, may be thus used. When the hickup proceeds from a feeble stomach over- loaded with food, a tea-spoonful of vinegar has often been given with good effect ; or a few drops of brandy or gin may remove it ; or ether may be externally applied to the stomach ; and the hot or tepid bath may do great good. A glass of strong cider or mineral water is often very useful. A sudden alarm has frequently removed the affection when other remedies have failed. DIAEEHCEA. Diarrhoea, or looseness of the bowels, is not always a disease, but is sometimes an effort of nature to throw off feculent matter, which would impair health, even if it did not induce dangerous illness. It ought not, therefore, be stopped till it has produced decided Vv'cakness in the patient. When diarrhoea has been caused by taking cold, or an obstruction of perspiration, it is most important to keep tlie patient warm, to partake freely of thin gruel, rice- water, and the diluting drinks; to take the tepid bath, DISEASES OF CHILDEEN. 65 especially at night, going from the bath to a hot bed, to wear flannel next the skin, and to employ all other methods which promote perspiration. Children under two years of age are very liable to what is called feculent diarrhoea; arising from unsuitable diet, damp rooms, the sensibility and irritability of the ali- mentary canal, and other causes of a kindred character As a remedy in this case, take one drachm of magnesia, and six grains of powdered mace; for a child of four years old divide this into six powders, and give one in a little sweetened water every six hours, till they freely operate. If the color and smell of the discharges are not changed, take twenty grains of magnesia, twelve grains of powdered rhubarb, and three grains of powdered mace; mix and then divide them into six powders, and give one every four hours. These powders will certainly destroy the acid on the stomach; and if they do not stop the dis- charge, take twelve grains of calomel, and give one-sixth part of it every two hours, in a few drops of simple syrup until they operate freely. They ought to produce a green or dark discharge, with little or no smell. Where the disease is produced by acid on the stomach, without any other apparent cause, take a teaspoonful of saleratus, another of peppermint or spearmint, finely pulverized, a teaspoonful of the best Turkey rhubarb, and, with some loaf-sugar, put the whole into a pint of boiling water with a few spoonsful of ardent spirits, if it 6* E 66 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. be at hand. Administer according to age: say two tea- spoonsful for an infant, or half a wine-glassful for an adult, every hour, till it produces a change in the dis- charge. If the disease be occasioned by excess in eating or drinking, the proper medicine is an emetic. Emetics not only cleanse the stomach, but promote all the se- cretions, which make them of great value. Half a drachm of ipecac- uanha, in powder, will answer the purpose we wish for. A day or two after the emetic, the same quantity of rhubarb may be taken, and repeated if the discharge con- tinues. A diarrhoea arising BPEABMnrr. ^om violent passions must be treated with extreme caution. Neither emetics nor purgatives should be given. Ten or twelve drops of liquid laudanum should be taken every ten or twelve hours in a cup of valerian, or pennyroyal tea, till the symptoms abate; and especially must the mind be kept at ease. DISEASES OF CHILDRE5T. 67 If diarrhoea in children arises from worms, which may be known from the sliminess of the discharges, especially if mixed with pieces of decayed worms, purge with rhu- barb and calomel, as already advised, and afterward take lime-water with a little rhubarb, to strengthen the bowels. We have been particular in describing the various species into which physicians have classed diarrhoea, but we think that, generally speaking, the disease will be found in its most simple forms, and will therefore need the simplest remedies. The use of the common blackberries known and loved by nearly all the children who reside in the country, has in various forms been most strongly recommended, and we can testify to its value in very many instances. One writer thus recommends the prepa- ration of a medicine which would be readily taken by many who are not suffering from this complaint : — To half a bushel of blackberries, well mashed, add a quarter of a pound of allspice, two ounces of cinnamon, and three ounces of cloves. Pulverize well, mix, and boil slowly until properly done. Then strain or squeeze the juice through homespun or flannel, and add to each pint of the juice one pound of loaf-sugar. Boil again for some time ; take it off, and while cooling add half a gal- lon of the best Cognac brandy. Dose : for an adult, half a gill; for a child, a teaspoonful or more, according to age. Always in cases of diarrhoea use the lightest food, with 68 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. diluting drinks. Abstain for the time being from fruUs, especially those which are unripe. "We may here except the peach, which, when fresh and mellow, is not only very palatable but has a salutary effect upon the disease. In cases of long standing, this delicious and nourishing fruit is often prescribed for the complaint. COSTIYENESS, OE CONSTIPATION. In many respects this disease is the very opposite of diarrhoea, and yet, in not a few cases, the causes are the same. "We need not describe its symptoms; neither need we remind the intelligent reader that neglect in this case may lead on to convulsions, or to inflammation, which may prove fatal, As a preventive from costiveness there should be regular open-air exercise, a due regard to clothing, especially guarding against too much of it, ab- stinence from all heating drinks, more particularly brandy and port wine ; the food also should be light ; abstain, if possible, from the usually so much extolled fine bread, and use the common brown bread, which has been baked 07ie or two days. Baked apples in milk, and indeed almost all kinds of ripe fruit are good in this case ; aJid for drink take buttermilk, whey, and rice or apple- water. Dr. Arbuth- not recommends the use of butter, cream, honey, and the DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 69 soup or broth made of the internal parts of animals, such as the liver, heart, and midriff. One of the best remedies for constipation is regularly visiting the privy, say early every morning, even when nature does not seem to call for it; the habit will soon be formed by which relief will be obtained, A due re- gard to these rules will often be sufficient, either for children or adults, but if medicine must be used, let it be of the mildest kind, such as magnesia and Epsom salts in equal quantities, powdered very fine, of which the child may take a teaspoonful every morning in a glass of water. In the case of infants, it is often better that the mother should take medicine than the child. VOMITING. Vomiting on the part of children does not always in- dicate disease. The most healthy infants, if they happen to take more food or drink than is necessary, will often, even without pain, thus relieve their stomachs. Where this is done, and especially if sleep follows, no further concern need be felt. But if there be paleness on the cheek, a sour breath, inanimate eyes, and an indisposition to take the mother's breast, place the child in a warm bath, and rub the pit of the stomach with a little lauda- 70 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. num. To one of a year or more old, give two or three grains of ipecacuanha in a little warm sweetened water; or, if it be preferred, a cup of spearmint or peppermint tea, will often bring relief; or a tea made of the leaves of the peach tree may be tried with success; or even a little cold water, commencing with a teaspoonful, and gradually increasing the quantity, has stopped the vomit- ins of a child. WOEMS. "Were we influenced by any other motive than that of telling, in the plainest manner, what may be the ailments of the reader, and what their best remedies, we might on this subject become profoundly learned and philosophical, by describing the whole sixteen kinds of worms which distress the human family. As we are more anxious, however, to benefit our patrons than to display our eru- dition, we will omit all that and simply tell how to get rid of them. Climate, unwholesome food, and feeble digestive powers, seem to be the most frequent causes of this disease, gene- rally found in children, but by no means uncommon in adults. It has been said that few infants have worms till they are weaned, which may be accounted for on the DISEASES OF CHILDREN. principle that the bowels are in better order while the child is at the breast than when the diet is more various and indigestible. The most common symptoms of worms are pain and flatulence of the stomach, fetid breath, griping of the bowels, frequent hunger, yet deriving little nourishment from food ; an almost con- stant cough, itching at the nose, restless sleep, ana un- pleasant dreams. Not un- frequently the child has a slow fever, and many are often thrown by worms into convulsions. The remedies for worms are plentiful as black- berries, so that we seldom meet with an old lady who has passed through the world with her eyes open without learning of some TAJTST. infallible one of which we have not before heard. We shall, therefore, only give a very few prescriptions, altogether avoiding calon^il, which we are disposed to leave pretty much in the hands of physicians. By many, external applications are greatly preferred. 72 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. Dr. Cloquet, an eminent French physician, says that he has seen the long worm, which is the one to which child- ren are most subject, evacuated after the abdomen had been rubbed with a mixture of ox-gall and common soap; oil of tansy or of camomile, mixed with spirits in which camphor has been dissolved, has been useful ; so has a liniment made of equal parts of beef's gall, aloes, and fresh butter, rubbed on the abdomen every night. But for an internal disease an internal remedy is usually the most appropriate. Dr. Grimes, of Savannah, strongly recommended the bark of the Pride of China, made into tea, and as much of it taken during the day as the child could bear without producing vomiting, purging, or de- bility of the limbs. Dr. Buchan recommends, for an adult, an ounce of salad oil, and a table-spoonful of common salt, to be taken three times a day ; and says that many practitioners give flour-of-sulphur in large doses, made into an electuary with honey or molasses, and taken in such quantity as to purge the patient. As we ought not to prescribe for worms in our children or ourselves till we are satisfied of their existence^ so when we have expelled them, we should guard against having them again. Use then pure air, plain digestible food, open-air exercise, and whatever helps to strengthen the system. The ripe fruits of autumn will tend to keep open the bowels, and it would be well occasionally to give the child half a tea-spoonful of powdered charcoal DISEASES OF CHILDREN 73 ill new milk; or, as Dr. E well recommends, a little tinc- ture of steel with bitters three times a day. EICKETS. Eickets will not be found in this country so frequently as in some others, where mothers have less regard to cleanliness and proper food and exercise. The disease, slow in its progress, usually shows itself in an enlarge- ment of the head, especially in the undue prominence of the forehead; the backbone becomes crooked, the ribs are depressed, and the joints become large and spongy. We have seen children in Europe suffering from this disease even for years, unable to walk, presenting a sul- phury color on the cheeks instead of being red, and frightfully premature in the activity of their minds. Some of the most brilliant men have become hump-backed by rickets. Such were Esop, the author of the "Fables," and Wilberforce, the philanthropist. Gentle exercise, pure air, and nutritious diet, will do far more in these cases than medicine; though medical remedies must not be neglected. The child should be placed in the tepid bath with salt in the water, after which it should be wrapt up in warm blankets, and warm tea may be given it to as great an extent as it may wish. 7 74 DISEASES OF CHILDREN, A tonic medicine, composed of twenty grains of carbonate of iron and ten grains of the sub-carbonate of soda, may also be given ; these should be mixed and divided into twenty powders. To a child a year old, give one of these every morning, noon, and night, in a little sugar or jelly. If the appetite fail, and the stomach become sour, take ten grains of ipecacuanha, dissolve it in a small tea-cup- ful of water, and give a small tea-spoonful every fifteen minutes till the child vomits freely. SCALLED HEAD. Most diseases of the skin arise from inflammation. Scalled head is not an exception, and requires much the same treatment as inflammation of any of the other struc- tures of the body, for it arises almost invariably from the same predisposing cause, namely, derangement of the healthful functions of the stomach and bowels. Patients with scalled heads have always unhealthy-looking tongues. Children affected with diseases of the scalp are generally thirsty, and continual thirst is the craving of a diseased stomach. Diseases of the skin, especially of the scalp, are often produced by improper or insufficient food ; and even if evidently caused by contagion, are rendered tedious or difficult to cure, by a sickly and torpid con- DISEASES OF CHILDEEN. 75 dition of the whole system; ringworm, for instance, is highly contagious, but the duration of ringworm beyond four or five weeks evinces an ignorance of the appro- priate treatment. It would be as rational to expect to cure scalled head by ointments and lotions, as to cure a man of the gout by bathing his great toe with a bottle of his wife's hair-oil. The symptoms of this infectious disease are, that the skin of the head is covered with small sores, which dis- charge very offensive matter. These sores turn to scales or scabs, while fresh ones continue to break out at the roots of the hair. The disease is attended with con- siderable itching. In treating scalled head, as in treating all other con- stitutional diseases, every endeavor should be directed to lessen the determination of the blood to the diseased part, by keeping the extremities sufficiently warm by proper clothing; to allay irritation by soothing applica- tions to the diseased surface ; and above all, which in difficult cases constitutes the great difficulty, to subdue the constitutional disorder from which almost all these external diseases arise. When not obviously occasioned by external violence or injury, such diseases, though acci- dentally and mechanically produced, are rendered in- tractable and frequently incurable. In treating this eruption of the scalp, the scab must be removed. First of all let every hair be cut off; then let 76 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. the scab be covered with a carefully- made bread-and- water or linseed poultice, which should be kept on day and night till the incrustation be removed; now and then, when the poultice is changed, rubbing a little lard or fresh butter on the scab. The tendei nurse will, with a comb, or some similar article, remove the looser portions, and cut away the growing hair, till the red, shining, or ulcerated skin is brought fully out to view. With the slightest attention the incrustation can be removed as fast as it accumulates, and every third or fourth day the operation of shaving should be repeated. Every morning the exposed and diseased surface should be gently cleansed with tepid soap and water, the soap being immediately afterward thoroughly washed off with clear tepid water ; the part must then be dried, not by rubbing till the inflammation and redness are rendered ten times more vivid, but by the gentle and repeated pressure of a soft linen rag. When the surface is quite dry, then apply the chosen ointment or lotion, and im- mediately, if any particle of matter becomes too adherent to the scalp to be removed by merely washing it, apply above it a bread-and- water poultice. Some persons think highly of frequent ablutions with soap and water, especially with yellow soap: soap is no specific, and, if used too frequently, increases irritation and prolongs the disease. Oil-skin caps and silk caps DISEASES OF CHILDREN'. 77 are generany improper — linen caps are preferable ; ex- posure to the air is sometimes beneficial. To the treatment of most of the diseases of the skin will apply the favorite direction of the late Dr. Aberneth j, " Cleanse, dry, and anoint." In their management, it should be remembered that it is much safer to soothe than to irritate ; the feelings and inclinations of children often indicate the appropriate remedy, though the chief wisdom in their management seems, in the estimation ot many persons, to consist in opposing nature. Thus the infant is compelled to swallow when it feels inclined to fast, and is restrained from drinking, though the parched tongue and withered lip cleave together for want of moisture, and the blood-shot eyes gaze on the untasted liquid with an unspeakable longing ; and, even by those who love it, is often tortured with stupid and callous in- difference, when common sense and common humanity alike suggest the simple injunction, give iw pain. For this disease an able physician recommends four ounces of Spanish sarsaparilla, cut fine, and on one-twelfth part of it pour a pint of boiling water, and let it stand some hours ; having poured off the liquor, add an ounce of white sugar, two or three thin slices of lemon, or twenty grains of salts of lemon. Give this quantity to a child of seven years of age, in doses, during the day, and more or less in proportion to age. Another recommends an ointment made of two table- 7* 78 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. spoonsful of tar, and a sufficient quantity of suet or lard to make an ointment; add to these a table-spoonful of powdered charcoal, and two tea-spoonsful of flour of sulphur ; make them into an ointment, spread it on a bladder, and wear it as a cap, changing it whenever it becomes dry. In all cases the bowels must be kept gently open by Epsom salts, or syrup of rhu- barb; or a little cream of tartar and sulphur mixed wdth molasses. Another remedy has been very highly com- mended. Of the ashes of tobacco, green grape-vine, and green alder, of each a table- spoonful. Add to these an ounce of hog's lard and an ounce of tar. Poke-root, burdock-root, and sumach-berries, of each two ounces. Beat them together with half a pint of sweet oil, simmer them over the fire, pouring in a gill of the spirits of turpentine while yet warm. Use this ointment as already recommended on a POKE, SEOKE, OABGET, OB COAKITM. DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 79 bladder, washing the head every second day with Castile soap, when you renew the ointment. Strong tar water, with which the diseased part is to be bathed, is also strongly recommended. EINGWOEM. This disease, formerly called tetter, is an eruption which attacks various parts of the skin, in a circle, and is often taken by one child from another with whom it has been in contact. The small red pimples contain a thin acrid fluid ; when the body is heated by exercise, these pimples are seized with an intolerable itching, and they often thus spread over a considerable extent of the body. The skin assumes a leprous appearance, and the poor patient enjoys not a moment's ease. If the bowels be in a natural state, it is seldom that internal medicine is needed for the ringworm. Make an ointment of two parts of common tar, two parts of mutton suet, and one part of flour of sulphur, and simmer them together; spread the ointment on a piece of linen or cotton-cloth, and put it on during every night. Bathe the part frequently in the day-time with a decoction of yellow dock. Soft soap and powdered ginger made into an ointment 80 DISEASES OF CHILDREN". lias often been used with success. So also lias common soot, with the addition of sufficient lard to make it into an ointment, frequently applied. Blood-root steeped in vinegar, and used as a wash, has effected many cures. "We consider this among the best of all remedies. The parts affected should be washed three times a day with Castile soap. If the disease be inveterate, internal reme- dies must be taken, such as lime-water or flour of sulphur. There are several other diseases ot the skin, which may be briefly referred to in this connection. Before we pro- ceed, however, it may be well to make a few general remarks on this class of evils. Probably almost every eruption on the skin arises from the impure state of the stomach ; and by cleansing that, we remove the cause as well as the effects. The very first inquiries then, in the event of such an eruption, should relate to the state of the stomach and bowels. This is often more important than any external applica- tion whatever. In the great majority of cases it will be found necessary to open the bowels, and keep them in a lax condition by cooling medicines. For this purpose many prescriptions may be found in this volume. If the stomach be out of order, take a gentle emetic, which greatly assists nature in throwing the whole disease out on the skin. Under these circumstances, tea made of sarsapa- rilla, or what is most frequently substituted in its place, DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 81 sassafras, should be used as a common drink. In all kinds of eruptions common starch, rubbed on the skin, is a cooling and pleasant remedy; and the application of it when going to bed will afford much relief from itching, and consequently give refreshing sleep. Where starch cannot be obtained, a little common wheaten flour will answer the same purpose. In all such cases frequently use the tepid bath, abstain from strong drinks, eat light food, and use cooling drinks. Speaking of such eruptions, we first mention — CHILBLAINS. Description is scarcely necessary. Though most com- mon to children, they are known at almost all stages of life, but seldom trouble us except in cold weather; in- deed, they are usually caused by suddenly exposing a cold part of the body to the fire, or a heated part to in- tense cold. Children themselves know that they have had to complain of chilblains when they have endured great cold, and instead of taking strong exercise to warm themselves gradually, they have run to the fire, and the sudden change has produced the disease. When a person is troubled with chilblains, which usually seize the feet, heels, or toes, and which present F 82 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. red inflammatory swellings or small boils, it is important at once to use the tepid foot-bath ; we have known the nse of warm water in which turnips have been boiled, ana the boiled turnips themselves used as a poultice, cure the disease in a few hours. Warm ashes between cloths applied to the parts affected, frequently help to reduce the swelling and inflammation ; or the diseased parts may be frequently rubbed with mustard and brandy. Others have recommended plunging the parts affected into the coldest water, or rubbing them with snow. Warm weather usually removes all complaints of this character. If the disease appears in the hands, it usually takes the name of chapped hands, and for this a good ointment may be made of one ounce of pure olive oil, and half a drachm of yellow bees- wax melted with a very gentle heat in the oil, to which should be added one drachm of new honey, and half a drachm of white flowers of zinc, all of which should be well stirred together till cold. Wash and dry the hands, and at bed-time, while sitting by the fire, well rub in some of this ointment, and wipe carefully with a dry towel. The rubbing should be always continued till the chapped skin is quite warm, unless it should cause bleeding. As some kinds of medicines can often be obtained more readily than others, and as not a few persons very properly form a judgment as to remedies proposed for their use, we will here add three other prescriptions for chapped hands. DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 83 Scrape into an earthen vessel one and a half ounces of spermaceti, half an ounce of white-wax, six drachms of powdered camphor, and four table-spoonsful of the best olive oil. Let it stand near the fire until it dissolves, stirring it well when liquid. Before retiring to bed, put the ointment on the hands; also before washing them; use soap as usual. Mr. A. Bronson, of Meadville, Pa., says, from fifteen years' experience, he finds that Indian meal poultice, covered with young Hyson tea, softened with hot water, and laid over the frozen flesh, as hot as it can be borne, will relieve the pain in five minutes. If blisters have not arisen before, they will not after it is put on. One poultice is generally sufficient to effect a cure. Another good and simple remedy for chapped hands is, to wash them in water slightly acidulated with vinegar or lemon juice; or wash them in milk. THE ITCH. This is a contagious eruption of small watery pustules or pimples, which first show themselves between the fingers and on the wrists, but sometimes spread over the whole body except the face. It is accompanied with tormenting itching, especially after strong exercise, and 84 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. when warm in bed. Cleanliness, and avoiding beds wliere persons who have been affected with it have slept, are the onlj preservatives from it which we know. Sulphur, applied both externally and internally, is the best of all remedies. Take a table-spoonful of sulphur and a table-spoonful of lard, or butter without salt, make them into an ointment, with a table-spoonful of the essence of lemon to give it a pleasant smell, and rub it freely on the parts affected three or four nights when going to bed. For internal use, take two parts of flour-of-sulphur, and one part of cream of tartar; mix them, and give to an adult person a tea-spoonful in mo- lasses morning and night. Other remedies have been prescribed, such as a strong decoction of Virginia snake- root, used as a wash. As also a strong decoction of yellow dock-root, of which half a pint should be drank every day; and the parts affected should be bathed in it at least once a day. Or a strong decoction of water dock- roots may be used as a wash. Keep the bowels mode- rately open with Epsom salts. SNAEE-BOOT. EOSE EASH. HIS disease is sometimes called False Measles. It often appears a few days after birth, generally on the toes and '^^ fingers, about the shoulders or neck, and occasionally on the thighs or stomach. It is an eruption of a bright red color, often in patches, on a ground of a faint pink hue. It much resembles measles, from which it is distinguished chiefly by the brightness of its red color, and by the hardness and uniform thickening of the inflamed skin. It is preceded by great debility, and attended with headache. In the Yery outset of this disease, the part affected should be very frequently dusted with fine flour, or hair-powder, or starch, and the bowels kept open with Epsom salts, or some other cold aperient. Or for a child two years old, you may take ten grains of calomel, and two grains of salts of nitre; mix and divide them into four powders, and give one of them in a little syrup or sugar and water every two hours, till they operate freely. Increase or diminish the dose according to the age of the child. After the stomach is cleansed, keep the bowels open with a preparation of half an ounce of senna leaves, and half 8 (85) 86 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. an ounce of manna flake, boiled to a strong tea in half a pint of water. Give a table-spoonful every hour till they operate, and do this every day. THE GUM. This disease appears in rather different forms, which are variously distinguished. The most common is called the Red Oum. This usually appears a short time after birth, and occasionally recurs till what are called the milk-teeth are cut. It consists of a number of red elevated spots, the tops of which are clear, and the bottom of a vivid red. It is generally scattered on the trunk of the body, but sometimes on the cheek and forehead. If found on the feet, the spots are larger, more distinct, and sometimes a clear fluid is found at the top. It is some- times mistaken for measles, but there is no fever, nor sneezing, nor watery eyes, nor cough, but the child is in perfect health. It is only necessary in this disease to keep the bowels open with a gentle aperient, and the patient moderately warm, lest the rash strike in upon the bowels and produce fever. The Yellow Oum proceeds from the absorption of bile, and is known by a yellow color of the skin, or sometimes of the eyes. It is preceded and attended with sleepiness DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 87 and indifference to the breast. Three or four grains of ipecacuanha, or a few drops of antimony wine should be given to excite vomiting, and the bowels should be kept open by a watery infusion of rhubarb, or the syrup of rhubarb. The White Gum usually appears after the period when infants are subject to the varieties to which we have re- ferred. It consists of a number of white, hard, elevated spots, the bottoms of which are sometimes surrounded with a little redness. It has the appearance of itch, but it is neither infectious nor itchy, unless irritation is pro- duced by the child being kept too dry. Neither this, however, nor what nurses often call the tooth rash, need any particulur treatment except cleanliness and a careful attention to the state of the bowels. NETTLE EASH. This disease appears in two forms; the milder of which presents white elevations, usually round, but sometimes of a long shape; the severer form shows pink-colored elevations on a deep rose-colored surface. The first form is unattended with fever; but the second is generally known by pain in the head, sickness at the stomach, great weakness, and a feeling not unlike the sting of a 88 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. nettle, from which it takes its name. Kubbing it, or heat, always increases the sensation. The disease is occasioned by excessive emotions of the mind, by too much bodily exertion, unwholesome food, such as mushrooms, the rind of cucumbers, or mussels, a careful avoidance of all which should be attended to by those who show a susceptibility to the disease. We should commence our treatment of this disease by relieving the stomach of all offensive matter. This may be done by giving a child of two years old a preparation of ten grains of ipecacuanha, dissolved in three or four table-spoonsful of warm water, one-third of which should be given every fifteen or twenty minutes, till it operates freely, the vomiting being encouraged three or four times by drinking plentifully of warm water. Two hours after the emetic has ceased to operate, administer a preparation composed of four grains of calomel and twenty grains of calcined magnesia; mix, and divide into two powders, and give one in syrup or warm sugar and water, and if that does not operate freely, give the other. The skin may be rubbed with starch or flour; the diet should be light, and the drink cool, but never acid. Take special caution against the return of the disease by a due regard to the mother's health and milk, and any other disease of the child. THE CHICKEN POX. FTEN called by the old people Swvie- pox. Its vesicles are usually ^■^^^ scattered over the body; they are at first transparent, and about the size of a pea; red at the bottom, and pointed at the top; and never flat like varioloid, nor depressed in the centre, like small- pox. The fluid they contain, though clear at first, after- ward turns to a straw-color, dries away, and the vesicles fall off, scarcely ever leaving even a mark on the skin. The child is sometimes feverish for a few days, but seldom needs to be confined to the house. Medicine is not often needed in this disease, except perhaps a dose of Epsom salts, or castor oil. Eegard should be had only to give a light diet and cooling driak. MEASLES. We remember when these were considered highly dangerous; and when, if they did not prove fatal, left 8* (89) 90 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. behind them very troublesome and long continued ill- nesses, such as blindness, bad coughs, and even consump- tion. The good providence of God has so improved medi- cal science, that few deaths now follow measles, unless there has been sad neglect of the patient. Measles are infectious, and are generally caught by children from each other. They are more prevalent in the latter end of winter and the early spring than at any other season of the year. Properly managed, they are seldom fatal; and though we do not recommend an excess of nursing, yet caution is necessary against taking cold. The appearance of the eruptions is usually preceded by alternate chilliness and heat, and by languor and thirst ; these, after three or four days, are followed by sickness at the stomach, fever, cough, running of water from the eyes, and sneezing. The tongue is coated, a bad taste in the mouth, not unlike that of rotten wood, and the dis- charge from the nose is abundant. About the fourth day the eruption itself appears, resembling flea-bites, over the face and body, and particularly about the neck and breast. Many of these spots often run into each other, but never tending to suppuration. The eruption is not so scarlet colored as that of scarlet fever, but is generally slightly elevated above the skin, and has a purple hue. It usually retains its color about four or five days, and then falls into scales resembling bran; some- times, however, it will remain for nine or ten days. If DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 91 there should be any symptoms of a putrid character, any bleediog from different parts of the body, or black spots mixed with the eruptions, the patient is in danger and the physician should be instantly called in. Among the first things to be done in cases of measles, let the patient use the warm foot-bath, open the bowels by castor oil to the extent of three or four motions: a gentle emetic may also be of service. A strong tea made of saffron and snake-root can never be wrong. De- coctions of liquorice, marsh- mallow-roots, and sarsapa- rilla, are always good; so are infusions of linseed, or of the flowers of elder, or balm; clarified whey, and barley-water are all good drinks in such cases; they may be sweetened, if the patient is costive with a little honev. The diet should always be low. Beyond these general directions, nothing m ordinary cases is needed. If, however, the fever should be very high, and the cough very hard, or the whooping cough attends the measles, there is danger in the case. Apply a blister between the shoulders to ease the cough, and ^2 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. send at once for the physician. Always administer a little opening medicine when the disease disappears. SMALL POX. This dreadful disease for many centuries was one of the greatest calamities which visited our world, exciting the utmost alarm, and annually carrying off multitudes of the human family by death. It is now comparatively seldom met with ; and when it does seize here and there a victim, it is by no means so violent and dangerous as formerly. We have no fear of its again carrying off four hundred and fifty thousand in one year from Europe alone. Its vast decrease should inspire gratitude to God in the hearts of all who value beauty, health, and life. As in all cases of small pox there is danger, the physician should be called in as soon as the symptoms present themselves. These symptoms usually are, chills for perhaps several days, followed by fever, frequent vomiting, and soreness in the throat. The flesh is sore, and the bones ache. From the third to the fifth day the eruption begins to appear on the face, neck and breast, in small specks or pimples; the parts where they appear begin to swell, the pimples enlarge, and matter forms in them. They are flat on the top, and when full seem to DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 99 contain milk and water; each one has a small depression in the centre, and determines the positive character of the disease. If delirium attends, the danger is great. Guard carefully against it. If the physician cannot be had, place the feet and legs of the patient in the tepid water bath, and apply mustard poultices to the feet. Keep the patient cool, give him only very light food, such as barley-water, Indian meal gruel, roasted apples, and hasty pudding and milk. Let his drinks be toasted-bread water, currant-jelly water, lemon- ade, or teas made of mint, catnip, balm, or pigweed. If the patient shows exhaustion, by all means administer a little wine, or even brandy and water. As to medicines, a tea may be given made of equal parts of saffron and catnip. But generally speaking, this will not be sufficiently powerful to remove the disease ; so that some physicians, who are generally opposed to calo- mel, recommend it in this particular case. For a child two years old, ten grains of calomel and six grains of jalap should be mixed, divided into three powders, and one given every three hours till they operate freely. Work them off with a little gruel without salt. On the second day powders should be given composed of twelve grains of calomel and six grains of salts of nitre : divide into six powders, and give one every two hours in syrup. "When the pustules begin to dry, repeat one of these prescriptions; or if the patient be very feeble, give M DISEASES OF CHILDREN". only rhubarb and magnesia in the proportion of twelve grains of rhubarb to twenty grains of calcined magnesia, divided into four powders, and one given every four hours. Should any symptoms of stupor appear, recourse must again be had to the calomel. Varioloid is of the same general character as small pox, and is generally treated in the same manner. YACCINATION AND COW-POX. This is really a triumph of medical science over Nature. Art here produces one disease as a preservative against another. What, at first view, could appear more unnatural and dangerous than Vaccination? And yet it has now become an almost universal practice, and has undoubtedly saved the lives of millions. This, too, in the face of the most violent opposition, at first, from a large majority of both physicians and clergymen. In relation to inoculation, the same might be said, both as to Tinnaturalness and the opposition it met with Not only was the whole medical profession opposed to it, but further, as More tells us, in his amusing work on Inoculation, "Some zealous churchmen, conceiving that it was repugnant to religion, thought it their duty to in- terfere. They wrote and preached that Inoculation was DISEASES OF CHILDKEN. 95 a daring attempt to interrupt the eternal decree of Provi dence." Lord Wharncliffe, in his Life of Lady Wortley Montague, says that the clergy descanted from their pulpits on its impiety. A Mr. Massy preached, in 1792, in St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, London, that all who infused the virous ferment were hellish sorcerers^ and that inoculation was a diabolical invention of Satan. And one of the Rectors of Canterbury, the Eev. Theodore de la Faye, perhaps exceeded this in a sermon preached in 1751, for he denounced with horror Inoculation, as the oflfspring of atheism, and drew a touching parallel between the virtue of resignation to the Divine will and ita practice. It is well known that the discovery of Yaccine for cow pox was, as we usually say, accidental. Those engaged in milking cows in Gloucestershire, England, observed, some sixty years ago, that a peculiar eruption was often found on the cows they milked, and that those who were thus en- gaged often took the disease from the cows, which slightly affected them for a few days, after when they entirely recovered; and they also found that those who had what they called the cow pox never had the small pox; but, general as was this conviction, the man who proposed to inoculate such persons for the small pox was treated with ridicule. This first led the very eminent Dr. Jen- ner to make inquiries and experiments, which fully confirmed the fact that the disease of the cow transferred 96 DISEASES OF CHILDREN'. to the human being would act as an almost infallible pre- servative from the small-pox, a fact now universally established. It is not necessary in this place to say much on vacci- nation or its results, as all affectionate parents will be anxious only to have the operation performed on their children by those whose skill in the choice of matter, the proper results, and the judicious treatment of the dis- ease from first to last, can be fully depended on. As there are many mistakes made on this subject, and several spurious kinds of vaccine matter abound, we cannot too strongly urge upon our readers the importance of the most skillful physician who can be obtained, and the greatest care to follow out his counsels. As it has often been said that vaccination, even when properly performed, is not an infallible remedy against small jJox, we may as well state the whole truth of the matter, which is, that a very careful examination has ascertained that about one in a thousand properly vacci- nated afterward take the small pox, always, however, in a mild form ; and that about the same proportion of per- sons have the small pox twice in the natural way. ST. VITUS' DANCE. HIS disease usually attacks young people, especially females, from eight to fifteen years of age. It is a species of convulsions, and evinces itself by languor, indisposition to activity, and long-continued constipation of the bowels. It generally begins by slight tvvitcliings in the fingers and toes; after awhile the face is seized with convulsions, frequently, however, at first only on one side, so that some physicians have considered it rather as a paralytic affection than of the convulsive class. Certain it is, that as it continues, the limbs shake and jerk violently, so that the patient loses all control of them, and even friends are disposed to sport over their calamity. In many instances the voice becomes seriously affected, and swallowing is per- formed with difficulty. With all this, it is found the patient is so strong that two or three persons can scarcely hold him; and fear, love, or joy will greatly aggravate the symptoms. To effect a cure, the stomach must first be thoroughly cleansed. By all means administer au emetic. For an 9 O (97) 98 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. aJult, tbis may be composeJ of ton grains of pulverized ipecacuanha, and three grains ol' tartar emetic. Mix them in nine table-spoonsful of warm walor ; give three table- spoonsful first, and another every fifteen minutes till the patient vomits freely. The day after this emetic has been taken, a purgative should be given to act very freely, such as fifteen grains of calomel, ten grains of powdered rhubarb, and ten grains of Socotrine aloes; mix and divide them into six pills, taking two every two bours, working them off with gruel without salt in it. Dr. Eliotson, of London, says that he has cured this disease by giving two drachms of carbonate of iron in molasses every six hours. A tea made of the Indian hemp-root is very good to allay the nervous irritation of this disease. In order to recovery, all mental excitement must be avoided, and nutritious but light diet used. An occasional tepid foot-bath will be found useful; and tonics are almost always good. WATEEY-HEAD, OR DROPSY OF THE BRAIN. This disease, often called Hydrocephalus, though it sometimes may affect adults, will be seen to be most com- mon in childhood, in whom its symptoms appear almost from birth ; in such cases, it will ultimately prove fatal DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 99 It frequently accompanies or follows teething, disordered bowels, or the sudden healing of ulcers of the head and skin. It usually makes its appearance in a slow fever, violent pains in the head, aud occasional vomiting. Not unfre- quently the bowels become costive ; convulsions or palsy, or sometimes both at the same time, afflict the patient, who has very disturbed sleep, grinds his teeth, picks his nose, squints, and often screams in sleep without apparent cause. To recommend the best remedies the case will admit of is our duty, but it would be unwise to inspire too great a confidence as to recovery. No discovery has yet been made of a cure, though sometimes temporary relief may be gained, and life somewhat prolonged. As soon as the symptoms are decided, secure quiet for the child, use the tepid foot-bath, shave the head, and apply a blister. All this having been done, administer a little common snufi" or hellebore to the nose to procure sneez- ing; then give an emetic according to age. Mustard plasters should be applied to the feet, sufficiently strong to produce a little redness, and a poultice of slippery elm- bark over the whole head, constantly changed before it becomes dry, has often been found useful. Dr. Beach says that he has administered fox-glove or digitalis with advantage. To half a tea-spoonful of the dry herb add a gill of boiling water, and let it stand till it is cold. To 100 DISEASES OF CHILDREN a child from one to two years of age, give a tea-spoonful every two hours during the day, in a table-spoonful of parsley tea. Dr. Vere gives an interesting account of the cure of a child four years of age by the following treatment. He gave a tea-spoonful every two hours through the day of bitter-root, or milkweed, as much in quantity as the stomach would bear, which acted as a diuretic and laxa- tive, and also caused nausea. He used a fomentation for the head composed of two ounces of wormwood, and the same quantity of each of mullein and hops, with one ounce of stramonium mixed with vinegar and water, and used it four or five times a day. At first he gave one dose of antibilious medicine; whenever fever was present the child was bathed with ley- water ; and he applied dry garlic powder to the feet whenever there was pain in iJie head. As a common drink, through the disease, he pre- pared an infusion, in boiling water, of four ounces of amaranthus, and added half a drachm of cream of tartar. When the fever was high, he gave a tea composed of eight parts of amaranthus or crawley, and one part of sweet spirits of nitre. A prompt treatment of this disease should be com- menced as soon as the symptoms decidedly prove its existence. ABSCESS AVITHIN THE EAR. SUALLY, the symptoms of this disease are violent screaming for some minutes, fc t-^ien falling into a short sleep, and waking in an agony of pain. Children are liable to it from "^T" the aare of six months and upward. It is not always attended with fever, nor are the hands and feet cold, neither does the infant draw up its knees toward the abdomen. By these latter symptoms it is to be distin- guished from colic. When these symptoms are found, press the lower part of the ear near the orifice; the child will experience pain. You can often discover a swelling in the ear, and not unfrequently see that matter lias already formed. When the abscess breaks, matter flows out freely, and the child is relieved, falls into a Bweet sleep, and awakes in ease and spirits, but is liable to two or three similar attacks during the next month, till possibly inflammation seizes the bones of the ear, and, if death does not take away the patient, incurable deafness will follow. As soon as you have ascertained the disease, fill the 9* (101) 102 DISEASES OF CHILDREN. ear with cotton wet with laudanum, and frequently re- peat the application. If the fever be high, the patient should be bled; and for a child six mouths old, obtain six grains of calomel, and twenty grains of magnesia; mix and divide them into six powders, and give one three times a day in syrup. Eepeat the doses on the following day. Three or four leeches applied under the ear may be of service. If the disease does not yield in two days, apply a small blister under the ear, and let two or three drops of the juice of a roasted onion be squeezed into the ear; this will sometimes give immediate relief. The onion may be well roasted and made into a poultice, and applied to the external part of the ear. If the abscess should break, wash the whole part with a little lime-water, new milk, and tincture of myrrh, mixed, which should be followed with a little fine soap and water. Stop the ear after this with a little cotton wool, well soaked in a preparation of half a drachm of tincture of myrrh, and the same quan- tity of sweet oil. The bowels must be kept open with gentle medicines, and if the child be weaned, its diet should be entirely vegetable. There are many other diseases to which children are sometimes liable, which may be more properly discussed in the department relating to men and women; partly because they are more frequently found among adults DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 103 than children, but chiefly because they are then more completely developed, and can be spoken of with more confidence. We may add here, that some diseases to which children are occasionally liable we have not de- scribed at all, because they are so complex in their character, that they could be only described in scientifio terms, and can only be treated by well experienced phy- sicians. We have already treated of more diseases peculiar to childhood than have any of our predecessors ; and our readers i.iay be assured, that any other evils to which their children are liable, demand the attention of those who can see the patient, examine his symptoms, and prescribe for his recovery. DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. lET, exercise, and water, are the three things most essential to health; and the abuse of one or the other of these will usually be the foundation of dis- ease. If you would be healthy and happy, study these things well, and by avoiding their excess, secure their friendship. In proceeding to speak, in language as simple as we can employ, and with as much care as the subject de mands, we ask the reader's attention first to — COLDS AND COUGHS. Whenever we hear the common remark, "I am very well, except a cold," wo think of an eminent friend of ours, who used in such cases to reply, " Only a cold! What do you want — the plague?" The cold, especially when attend- ed by a cough, is the forerunner of almost all the diseases fatal to life. The reader would smile were we to attempt a description of a cold or cough, and so we proceed to add (104) DISEASES OF MEN" AND WOMEN. 105 to the thousand remedies of which the said reader has a thousand times heard. On the first day of taking a cold, there is a very un- pleasant sensation of chilliness. The moment you observe this, go to your room and stay there; keeping it at such a temperature as will entirely prevent this chilly feeling, even if it requires a hundred degrees of Fahrenheit. In addition, put your feet in a foot-bath, as already de- scribed, as hot as you can bear it, adding hotter water from time to time for a quarter of an hour, so that the water shall be hotter when you take your feet out than when you put them in it; then dry them thoroughly, and put on warm, thick woolen stockings, even if it be in summer, for summer colds are the most dangerous; and for twenty-four hours eat not an atom of food ; but drink as largely as you desire of any kind of warm teas; and at the end of that time, if not sooner, the cold will probably be effectually broken, without any medicine whatever. Cold is the sudden check given to the natural perspi- ration of the body, and therefore caution should be used as to clothing, exercise, sitting in draughts of air, and whatever else common sense tells us produces the evil Flannel should always be worn next to the skin, and the daily use of the cold or tepid-bath would often prevent a cold. By no means neglect a cold. Eepeat the tepid or the hot bath every night till the object be accomplished; 106 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. take regular exercise, but avoid unwholesome air; secure a free perspiration by the use everj night of warm hoar- hound or boneset tea, which may be drank cold, freely, through the day. Avoid suppers, except it be a basin of simple gruel and bread, and let all your food be light. We close with two or three simple remedies for coughs : — Take the yolks of two fresh eggs, beat them well up in a basin, then add a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, and beat them together; in an- other vessel mix a wine-glass- ful of white- wine vinegar, and the juice of two large lemons • stir all these ingredients up, mix them, and put the whole in a bottle and cork it close. It is fit for use immediately ; take a table-spoonful when the cough is troublesome. Dr. Eiadore, speaking of the use of alum in bronchial catarrh, says that he has known it to arrest the most violent attacks of cough, in many instances, in a few minutes. The proper dose is a scruple or half a drachm lump, dissolved gradually in the mouth, and then swal lowed occasionally. HOAKHOHND. DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 107 Many persons have found relief in colds and coughs from the moderate use of ipecacuanha lozenges, to be obtained at the confectioner's store, and whicli are pleas- ant even to the palate of a child. Or, if a vegetable medicine be preferred, take a tea made of slippery elm- bark, or flax-seed, or bran. These may be used either separately or together. A little lemon juice may be" added, and the whole sweetened with sugar or honey. In the same manner may be taken the root of the Indian turnip. INFLUENZA, OR CATARRH. This is an epidemic arising usually from a common neglected cold. It often affects at one time the vast majority of the inhabitants of a whole neighborhood, and is frequently fatal to a greater extent than the cholera. The very first indication of a cold having been taken should therefore be attended to. If there be fever, ac- companied with the sensation of weight, and pain in the head, soreness and rawness of the throat, oppression of the chest, and great debility ; if there be a difficulty of breathing, a considerable discharge from the nose, and difficulty of expectoration, lay aside all labor, and go to a warm bedchamber, and stay there till you have recov- ered your usual health. 108 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOSIEN. For many years all the physicians recommended a very low diet, and a great deal of medicine. Modern discoveries have shown that thousands have been thus destroyed ; and excepting where there is much fever, the chief prescription at present is, a generous diet, such as a fried beefsteak full of its gravy, and a glass of port wine with it; but if there be high fever, such a diet brings death; perhaps immediate, or possibly leading on to consumption or asthma. The diet must then be mode- rate, and chiefly of vegetables. Vegetable soup, well made by a skillful cook, in this disease is invaluable. If medicine be necessary, which, perliaps may not be the case if you at once use the hot bath every other day, or oftener if needful, take a tea-spoonful every morning of the syrup of ipecacuanha; and if the cough be trouble- some, tbe same quantity of the syrup of white poppy may be given. Or, take equal parts of vinegar and water, to which add some capsicum to make it thoroughly warm, and take a tea-spoonful whenever the cough is trouble- some. The bowels must be kept moderately open. CONSUMPTION. "When it is remembered that nearly half the human family die from the various kinds of this disease, it will DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 109 be seen to be of vast importance, duly to consider its symptoms, and to study its best remedies. On a careful examination, the lungs will be found full of innumerable little boles, like a sponge. These holes are the cells into which the air enters when we breathe. So great is their number that they have been calculated to amount to one hundred and seventy-four millions^ forming a surface thirty times greater than that of the human body. Every one of these cells is provided with a net- work of vessels, by means of which the blood is brought into immediate con- tact with the air over every portion of their surface. When this great amount is taken into consideration, we shall feel how necessary it is to supply pure air to the lungs with every breath we draw, as well as to guard them from great and sudden colds, which we have already said are usually the forerunners of consumption; though it must be admitted that in some instances there is a strong hereditary tendency to it, and that in others it results from dissipated habits. These facts should surely induce caution. Tens of thousands of our beautiful girls lead themselves to this disease and to the grave by thin shoes, exciting amusements, tight-lacing, close rooms, and want of open-air exercise. On the subject of preservation from consumption, or attacking it in its incipient stages. Dr. W. Hall has some very sensible remarks, which we will transcribe. He says : — 10 110 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. "If you have actual consumption, or are merely threat ened with it; or if, from some of your relatives having died with it, you have unpleasant apprehensions of its lurking in your own body; or whether, from a diseased liver or disordered stomach, or a dyspeptic condition of the system, the foundations of the dreadful disease are being laid in your own person; or whether, by exposure, by over bodily exertion or mental labor, or wasting cares for the present, or anxieties for the future, or by hugging sharp-pointed memories of the past, or by intemperate living in eating or drinking, or by unwise habits or prac- tices in life, you have originated in your own person the ordinary precursors of consumption, such as a hacking cough, pains in the breast, chilliness, wasting of flesh and strength, shortness of breath on exercise — under all those circumstances a proper attention to air and exercise are indispensable aids — are among the principal, essential means of cure, and are never to be dispensed with ; con- finement to the regulated temperature of a room in any latitude is certain death, if persevered in; and if, from any cause, this air and exercise are not practicable to you, except to a limited extent, it is your misfortune; your not being able to employ them does not make them the less necessary, and they have no substitutes P It is important, however, in this matter to avoid ex- tremes. Hence our author goes on to say, " You will never fail to find that whenever you overdo yourself] in DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. Ill the way of exercise, you will feel the worse after it. The exercise must be adapted to the strength, and the rule is imperative under all circumstances. Stop short of fatigue. This applies to mental as well as to bodily operations. But if you say, as many others have said and died, ' I can't help it,' then you must take the consequences and responsibility. If you do not use the means of health, you cannot be cured. If you really and truly cannot use them, that inability does not alter the necessity of their observance, nor the effect of their neglect. "Have, if possible, an hour's active, cheerful, willing, out-door exercise thrice a day; this is many times better than three hours' continuous exercise. If you walk, oi leave the house, before breakfast, eat first a cracker or crust of bread. Avoid, during warm weather, in the South and West, and in level or damp situations, the out-door air, including the hour about sunrise and sunset. There is no danger usually, even to invalids, in exercis- ing in the night air, if it be sufficiently vigorous to keep off a feeling of chilliness. This should be the rule in all forms of out-door exercise, and is an infallible preventive, as far as my experience extends, against taking cold in any and all weathers, provided it be not continued to over- exhaustion or decided fatigue. Such exercise never can give a cold, whether in rain, or sleet, or snow, unless there be some great peculiarity in the constitution. It is the conduct after exercise which gives the cold; it is 112 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. the getting cool too quick, by standing or sitting still in a draft of air, or open window, or cold room. The only precaution needed is, to end the exercise in a room of temperature uncomfortably warm when first entered, and there remain until rested and no moisture is observed on the surface. "If working or walking cause actual fatigue, then horseback exercise is the next best for both sexes ; but if not able, then ride in a close carriage, especially in cold weather, or when there is a damp raw wind blowing." Dr. Culverwell, in his valuable work on " The Diseases of Winter,^^ has some very sensible remarks on averting disease, which ought to be more extensively known than they are at present. He says that — "By proper diet we repair the constantly wasting structures of the body. "By proper air, we vivify the blood into which diet is converted. " By proper exercise, we promote the necessary circula- tion of the blood. "By proper sleep, repose is afforded to the exhausted powers of the body. " By proper clothing, we protect the frame from external injury. "By proper recreation, that gentle relief is imparted to the nervous manifestations which the cares of life tend to depress." DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 113 A departure from a practical regard to these facts will assuredly bring its own punishment, while attention to them brings health, arrests disease, and diffuses over the spirits a happy serenity which nothing else can impart, excepting that religion which has the infinitely benevolent Being for its author, and which has itself enjoined the laws of health as a condition of its full enjoyment. These counsels, applicable to every class of persons, are especially so to those who are at all inclined to a dis- ease which, when deeply seated, has hitherto bidden defiance to the medical skill of the world. By care and constant attention it may be long delayed, or possibly its current, when first threatened, may be averted ; but the lungs really affected, can never be radically healed. Eeader, beware! We have already indicated both the causes and the symptoms of consumption. All extremes must be avoided, and both body and mind kept serenely cheerful. The cold or tepid bath should be used twice or three times a week, at the discretion of the patient himself; the food should be always light and nutritious; and the bowels must be kept gently open. Milk and ripe fruits may be moderately used, but tea and coffee should be avoided. Change of air is of great service, provided ex- tremes are avoided. We have known serious evils arise from going from a cold country to a very warm one for the cure of consumption. Instead of accomplishing its 10* H 114 DISEASES OF MEN AXP WOMEN. purpose, it has hastened death. Keeping up the spirits is of vast importance, but the confidence of recovery is often delusive. It will have already been observed that we have re- commended no course of medicine in this disease. Our difficulty in this case does not arise from the fact that no remedies have been prescribed, or that we have not used many of them. Inhalation, cod-liver oil, and a thou- sand other remedies have been recommended ; but while the patient may seek relief by simple means, we recom- mend him to place himself under the care of a skillful physician, who will deal with each separate case accord- ing to its peculiar characteristics. If, however, the physician cannot be obtained, or if the hopefulness of the patient leads him to make a trial of the best remedies for himself, we would recommend him to put a small quantity of tar into a coffee-pot or earthen vessel, and having heated it, inhale the fumes from the spout. This will allay the violence of the cough, and produce a copious discharge of mucus or matter. You may also properly, in a similar way, inhale the steam of vinegar and water several times during the day. The common ipecacuanha lozenges of the confectioner may be taken with advantage ; and we have known great benefit follow taking twelve or fifteen drops of the elixir of vitriol, in sweetened water, twice a day. A strength- ening plaster between the shoulders is always useful; and DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 115 for night perspirations a drachrn each of sulphuric acid and nitric acid may be mixed in a tea-cupful of water, and a tea-spoonful should be taken in a pint of cold sage tea during the day. Strong chamomile tea has been often drank with ad- vantage in this disease; so also has a decoction of common polypody and liverwort, taken freely through the day. The yolk of an egg beat up with a table-spoonful of honey and the same quan- tity of tar mixed in milk, may be taken once or twice a day. A decoction of elecam- pane, about a wine-glassful at a time, once a day, has been found very useful in this disease, especially among females, and par- ticularly when the menses have been suppressed. ELSCAUPAHa. ASTHMA. The symptoms of this disease are, that it most fre- quently comes on in the night, being often preceded by 116 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. general debility ; it is attended with indigestion, heart- burn, wind, itching of the skin, pain over the eyes, and sleepiness. The patient is usually oppressed with tight- ness of the chest, which so impedes his breathing, that he seems threatened with an extinction of life. He starts up into an erect posture, and runs to the window for aid; he breathes only by gasps, and makes a wheezing noise; speaks with difficulty, and feels a propensity to coughing. To- ward morning, probably, the paroxysm goes slowly off, but the liability of its frequent re- turn is very great. Bleeding has often been strongly recommended in this disease; but in almost every case, it is highly improper: and the pulse must be very full indeed to justify it at all. As soon as the symptoms ap- pear, assume the erect form, place the feet in warm water, and take a decoction of catnip or pennyroyal to produce a gentle perspiration. If these do not ease the patient, and he feels a sense of suffocation, let him take a table- spoonful of the tincture of lobelia, in a cup of warm tea BEXECA SiNAKE-KOOT. DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN 117 every half hour; this remedy has often accomplished surprising cures. Inhale the steam of hot vinegar from the spout of a coffee or tea-pot. Another remedy strongly recommended, is to stew over a slow fire half an ounce of seneca snake-root well bruised with a hammer, in a pint of water, till it is reduced to half a pint; of this preparation take a table-spoonful every ten or fifteen minutes, and drink a small glass of warm toddy. Tha feet may also with advantage be bathed with the toddy. The disease more frequently attacks men than women, and earnestly would we recommend them to sleep on hard mattresses, to eat raw eggs, to climb the steepest hills, and frequently to breathe the mountain air. Mustard seed should be taken twice a day in tea or broth, a tea-spoon- ful at a time, morning and evening. By the regular usa of this remedy Baron Brady says he cured himself of asthma of more than twenty years' standing. Smoking tobacco has sometimes given relief in cases of asthma; and for such a purpose its use may be allowed. It scarcely needs to be said that the food should be light and nutritious, that the clothing should be warm, and that damp houses and damp air should be carefully avoided. Ginger tea, acidulated water, and good Mocha coffee may be drank by the patient; but all fruits, except oranges, should be avoided. DEOPSY. fiT has been much disputed of late years ^jfl IjM whether this is itself a disease, or but the symptom of some other malady lurking in the system. It is, at all events, exceedingly dangerous, and not to be neglected. It is a collection of water in the human body, arising usually from ex- treme debility. Sometimes it is hereditary, at others it is brought on by excessive drinking, high living, seden- tary habits, want of exercise, or improper medical treat- ment. It is most frequently found in low damp neigh- borhoods, and prevails chiefly in the winter season. The commencement of dropsy is usually the swelling of the feet and ancles at night, passing away in the morn- ing; the swelling gradually ascends, and fills the body, and perhaps even the head ; in the latter case it is called hydrocephalus. In this form we have already spoken of it in connection with children, under the proper head. In dropsy the breathing generally becomes difficult, the urine is only found in small quantity, the thirst is great, perspiration is greatly obstructed, and the bowels suffer (118) DLSEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 119 from costiveness. These symptoms are followed with torpor, a slow wasting fever, and a troublesome cough, which latter is usually a proof of the lungs being fatally diseased. When indications of this disease begin to appear, the patient should at once abstain from drinking, especially such things as weak and watery liquors, and should quench his thirst with mustard-whey, the juice of lemons, oranges, or a decoction made of sorrel. Recourse should be had to dry stimulating food, and such as shall be of a diuretic character. We may mention such things as toasted bread, the flesh of wild birds or animals well roasted, and such vegetables as mustard, cresses, horse- radish, slialots, etc. A little sea biscuit dipped in wine or a little brandy, will sometimes be useful, both as a nourishment and as a stimulant. Beer boiled with juniper berries is much used in Germany by dropsical patients. Exercise is essential in these cases, such as walking or digging, if possible, if not on horseback. The bed of the patient should be a hard mattress, and the air of his apartments warm and dry. He should wear flannel next to his skin, and rub his whole body two or three times a day with a flesh-brush, or a coarse dry towel. As to medical treatment, this should vary according to the constitution of the patient, the variations of his symp- toms, and other circumstances. Dr. Benjamin Rush strongly recommended bleeding, as he believed the dis- 120 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. ease to be inflammatory. In almost every case sharp emetics and purgatives are very important. Let the adult patient take as an emetic, half a drachm of ipecac- uanha in powder, and half an ounce of oxymel of squills carefully mixed. This may be repeated as often as may be found necessary, two or three days intervening be- tween the doses. Take a cup or two of chamomile tea to work it off. In the intervening days, take early in the morning half a drachm of jalap in powder, two drachms of cream of tartar, and five grains of calomel. If this purge should gripe the bowels, a little chicken broth will be useful. An ounce of cream of tartar dissolved in a gallon of water may be taken at in- tervals during the day. To promote perspiration, an adult may take every night ^"•'^°'^- at bed-time, four or five grains of camphor, one grain of opium, and as much syrup of orange-peel as is sufficient to make them into a bolus. During the niglit he may also take a small cup of wine-whey, with a tea-spoonful of the spirits of harts- horn in it. DISEASES OF WEN AND WOMEN. 121 Many remarkable cures of dropsy have been effected by using a decoction of burdock ; which is made by boil- ing two ounces of the fresh root in three pints of water till reduced to two, which should be drank in the course of two days. Dr. Thornton says he has known it to cure dropsy where other more powerful medicines had failed. The secretion of urine may also be greatly promoted by taking a drachm of nitre every morning in a cupful of ale. The bark of the elder is also of great use in this disease. Take two handsful of the green or inner bark of the common or white elder; steep them in two quarts of Lisbon, Teneriflfe, or Madeira wine twenty-four hours, and take a gill or more, as the stomach will bear it, every morning. When the disease will not yield to any of these reme- dies, but tapping becomes necessary, the physician must be called in; and this should not be too long delayed, as the operation is simple and safe, and in connection with the course we have prescribed, will generally prove suc- cessful, if the disease be attended to in time. GOUT No disease so readily excites a smile on the part of friends as the gout. This arises from the fact that when 11 122 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. it is not hereditary, it arises from idleness and excess in eating and drinking. Every one, therefore, will perceive that the grand preservatives are exercise and temperance. Nor is it unimportant to guard those who are liable to its agonies against excessive study, night-watching, and violent grief. A fit of the gout is generally preceded by indigestion, drowsiness, eructations of wind, headache, and sometimes vomiting. The appetite, for a day or two before the attack, is usually very keen; there is a slight pain in passing the urine, and more or less of fever The disease usually commences in the night, when the patient is seized with pains in his great toe, this spreads among the small bones of his foot, and reaches the heeh By this time he can only describe his pain as including all the torture which can be possibly imagined. He is stretched on a rack, burnt, squeezed, gnawed, and almost torn in pieces. After enduring all this for some twenty-four hours, he falls asleep; the part swells, appears red, be- comes moist, and the patient sleeps in a gentle perspira- tion for several hours. Toward night, however, the paroxysm returns, and he must suffer till the various evacuations carry ojff the disease. Alas, that no speedy remedy can be prescribed in this case. "Patience and new flannel," as the old people used to say, " furnish the best relief." Lamb-skin slippers and gloves, with the wool turned inward, should also be used DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 123 All external applications which repel the matter must be avoided as fatally dangerous. The food taken must be light and nutritious, but not too much unlike the gene- ral habits of the patient. A glass of wine may be occasionally taken, but a tea-spoonful of the spirits of hartshorn drank in a cupful of wine- whey twice a day will be better. At bed-time a tea-spoonful of the volatile tincture of guaiacum should be taken in a large draught of warm wine- whey. This will greatly promote perspi- ration, the most valuable of all remedies for gout. The bowels must be kept open by gentle laxatives, and the mind must be preserved from anxiety. Earnestly would we recommend our gouty friends, when they once recover from this agonizing disease, to guard against its return by constant exercise, fresh air, temperate habits, and frequently taking a decoction of Peruvian bark, cinnamon, Virginian snake-root, and orange-peel. EHEUMATISM. Much we have already said in connection with gout applies also to rheumatism. Its symptoms are similar. It often commences with chills followed by fever, attended with hard, full, and quick pulse, and obstinate constipa- 124 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. tion of the bowels. It generally attacks the joints with great pain, and is sometimes attended with inflammation and swelling. The pain shoots along the courses of the muscles, and often changes its seat. The tongue is white, the urine high colored, and the fever is sometimes fol- lowed by profuse perspiration. Physicians have dis- tinguished the disease into acute and chronic; that is to say, with or without a fever This disease is brought on by an obstructed perspira- tion, caused by exposure to cold and wet, by sleeping in damp beds or in a current of air, exposure to night air, by an improper change from a heavy to a ligbt dress, by excessive evacuations, or an injudicious use of ardent spirits or mercury. Inflammatory rheumatism must be treated very much as an acute fever. If the patient be young and vigorous, he should be bled ; and if necessary, the operation should be repeated after the lapse of some twenty hours. A purgative should then be given: for an adult person, take fifteen grains of calomel and twenty grains of jalap ; mix them well together in any kind of syrup, or in sugar and water ; after which the patient should take gruel, or warm balm, sage, or dittany tea, to produce, if possible, a gentle moisture on the skin. After the proper evacuations, the patient should use the tepid bath, or cloths dipped in hot water may be applied to his body, great care being exer- cised lest he take cold. He should also take, for a few DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 125 nights, in a cup of wine- whey, a drachm of the cream of tartar, and half a drachm of gum guaiacum in powder. The chronic rheumatism is not attended with much fever, and is generally confined to some particular part of the body, having little inflammation or swelling. A little powdered Indian turnip taken once or twice a day in honey, or sugar and water, is an excellent remedy in this disease. If the patient, by the long continuance of the disease, has become greatly debilitated, he should use tonic medicines to stimulate the system. Dogwood bark, wild cherry-tree bark, and poplar bark, in equal quan- tities, may be made into a tea, and a wine-glassful be taken three times a day. Eight or ten drops of elixir of vitriol, in a wine-glass of water, may be taken three times a day with advantage. Mustard or horseradish should be taken by the patient with his food; and above all things, he should wear warm clothing and frequently use the flesh-brush. 11* IMDIAK TUBNIP. LUMBAGO. HEONIC rheumatism in the lumbar region, or loins, is called lumbago, and gives so much pain that the patient can scarcely stand upright ; nor is he easier, even when in bed. When this pain attacks the hip-joint, it takes the name, of Sciatica. In both cases the treatment must be the same. Blisters have been strongly recommended, and may often be used with advantage; as may also the external use of turpentine and the essen- tial oil of sassafras, mixed with guaiacum. If these fail, the part may be bathed with the tincture of capsicum, or Cayenne pepper; when the pain is removed, let a strength- ening plaster be applied. The tepid-bath in these cases is invaluable, and we pre- fer it to any other. Some physicians, however, have preferred the cold bath as the best means of preventing its recurrence ; for which purpose, also flannel should always be worn next the skin. a26) ERYSIPELAS, OR ST. ANTHONY'S FIRE ^»t» HIS disease generally arises from cold taken after the body has been greatly heated, as from sleeping on damp ground after severe exercise. Some- times it follows violent passions, or the obstructions of the natural evacua- tions. Its usual symptoms are an inflammation on some part of the skin, accompanied with violent heat, pain, and a scarlet color. Not unfrequently the patient is very drowsy, and complains of an itching sensation and great thirst. Erysipelas is a disease which often rapidly extends it- self. Commencing with a single blotch, it will sometimes soon cover the whole body, making the skin shine, and producing so much pain that the patient cannot bear to be touched. The disease often entirely changes, leaving one part of the body for another. When it attacks the face and head, and produces considerable swelling, the case becomes daugerous; though it is less frequently fatal in this country than in some parts of Europe. On an attack of this disease, let the patient at once use the tepid foot-bath, and take aperient medicine. This (127) 128 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. may be composed of salts, senna, and a few grains of calomel. An emetic is sometimes necessary to cleanse the system. Take equal quantities of antimonial wine and sweet spirits of nitre, in doses of a tea-spoonful in a glass of cold water. Sprinkle the body with fine starch or wheaten flour, which will greatly assist to allay the irritation ; or a tea-spoonful of sugar of lead dissolved in a pint and a half of cold water may be used to wash the body twice or three times a day. If the disease does not abate, the patient should be bled ; but by all means avoid the common poultices. Many physicians contend that erysipelas is contagious ; it is therefore important not to sleep with the patient, nor idly to visit such who are thus afflicted. The New Haven Palladium records a case of the com plete cure of erysipelas by the simple application of raw cranberries, pounded fine. The patient was a young lady, one side of whose face had become so swollen and in- flamed, that the eye had become closed and the pain ex- cessive. A poultice of cranberries was applied ; and, after several changes, the pain ceased, the inflammation sub sided, and, in the course of a couple of days, every vestige of the disease had disappeared. Every one must see that the food and drink of the patient should be light and cooling; in the event, however, of the spirits being low, and there be great exhaustion of strength, a little wine or other cordial* may be given DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 129 in gruel or sago, great care being taken that the sufferer be not over -heated. CRAMP. Few diseases less need description than this. It is a painful spasm of the calf of the leg, the muscles of the toes, or the organs of the stomach. Its usual causes are indigestion, irritation, debility, or sometimes only the sudden stretching of the limbs. If the cramp be seated in the legs, it is often relieved by simply standing up, which act, by throwing the weight of the body on the toes, forcibly extends the muscles, and thus removes the spasm. If the disease arise from indigestion, or acidity of the stomach, a pill should be given every night composed of half a grain of opium, six grains of rhubarb, and the same quantity of prepared chalk. Ten grains of the rust of steel should also be given every morning and noon. Cramp of the stomach should not be neglected for a moment, as it is highly dangerous. It most frequently prevails arrong the aged, the nervous, and the gouty. The patient is often disposed to vomit, and let this be carefully encouraged by copious draughts of warm water, or weak chamomile tea, till the stomach is perfectly 130 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. cleansed. Foment the stomach with cloths dipped in hot water, or apply to it bladders filled with hot milk and water. An infusion of red pepper may be given, or a dose of ether or laudanum. Tlie anodyne balsam may also be rubbed on the part affected, which should be accom- panied with friction, either by a flesh-brush or flannel. And when all these remedies fail, a copious bleeding may possibly remove the spasm. Blistering or mustard plasters may be applied to the ankles; and the bowels must be kept well open. Persons liable to the cramp should wear stockings by night as well as by day, and should occasionally rub the part liable to disease with camphorated oil. Cramp often attacks women in their legs and thighs about the fourth month of pregnancy, or even later. It would be wise, when it can be done, to consult a physician; but if this cannot be, let the patient take a cooling purge of salts, or some powdered sulphur. Let the parts be rubbed with cold vinegar, or with camphor dissolved in oil. Be very careful to avoid all food difficult of digestion. CHOLERA MOEBUS. This disease is a violent purging and vomiting of bilious matter, attended with gripes, thirst, sickness, and DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 131 a constant wish to visit the water-closet. It is most fre- quent in autumn, and comes on suddenly; in warm climates it is prevalent more or less through the whole year, though sudden transition from heat to cold is the most dangerous occasion for its power. It is brought on by the redundancy of bile, eating indigestible food or un- ripe and cold fruits. Damp air, wet feet, poisons, or violent passions are the causes for its existence. It is generally preceded by heartburn, flatulence, and pain of the stomach and bowels ; and as the disease advances, the pulse often sinks so low as to be imperceptible; the extremities are cold, and often covered with a clammy sweat; the urine is obstructed, and there is palpitation of the heart. The reader will readily see that these are dangerous symptoms, especially when they are followed by violent hiccupping, fainting, and convulsions ; these latter indeed are the sad signs of approaching death. In the treatment of this disease no time should be lost. The efforts of nature to throw off the offensive matter must be aided. Let the patient drink freely of whey, warm water, barley-water, thin water-gruel, or, what is better still, weak chicken broth. Apply to the stomach hot cloths dipped in a decoction of poppy-heads slightly bruised, with the addition of one-fourth of the spirits of camphor; renewing the cloths as they become cold. Or a little opium may be used as an external embrocation. 132 DISEASES OF MEN AND "VTOMEN. In addition to these apply a warm poultice made of garden mint well stewed; or a poultice made of mustard and strong vinegar, applied to the stomach, will be found of great service. In due time the vomiting may be stopped by a decoction of toasted oat-bread. The bread should be toasted till it is of a brown color, and then boiled in spring water. If this cannot be had, wheat bread or oat- meal may be used in its stead. If this does not stop the vomiting and purging, two table-spoonsful of saline julep with ten drops of laudanum may be taken every hour. The evacuations, however, should not be stopped till the patient begins to feel weak. Nourishing diet should be taken by the patient ; and a little wine with any kind of bitters ought to be taken once or twice a day ; or a wine glass of cold chamomile tea, three or four times a day ; or ten drops of elixir of vitriol three times a day; or tea made of black, or Vir- ginia snake-root. Flannel ought to be worn next the skin of the patient, and the warm bath should never be forgotten. MALIGNANT CHOLERA. Scarcely any disease has, within our remembrance been so awfully fatal as this. Tens of thousands have risea DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 133 in the morning in health, and have been literally laid in their graves before midnight. Long did it altogether bid defiance to medicine — and though far more have been saved from its fatal results in later years than formerly, even still the most eminent physicians are not fully agreed either as to its origin, its peculiar character, or the best method of its cure. Unquestionably the best means of preservation from it are temperance, cleanliness, and regularity of habits; and yet in thousands of cases, even those most distinguished for these things have fallen as its victims. We suspect, however, that in all cases the cholera distinguished as Asiatic or epidemic, has seized persons who have belonged to one of the classes we have named, or who have been marked by nervous debility, timid and fearful. Unquestionably the best preservatives against the disease are pure air, good substantial living, temperate habits, strict cleanliness, and a tranquil mind. Those attacked with cholera complain of weakness, as though they had been greatly fatigued with labor. They often feel, for a short period, uneasiness in the stomach, though not so severe as to create alarm. The bowels are acted on, probably, from two to twelve times a day, though without any considerable pain; the countenance looks sharp, and there is sometimes felt a little sickness at the stomach. These symptoms are frequently neglect- ed by those who have not been accustomed to see the disease, and witb no very great changes, last some eight 12 134 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. or ten dajs. As tlie evacuations of the bowels continue, they increase, and become less natural in their color, till thej resemble dirty water. This is succeeded by head- ache, cramp of the toes, fingers, and stomach, swimming of the head, and ringing in the ears. Sometimes the bowels, for two or three days, become costive, and then the looseness we have already described returns with sickness at the stomach and vomiting. Every one must see that the most able physician should in cases like these be at once sent for. If neglected hitherto, the symptoms become still more dangerous. The patient feels faint, the skin becomes cold, moving the limbs seems impossible, the lips, the nails, (and sometimes the whole body) become blue, the feet and hands assume a sodden appearance, and the skin seems really dead. The whole system appears unnatural, very little urine, bile, or saliva is secreted; the breath is quite cold, and the evacuations of the bowels resemble rice-water. Withal the mind maintains clearness and calmness. Even this slight sketch will present to the reader a horrid picture; yet Dr. Annesley, whose experience in India, when this epidemic was awfully prevalent, tells us that if it be taken at its commencement, or within an hour after the disorder attacks you, it is as manageable as any other acute disease; but the rapidity with which it often runs through its course, requires the most active DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 135 exertions before it can be checked, and the loss of an hour may cause the loss of life. Let the patient be put into a warm bath, and while there bled freely from the arm; then let him be put quietly into a warm bed, and the flow of blood from the arm encouraged by friction, or the application of cloths wrung in hot water applied to the part. This treatment of itself has often effected a cure, but not less than from twenty to thirty ounces of blood should be thus taken, even though the pulse at the beginning of the bleeding may have been very low. Mustard plasters should be applied to the feet, or bags of hot sand or mush; and brandy or other spirits, such as wine or hartshorn, should be given internally to stimu- late the system. Turpentine may be used with advantage externally, and some twenty or twenty-five grains of calomel taken internally. The body should be almost constantly rubbed with a warm hand or flannel, and sprinkled occasionally with a little camphorated oil, or powdered starch. Warmth is essential to recovery, and some physicians strongly recommend opium, which must only be administered by medical skill. Other remedies have often been found useful. When the stomach is too weak to bear spirits, give a strong decoction of cloves, or cinnamon, of ginger or Cayenne pepper, say a table-spoonful every half hour. We have known a preparation very useful composed of three table- 136 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. spoonsful of Cayenne pepper and two table-spoonsful of fine salt beat well together, and then put into half a pint of boiling water. "When cold, strain off the infusion, and add to it an equal quantity of strong vinegar. Give a table-spoonful every half hour. If the patient happily should recover, extreme care "will be necessary, for he will long be in danger of a re- lapse. Let him not act as though he were ivell too soon. Let him be very cautious of an early return to solid food ; but live for a while on gruel, soups, mush and milk, rice, and chocolate. Garden vegetables, except white potatoes, should be avoided. DIARRHOEA. This can only be regarded as a disease when it goes to an extreme; otherwise it is a healthy evacuation, pressed on by nature to free itself from a load which has become oppressive. Every one knows that diarrhoea itself is a violent purging without fever or pain ; usually, however, attended with loss of appetite. It more frequently pre- vails among the aged, the intemperate, and those of weak constitutions. Not a few persons are constitutionally liable to its attacks, but in no case is it contagious. The general causes of diarrhoea are the use of acid DISEASES OF MEN" AND WOMEN. 137 focd or drinks, the accumulation of bile, obstructed per- spiration, drinking bad water, worms, or indulgence in violent passions. Its proper treatment must be governed as much as possible by the cause wbich produced it. If it arises from a cold or obstructed perspiration, let the pa- tient keep warm, drink freely of weak diluting liquors, use the tepid foot- bath, and wear flannel next to the skin. A little snake-root tea will also be found useful. If the disease be attended with griping, make a de- coction of garden mint, in which, while quite hot, cloths should be wrung, and applied to the stom- ach. In all cases of diar- rhoea, friction, or the use of the flesh-brush, should be frequently resorted to. We have known very speedy relief in a case of thia kind by twelve drops of laudanum given in half a gill of the best brandy ; or what is better, if it can be obtained, in spirituous cinnamon-water. If it should fail in the 12* PENNTKOTAU 138 DISEASES OF MEN AND "WOMEN. first instance, it may be repeated in about an hour after the first dose. "When the disease arises from excess or repletion, an emetic composed of half a drachm of ipecacuanha may be given, -which should be well worked off by warm water or very thin gruel. A day or two after this emetic baa been taken, if the looseness still continues, half a drachm of rhubarb may be taken once or twice a day. If diar- rhoea arises from worms, the remedies we have prescribed under that head should be used. And should it origi- nate in violent passions, neither emetics or purgative medicines are proper, excepting in extremely small doses. Ten drops of liquid laudanum, may be taken in a cup oi valerian or pennyroyal tea, every eight or ten hours, till the symptoms abate. In obstinate cases, the jelly of slippery-elm and blackberry, in equal parts, may be ad- vantageously used, especially if mixed with a little powdered ginger or cinnamon. Every reader will see the propriety of care as to diet. Avoid all indigestible food and acid fruits or drink. Arrow-root, sago, rice milk, a boiled chicken, or a lightly broiled mutton-chop may be sometimes allowed; and if a stimulant be needed, infuse into a little water a tea-spoon- ful or two of French or Catawba brandy without sugar. Above all avoid wet feet, take moderate exercise, wear flannel next the skin, and keep the mind tranquil and quiet. DYSENTEEY. HIS disease is most prevalent in marsliy places, where, after hot or dry summers, it often becomes epidemic. Those who are exposed to night air, who reside in damp and close houses, or are confined in the holds of ships, in hospitals or in jails, are most frequently exposed to its attacks. It is sometimes caused by the same means which bring on diarrhoea; such as damp beds, wet clothes, unwholesome food, etc., as well as by violent cathartics, unripe fruit, and, indeed, whatever increases the natural irritability of the intestines. But it is most frequently communicated by infection, which should induce great caution in approaching those who are thus afflicted. Dysentery is usually first indicated by cold shiverings and fever; the diseases of the bowels first show themselves, such as costiveness, flatulence, severe gripings, frequent wishes to visit the water-closet, though nothing is evacua- ted but slime and blood, or a fluid resembling beef- brine. These symptoms are attended by loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, quick and weak pulse, burning heat, and intolerable bearing down of the secret parts, dry skin, some- (139) 140 DISEASES OF MEN AND WO:\tEN. times livid spots on the breast, usually followed in such cases with a fatal termination. After a few days' con- tinuance of this disease, the evacuations of the bowels become a mixture of blood and matter; and the severe pain arising from straining to evacuate, will often pro- duce a rupture in the bowels, causing agonizing torture. If the patient have a moist skin, sediment in his urine, and a good share of strength during the disease, he mav rejoice in favorable symptoms. If the patient be hale and vigorous when the disease attacks him, the loss of a little blood, especially if there is much fever, will be of great service ; but if there ex- ists much weakness, bleeding must not be resorted to. Give the adult patient, first of all, half a drachm of ipecacuanha in powder, to cleanse the stomach, working it off with weak chamomile tea. When this has ceased, take one ounce of Epsom salts, half an ounce of manna, and two and a half ounces each of warm water and pep- permint-water, and give four table-spoonsful three or four times a day; or if the patient prefer it, let him take one ounce of castor oil in one dose. If these remedies do not succeed, give the patient four times a day a piece, about the size of a nutmeg, of the extract of catechu, drinking after it a tea-cupful of the decoction of logwood. The tepid bath will be found of great service in this disease. Another excellent remedy for dysentery, which com- DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 141 mends itself, botli by its simplicity, and by tbe fact that its ingredients are at every body's command, at almost any hour, may be thus prepared : — Take one table-spoonful of common salt and mix it with two table-spoonsful of vinegar, and pour upon it a half pint of water, either hot or cold, only let it be taken cold. A wine-glassful of this mixture in the above pro- portions, taken every half hour, will be found quite effica- cious in curing dysentery. If the stomach be nauseated, a wine-glassful taken every hour will suffice. For a child, the quantity should be a tea-spoonful of salt and one of vinegar in a tea-cupful of water. Blackberries are extremely useful in cases of dysentery ; to eat the berries is very healthy. Tea made of the roots and leaves is very beneficial; and a syrup made of the berries is still better. Since we began to write this, we have received from a gentleman in Baltimore, what he assures us is an infallihU remedy for dysentery. Take sixteen grains of rhubarb, thirty grains of salts of tartar, forty- eight grains of pre- pared chalk, four drops of oil of spearmint, twenty drops of laudanum, and a tea-cupful of clear soft water, and put them into a bottle, and shake them together well be- fore you use the preparation. The proper dose for an adult is a table-spoonful in a little water sweetened with lump sugar, three or four times a day. For a child one 142 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. tea-spoonful three times a day, given in the same manner. Keep it ia a cool place to prevent it from becoming acid. If the disease be yet obstinate, prepare an infusion of senna five ounces, tartrate of potash one ounce, and of tartarized antimony, two grains; mix them together, and take four table-spoonsful every three hours, till the bowels are sufficiently moved. Be careful of regimen ; great cleanliness and much fresh air are demanded. The room should often be sprinkled with vinegar or some other strong acid ; the spirits should be kept cheerful, and much attention should be paid to diet. Apples boiled in milk, light pudding, broth made from the gelatinous parts of sheep, and flour boiled till very hard, and then grated into warm milk, are all good; so also are ri;pe fruits, and whey, and barley-water. DISEASES OF THE BLADDER Every one will see that the diseases which affect so tender a part as the bladder, must partake of a serious character, and demand the most prompt attention. We refer to them in order: — Bloody Urine. — This is a discharge of blood from the vessels of the kidneys, or bladder, arising from their be- ing enlarged or broken. When pure blood is voided DISEASES OF MElf AND WOMEN. 148 suddenly, without pain, and in continuance, it proceeds from the kidneys; but if it be in a small quantity, of a dark color, and is emitted with heat and pain about the bottom of the stomach, it proceeds from the bladder. If the coats of the bladder be hurt by a stone formed within it, it is attended with the most acute pain and a stoppage of urine. In all these cases consult a physician. If there be stone in the bladder, nothing will give relief but a surgi- cal operation; which, happily, is far less dangerous at present than it was some thirty years ago. If there be plethora, or great fullness, and symptoms of inflammation, bleeding will be necessary, and the bowels must be kept well open by such medicines as cream of tartar, rhubarb, manna, or castor oil. "When bloody urine proceeds from the dissolved state of the blood, it is the symptom of some malignant dis- ease, as small-pox or putrid fever. In this case, take the confection of red roses one ounce, warm infusion of roses one pint ; macerate for half an hour and then strain them; then take of this strained liquor thirteen drachms, and diluted sulphuric acid ten drops; of these make a mixture and take in three parts during the day. The diet of the patient must be of a cool kind. He stiould take three ounces of marsh-mallow roots, and half an ounce of liquorice, and boil them in two quarts of water till reduced to one quart; into this liquid put 144 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. two ounces of gum arabic, and half an ounce of purified nitre; well strain the whole, and take a tea-cupful four or five times a day. The great flow of urine, and the impossibility of stop- ping it, often called diabetes^ arises from the gradual re- laxation of the sphinc- ter of the bladder, or from injuries received about its neck, or in females, from the pres- sure of the womb when in a state of pregnancy. This disease is seldom attended with pain, but a voracious appetite usually accompanies it. In sucb a case, a blister should be applied to the small part of the back, and a James's Dover powder given at night to produce perspiration. If you cannot obtain this powder elsewhere, you can make it yourself by taking one drachm of ipecacuanha powder, and the same quan- tity of opium in fine powder, add to them one ounce of finely pounded saltpetre ; mix them well together. The BATBEBRT, OR WAX MTETLB. DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 145 dose is from five to twenty grains, as the patient's strength or stomach will bear it. Dr. Beach recommends a strong tea or decoction of equal quantities of wild cherry-tree bark, hemlock bark, and bayberry bark; which should be bruised or pulverized, well boiled, and a tea-cupful be taken twice a day. Use the tepid bath occasionally, and briskly rub the body for half an hour twice a day with a flesh-brush '«5.'t5» or coarse towel. Alum dissolved in water, and given twice a day as the Btomach will bear it, will be service- able. Chalybeate water, when it can be obtained, should be drank; as should also a little weak lime-water, or soda- water. Or often, better still, a tea-spoonful of citric acid, and the same quantity of bi-carbonate of soda, mixed in a glass of water and drauk while in a state of effervescence. ■WIU) CAEEOT. JSiranguary, or the suppression of urine, arises from various causes, such as obstructions in the urethra, 13 J 146 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. blisters, wounds, bruises, etc. If the pulse be full and feverish, the patient must lose some blood, and take an ounce of castor oil. He should also drink barley- water, flaxseed tea, decoction of marsh-mallows or parsley-roots, or water-melon seeds. You may administer also, with great advantage, a remedy composed of one ounce of sweet spirits of nitre and two drachms each of laudanum and antimonial wine. Give a table-spoonful in some cooling drink, such as gruel or barley water, and repeat it every hour if necessary. Walking on a cold wet floor, or dashing cold water on the legs and thighs, has some- times succeeded even in desperate cases in the discharge of urine. Should the disease arise from the gravel or stone ob- structing the passages, which may be known by pains in the loins, sickness at the stomach, and sometimes the discharge of bloody urine, an infusion of wild carrot seed sweetened with honey, is often useful. The infusion of hops, taken a wine-glassful at a time, to the extent of a pint a day, is still better. In the case of children a suppression of urine is often relieved by a poultice of raw onions or radishes, applied to the bottom of the stomach. The diet in these diseases must be light, of drinks w* have already spoken. DYSPEPSIA, OR INDIGESTION. HE great and increasing prevalence of this disease among us demands the most senbws attention; and on this ac- count we shall go somewhat more at length into the subject than we have done as to some other diseases. Dyspepsia, says Dr. Cummings, in his very excellent volume on the '^Preservation of Health and Prevention of Pisease,''^ occurs most frequently between the ages of twenty and forty-five, and finds most of its subjects in the upper and middle classes of society. Its predisposing causes are sedentary occupations, especially when carried on in close rooms and factories; indolent habits of body and mind, long and intense study, undue care or anxiety, insufl&cient exercise in the open air, luxurious living, indulgence in sleep, and confinement in close or ill- venti- lated apartments. It is spoken of by medical writers as comparatively a modern disease. When business-men journeyed on horse- back, in the private carriage, or by stage, and professional men had their small farms — when the domestic spinning- (147) 148 DISEASES OF JIEN AND WOMEN. wheel and loom were in vogue, and manual labor, even to fatigue, was not tliouglit degrading, if not decidedly vulgar, indigestion was far less common than at present. Eail-cars and steamboats, with the luxurious living thej afford, however useful in other respects, are much inferior to the more tardj means of locomotion of by-gone days in promoting good digestion. While the causes of mental excitement are constantly becoming more numerous, and the mode of living more luxurious, the incentives to bodily exercise have been growing less and less. Some of the worst forms of dyspepsia are induced by the habitual use of tobacco. When smoked or chewed, it causes an unnatural waste of the saliva, and a conse- quent depreciation of that fluid. It has a special influ- ence on the organic nerves, impairing their power and energy. Tobacco acts as a pleasant and agreeable stimu- lant to the nervous system, but ultimately weakens and exhausts the very powers which were at first exhilarated by its use. Loss of appetite, with incapacity of the stomach to digest food when taken, hypochondria and melancholy, seriously afflict those who devote themselves to the fashionable use of this loathsome weed; though the evils resulting from this habit do not overtake the transgressor till after the nervous system has become slowly and stealthily impaired by protracted use of the poison. But the progress of recovery is equally slow, and far more doubtful. When that portion of the nervous DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN'. 149 system which is immediately concerned in the digestive process has become prostrated and enfeebled, through the influence of a deadly poison, it can rarely, if ever, be restored to its original energy and power. Another very prominent cause of the prevalence of dyspepsia in this country is the excessive use of cathartic medicines, usually in the form of pills. The amount of this kind of medicine in actual use, if told, would be wholly incredible. One concern in New York, and that not so extensive as many others, turns out, by the aid of steam-propelled machinery, no less than ten barrels per day^ or over three thousand barrels annually of cathartic pills. These pills are kept constantly on hand by im- mense numbers of people, as an ever-present relief for any slight attack of indigestion or any other illness, how- ever trivial; and multitudes resort to them, as promoting health, while in the full enjoyment of its blessings. A temporary relief from the consequences of high living is doubtless experienced from the use of this class of medi- cines, but the ultimate result is to weaken and impair the organs of digestion. Excessive indulgence of the appetite, a hurried manner in eating, indulgence at irregular hours, late suppers, in- tense application of the mind to study or business with- out sufBcient exercise, confinement in ill-ventilated rooms, mental excitement, cultivation of the fancy and the passions, and the use of tobacco, tea, coffee, and alcoholio 13* 150 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. liquors, may all be included in the list of causes which induce dyspepsia. The medical remedies are numerous, but the chief re- liance for success will be found in a prompt and absolute avoidance of the causes which induced the disease. Fat and oily meats, soups, and liquid foods are acted upon by the stomach with great difficulty; and if the diet consist chiefly of them, furnish insufficient nourishment, and never fail of producing the more severe forms of dyspep- sia and the disease of debility. Soups are also hurtful when taken at the commencement of a meal, unless taken with bread, rice, or some more solid food, to give them consistency. Neither can rich cakes, puddings, or pastry of any kind be indulged in. But plain animal food, when free from fat, and well broiled, roasted or boiled, and in mode- rate quantities, with bread, rice, or dry mealy potatoes, will constitute a meal that can be taken by almost any dys- peptic. Fish will be found to disagree with some, but is most digestible when boiled, and the least so when fried. Fruit and milk should not be taken at the same meal with fish. Water should be his only drink, and should not be taken in large draughts during or soon after a meal; ex tremes of temperature should be avoided. He should take his meals at regular and uniform hours, and allow himself an hour's rest, or only very gentle exercise; DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 151 thougli he ought at other hours to take much exercise in the open air, selecting, if possible, that which will bring tlie greatest number of muscles into moderate action, and afford recreation from accustomed labors. Perhaps no exercise is more valuable for him than horseback riding. A journey in this way, though not in fashion, has more to recommend it as a remedy for dyspepsia, than any other that can be furnished by the entire pharmacopseia. If medicines must be taken, we would recommend that when a severe attack of indigestion comes on, an active purgative, such as ten grains each of calomel and fine powdered rhubarb and aloes, made into pills, should be taken with honey or syrup. Or a tea-spoonful of mustard-seed and half that quantity of colombo-root, may be taken three times a day. If the stomach can he brought to endure it, live on a new milk diet for several weeks. DISEASES OF THE LITER. The liver, as most of our readers know, is situated im- mediately below the diaphragm or midriff, on the right side; it reaches almost as far back as the spine or back- bone, and rests on the right kidney. It is the largest gland in the body, and is divided into two unequal parts 152 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN" called lobes. Its great use is to secrete the bile; and tliougb its movements are slow, it is the scat of variou? diseases, such as abscess, schirrhus, and inflammation Any disease attacking this part of the body should re- ceive prompt attention; nor should mere palliatives be indulged in. We were once acquainted with a clergyman who knew that his liver was affected, and finding that smoking tobacco usually lulled the pain, and removed the irritation of his temper, lie indulged the habit till all medical aid was too late, and he died in the prime of his life, and in the fullness of his strength. The most common disease of the liver, and that which usually precedes the others, is inflammation, which appears in two forms, — the acute and the chronic; these are different in their symptoms and character, and demand different modes of treatment. As we have ourselves been the subject of liver disease about forty years, and have consulted many of the most eminent physicians of the day, we think we can give some useful information on the matter. The diseases of the liver are more frequent in hot climates than in those more temperate. They are usually caused by sudden changes of the weather, such as very cold nights after hot days; sitting in a draught of air when over-heated; drinking too much alcoholic liquors, and indulging too much in hot spicy food. Excessive DISEASES OF MEN AND WOlVrEN. 153 fatness, as also much violent vomiting, will bring on these diseases. The ax:ute inflammation of the liver is distinguished by being attended with inflammatory symptoms or fever, accompanied with a slight chill, much resembling an attack of pleurisy; the patient breathes with difficulty, has a dry cough, not unusually attended with bilious vomiting. A pain in the right side rises to the highest point of the shoulder, which pressure below the ribs greatly increases. The bowels are frequently costive, the urine of a deep saffron color, the thirst is great, the tongue dry, and covered with a white fur; the pulse is usually from ninety to a hundred; and after a few days, the skin and whites of the eyes are yellow. This kind of inflammation, as all others, first of all re- quires the determination of the blood to the part affected to be lessened. Hence the necessity of as free a perspi- BLOOD, OR PDCGOON-ROOT. 154 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. ration as possible. The feet must at once be placed in the tepid bath ; then an emetic should be given. This may be prepared by carefully pulverizing four ounces of ipecacuanha, four ounces of lobelia, and two ounces of blood-root; carefully mix them, and give one tea-spoon- ful in half a pint of the infusion of catnip every hour or two, till it freely operates, so as to produce copious per- spiration, or at least till the pain ceases. Let the patient also drink freely of balm or pennyroyal tea. Fomenta- tions should be applied over the region of the liver, and if they do not lessen the pain, simmer a tea-spoonful or two of Cayenne pepper in a little brandy, and apply it as often and as warm as it can be borne. To allay the vomiting which often accompanies the disease, give a little saleratus or sub-carbonate of potash, in peppermint or tea, whenever the vomiting returns. Should, however, the symptoms continue, take equal parts of mustard and Cayenne pepper, a table-spoonful of Indian meal, and vinegar enough to form a poultice; place it on the pa- tient's side, and keep it there as long as it can be borne. If the pain in the side does not now subside, put on a poultice of rye meal and vinegar, sprinkling the surface over with powdered mustard seed, or the common house- hold mustard. Wear a strengthening plaster on the side and between the shoulders. Special care should be taken to keep the bowels open. The chronic inflammation of the liver presents some- DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 155 what different symptoms. There is a dull pain in the right side, reaching up to the shoulder; great flatulence and eructations of the stomach, failure of appetite, languor, want of sleep, and much depression of spirits; the evacua- tions of the bowels are of the color of clay, and the urine deposits a red sediment. In the progress of the disease the countenance becomes livid, the eyes sunk, and the whole pre- sent a dull white or yel- lowish hue; the body be- ^^^E! Jk / M§ ^^1 comes ema- ~ ciated: in the region of the liver is felt a great fullness, often with a shght swell- ing, and difficulty of breathing; there is, too, a dry hoarse cough, which is much aggravated when the patient lies on the right side. Dropsy and jaundice often follow ; and sometimes under all this the patient sinks. If, however, diseases of the liver are promptly and wisely managed, they are seldom fatal. The patient must not expect a cure of the disease in this form in less than six months. More will depend on 15$ DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. care and regimen than on medicine. Some of the latter, however, must be taken. An emetic, such as already prescribed for the disease in the acute form, may be given, and what are termed hepatic pills should be taken. These are prepared of equal parts of the extract of dandelion, with mandrake and blood-root powdered, sufficient to make a pill mass ; add to these a few drops of essential oil, peppermint or spearmint, and form into common- sized pills, of which take three night and morning. This is a very excellent remedy ; successful also in jaundice and affections of the kidneys, as also in obstructions and indurations of the spleen. A drink to be constantly taken through the day may be made of dandelion-root sweetened and made palatable with sugar or honey. Dr. Johnson, of London, has highly recommended, for regulating the tone of the stomach and the action of the bowels, a preparation of four ounces of the decoction of taraxacum, a drachm of carbonate of soda, two drachms of the extract of taraxacum, and two drachms of the tinc- ture of gentian; mix these together, and take two or three spoonsful a day. Bleeding, blisters, calomel, and a bath of nitro-muriatic acid, may all be useful in this disease, but should be regulated by the skill of a physician. So if an abscess or imposthume be formed in the liver, the best possible aid should be sought for from the same quarter. When the patient is recovering, he may have recoursa DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 157 to tonics, of which the following will be found highly serviceable. Take half an ounce each of gentian-root, colombo-root, orange-peel, and quassia ; cut theni all fine and put them into a quart of old whisky; let it stand for six days, often shaking the bottle well ; take a table- spoonful in cold water three times a day. It is scarcely necessary to say here that the diet should be light and easy of digestion. Chicken, lamb, mutton- chops, and fresh beef, may all be taken in moderation, with such vegetables as water- cresses, mustard, lettuce and garlic, and such drinks as barley-gruel, whey, etc.; but no coffee, tea, nor spirits. A change of climate will be useful, and moderate exercise and a serene mind are indispensable requisites to recovery. PLEURISY. This disease is an inflammation of the membrane called the pleura^ which lines the inside of the breast, and springs from whatever causes the obstruction of perspiration. It is characterized by an acute pain in the breast, back, or either side, for the pleura lines the whole cavity of the chest. A deep sigh or long breath will increase the pain, as will also lying on the side specially affected. The tongue is white, the face flushed and red, and the whole 14 158 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. body hot. The urine is of a high color, and the pulse is quick, hard, and sharp. The causes of the disease are the same which bring inflammation of the lungs or liver The symptoms of this disease do not much vary from those which attend inflammatory diseases in general. Chilliness and shivering are usually succeeded by heat, thirst and restlessness; these are followed by violent pricking pain among the ribs, which at some times ex- tends toward the back-bone, at others toward the forepart of the breast, and still at others toward the shoulder- blade. Nearly every writer on medicine recommends copious bleeding from the arm to lessen the pain and danger of pleurisy. This should be immediately followed by a brisk purgative medicine, composed of ten grains of calomel and fifteen of jalap; when these have operated freely, and the patient can easily raise phlegm, let him procure a profuse perspiration by mixing two grains of tartar emetic and ten spoonsful of sage tea, taking a spoonful every hour till a sweat comes on. Dr. Beach strongly object? to bleeding, and recommends first of all the emetic we have recommended in the case of acute inflammation of the liver, to be accompanied with the tepid-bath for the feet. He then directs a fomentation for the side, com- posed of Cayenne pepper and the best brandy, simmered for a few minutes over the fire. An English physician prescribes as much Cayenne pepper as will lie on the DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 159 handle of a teaspoon, given in brandy, and the side bathed with the same preparation. We believe this in many instances would eflfect a cure. On many accounts, however, the botanical or vegetable treatment is the best. "Warm cabbage leaves, or a bladder nearly filled with warm water, applied to the side, has often afforded great relief. After the inflammatory action is in some degree removed, the Seneca snake-root tea will be highly useful. Where this cannot be had, the Bame purpose may be accomplished by the decoction of the rattle-snake root, given in doses of one or two table- Bpoonsful every two or three hours. If the pulse becomes languid, lay blisters on the ex- tremities, and give six or eight grains of volatile salts every three hours with mulled wine. Keep open the bowels during the disease with gentle doses of castor oil. Light diet, the free use of catnip or hoarhound tea, gruels, whey, and similar drinks, are of the greatest im- portance, as well as the utmost care in clothing, exercise, and choice of food when the patient is recovering. INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. This disease, which is most common among aged per- sons, is generally occasioned by extreme costiveness, 160 DISEASES OF MEN" AND WOMEN. spasmodic colic, or acrid substances lodged in the bowels; it is often, too, brought on by neglected wet feet. It shows itself in fever, violent vomitings, acute pain in the bowels, which is increased by pressure, quick, hard, and contracted pulse, great prostration of strength, high col- ored urine voided with pain, and great restlessness. It is a dangerous disease, and must not be neglected for an hour. As soon as the patient feels the symptoms we have described, let him place himself in a tepid-bath, refuse all stimulating purgatives and hot medicines of any kind, and send at once for the physician. Avoid all bleeding and blistering. If the physician does not soon arrive, take a table-spoonful of the best castor oil every two hours till it acts freely, apply warm fomentations to the bowels composed of tansey, hoarhound, hops, and wormwood, boiled in vinegar and water. This may also be put into flannel, laid on the abdomen, and changed as soon as it becomes cool. If violent vomiting continues, make an infusion of half a pint of spearmint, and a tea-spoonful of saleratus, and give a tea-spoonful every half hour. If the inflammation and pain still continue, apply a mustard plaster to the bowels, and keep it on till the skin becomes very red. A table-spoonful of sweet oil, with a tea- spoonful of finely powdered charcoal may be given with advantage. Every one knows that the food, in this disease, should DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 161 be very light, and the decoction of slippery-elm, of manua, or of senna, may be given. No matter how small the quantity of food taken while the inflammation lasts; and even when the patient is recovering, he must be careful against too much food ; let him take very gentle exercise in the open air, wear flannel next the skin, and frequently use the warm bath. These are the best preservatives against the return of the disease. FEYEKS. Before we enter on the class of diseases wnica come under this general name, it may not be improper to glance at a few of the causes which lead to their preva- lence. We will more especially refer to those which are found in many of our densely populated districts, where party spirit or other causes have led to the neglect of sanitary laws. The most malignant epidemics are not unfrequently limited to a certain neighborhood, a particular street, a block of buildings, or follow the course of a single stream of water, -or along the shores of a certain pond. In a section of the town of Sheffield, Mass., a few years ago, not over one and a half miles in diameter, in the vicinity of a pond known as Hubbard's Pond, which contained 14* K 162 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. about one hundred families, or six hundred inhabitants, over three hundred were sick, and forty-four died. Among one hundred and fifty who lived near the pond on the south-easterly side, less than ten escaped; of those on the westerly, about fifty nnore were affected. The cause of this remarkable sickness was attributed to this pond. A dam was built at the outlet, and at times of high water, a large tract of land was overflowed. In dry seasons, the water was drawn oflf, and large quantities of decom- posing vegetable matter were exposed to the action of the sun, which produced a poisonous exhalation or malaria, which affected nearly all who inhaled it. Near the village of Pittsfield, Mass., about fifty years ago, a mill-dam was erected, which caused the water to set back and cover over more than one hundred acres of land, then clothed with its native forest-trees of soft maple, alders, red ash, etc. Soon afterward all the timber perished; then commenced bilious fevers, and the fever and ague. It was very sickly; many died; all were alarmed. The owner of the mill was prosecuted, and the dam destroyed. The sickness ceased soon after the destruciion of the mill-dara. Dr. T. Southwood Smith, professor in the London Fever Hospital, gives the following testimony : " In some localities there was not a single house in which fever had not prevailed, and, in some cases, not a single room in a single house in which there had not been fever. The DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 163 districts in which fever prevails, are as familiar to the physicians of the fever hospital as their own names. In every district in which fever returns frequently, and pre- vails extensively, there is uniformly a bad sewerage, a bad supply of water, a bad supply of scavengers, and a consequent accumulation of filth; and I have observed this to be so uniformly and generally the case, that I have been accustomed to express the fact in this way : — If you trace down the fever districts on a. map, and then com- pare that map with the map of the commissioners of sewers, you will find that wherever the commissioners of sewers have not been, there fever is prevalent; and on the contrary, wherever they have been, there fever is com- paratively absent. Some idea may be formed of the evils which our negligence in the matter of sewerage and drainage inflicts, when I tell you that the annual deaths from typhus fever amount to sixteen thousand, and the attacks of this loathsome disease to between one hundred and fifty and two hundred thousand." The principles which apply to extensive localities are seen also in detail in single families. Hence cleanliness, fresh air, and moderate exercise combined with wholesome food and temperate habits, are the grand preservatives against fever. "We have now to do with the evil when it has come into existence, and we begin with its very worst type. YELLOW FEVEE. UR tappy land, by the tender mercy of God, has witnessed and is witnessing an almost miraculous decrease in this terrible plague, so that we trust some of our children may hereafter have to regard it as only among the things that were. Every reader knows that there are certain facts or symptoms indicative of fevers of every kind. For in- stance, shiverings, followed by a hot skin, a quick pulse, and a feeling of languor and lassitude, show an attack of fever. With such symptoms as these are also usually present a loss of appetite, thirst, restlessness, and a diminished secretion. In addition to these there are, in cases of yellow fever^ pains in the eye-balls and lower parts of the forehead; the saliva is glutinous, or sticky; large quantities of frothy bile are thrown up by vomiting; the eyes, face, and breast are of a deep yellow tinge; and though sudden changes sometimes take place which promise speedy recovery, the disease returns with re- doubled violence, the patient suddenly becomes giddy (164) DISEASES OF MEX AND WOMEN. 165 and loses his sight; the eyes are much inflamed, are watery, protrude and roll wildly ; the patient, moreover, is intensely anxious, vomits yellow or black matter, and emits a yellow perspiration, which is of a highly offensive smell; he bleeds much, has severe pains, especially in the testicles and calves of the legs, shows livid spots in the skin, and in agony he throws out and draws back his extremities in rapid succession ; the evacuations from his bowels are black and fetid ; has violent hiccup, and sunken pulse. The causes of yellow fever are said to be, in addition to all those which check perspiration, exposure to nox- ious exhalations from swamps, rivers, lakes, and marshes, or the filth of cities and towns accumulated under a burn- ing sun. This poison is assisted in its work of disease and death by habits of intemperance, licentiousness, and exhaustion of the bodily system from whatever cause. Our limited space will not allow us to discuss the still disputed point as to this disease being contagious, nor can we scientifically discuss the three different stages it presents; the patient seized by it, or his friends, will be wise enough, we trust, to call in this, as in all similar cases, on the most skillful physician that can be obtained. A few directions may always be properly regarded. Hot bathing of the whole body, and especially of the feet, can scarcely be too much practiced. If there bo a determination of blood to the head, producing delirium, 166 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. a towel should be dipped in a mixture of spirits, vinegar, water, and salt, and bound around it ; if nausea be felt at the stomach, drink, as much and as soon as possible, chamomile tea ; and if there is vomiting of black matter, take lime-water and new milk every hour, or oftener; and apply a blister or mustard plaster to the stomach. Keep up the patient's strength with preparations of barley ^^ OW beautiful, how intelligent, ^^ ^^^ and how tender is the eye. An accident which would scarcely be felt in other parts of the body, might take away the sight for life. The infi- nitely benevolent Being has placed more guards around the inlet to light and beauty than around any other part of the human system, and yet it is exposed to many dangers. What is really pain- ful to think of, ignorant pretenders have been allowed to practice far more on this most important organ than on other parts of our frame ; be it then impressed on the mind of the reader, that as no diseases are more painfully distressing than those of the eye, so none are more diffi- cult to cure. Before we enter on the subject of the diseases of the eye, we wish to say a few words of a practical character on the subject of spectacles. Sir David Brewster has very wisely said that no opinion is more common, and cer- tainly no one more incorrect, than that it is prudent to avoid the artificial helps to the eyes so long as they are (192) DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 193 not absolutely indispensable. The human eye is too deli- cate a structure to bear continual strain without injury ; and the true rule is to commence the use of glasses as Boon as we can see better with them than without them, and always to employ such as will render vision most comfortable and pleasant. The spectacles habitually used for ordinary purposes may not be adequate to certain occasional demands, such as reading very fine print, ex- amining maps, etc. To meet these cases, a hand reading glass, two and a half inches in diameter, to be used in conjunction with the spectacles, and never without them, is strongly recommended. A similar use of the reading- glass is also recommended to short-sighted persons in conjunction with the concave spectacles, when examining minute objects. Our young readers, at least, will forgive us for a Ime or two transcribed from one of the best writers in Europe, in a recent number of the " Quarterly Review." He says: — "Dark blue eyes are most common in persons of delicate, refined, or effeminate nature ; light blue, and much more, gray eyes, in the hardy and active. Greenish eyes have generally the same meaning as the gray. Hazel eyes are the more usual indications of a mind masculinCj vigorous, and profound." As a commentary on the re* viewer's text, we may add, that Shakspeare had hazel eyes, Swift blue eyes, (azure as the heavens,) Milton, Scott, and Byron gray eyes. 17 -vr 194 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. It would be folly in a work like this to prescribe for blindness, or for cataract; as every one must see the im- portance of great skill in diseases which, under the best possible treatment, are seldom cured. We may, however, put the reader in possession of the best methods of re- moving inflammation from these tender organs. Inflammation of the eyes generally arises from cold, from substances, such as dust or small insects, lodging under the eyelids, exposure to a strong light, or excessive application to reading, writing, or sewing. The symptoms are redness, heat, pain, aversion from the light, and the efitusion of tears. In very severe cases there is a violent throbbing and darting pain in the eye, which feels greatly oppressed; every wink adds to the pain, which often re- sembles the pricking of a needle or pin ; there is some times a considerable swelling, and the fever seems to affect the whole system. In the early stages of the disease, we do not recommend much medicine. Let the patient take possession of a moderately darkened room, give entire rest to the eyes, and bathe them with a little warm milk and water, into which may be put a few drops of pure brandy. Some physicians recommend the frequent use of rose-water ; this in some cases may be useful, but in others it increases the dis- ease it. is intended to remove. If these simple remedies, with low diet and rest, do not lessen the complaint, a cold white-lead poultice, with a DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 195 little parsley, may be bound over the eye and kept there during the night; or a roasted apple may be used. A small blister placed over the eye is almost invariably useful. A few drops of laudanum infused in water, and the eye washed with it, has been found successful in re- moving inflammation. Dr. Beach says that nothing is so powerful in this case as a poultice made of the slippery- elm bark. The late eccentric but eminently talented Dr. Aber- nethy, constantly taught that nearly all the diseases of the eye arose from the neglect of the stomach; and to a great extent he was right. Care in the selection of food, keeping the bowels in a healthy condition, and daily bathing the eyes in cold water, and when the first indica- tion of undue warmth in the eye presents itself, dropping one drop of sweet oil into it, would do more than all other things put together to guard against the evils of which we have been now writinuj. ^ NEURALGIA. The manners of society, changes in diet, and varying modes of living and clothing, tend to changes of disease; and fashion changes, as in every thing else, the very names of the diseases by which we suffer. Hence what 1901 DISEASES OF MEN AXD WOMEN. used to be called Tic Douloureux^ now takes the name of Neuralgia. The disease consists essentially in violent pain in a particular nerve, or particular branches of a nerve. The pain is sharp, lancing, lacerating, or darting, and occurs in paroxysms of longer or shorter duration. The disease may affect nearly every part of the body ; neither the head, the face, nor the teeth, the muscles of the side, the back, nor the limbs are secure from it; nor even the stomach and bowels. There is a larga class of persons in our country who suffer from pains and aches, presenting a great variety of anomalous symptoms, which after all characterize no definite disease; and who de- scribe themselves only as somewhat better or worse, but always out of health. Every new physician and every fresh remedy affords a present relief, but nothing cures them. These persons are said to be nervous^ and the description is a correct one, for nervous pains and aches go to make up their lives. Occasionally this miserable monotony of nervousness is broken in upon by a severe fit of neuralgia^ located in a particular nerve, from which the aflfection receives its name. It is called tic douloureux, when it is confined to the face, and sciatica, when it is located in the sciatic nerve, which passes down the leg. A severe and long-protracted neuralgia is no trifling affair; for no suffering is more intolerable, or more to be dreaded. Neuralgia may be induced by all the influences that have a tendency to depress the general health, such DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN". 197 as residence in damp localities, exposure to sudden changes of temperature, nriental excitement, fatigue, etc.; but its most common cause is the habitual use of narcotic stimulants. We have rarely met with an individual who has suffered from neuralgia who has not been addicted to the use of tea, coffee, opium or tobacco, in some form, and we have almost invariably found that the health has im- proved when these articles have been abandoned. All these agents act as stimulants of some particular organs, and increase their activity at the expense of others. The organs which are for a time over-stimulated, suffer a de- pression when the effects of the stimulants have passed off. During this depression, the individual becomes subject to various nervous complaints. Uneasiness, dis- tress, pain, lassitude, and fatigue are experienced without any apparent cause. The individual, while more sus- ceptible to nervous impressions, is less able to bear them with impunity. The full effect of narcotic stimulants is not perceived at first. Hence they are often used for several years without apparent injury, and then their effects become so evident as not to be mistaken. In like manner, it re- quires considerable time to recover from their effects when their use has been abandoned. He who has become nervous from the habitual use of either tea or coffee, opium or tobacco, must expect that it will require one or two years to restore his nervous system to its natural vigorous 17* 198 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. condition, although he may be encouraged with an almost immediate and gradual improvement of health. Every physician will tell you that neuralgia has increased among us in about the same proportion as tea and coffee, tobacco and opium. None of these possess nutrition in any con- siderable degree; even coffee, the best of them all, has been greatly over-rated; its nutritive qualities are almost entirely the sugar and cream by which it is usually ac- companied ; tea is a stimulant, as the ladies well know, to the social feelings; but taking it is very often followed by depression of spirits. Of tobacco, snuff, and opium, we have already spoken ; and if our readers wish to be nervous or neuralgic, we recommend a plentiful use of them all. APOPLEXY. This alarming disease sometimes arises from debility, but more frequently from high living and inactive habits ; it chiefly attacks the aged in the months of winter, and especially in rainy seasons. Its immediate cause is a compression of the brain, occasioned by an excess of blood or watery humors. It commences in giddiness, pain and swimming in the head, loss of memory, drowsi- ness, and hard breathing. The slightest indication of DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 199 these symptoms should lead to a slender diet, purgatives, and bleeding. "When the patient is really seized with a fit of apo- plexy, a physician must be immediately sent for. There is, however, no difficulty in saying what must be done even before he can arrive. The great object in such a case is to equalize the circulation of the blood, and es- pecially to draw it from the head. Immerse the feet as soon as possible in warm water, and rub them well with flannel; make the clothing, especially about the neck, quite loose, except the garters, which should be made much tighter than usual; bathe the whole body with a liniment of African cayenne, steeped in alcohol, applied quite hot; apply blisters or mustard plasters between the shoulders and to the bottom of the feet; or hot bricks dipped in vinegar may be kept at the feet instead of the blister. The bowels must be very freely opened. Excepting in cases of extreme debility, the more simple the food and the less in quantity the better. Tamarind water or cream of tartar whey, is the best drink which can be given, except the patient seems liable to sink from debility; in such a case some mild stimulant should be administered, such as three or four grains of the salts of hartshorn mixed in sugar and a few drops of water, or a few drops of the spirits of lavender, or the sweet spirits of nitre may be given. He who has had a sinorle attack of this disease must 200 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. be extremely careful, for he is constantly liable to another. His body and mind must be kept tranquil, his bowels open, and his stomach never overloaded. If he is the subject of debility, we would prescribe for him a frequent tonic, of which the preparation of iron will generally be found the best. While speaking of a disease generally arising from ex- cessive indulgence in the more aged class of society, this will not be an improper place to say a few words on the sympathy due to a class of men who seldom suffer from this disease, but are on other accounts entitled to our warmest sympathy. There is no career which so rapidly wears away the powers of life, because there is no other which requires so great an activity, both of body and mind, as that of the physician. He has to bear the changes of weather, continued fatigues, irregularity in his meals, broken rest, and to live frequently in the midst of miasma and contagion; if in the country, to travel considerable distances through by-lanes and dreary paths on horseback, and sometimes, perhaps, on foot, exposed to storms and wind, to brave all dangers, to go to tho relief of suffering humanity — and this too frequently without any remuneration. A fearful truth for medical men has been established by the published table of mor- tality of Dr. Caspar. Of one thousand members of the medical profession, six hundred died before their sixty- second year; whilst of persons leading a quiet life, such DISEASES OF MEN AXD WOMEN. 201 as agriculturists or theologians, the mortality is only three hundred and forty-seven in a thousand. If we takg one hundred individuals of each of those classes, forty- three theologians, forty agriculturists, eighty -five clerk^ and thirty-two soldiers, will reach their seventieth year; but of one hundred medical men, twenty-four only will reach that age. They are the sign-posts on the road to health, but very rarely tread in it themselves. INSANITY. We are aware that few persons may be disposed to look into a volume like this for remarks on this subject, be- cause they would say this is a kind of suffering which neither patients nor their immediate friends can usually manage. This view is correct; but one grand object we have before us in writing our work, as we have more than once already said, is the prevention of evil, and hence we will occupy a page or two on the matter. It has been estimated that one in every two hundred and sixty-two of the population of the United States becomes insane; a larger proportion by far than in any other part of the world. Insanity, strictly speaking, is not either a mental or a bodily disease, but is a disturbed reciprocal relation of 202 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. mind and body, manifested in a variety of ways. The disorder of the intellect may be very slight, apparently affecting only particular faculties, or it may involve all the intellectual powers. It may manifest itself in melan- choly, moroseness, good humor, hilarity, or in raving madness ; or it may be confined to a single subject, when it is called Monomania. Insanity is frequently the result of other diseases, first breaking down the energies of the system, and rendering it incapable of resisting the new attack, or more frequently leaving it in that weak and susceptible condition, that undue effort, either mental or physical, easily induces disease of the brain. Generally, agricultural communities present less of the affection of the brain than the inhabitants of cities and dense manufacturing villages. The causes of this may be found in the more quiet and less exciting pursuits of the former community, and, with some exceptions, here- after to be named, from the more regular and healthy habits of life, in regard especially to labor, and early and sufficient rest at night ; and, on the contrary, in the latter, in the crowding of the population into dense neighbor- hoods, in the close and impure air, and in the imperfect ventilation of their dwelling, in less nutritious food, and the greater excitement and anxieties of those thus eituated. The difference between the appearance of the children DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN 203 in a close city street, or dense and restricted neighbor- hood, and those in a village highway, forcibly illustrates this principle. Whatever invigorates the general system is the best safeguard against insanity. The child, who, with a close and restricted play-ground, without permis- sion or opportunity of indulging in the natural, free and boisterous spirits of childhood, with his pampered appe- tite, his overtasked brain, urged by foolish ambition to undue application, attains a premature manhood with a deficient development of his mental and physical energies, and an unnatural exaltation of his nervous system, can hardly compete in the race of life with him in whom the early development of his physical system has prepared the way for the full expansion of the mental powers. The one is liable to sink early under the influence of disease; the other to long enjoy the conscious power of an energetic mind in a sound body. Intemperance is one of the most prolific causes of in- sanity. The use of so powerful a drug as alcohol, in any degree, tends to predispose the system to disease, though it may not in all cases, or for a considerable time, directly induce it. Even in moderation, alcohol induces undue mental and physical efforts ; the mind and body are over- tasked, without due regard to caution in exposure, need- ful rest, and the other essentials of continued good health. Under this continued and unnatural stimulus, the brain and nervous system become unduly excitable ; plans of 204 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. business are laid down and pursued with less judgment, prudence, and success; habits of intemperance, with diminished means of support, follow. With the increased privation of the comforts of life, there is less and less ability and willingness to bear with composure and cheer- fulness daily trials and anxieties. Home is made un- happy; the general health fails. The wife and mother now share these evil consequences, and her burden becomes more oppressive and heart-sinking. Thus, in the train of intemperance, come the successive results of numerous causes classed under over-working of body and mind, general ill-health, domestic unhappiness, all tending to the same end, — mental derangement. These are not fancy sketches ; the histories are before us, and could be given. Want of self-control has been indirectly the cause of more insanity than any other single evil. Though care, anxiety, grief, distress, disappointment, jealousy, and wounded self-love maybe the immediate cause of mental derangement, yet these causes may have operated with equal force on other minds, and not have produced the same result. Where the power of self-control is feeble, or has never been called into exercise, the mind readily yields to the slightest exciting cause. Thus, a child who has always been indulged in the full gratification of all its desires, till it has come to feel that it must be gratified at all events, has grown up a stranger to disappointment, DISEASES OF 303N AND WOMEN. 205 and cannot bear it like one who has early and faithfully- learned the lesson of submission. Many a child has thus learned to be governed for the first time in the mad- house, though it may seem quite unaccountable to tlie heart-broken parents that the first disappointment should send their son or daua-hter to the house of the insane. There is something indescribably affecting and hu- miliating in the decay of the mind under accumulating anxieties, whether of a commercial or literary character, which may induce caution long before a man is old. The symptoms betokening the approaching destruction of nervous power require to be early noticed, in order that the victim of an overwrought brain may be snatched from a most miserable end. Among the first of these symptoms are vivid dreams, reproducing at night the labors of the past day, so that sleep affords no repose. The transition from the activities of a dreaming brain to a wakeful one is rapid ; then follow restlessness and exhaustion, inducing a state wholly incompatible with the exertions required for the daily and pressing neces- sities of life. The mind, torn by conflicting feelings, becomes irritable, unstable and melancholy. The tem- pered delights of a home cannot move — affection has no power to soothe — and the playful sunshine of childhood cannot warm the heart wasting and withering in decay, and the mind is incapable alike of enjo3''ment or of labor. At this stage morbid fancies and dislikes cloud the feelings, 18 206 DISEASES OP MEN AND WOMEN. or hallucinations disturb tbe brain ; and then it is indeed a happy consummation to mental decay and reposelesa anguish, when the reduced and wasted frame, too feeble to withstand the ordinary vicissitudes of the elements, succumbs to the inroads of some acute disease. If what we have said will not produce the necessary cure in the cases to which we have referred, let our readers remember that neglect has, in multitudes of instances, led to the awful calamity of suicide I HYPOCHONDRIA. However this disease may sometimes excite the laugh of the thoughtless, as existing only in the imagination, it is both real in its character and productive of much suffering. Those who do not know what it is to suffer in this way may laugh at "vapors," or ^'■low spirits" but the serious question with the afflicted is, how to get rid of them. The disease of which we now speak is of a nervous character, and relates, perhaps, as much to the mind as to the body. It is found chiefly among men advanced in life, who have been for a series of yeaxs the subjects of great anxiety or grief. The most prominent symptom of it is a full persuasion of the existence of troubles which DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 207 really are found only in their imagination. We knew two generations of a very wealthy family, who could never be induced to believe that they were not exceed- ingly poor, and who lived many years in the daily ex- pectation of being carried to the alms-house to die. In this case the disease seemed infectious, as the second gener- ation, when young, laughed at their older relations, till by constant and long-continued residence with them they imbibed the disease, becoming even worse than their relatives. From their sufferings they gave themselves no chance to recover, and died under the delusion. The real origin of the disease appears to be a loss of energy in the brain, inducing indolence, indigestion, hysterical affections, and violent passions of the mind. It is often accompanied with costiveness, or its opposite — diarrhoea, and an incessant desire to see new physi- cians, or to try new medicines. Raillery and laughter will not cure this disease ; you must appear to believe all the patient says, and act pretty much in accordance with his views. Attract him by persuasion and example to gentle exercise, administer about once a week a gentle emetic, such as we have already described as the lobelia ; frequently let the tepid bath be used ; and let him take a preparation of ten or fifteen drops of spirits of camphor, five or ten drops of spirits of hartshorn, and a tea-spoon- ful of spirits of lavender well mixed together, and put them into half a tumbler of fennel-seed tea. This will 208 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. remove flatulence and nervous irritation and exhilarate the spirits. It may be repeated with the recurrence of the symptoms. Magnesia and lime-water have been strongly recommended in this disease; as also the pre- paration of iron sold by the druggists as a tonic. Above all, let the patient have gentle exercise in the open air, cheerful company, light digestible food at regular hours, accompanied with mustard, cayenne pepper, and what- ever gently stimulates, according to his own taste. Some most extraordinary facts have been connected with this disease, and wonderful cures have been effected, generally by seeming to believe the most amazing state- ments of the patient. Some have asserted themselves to be dead, and have been recovered only after consider- able preparations for their dissection or burial; and others have long been the subjects of unconsciousness. We have before us the statement of a modern traveler, who says: "I saw, at Frankfort, a very intelligent and respectable young lady, who, after much opposition on the part of her family, married the man whom she passionately loved. An accident occurred at th ^ birth of her first child, which was followed by a long weakness; on re- covering from which she had altogether lost her recollection of the time which had passed since her marriage, inclusively. She remembered distinctly every thing down to that date, but nothing beyond it. At DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 209 first she repelled with alarm both her husband and her child, an I she has never since been able to recover her recollection of that period, and of the events which ac- companied it. Her parents and friends have succeeded, by reasoning and by the authority of their testimony, in persuading her that she was married and had a son ; she believes them, because she is more willing to sup- pose that she has lost the recollection of a whole year, than that they are all impostors. She sees her husband and her child, without being able to imagine by what magic she has acquired the one and given birth to the other." By the course we have recommended, we have no doubt that this lady may be again restored to her full health and perfect recollection. HYSTERICAL AFFECTIONS. Many writers have told us that this disease is confined to females, and some have classed it only with the diseases of young girls; but extensive observation has shown us that it prevails also among men ; even old men have become its subjects. Similar differences of opinion have existed as to "whether it has its origin in the brain, the nerves, or the stomach. Perhaps it would be right to concede that, in different persons, all these writers are correct. 18* N 210 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. The usual symptoms of hysterical affections, or to usa its scientific name Hysteria^ are universal languor and coldness of the extremities, the face alternately flushed and pale, the pulse slow and scarcely perceptible ; vomiting, difficulty of breathing, and palpitations of the heart are not unfrequent ; pain on the left side of the abdomen, like an ascending ball rising to the throat, producing a sense of suflfocation, with fainting and convulsive motions, often follow; the conduct of the patient is changeable, alternate fits of laughing and crying occur, and not unfrequently loud singing; very often there is a sensation of pain in the head, resembling a nail being driven into it, and sometimes pains also attack the back, loins, and bladder ; and the patient voids an unusual quantity of urine. When a fit comes on, lay the patient on a sofa or bed in a warm room, open a door or window, apply lavender or camphor to the temples, and hold spirits of hartshorn to the nose ; when the patient can swallow, give a tea- spoonful of lavender and hartshorn in a spoonful or two of water. A little cold water dashed on the face, and the admission of cool air into the room, are also of import- ance ; as likewise is putting the feet and legs into a warm bath. If the patient be strong and plethoric, a few ounces of blood may betaken from the arm. The young lady afflicted by this disease must pay special attention to her courses. The most important matter in this case, is the proper DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 211 treatment of the patient during the intermission of the fits. A rigid attention to diet is indispensable; this should be chiefly of milk and vegetables ; but should vegetables cause flatulency and acidity in the stomach and bowels, small quantities of fresh animal food should be taken. Avoid tea and cojBfee, or at most take them in very small quantities ; a little good wine and water, or a smaller quantity of pure old spirits and water, may follow the patient's dinner. Moderate exercise, especi- ally riding on horseback, is of great service in this disease. In many cases, where the stomach continues foul, it will be found essential to give a small quantity of the lobelia emetic once a week. It should be given, however, only in quantities sufficient to produce gentle vomiting, and so to contribute toward a perfect cure by imparting energy and tone to the stomach and nerves. PARALYSIS OR PALSY. This disease also is, to a very great extent, one of the nervous system. It consists in a loss of the power of voluntary motion in one or more parts of the body, and is very frequently suddenly fatal, especially when it affects the heart, lungs, or any other vital part. When it 212 DISEASES OP IIEN AND WOMEN. affects one entire side of the body, from the head down- ward, physicians call it hemiplegia. If the power of motion and sense of feeling in the half of the body, taken transversely, be impaired, it is cdMedt. paraplegia. When it affects the stomach, the intestines, or the bladder, it is very dangerous ; and when the parts affected feel cold and insensible, and waste away, or when the judgment and memory begin to fail, there is small hope of re- covery. Palsy is sometimes the result of apoplexy, and is always occasioned by what prevents the flow of the nervous power from the brain into the organs of motion; hence tumors, over-distension, effusion, wounds of the brain or spinal marrow, and excessive use of tea or coffee, will often lead to it. It often proceeds also from the poisonous fumes of metals and minerals, as mercury, lead, arsenic, etc. Its attack is sometimes unexpected, but more frequently it is preceded by days or even weeks of giddiness, drowsiness, numbness, dimness of sight, failure of the powers of the mind, forgetfulness, transient delirium, and indistinctness of articulation. If the attack bf sudden, and the patient be young and of a full habit, at once bleed and that freely, as in apo- plexy ; and apply also a large blister to the back of the neck. Purge freely for several days. But if the patient be old, or in a state of debility, a verv different course of treatment must be pursued. DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 213 Stimulants must be freely used. Place the patient in a warm bath, a table-spoonful of scraped horse-radish, or the same quantity of mustard-seed sbould be swallowed four or five times a day. Frequently rub the whole body with a flesh- brush or rough cloths, or with flannels im- pregnated with the tincture of cayenne-pepper, oil of turpentine, oil of sassafras, or the tincture of cantha- rides. Daily electricity for several weeks on the parts affected, has often been found useful. If the patient suffer from giddiness, a seton in the neck may be of great ad- vantage. A local palsy will often yield to a blis- ter applied as nearly as possible to the part affect- ed. Spirits of turpentine, about twenty drops taken in a little water three times a day, has often been very successful ; this may be connected with the external use of it once or twice a day by briskly rubbing the parts affected. If the patient suffer from wakefulness, pain, and in- quietude, a little opium may be given, but we decidedly prefer the saturated tincture of hops. If he needs a GOLDEN SEJlU. 214 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. laxative medicine, let him take a tea-spoonful of the tincture of golden seal, two or three times a day, till the bowels are acted on. This admirable medicine will also act as a tonic, as it is an ingredient in wine bitters, and in tonic tinctures. "When the habits of the patient are plethoric, his food should be of the lightest kind, and he should be very abstemious; but when he suffers from debility, his diet should be warm, nutritious, and stimulating, well Beasoned with spices. His drink should be good generoua wine, or brandy and water. He should take regular gentle exercise, avoid damp air, wear flannel next the Bkin, and live, if possible, in a warm climate. EPILEPSY. Epilepsy, or, as it is sometimes called, the falling sick- ness, is very different from apoplexy, being attended with sudden and violent convulsions, and frothy spittle issuing from the mouth. It is a sudden privation of the senses, accompanied with unusual and involuntary motions and contortions affecting the whole system. It occurs in paroxysms, which, after a time, leave the patient in nearly his former state, but they are generally succeeded by languor, debility, and drowsiness. It is often hereditary DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 215 in families, and is periodical in its recurrence; happening more frequently in the night than in the day-time. Children who have been very delicately brought up are most subject to it, and men more frequently than women. Its cure after about the age of forty has always been considered so difficult, that not a few religious writers have thought that several of the miracles related in the New Testament, relate to recovery from this disease. Epilepsy may reckon among its immediate causes violent blows on the head, water in the brain, tumors or concretions in the skull, and affections of the spinal marrow. It is also brought on by violent affections of the nervous system, sudden frights, violent exertions of the mind, worms in the stomach, and the suppression of some long-accustomed evacuation. Poisons, too, are also frequent causes of it. An epileptic fit is generally preceded by unusual weariness, pain of the head, dullness, noise in the ears, dimness of the sight, palpitation of the heart, and dis- turbed sleep ; the extremities are cold and the patient frequently feels as if a stream of cold air was ascending toward his head. In the fit, the poor sufferer makes an unusual noise, his thumbs are drawn in toward the palms of his hands, his eyes are distorted, he starts and foams at the mouth, his extremities are bent or twisted various ways, his discharges are sometimes involuntary, and for the time being he is destitute of sense and reason. 216 DISEASES OF ilEN AND WOMEN. In the treatment of this disease it cannot be deniv.J that nitrate of silver, flowers of zinc, and other very powerful medicines, have been employed to advantage, but the wisest persons are most fully aware that such remedies can only be used with propriety by the most skillful and judicious physicians; all others should let them alone, remembering that as the disease originates in many different causes, so it demands to be treated in many different ways. It is always safe to give the lohelia emetic, to bathe the feet and legs in warm water, to apply mustard plasters to the nape of the neck, to keep the bowels open, to remove all tight bandages, and to give the patient plenty of fresh air. A preparation may also be made of one ounce of each of garden peony, Peruvian bark, and wild valerian or Indies' slipper, and half an ounce of Virginia snake-root, simmer them together in two quarts of water till reduced to a quart ; than add a pound of loaf-sugar, and half a pint of maderia wine. Give the patient from half to a wineglass full three times a day. On the approach of a fit, administer a tea-spoonful of fine salt two or three times a day ; it Avill be found to shorten the patient's sufferings. A rigid course of diet is of vast importance in this disease; all food of the patient should be light and nu- tritious ; every fat and greasy substance should be avoided, as should all ardent spirits. Gentle exercise should be taken but great care should be used not to excite the DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 217 passions, nor to be found in the extremes of heat or cold. In proportion to the difficulty of the cure, should be the care and caution in the treatment of the patient. EUPTURE, OR HERNIA. This dangerous disease is most frequently to be found among children and aged people. Among young children it is generally occasioned by excessive crying, coughing, or vomiting; and in the aged it usually follows violent blows, excessive straining, or carrying very heavy weights. Indolence, relaxed habits, and oily or moist diet, tends to the production or continuance of it. The disease itself consists in the protruding of a bowel from its proper place. Among physicians it obtains various names, according to the peculiar position of the bowel affected. It is not, strictly speaking, the rupture of the part, but a relaxation, leading to a tumor. Where the relaxed part may be restored to its proper place, the disease is said to be reducible; and where such an ob- ject can not be accomplished, or not without great diffi- culty, it is said to be irreducible or strangulated. Every one must see the folly of leaving a disease like this to the inexperienced, and will secure, as early as possible, the best surgical skill. In the mean time the luuid may be used in the attempt to replace the relaxed 19 218 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. or fallen bowel, and a bandage should be applied to make it retain its position. If the patient be in great pain, he needs attention before his medical attendant can arrive. Let him then he laid on his back, with his head very low, his body high, and his knees drawn upward ; let him endeavor to replace the protruded part by press- ure; and if his attempt does not succeed, let him lay on the part a thick fold of linen, dipped in cold water, and renew the trial ; if this fails, his very life depends on the best surgical skill. The bowels must be operated on as soon as possible. When rupture occurs in early childhood, with careful treatment it may be easily cured. When the bowel comes down, lay the child on its back, relax the part with warm water, and with the finger gently press the protrusion into its place. Make a strong decoction of white oak bark, and an equal quantity of hemlock bark ; boil it down to a gill, and add to it half a gill of the best brandy ; bathe the affected part frequently with it, and place a bandage round the body, with an extra thickness next to the rupture itself. In the case of a child being troubled with the falling of the bowels at the time of evacuation, this same plan should be pursued. PALPITATION OF THE HEAET. UCH unnecessary alarm, especially where the ner- vous system has been de pressed by other causes, is often produced, from its very nature, by this disease, so that it is important the patient should not yield to depression of spirits, which in no case can do good. The patient thus afflicted feels that the motion of the heart has increased in ra- pidity, having more force than usual, often to such a de- gree as to be seen, and even heard. It is often attended by a difficulty of breathing, and a purple hue of the cheeks and lips, accompanied with various anxious feel ings. When the disease is primary^ that is, arising from the enlargement of the heart, ossification, or alteration of structure, the result may be fatal and sudden ; though cases have occurred where a great enlargement of the heart has continued for twenty years ; but in other cases it is only symptomatic, that is connected, with neighboring organs, such as the stomach in dyspepsia. We knew a gentleman who had this kind of heart disease, who for forty years assured his friends tbat he could not live (219) 220 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. more than two Aveeks, and yet did not die till far ad- vanced toward eighty. Of course, in a case like this, the body and mind should be kept easy and cheerful as possible. If the disease be primary, a rigid course of diet should be pursued ; every thing producing corpulence should be avoided ; the stomach should never be overloaded ; and vegetable food should be preferred to animal. Bleeding, emetics, and purgatives, in the opinion of many physicians, are naver out of season in such cases. Supposing the patient to be seized with an attack of heart disease, we would recommend that first of all he should take a dose of the lobelia emetic, giving, a little before or after it, half a tea-spoonfnl of capsicum in sweet- ened water. The powder of Indian hemp-root may be taken, a small tea-spoonful two or three times a day. K the disease arise from plethora, take, as soon as may be, a few ounces of blood from the arm, and lose no time in acting on the bowels. When the nervous system is affected, give small quantities of wine or spirits ; or if they are not at hand, a few drops of ether or laudanum. The feet should be constantly dry and warm ; and if need be, occasionally rubbed with mustard, or the tincture of cayenne pepper. ^*% NIGHTMARE ONSISTS in a frightful feeling ,,,^_ of weight upon the breast after ft^ r^, going to sleep, with an alarm- ing dread of suffocation. It is , : generally caused by hot, late, ^^ heavy suppers, especially after great fatigue; at other times by drunkenness ; or in some cases simply by the patient lying on his back. If the patient be of a full habit, let him be freely bled and purged, and set himself for a few days to live on dry bread and a little water gruel, and take simple rice water for his drink. If the disease arise, as it sometimes does, from great debility, especially of the nervous sys- tem, the patient may take the usual tonic medicines, as preparations of steel, bark, gentian root, or columbo root. The old physicians usually recommended a glass of brandy before going to bed as an infallible remedy ; but the poison which now goes under that name is far more likely to bring on the fit. "We are quite sure the patient will act far more wisely if he takes a fair share of exercise during the day, eats light suppers, and sleeps on a hard bed. 19* (221) HEARTBURN. TRICTLY speaking, this disease has nothing to do with the heart. It is an uneasy, burning sensation '§0C^ about the pit of the stomach, r often attended with a degree of anxiety,nausea, and vomit- ing. It generally arises from a relaxed state of the stomach, inducing acidity and acrimony. Yery few women entirely escape it during the months of preg- nancy. Its treatment is not difficult. A small tea-spoonful of magnesia, of salt of tartar, of bicarbonate of soda, or even of powdered chalk, taken in a glass of cold water, or of mint tea, will often remove it in half an hour. A little rhubarb added to the quantity of magnesia we have prescribed will prove an admirable purgative in pregnancy, and usually remove all causes of complaint. Powdered black pepper, say a small tea-spoonful in a small glassful of wine or spirit, has also proved entirely successful in effecting a cure. This disease, however, like all others, will sometimes prove obstinate, and it then demands a more decisive (222^ DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 223 treatment. An emetic may be found necessary ; this should be followed by tonics, such as a little brandy and water, or a tea-spoonful of the sweet spirits of nitre. If the feet are cold, put them in a tepid bath, and rub them well with the flower of mustard, or tincture of cayenne pepper. The application of a small blister to the pit of the stomach is often of very great service ; this should be kept running for at least a week. Those who are liable to this disease, should be careful as to their diet. Their food should be chiefly animal ; every thing greasy should be avoided ; the drink should be a small quantity of brandy or gin in water ; and fre- quent gentle exercise in the open air should not be neg- lected. Those who are subject to this class of diseases should never forget that roasted meats are more nutri- tious than boiled. Frying is the most objectionable of all modes of cooking meat, as broiling is generally the best. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, food from the frying-pan disagrees with the stomach. One should eat sparingly, if at all, of cabbage, and never taste it unless it is thoroughly boiled. Cucumbers should never be eat; they are poison to a dyspeptic stomach. JAUNDICE. Jaundice arises from the obstruction of the ordinary passages through which the bile circulates, causing a 224- DISEASES OF MEN AISTD WOMEN". yellowness of the skin, and especially of the whites of the eyes and the nails of the fingers. It usually commences by listlessness and want of appetite, a dry, itching, or pricking skin, a strong tendency to sleep, or its opposite, and sometimes hemorrhage from different parts of the body. The urine is of a saffron color, and the patient often suffers greatly from costiveness. If, as is usually the case, the stomach is disordered, administer one of the emetics we have already pre- scribed; and after it has operated freely, follow it with a gentle purge, unless indeed, as is sometimes the case, the emetic acts powerfully on the bowels as well as on the stomach. If there be coldness about the feet or body, let the patient, as soon as possible, be put into a hot bath, or bathe his whole body with hot vinegar and water. After these measures, if the patient is not greatly better, he should take a preparation, composed of one drachm each of golden seal and capsicum, with two drachms eacli of white poplar bark, and bitter root ; cover them with boiling water; when cool, add half a pint of Hol- lands gin, and let from half a glass to a wine-glassful be given morning, noon, and night. At the same time a decoction may be made of the root of dandelion and of barberry root ; this may be drank freely. From ten to forty drops three times a day of the tincture of blood- root, either in water or in herb tea, has been taken in this disease with advantage. DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 225 In cases where the patient suffers from debility, tlie diet should be of a nourishing kind; but where there is fullness of habit and fever, the food should be very light. Vegetables which the patient has found to create flatu- lency should be avoided ; but in all cases a raw egg may be taken every morning with advantage. Soot tea has been strongly recommended in this disease, but we sus- pect is not very generally taken. If, however, there be roughness in the mouth and throat, we strongly recom- mend a preparation of equal parts of blood-root and slippery elm, simmered by the fire in water, till the vir- tue is pretty well extracted ; then add molasses, salt, and vinegar, and take a tea-spoonful occasionally. VOMITING. Vomiting is not always symptomatic of disease. Some times the stomach for the time being becomes irritable, and ejects every thing committed to it. When it pro- ceeds from a foul stomach, or indigestion, vomiting ought to be promoted by drinking lukewarm water, or thin gruel. If this does not after a short time stop it, a dose of ipecacuanha may be taken, and worked off with weak camomile tea. If it be the effect of pregnane}', it may be mitigated by gentle bleeding, and keeping the O 226 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. body open by figs, stewed prunes, or senna. To prevent it, a cup of coffee or tea should be taken in a morning before the patient gets out of bed ; and she should never allow her stomach to be quite empty. Cold water should be frequently drank, and if the stomach is weak, a little brandy should be taken with it. If the spirits are low, and there exists a tendency toward fainting, a spoonf'il of cinnamon water, with a little marmalade of quinces or oranges may be taken. The common soda powders are often sufficient to put a stop to vomiting. If the complaint should pro\e obstinate, apply a mustard plaster over the region of the stomach ; or an- other preparation has been found very successful in allaying the irritability, made of equal parts of cloves, nutmegs, allspice, and ginger ; pulverize them well, and add sufficient Indian meal and vinegar to form a plaster, and apply it to the pit of the stomach. And if even this fail, an opium pill almost always succeeds; but better than this is a simple tea made of the leaves of the peach tree. The patient, in a case like this, should be kept very quiet, and his diet must be such as will keep on the stomach, and be easily digestel. HEMOEEHAGE HIS is the discharge of blood from the vessels which should retain it. This remark applies alike to the lungs, the stomach, and the nose. We need not say that in these cases, especially the first two, the disease, whatever its origin, should not be neglected. The most eminent skill should be engaged. The disease is gene- rally caused by muscular debility, and Nature therefore needs all the assistance which Art can give it. If the physician cannot be at once consulted, let the feet of the patient be placed in warm water, and gentle purgatives administered. A table-spoonful of common salt, or a tea-spoonful or two of pulverized alum, should be dis- solved in water and drank immediately. If there have been previous indications of consumption, or if the pa- tient be of a weakly habit, and is troubled with cough, there must be no delay; in other cases, the danger is far less; but when the discharge proceeds either from the stomach or lungs, thoughtlessness, or something worse, will alone tempt to delay. If the bleeding proceeds only from the nose, let the (227) 228 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN". head be kept upright, or rather falling back ; expose it to the open air, apply cold water to it, and put into the nose a little lint dipped in a solution made of one drachm of white vitriol dissolved in a pint and a half of cold water. The bleeding has often been stopped by the patient simply raising the arm over his head on the same side from which the blood in the nostril flows. A dose of epsom salts will tend to cool the system. In all these cases only very gentle exercise should be taken. The diet should be light, such as baked apples and milk. THE PILES. Piles are small swellings or tumors of rather a dark zoloT, usually on the edge of the fundament. They are of two kinds; where these tumors discharge blood during evacuation they are called bleeding piles ; but when there is only a swelling on the edge of the fundament, or a little distance up the internal part, and no bleeding, the disease is called the blind piles. Both men and women are subject to this great inconvenience, but it is most common to women in a state of pregnancy. This disease often seems to be hereditary ; where it so, there should be the greater care to guard against its DISEASES OP MEN AND WOMEISr. 229 tendencies. It is usually brought on by too much sit- ting, corpulence, a diseased liver, or drastic purgatives. The first object to be sought by the afflicted patient is by gentle methods to remove costiveness or constipation. The disease may be easily cured in its first stages, and that by very simple means ; but neglected,few are more diflBcult to re- move. The patient, feel- ing this to be true, will take special care in the matter. If he has reason to believe the disease originates in the morbid state of the liver, let him rouse it to action by taking the lobelia emetic. If small tumors appear on the arms, anoint the part five or six times a day with an ointment made of three parts of hog's lard, one part of powdered nutgalls, and the same quantity of camphor simmered together. When a falling of the bowels takes place, take equal parts of white oak bark, witch-hazel bark, and upland sumach, make them into a strong decoction, adding to every pint a tea-spoonful of powdered alum. Apply this 20 BOLOUOS'S SEAL. 230 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. from time to time, and occasionally gently press up the bowels. The Solomon's seal is exceedingly useful in this disease. Its roots should be well dried, reduced to powder, and taken every night, beginning with half a tea-spoonful, gradually increasing the quantity. Or it makes an excellent poultice. But perhaps, after all, while cold bathing is one of the best preservatives against the piles, so washing the fundament twice a day with the coldest spring water, or ice water if it can be had, is one of the best remedies. This, with the occasional application of a little sweet oil to the fundament, and now and then a gentle aperient, cannot be without advantage. We need scarcely to add, that all high living must be avoided, and all wines and spirits ; take rye-bread, ripe fruits, and whatever else is easy of digestion. Do not neglect a good share of gentle exercise in the open air. STITCH, OR PAIN IN THE SIDE. This is a disease becoming prevalent among us as the result of the neglect of health among many of our young ladies; and the increased pursuit of sedentary habits, followed by violent exertion, such as running, etc. DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 231 To remove the pain at present, put on the part affected a long strap of adhesive plaster, or a bandage equally- rolled around the body and over the chest ; and to guard against it in future, make it one of your important Chris- tian duties to take care of your health. Prevention is far better than cure. MORTIFICATION. This word is usually employed to describe the state of a portion of the body where the circulation has ceased to exist, and which frequently turns black or putrid. In its early stage it is called gangrene^ which is usually attended with high inflammation, and the swelling of the parts affected accompanied with vesications, like those attended with scalds, but of various colors. It has been usually regarded as fatal ; in fact, the diseased parts have been considered already dead ; and if the life of the pa- tient was preserved at all, it has been supposed it could only be by amputation. Eecent facts, however, have proved all this to be a mistake ; and though the disease has not unfrequently been very far advanced, it has been effectually checked and cured. If mortification follows an inflammation, there will be excessive and constant pain, iutense anxiety, and fre- 232 DISEASES OF MEN" AND WOMEIT. quently delirium. The affected part becomes soft, is of a livid color, and is deprived of sensibility. Blisters are formed on the part, under which appear brown spots, and the flesh turns black, and emits an unpleasant smell. If the result proves favorable, the mortified part is surrounded by a white line, around which matter is formed, and the dead part loosens, comes away, and leaves only a suppurating ulcer. But if the termination be fatal, the mortification rapidly extends, constitutional irritation arises, the pulse becomes small and irregular, and death follows. Mortification is generally produced by the blood ves- sels being choked by pressure, by violent bruises, ex- cessive debility arising from protracted fevers, or from the languor of old age. As soon as the vesicles or blisters of which we have spoken appear, at once apply a poultice made of yeast and slippery elm bark; place it on warm, and often re- new it. If the debility of the system has been the predisposing cause of mortification, it must be remedied by a more exciting regimen, and by tonics, according to the taste and wishes of the patient. Dr. Ferris has recommended a poultice in cases of mortification, which has been very successful. It is composed of scraped carrots and bruised spikenard, which are boiled together till they are soft, in a small quantity of water, with Indian or oat- DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 233 meal, and applied warm. A common bread and milk poultice with powdered charcoal is also good. In the mortification of the feet and toes of aged people, it is sel- dom any thing is found of service except opium, bark and wine. In such cases the disease begins at the end of the toes; where first a blister arises, from which mortifica- tion spreads up to the limbs. HYDROPHOBIA. Every one knows that this word is intended to de- scribe the disease arising from the bite of a mad dog; a disease so awful in itself, and so fatal in its consequences, that we can never think of it without wishing there was not a dog left in the world. The poison appears to be attached exclusively to the saliva, for when the rabid animal has bitten a man, if the moisture does not enter the wound no injury is done. At an uncertain period after the bite, though proba- bly always within a year, a dull heavy pain seizes the part bitten, accompanied with swelling, and this even though the wound may have been long ago healed. A numbness gradually proceeds up the limb, the patient becomes anxious and gloomy ; he sleeps unsoundly, and seeks for solitude. If the disease cannot be arrested, hd 20* 234 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. soon has a perfect horror of water, attempts to swallow liquids produce suffocation and convulsions, yet he swallows dry things without difficulty. His pains increase and extend, his countenance becomes full of horror, and though he retains his senses to the last, his eyes become wild and furious. If it be tolerably certain that one has been bitten by a rabid animal, the highest love will call for the most vi- gorous measures. Cut out the whole flesh of the wound and even far beyond it ; apply caustic, or rather send for the physician to do it ; lay on a day or two after- ward, a yeast poultice, and keep up a discharge as long as possible. Take a strong infusion of scuUcap through the day, and administer the lobelia emetic. Promote per- spiration by the steam or vapor bath. Bleeding is of considerable importance. It is, however, but the part of candor to say that but small hope may be cherished when the virus has once entered the system. Preven- tion, or the very earliest treatment of disease is our only real safety. Still, medical science is making rapid prog- ress, and even hydrophobia may yet become harmless. We have read of " infallible remedies," but alas, we have not seen them. In the newspaper we took up but half an hour since, we met with a passage of which the reader shall form his own opinion : " An old Vermonter writes, I am now in my eightieth year, and have obtained what information I could, both DISEASES OP MEN" AND WOMEN. 235 from observation and critical study. It has lately been discovered that a decoction made of the bark of the roots of the white ash, when used as a medicine, will cure the bite of a mad dog. This undoubtedly is owing to the fact that rattlesnakes can be made more easily to crawl over live fire coals than white ash leaves ; and they are never found in forests where the white ash grows." VENEREAL DISEASES. Had we been able to satisfy our conscience in doing so, we would have avoided all reference to these truly loathsome diseases, which present an awful illustra- tion of the Scripture, "the way of transgressors is hard." As we write, we have before the vivid eye of our memory a series of facts which might almost make our ears tingle. A young man connected with a family of the highest respectability, early in life indulged in the sin which brought on syphilis ; much labor and ex- pense led, as it was believed, to a full cure, and after a few years he married a most amiable lady of wealth ind beauty, entered an honorable profession, and by nis piety and benevolence rose to high esteem in the community. The middle period of life arrived, his wealth increased, and a large and beautiful family of 236 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. children surrounded him. Disease attacked him, and physicians at length were compelled to tell him that ho suffered from uneradicated and incurable disease, arising " from the sins of his youth ;" and in a state of chagrin and grief, which the pen cannot describe, he soon after ended the mournful tragedy by death. Young men, beware ! Gonorrhoea^ or Clap^ is the simplest form venereal as- sumes, and is, perhaps, the most easily and quickly cured. It commences in a discharge of matter from the urethra, as also hot urine ; this is succeeded by an un- pleasant itching about the parts of generation, accom- panied with soreness and tingling sensation along the whole course of the urethra ; and soon after this is ob- served the appearance of whitish matter at its orifice, and increasing pain in the evacuation of urine. Ghordee is another form of the disease, or rather, per- haps, another stage of the same ; for it usually arises from the neglect of Oonorrhoea^ or sometimes from taking too violent exercise, such as riding on horseback while the patient is suffering from it. This is a spasmodic contraction of the penis, which curves downward and cannot be raised without great pain. It is, however, often erected during sleep, when the patient is warm in bed, pro- ducing an involuntary emission of semen. In the case of a woman, this form of disease resembles the whites in their worst stago, except that there is always a scalding DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN". 237 sensation in making water, and a continual uneasiness and itching about the parts, unknown in mere whites. The remedy for this is, that as soon as the spasm comes on, you should pour cold water on the parts which pain you ; and if there is a discharge of blood, apply poultices of cold milk and bread, or a poultice of slippery elm. Sometimes bathing the part with vinegar and water has been of great use. In all cases, nearly as much depends on cleanliness as on medicine ; therefore let the diseased part be well washed in a good quantity of warm water and castile soap, three or four times every day. Professor Chapman recommends the balsam of co- paivi on the very commencement of the disease, in doses of from twenty-five to forty drops morning, noon, and night, according to the strength of the patient, in a little wine or milk. It is best given, however, in another way. Take half an ounce, each, of balsam copaivi and sweet spirits of nitre, the white of an egg or two drachms of powdered gum arabic, and the same quantity of white sugar, with one drachm of laudanum and three ounces of water ; carefully mix them, and take a table- spoonful three times a day. Balsam of Copaiva and Cuhebs seem to be the two grand essentials in the cure of this disease. If preferred, the following preparation may be taken instead of the one already given : — Take of pulverized cubebs one 238 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOilEN. ounce; of the best Ilollands gin one pint; one ounce of spearmint ; two ounces balsam of copaiva ; and one dracbm oil of wintergreen. Mix them well, and take two tea-spoonsful three times a day, one hour before or two hours after eating. Perseverance in the use of either of these remedies, with strict cleanliness of the diseased part, and an entire abstinence from intoxicating drinks, will almost certainly effect a cure. Syphilis or Pox must not be neglected, unless the patient would die. The history of this disease, and the mischief it has done in the world for many centuries, are truly terrific. Almost imperceptible in its origin, it corrupts the whole body, makes the very air offensive to surrounding friends, and lays multitudes literally to rot in the grave. It commences in one part of the body, and usually, in more or less degree, extends to the whole system, and is said by the most eminent physicians to be a morbid poison, having the power of extending itself to every part of the body into which it is infused, and to other persons with whom it, in any way, comes into contact; so that even its moisture, communicated by linen or otherwise, may corrupt those who unfortunately touch it. Innumerable remedies have been prescribed for it, but it is difiScult to say when it is really cured ; indeed, some very wise men have doubted whether it is ever radically removed. "Whatever of shame may be DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 239 felt by the unhappy patient, if there be a proper regard for life, to say nothing of the interests of society, the best accessible physician will be consulted, and his counsels most carefully adhered to. As the disease advances, an ulcer is formed, the bot- tom of which is hard, and the edges a little prominent; nor is it long before inflammation takes place. Very commonly associated with these symptoms will be found what the physicians call Chancre. This is seen in small eruptions or ulcers in different parts of the head of the penis, accompanied with considerable itching. It is soon followed by inflammation, which should be reduced by applying an elm bark poultice on lint. When the inflammation has subsided, sprinkle the ulcers daily with powdered blood-root ; and if this does not succeed, the physician will probably apply caustic and mercurial preparations : but let not the patient tamper with these things. The sufferer will see the importance of a due attention to the bowels, which should be kept open with gentle cooling medicines. All high living and hot drinks must be carefully avoided, and take only light nutritious food, and for drink, use infusions of flax-seed, barley water, or the solution of gum arable. As much rest should be obtained as possi- ble ; and again we urge the importance of cleanliness by the use of Castile soap, or if found better, by warm milk and water. 210 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. Bubo is a further step in the sad progress of this awful disease. The poison has now become absorbed in the system and greatly swells the glands of the groin, in •which it commences with great pain, accompanied with hardness. It begins about the size of a bean, and not unfrequently grows as large as an egg. The patient shows great redness of the skin, feels much throbbing pain about the tumor, and walks with much difficulty. As soon as this begins to appear, the part should be rubbed ■with blue ointment of mercury two or three times a week ; but if the tumor has become too large to be dis- persed, a poultice of slippery elm or of white lead and milk should be applied, and may then be treated as a boil. After it has been opened, it may be treated with lint, red precipitate, and, above all, strict cleanliness. As we have given an ample description of"this disease, we now proceed to its treatment. Take first of all an active purge of calomel and jalap to clear the bowels of all obstructions and causes of irritation. Or take two drachms each of gum gamboge, bitter apple, and dragon's tongue, and forty grains of sal prunella ; mix them well together, and take from twenty to thirty grains three times a day in sweetened water, continuing it for three or four days. If the evacuations become yellow and watery, and the patient feels great weakness, take from ten to twenty drops of laudanum, or a tea- spoonful of paregoric to check the violent operation of DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 241 the medicine. The vast majority of physicians have recourse to calomel, in some of its various forms, for a cure; but some who object to this treatment, depend much on mandrake, which has been found useful by physicians who long depended on mercury as the only remedy for this disease. — They have ascer- tained that there is in the man- drdlce^ or Indian appU^ all the pe- culiar qualities of mercury, so far as this disease is concerned. Its best mode of pre- paration is to pul- verize the root masdbaioi. and mix it with equal parts of powdered spearmint and cream of tartar. Give a tea-spoonful in molasses or tea about twice a week. Others place almost boundless confidence in a syrup prepared of one pound each of burdock root elder 21 P 242 DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. flowers, and sassafras root-bark, together with a pound and a half of guaicum shavings and three pounds of American or foreign sarsaparilla. Put these into two quarts of spirits and the same quantity of water ; boil them repeatedly, adding fresh water to them, till the full strength is obtained ; strain and reduce them to eight porter bottles full ; add to this preparation twelve pounds of clarified sugar ; let it stand twenty-four hours, strain and bottle it for use. The proper dose to be taken is a wine-glassful three or four times a day. After all we have said, we repeat our advice, that in a disease so dangerous as this, the skillful physician must be consulted. No treatment recommended with- out seeing the patient, and examining his symptoms, can be entirely relied on. Gleet is rather the result, or the remains of the disease of which we have been treating, than the disease itself. It consists in a continual running or discharge after all the inflammatory symptoms have abated. It is attended with scalding pain in making water, and may come long after the disease has been apparently cured ; indeed, some physicians have thought that by possibility it may be brought on by means altogether apart from those of a venereal character. They have further said, that a simple gleet is not infectious. The disease must not be neglected, or it will become obstinate and take years to cure; no small matter, when it is remembered that it DISEASES OF MEN AND WOMEN. 243 constantly lessens the energy of the whole system, and keeps its subject in a state of prostration. Perhaps the best remedy for gleet is cold sea-bathing. Next to that, bathing the parts with cold water four or five times a day will be found the best way of making them strong. In addition to this, obtain a phialful of muriated tincture of iron, and take thirty drops of it three times a day in a wine-glass of strong cold tea, made of the dog-wood bark. Probably a month's per- severance in this course of bathing and medicine will afford full relief. Many have successfully used the turpentine of the common pine-tree, made into pills of the ordinary size — one of them taken three times a day. This remedy has succeeded when many other things have failed. If during the existence of venereal disease, in any form or stage, the mouth becomes sore, a gargle may be used twice or thrice a day made of half an ounce of borax, one ounce of honey, and a pint of rose tea or soft boiling water. In such a case the medicine may be omitted for a day or two. Also, as before stated, high living and exciting drinks mnst be carefully avoided till every symptom of the disease has disappeared. WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, AND MINOR DISEASES. E are all exposed to accidents, some of p' which will produce wounds too slight to demand the attendance ^^^ffl of a professional man, and yet too important to be neglected. Small wounds, such as cuts, should instantly be bound up in the blood, and if thought proper, in a little brown sugar, and kept secure from the air till they are well. If the wound should be rather large, bring the edges of the separated parts together, and lay on them a piece of sticking-plaster. If the bleeding of a wound cannot be readily stopped, take some linen or cotton rags, burn them to powder, and put it on the wound. A spider's web, or a little lint pulled from a beaver hat, will answer the same pur- pose. (244) WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 245 It will often happen that what is called proud flesh, a white irritating spot, will appear in the middle of a wound. This may be removed without pain, by simply covering the part affected with scrapings from cow's horn. From one to three applications is all that is necessary. It should be allowed to remain on from six to twelve hours. We have known the same end accom- plished by laying on the part, once or twice, a little powdered loaf sugar ; or it may be sprinkled witli blood- root, finely pulverized. It is becoming common to use chloroform in cases of wounds and injuries. The French surgeons, however, have discovered that an application of pounded ice and common salt to the diseased limbs causes numbness and insensibility, so that surgical operations can be per- formed without pain to the patient, and without the risk involved in the use of chloroform. In the treatment of wounds, it is of the utmost im- portance to guard against inflammation. If this should become violent, it must be relieved by bleeding ; but generally the early use of poultices and emollients will prevent the evil. Convulsions not unfrequently follow even slight wounds, such as scratches; in such cases the patient should be immersed as soon as possible in warm water, into which has been thrown a quantity of wood ashes, and opium should be given every two or three hours. Let the patient be kept as quiet and easy 21* 246 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. as possible ; keep him on spare diet, and let the bowels be gently open. If the wound begins to discharge mat- ter, a more generous diet will be necessary. GUN-SnOT WOUNDS. These demand immediate and careful attention, being more dangerous than almost any others, from their dis- position to mortification. Unless the patient suffer from great exhaustion, leeches should be applied near the edges of the sore, and bread and milk poultices laid on as soon as the bleeding has ceased ; as early as may be, the separated parts must be brought together by plasters or bandages. A light nourishing diet should be given, and whatever may tend to heal the wound encouraged. A little lint dipped in the solution of lime- water may be applied with advantage. FEVER SORE. This disease is the inflammation and ulceration of a bone. It is sometimes caused by a blow affecting the flesh and bone ; and at other times it is produced by a general disease becoming a local one. lu either case, WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 247 the system must be cleansed from all acrimonious humors by emetics and purgatives. Fever sore generally first shows itself by an obtuse, deep-seated, aching pain, exceedingly distressing to the patient, and soon seriously affecting the general health. The part swells and a tumor forms, hard, red, and ex- tremely tender, which is attended with increasing heat and inflammation. Apply at once a sorrel poultice, and cooling fomentations, as also a little opium. If, unhappily, the symptoms increase, lay a blister about the size of a dollar below the part afiected, and when it has properly risen, take off the skin, and dress it three or four times a day with on ointment made of equal parts of plantain and chamomile, simmered in hog's lard. If these remedies do not succeed, the danger de- mands the attendance of a skillful surgeon. WHITE-SWELLING. This painful and difficult disease is generally seated on some of the largest joints of the body, such as the hip, knee, ankle, or elbow. It derives its name from the fact that the skin remains white, even in the greatest inflammation. In most cases the seat of the pain is the covering of the bone, and it is generally found in per- 2-18 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. sons of scrofulous habits. la its commencement, the swelling usually occupies the small hollows of the joints, but extends till it becomes general, the limb becoming stiff and crooked. As the disease progresses, the joint appears of enormous size, the skin remains smooth and shining, a few red veins running over it; openings ap- pear, and discharges begin ; the health fails, and hectio fever comes on. It generally seizes young persons from five to fifteen, and is very seldom known after twenty- five ; but if recovery is long delayed, the disease is in- evitably fatal. Many a fine healthy child has been sud- denly seized with it, reduced to a skeleton by excru- ciating pain, and soon laid in the grave. Every one must see that our attempts to effect a cure can only apply to its very first stages ; after openings appear, the skillful sugeon must be called in, who will apply more severe remedies, perhaps even amputation : a desperate remedy, but, be it remembered, it is for a desperate disease. When the disease first appears, steam the parts over the decoction of bitter herbs, such as tansy, hops, worm- wood, pennyroyal, and catnip, made quite strong and hot, into which should be put half a pint of soft soap. Steam the part in this decoction at least fifteen minutes, keeping it hot with heated bricks or stones. Imme- diately after this is done, prepare a liquid of half a gill of gin, half an ounce of camphor, a large table-spoonful WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 249 of laudanum, and tlie marrow of three hog's jaws ; sim- mer them together, and rub the swelling with the oint- ment. A poultice may then be applied made of equal parts of dandelion roots, the heart of mullen, and catnip ; boil them in milk and thicken with flour. Apply the steam every morning, and the poultice every morning and evening, till the swelling breaks. After this, apply a salve made of a handful of English clover, a piece of resin as large as a walnut, half a pound of sheep's tal- low, and a handful of bitter-sweet berries, slowly stewed on embers. Eenew this twice a day. ULCEES. An ulcer may be distinguished from a common wound by its discharging a thin watery humor, which is often so acrid as to inflame and corrode the skin. Ulcers are often the consequences of wounds or bruises, or from a general bad state of the body. They most commonly attend the aged, and persons who live well and take little exercise. The principal difficulty is to decide whether an ulcer should be dried up or not ; for if it arises from the general impurity of the blood, its con- tinuance may be essential to the life of the patient. In this case the remedies should all tend to the removal 250 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. of its cause, when the ulcer will heal of itself. "When ulcers attend or follow chronic diseases, they must be cautiously healed ; but if they waste the strength by slow fever, they should be healed as soon as possible. Bandages are of great service in healing many kinds of ulcers. A plaster should be spread of ointment com- posed of one pound of hog's lard, half a pound of lead plaster, and five ounces of prepared calamine. This should be spread on a cotton or silk rag, and bound on the ulcer by a roller a yard or two long, and changed every day. If the ulcer presents an irritable appearance, that is, if the bottom of it has unequal lumps and hollows, and it gives a thin discharge, and when touched is painful and bleeds, steam it over hot water, apply a carrot poul- tice or one of flaxseed, with a few drops of laudanum; in this case, it may be well to omit the bandage. The regimen should be generous; a little wine or bark may be taken. WENS AND FISTULAS. These need no description, and happily the remedy for them is easy. Take the yolks of eggs, beat them up well, and add to them as much fine salt as they will dissolve. Bind some of this preparation on the part WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 251 affected, and renew it every twelve hours. Let the pro- fessional man only be employed to perform an operation, if one is necessary. WHITLOW, OR FELON. This disease is an inflammation of the fingers, thumb, or hand, or sometimes the toes, very painful, and hav- ing a strange tendency to suppuration. It commences with a pricking, throbbing sensation, followed by swell- ing, and sometimes extends to the sinews and bones. The disease may be removed with far less suffering than has been generally supposed. Make a decoction of herbs, such as catnip, wormwood, tansy, and hops, say a handful of each; boil them till their strength is ex- tracted, and then add a small quantity of soft soap ; place the whole in a vessel, hold the hand over it, re taining the steam by a blanket or piece of flannel. Con- tinue this for fifteen or twenty minutes, or as long as the patient can bear it ; and if there is not sufficient heat to produce perspiration, let a hot brick or stone be thrown into the decoction. This remedy has been truly surprising in its effects. In some cases a poultice of slippery elm and linseed, simmered in milk, has been used with great advantage. If a small white spot ap- 252 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. pears in the centre of the swelling, a large needle should be used to open a course for the matter to escape, which may be repeated if necessary. If, when the wound ia healed, the sinews are contracted, use a little relaxing ointment or sweet oil. WAETS. These little excrescences on the hands or fingers are too well known to need description. The best remedies are the most simple. Here is one : — Bind a leaf of house leek, from which you have re- moved the skin, on a wart a few nights in succession, and the wart will disappear. Here is another : — Tie a piece of raw cotton to the wart, and wet it seve- ral times a day with spirits of turpentine ; this will, in three days, cure the wart without the least pain. We have known large and obstinate warts removed by daily rubbing them for a week or two with the in- side of the moist shells of Windsor beans. CORNS. VERY adult reader has probably suffered from these painful excres- cences on the feet. They are usually brought on by wearing tight boots and shoes, and will be most effectually relieved by easy ones. Two or three speedy remedies may be mentioned. Take eight or twelve pieces of linen and spread over them a little soft ointment, usually called cold cream, which may be easily made. Take half an ounce of white wax, half an ounce of spermaceti, and three ounces of almond oil. Put the whole into a basin, and place it in hot water till fused ; then gradually add three ounces of rose-water, elder-water, or orange-flower water, stir- ring all the time with a fork or small whisk. Any perfume may be added ; but medicinally, it is better without. When cold, it is fit for use. Let each of the pieces of linen on which you have spread this ointment be cut in the middle fitting the corn, and lay them over each other, so that the corn may not touch the shoe or stocking. Apply these plasters con- 22 (253) 254 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. stantly, and in two or three weeks the corns will dis- appear. Another remedy is to take two ounces each of yellow wax and gum ammoniac, and six drachms of verdigris. Of these make an ointment, of which apply a plaster ; which, if necessary, renew two weeks afterward. Persons troubled with corns have entirely lost them when confined by sickness to their beds for two or three weeks ; and we have known them removed by the appli- cation of a blister a little larger than the corn, which has brought them away by the roots. SCROFULA, OR KING'S EYIL. In the estimation of many persons, this disease has been regarded as almost sacred. For ages its almost only cure was considered to be the touch of a king. From the days of Edward the Confessor to a very recent period, an important part of the kingly office was that the sovereign should lay the royal hand on the scrofu- lous patient, and miraculously heal this sad malady. This superstition appears to have reached its height in the time of Charles the Second, who, according to a register in the Royal Chapel, thus touched more than ninety-two thousand persons. Even the learned Dr. WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 255 Samuel Johnson, was thus treated by Queen Anne for the removal of scrofula. The disease is one especially affecting the glands, particularly those of the neck ; we consider it often he- reditary, but not contagious : it usually develops itself in young persons from about the age of seven years till that of puberty. It abounds most in marshy and cold neighborhoods, among neglected children and negroes, and arises from a venereal taint, confined air, bad water, unwholesome food, want of exercise, or whatever else tends to vitiate the blood. It usually commences with the appearance of small knots under the chin or behind the ears, which gra- dually increase in number and size, till they form one large hard tumor, which often continues for a long time without breaking, and when it begins to discharge, it issues forth a thin watery humor ; but then goes on, if unchecked, till the bones become carious, and often come away in pieces. It is very painful to see a young person of a beautiful complexion and light blue eyes, beginning to swell about the upper lip, or perhaps, the fingers and toes, attended with no great degree of pain, till it has progressed so as to induce suffering for many years, and perhaps death in the end. It is highly possible that several kinds of medicines must be tried before any will succeed in its removal ; and therefore we recommend that changes be made in the mode of treatment at least 256 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. every two or three months ; though, after all, we believe that nutritious food, great cleanliness, pure air, and gentle exercise, will, in the end, do more for the patient than all the medicines in the world. We strongly recommend that in scrofulous cases all mercurial preparations be carefully avoided and all violent purgatives. The whole disease arises from re- laxations, and needs whatever will strengthen the sys- tem. When the affected part has begun to swell, make a poultice of the Indian turnip or wake-robin, to which add some slippery elm; lay it cold on the part, and renew it if necessary. Let this be continued till the swelling subsides or breaks, and then apply a poultice of yellow or narrow dock-root and slippery elm. After a few days this poultice should also be changed for one made of equal parts of slippery elm, bayberry bark finely pulverized, and crackers. Much advantage has been derived in this disease from taking pills made of tar. Take common tar, boil it down hard enough to make into pills, and take four every day. They have been very useful in purifying the blood. These pills have been used by many persons who had a tendency to the disease, as an infallible preservative. An eminent physician has recommended the use of Peruvian bark and steel, to be taken alternately every two weeks ; but he considers that the muriate of lime, given in doses beginning at ten and gradually increasing •WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 257 to sixty drops, three or four times a day, in tea or water, is far better than any thing else. The very frequent application of linen rags dipped in a solution of one ounce of sugar of lead in a pint of water, has been veiy useful. Bathing in salt water, especially in the warm season, is of great advantage ; this should be attended with a good draught of the sea- water every morning. SCURVY. Though scurvy is often considered the same as scro- fula, there are between them important differences. In many cases they have a common origin ; but perhaps the scurvy especially arises from bad ventilation, and from the use of hard salt food. In days when modern improvements in ship-building, and in the proper pre- servation of meats, were unknown, those accustomed to the sea suffered dreadfully from this disease. The patient afflicted with it has often to complain of extreme debility, difficulty of breathing, pale and bloated complexion, offensive breath, urine, and the evacuation of the bowels; the legs often swell, and the spirits are greatly depressed. The treatment of scurvy is not difficult. Cleanliness, fresh air, and gentle exercise, are all essential to re- 22* Q 258 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. covery ; so also is pure water, and a proper attention to the stomach and bowels. It is not well to take much medicine in such cases; but it is important to have re- course to a small portion of that which has proved very useful. Take half a pound of the root of great water- dock, and cut it into thin slices ; put it into a stone jar, and pour upon it a gallon of boiling water. Cover it up, and let ft stand twenty-four hours; put the whole into a saucepan, and boil it about ten minutes; let it stand to be quite cold, and strain it oflf without squeez- ing. Drink half a pint of it twice a day. The diet should be of a light, nutritious, and some- what generous kind. Take plenty of acids, and an abundance of vegetables, with as much horse-radish, mustard, cress, etc., as your appetite may call for. Fruit jnay be eaten in any quantity, such as apples, lemons, oranges, and whatever else may contain acid properties. SCALDS AND BUENS. Of all remedies we know of in these distressing and often fatal accidents, unquestionably the best is to cover, even almost to load, the part affected with the common wheaten flour, binding as much on the wound as it will bear. In the "American Medical Gazette," Dr. Reese ear- WOUNDS, ACCIDEN'TS, ETC. 259 nestly reiterates his advice to apply flour to scalds and burns : — We still see reported, almost daily, an appall iiig numbei of deaths by burns and scalds, not one of which, we take upon ourselves to say, need prove fatal, or would do so, if a few pounds of wheat flour could be promptly applied to the wounds made by fire, and re- peated until the inflammatory stage had passed. We have never known a fatal case of scalding or burning in which this practice has been pursued, during more than thirty years' experience, and having treated hundreds in both public and private practice. We have known the most extensive burns by falling into caldrons of boiling oil, and even molten copper, and yet the patients were rescued by this simple and cheap remedy, which, from its infallible success, should supplant all the fashion- able nostrums, whether oil, cotton, lead-water, ice, tur- pentine, or pain extractors, every one of which has been tried a thousand times with fatal results, and the victims have died in excruciating agony, when a few handfuls of flour would have calmed them to sleep, and rescued them from pain and death. Humanity should prompt the profession to publish and republish the facts on this subject, which are established by the authority of stand- ard medical works on both sides of the Atlantic. Flour is the remedy, and the only one, in severe cases of scalding and burning casualities, which else so often destroy life. Let us keep it before the people, while 260 WOUXDS, ACCTDEXTS, ETC. the explosion of steam-boilers and burning-fluid lamps are so rife all over our country. A recent number of the '■'■Scientific American,^'' says, the white of an egg has proved the most efficacious re- medy for burns. It should be applied at once, and re- newed every half hour. Seven or eight successive ap- plications of this substance soothe the pain and exclude the burned parts from the air. SPEAINS. In a recent sprain, the first object is to prevent in flammation. This is best done by cold lotions, such as are composed of three parts of water, one part of spirits of wine, and one part of laudanum. The part also should be supported with a moderately tight bandage, and perfect rest allowed to the limb, if possible ; but, if the part be inflamed, then the bandage must be with- drawn, and in place of a cold lotion mentioned above, warm water should be used. It is always proper to apply leeches, and, in this case, it is almost impossible to apply too many. BOILS. ^^ ERY frequently these tumors or protuberances appear on the back vX part of the body, or near the . '^^v; shoulder-blades ; sometimes they are found on the nape of the neck or on the elbows, and nearly the size of an egg. They are, gene- rally speaking, the efforts of na- ture to rid herself of the impurities of the system. Boils are most frequent when the health is impaired and the appetite poor. Many persons have strongly recommended, when boils have appeared, strong doses of salts, as they say, to cleanse the blood ;" but nothing can be worse ; the treat- ment demanded is of the opposite character. If the boil is very painful, it should be held over the steam of bitter herbs, and a poultice should be applied, made of equal parts of the flour of slippery elm and flax-seed, simmered in water, or, if easily obtained, milk. If these things are not at hand, roast an onion, and apply it as a poul- tice, or a poultice of warm bread and milk may be ap- plied. Any of these poultices must be often renewed. (261) 202 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. If the pain be still great, a tea-spoonful of laudanum may be laid on either of the poultices used. Some good physicians have recommended about ten grains of calo- mel to be given every second evening, followed in the morning by a dose of rhubarb, till the bowels evacuate green or dark bile. The system, once thoroughly cleansed, must be sus- tained by a generous diet, and by a pretty liberal use of bark and wine; sea-bathing will be useful. If the patient be of robust and gross habits, it will tend to preserve him from the return of the disease, frequently to take equal parts of sulphur and cream of tartar : a tea-spoonful two or three times a day. BEUISES. Bruises are often of more consequence than even wounds, and must not, on any account, be neglected. They are caused by falls, or by the stroke of a blunt instrument against any part of the body, the skin re- maining unbroken, and black or blue spots appearing on the part affected. If the bruise be but slight, it will be sufficient to bathe the part with warm vinegar, to which a little brandy or rum may be added, and to keep wet cloths dipped iu WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 263 this preparation for several hours. Some of the country people apply to a recent bruise a little cow-dung, and we have seldom known this to fail in its design. Others have constantly by them a small bottle of preparation, always ready for use, composed of half an ounce of each of spirits of camphor, olive oil, and laudanum ; an application of this should be frequently renewed till the part is no longer discolored. In very bad cases, a few leeches may be applied with great advantage. The food must be light, the bowels should be kept gently open, and the patient kept quiet. BROKEN BONES AND DISLOCATIONS. These require no description, and certainly should meet with no tampering. It would be very easy to de- scribe the various shapes which these evils assume, and to show in what manner they should be treated ; but to furnish the skill which the several operations de- mand is altogether a different matter; and, therefore, after careful thought on the subject, we feel it to be the safest method to say, in all such cases, send at once for the most skillful surgeon who can be found. We are aware that in almost every country village there are those who pretend to great skill in such cases ; and we 264: WO UN PS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. cheerfully acknowledge that many of them have been very successful : but we still say, obtain the best skill which can be had. In the mean time, keep the patient perfectly quiet, place him on a low diet, and lose no time in obtaining the treatment which the case may demand. FALLS. Great presence of mind is requisite on the part of by- standers when accidents occur by falls, as they may or may not be dangerous. We have seen cases where death has been considered certain, but where really there was no danger. The breath may be very suddenly stopped, though the patient, by proper care, may be soon re- stored. In such a case, let the patient be at once placed in an easy posture, and the air freely admitted or fanned into his face. If the breath does not return, fill the lungs as we have recommended in the case of drowning, and as soon as possible give a gentle cordial, such as hartshorn, lavender, ether, etc. If the fall arises only from fainting, sprinkle a little water in the face, and apply hartshorn to the nose and temples. LOCKED JAW. named from a Greek word which moans to stretch. The \ disease itself may be described as consisting in spasms with rigidity, being a contraction of all the muscles of the body, while the patient remains perfectly in his senses. It is usually a consequence of stabs or wounds; it has been induced even by the slightest puncture of a needle, and has sometimes sprung from no apparent cause at all. It is found most frequently in warm climates near the sea, among the vigorous and most robust in middle life, and is more common among men than women. It usually begins with a numb stiffness of the head and neck, the tongue becomes difficult to move, and the swal- lowing painful ; there is a tightness across the breast, and sometimes pain in the back ; at length the jaws become stiff, and the teeth firmly clenched. No disease is more difficult to cure, and very few have met with so many kinds of treatment. If it does not yield within a few days, it must be fatal ; and in all cases recovery is slow. If the disease has originated from a wound, special 23 (265) 266 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. attention should be directed to the part affected. Make a strong ley of wood ashes, and bathe the wounded part very frequently, or keep to it a constant application of hot flannels wetted in the ley. This simple remedy has ac- complished wonders. An eminent physician has pre- ferred that the parts affected should be steamed with the decoction of bitter herbs before the use of the ley, which never ought to be used for less than an hour at a time. When this has been done a few times, apply a poultice of slippery elm stirred in the ley, and frequently renew it. A hot vapor bath may be used with advantage; catnip tea should be drank, and the best physician in the district should be called in, who may probably ad- minister opium, or hot stimulants, or glysters of tobacco. EECOYEEY OF THE DEOWNED. In the event of a person being snatched from the water where there is the slightest hope of recovery, action should be prompt but without hurry of mind ; do not suppose, as too many have done, that if you can ascertain no motion of the heart, there is no hope. Dr. Marshall Hall, one of the most eminent physicians of London, gives advice in these cases under four heads : — I. Preparatory Proceedings. — Treat the patient instantly, WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 267 on the spot, in the open air, except in severe weather, freely exposing the face, neck, and chest, to the breeze. Send with all speed for medical aid, and for articles of clothing, blankets, etc. Place the patient gently on the face, and with one arm under the forehead, so that any fluids may flow from the throat and mouth ; and, without loss of time, — II. To Excite Respiration — Turn the patient on his side, and apply snuff or other irritants to the nostrils. Dash cold water on the face, previously rubbed briskly until it is warm. If there be no success, again lose no time; but, — III. To Initiate Respiration — Eeplace the patient on his face, when the tongue will fall forward, and leave en- trance into the wind-pipe free ; then turn the body gently, but completely, on the side and a little beyond, (when inspiration will occur,) and then on the face, making gentle pressure along the back, (when expiration will take place,) alternately ; these measures must be re- peated deliberately, efficiently, and perseveringly, fifteen times in the minute, only ; meanwhile, — IV. To Induce Circulation and Warmth — Eub the limbs upward, with firm pressure and with energy, using hand- kerchiefs, etc., for towels. Eeplace the patient's wet clothing by such covering as can be instantly procured, each bystander supplying a coat, vest, etc. These rules are founded on physiology; and while 268 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. they comprise all that can be immediately done for the patient, exclude all apparatus, galvanism, the warm bath, etc., as useless, not to say injurious, especially the last of these ; and regard all loss of time in removal, etc., as fatal. EECOVERY OF PERSONS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. Dangerous as this infliction is. Dr. Merriam very pro- perly says that those who are thus struck should not be given up as dead for at least three hours. During the first two hours they should be drenched freely with cold water, and if this fails to produce restoration, then add salt, and continue the drenching for another hour. CHOKING. This stoppage of substances in the throat is too well known to need description; but however common, this dangerous accident is almost always the result of care- lessness. Every child should be taught to chew its food well, and to put nothing into its mouth which it would WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 269 be dangerous for it to swallow. And if carefulness should be impressed on the minds of children, what ought to be the conduct of those persons who have formed the habit of putting pins, nails, or other sharp substances in their mouths and keeping them there ? A sudden cough, or a thousand other things, may lead in such cases to immediate death. If the patient be a child, let it at once be placed on the lap of the mother or nurse, with its head turned downward, and its back be gently struck a few times between the shoulders ; if this plan does not succeed, let the mother, if it can be seen, try to remove the substance with her finger ; if this does not succeed, it may be that the vomiting thus induced may bring it up. Presence of mind and entire freedom from fear is essential to success. No apparatus should be used in the case ex- cept by an experienced surgeon. If these methods prove unsuccessful, and surgical aid is not at hand, administer an emetic, such as a tea- spoonful or two of flour of mustard ; or, by means of a warm and oiled wax candle, or a piece of whalebone, or flexible iron with a little sponge tied to it, push the substance down the throat. After the accident, avoid hot drinks, and take only milk and water, or whey. 23* INVERSION OF A TOE-NAIL. T may appear to some of small moment that the nail of a toe, growing into the flesh, usually occasioned by a tight shoe, may exist; but we have known this slight matter produce severe pain, mortification, and death. "We have known men in the vigor of life, utterly incapa- citated from walking ; the nail has become imbedded in the flesh, violent spasms have followed, the system has sunk, and death has ended the scene. When this disease exists, let the patient at once rest, and bathe the foot well in a tepid bath into which wood- ashes have been infused ; then let him apply a slippery elm poultice to lessen the inflammation ; and when the parts have been well softened, press a little soft lint be- tween the toe and the flesh, until the nail is brought on a level with its neighboring parts. When this has been done a few times, each time raising it a little higher, the superfluous portion may be removed by a pen-knife, taking away a little at a time. (270) SUN-STEOKE. FEW green leaves worn inside of the hat or bonnet will secure per- sons against all danger from sun- stroke. A gentleman who tried the experiment during a hot day, found that his head became far less heated than usual, when protected by two or three grape leaves. Those who are exposed to the scorching rays of the sua, should try this method of protecting themselves. But in the unhappy event of a sun-stroke, give the sufferer stimulants of brandy or ammonia, or the two together, till he revives — apply mustard poultices freely to his chest, abdomen, and extremities, keeping his head well bathed with an abundance of cold water. ACCIDENTS FROM TAKING POISONS. Two or three facts relating to poisons in general ought to be better known than they are, with a view of induc- ing greater caution on the subject. (271) 272 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. The most powerful known poison is prussic acirl, formed from iodine, cyanuret, and mercurj. A single drop put on the tongue of a large dog, kills it instantly. Many things have hitherto been regarded as innocent, if not useful, which, however, are assuredly poisonous. In the United States, physicians have estimated that twenty thousand persons die every year from the use of tobacco. In Germany, the physicians have calculated that, of all the deaths which occur between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, one half originate in the wasto of the constitution by smoking. They say that the article exhausts and deranges the nervous powers, and produces a long train of nervous diseases to which the stomach is liable, and especially those forms that go under the name of dyspepsia. It also exerts a disastrous influence upon the mind. Nor can this be wondered at, when the reader is reminded that a single drop of the essential oil of tobacco will poison a horse. Abstinence from so-called liquors has become a ne- cessity with those who desire to live and enjoy health. The social cup is, indeed, a poisonous cup in these days. Witb strychnine in the whiskey, and drugs and vitriol in the brandy, to give it " body," " flavor," and " color- ing," the man who drinks much of either must be " made of oak, and copper fastened," to stand it long. No one need to be told that whenever poison has been received into the stomach, it must be instantly ejected, WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 273 or it will prove fatal. If a surgeon is at hand, he should, without the loss of a moment, apply the stomach-pump ; but if his services cannot be at once obtained, give the patient two table-spoonsful of common flour of mustard dissolved in warm water, and it will soon act as an emetic ; or give a powerful emetic of any other kind. Dr. Shaw, of Texas, states that he has found sweet oil, drank freely, a successful antidote to strychnine in two cases. The oil is to be poured down without any refer- ence to the patient's vomiting. Professor Eochester has reported two cases of poisoning by the same terrible drug, successfully treated by a free use of camphor in- ternally and mustard poultices outside. BITES AND STINGS OF ANIMALS. Every one knows that many animals eject poisons which soon destroy man ; and the importance of being prepared with remedies against these dangers must be seen at a glance. We have already treated of hydro- phobia, and will now refer to some other calamities arising from much smaller animals. Bites from the Rattlesnake or from the Red Adder are dangerous. The usual symptoms are nausea, a full and agitated pulse, swelling of the body, and suffusion of the R 274 WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. eyes with blood ; sometimes blood oozes from the pores iu perspiration, and at other times finds a vent from the nose, eyes, and ears. Not unfrequently the teeth chatter, and half-uttered groans distress the patient and his friends. The treatment of dis- ease in this form should be prompt. If a sur- geon can be obtained, he will cut or burn the wound, or will use the cup vigorously, and ap- ply caustic twice a day. A poultice of quick- lime, with oil and hon- ey, has been used with great advantage ; but best of all, is the appli- cation of the Plantain. Make a strong decoc- PLAiTTAiw. tion of this common and well-known plant, and well bathe the wound with it ; keep it wet also with salt and water. After this, mix the decoction of the plan- tain with the slippery elm bark and a good quantity of sweet oil ; apply this constantly as long as there is any swelling or inflammation. An ounce of olive oil should WOUNDS, ACCIDENTS, ETC. 275 be taken daily in two doses Gunpowder fired over the wound has been recommended. Bite from a Viper. In addition to most of the symp- toms we have last mentioned, there will in this case be a fixed pain in the breast, frequent convulsions, and a yellow tinge of the skin. The treatment should be as we have already pre- scribed ; in addition to which ten drops of the spirits of hartshorn in a little water may be taken every hour, and frequent small doses of opium, musk, and camphor. Bite of a Spider. Trifling as this may appear, it has been known that a pain has arisen from it which has affected the heart. In such a case a quantity of plan- tain should be bruised, and the juice swallowed. This has often stopped the progress of the poison. The Bee-sting. The pain of a bee-sting may be at once relieved and the subsequent swelling prevented, by wet- ting the part with spirits of hartshorn. The sting is hollow, and there is a little drop of poison at its root that is driven through it by the pressure of its insertion, and deposited in the wound. The poison is said to be of an acid nature, and to be destroyed by this volatile alkali. DISEASES OF WOMEN. EFLECTION for a moment will convince any thoughtful mind that from the peculiar conformation of "^ ""^^^^^SW^^^ woman, she must more keenly feel " " "'" "' "" disease and pain than man, and be far more liable to them. In every respect there is more of delicacy and feebleness ; yet, owing to the superabundance of the animal spirits in many women, and their disposition to please those around them, every attempt is made to throw off the appearance of suffering. To a certain extent this is wise, for very much in female diseases depends on a strong will ; but it may be easily carried to an extreme, and the reader should therefore exercise great prudence alike in the concealment of slight disease, and in a timely yielding to it. It will not be supposed that in the comparatively few pages we can here devote to the subject of female dis- eases, we can do no more than give general information (276) DISEASES OF WOMEN. 277 and prescribe for the principal maladies which women suffer. Nearly the whole of our work may be studied with reference to their advantage. After two or three general counsels, we shall proceed to the specific diseases of females, strongly recommending our lady readers carefully to study their own frames, and by careful ob- servation and thought, to ascertain for themselves what may contribute to their health. We have already said in this volume that cheerful- ness is essential to good health ; and the remark is es- pecially applicable to the female sex. Dr. Eay, superin- tendent of the Butler Hospital for the Insane, says : "A hearty laugh is more desirable for mental health than any exercise of the reasoning faculties." Years ago it was fully ascertained that the lives of the body of the people called Friends were reckoned at insurance-offices of much greater value than those of any other class of persons, arising from the great care taken in their education to preserve the equanimity of their minds. Earely indeed, in early life, did we ever see a Quaker friend excited. Where the feelings have been properly trained, even sudden surprise will not agitate the mind or body as in the untutored or untaught young lady. It is curious to observe how in general bad news weakens the action of the heart, oppresses the lungs, destroys the appetite, stops digestion, and par- tially suspends all the functions of the system. An 24 278 DISEASES OF WOMEN. emotion of shame flushes the face ; fear blanches it ; joy illuminates it; and an instant thrill electrifies a million nerves. Surprise spurs the pulse into a gallop ; deli- rium infuses great energy ; volition commands, and hun- dreds of muscles spring to execute. Powerful emotion often kills the body at a stroke. Chilo, Diagoras, and Sophocles died of joy at the Grecian games. The door- keeper of Congress expired upon hearing of the surrender of Cornwallis. We may, in passing, again remind our lady readers of the importance of fresh air, and especially of the ne- cessity of well- ventilated bed-rooms. It has been said that a bird suspended near the top of a curtained bed- stead in which people are sleeping, will generally be found dead in the morning from the impure air generated by their respiration. Small, close sleeping-rooms are often as dangerous as the curtained bedstead. In this connection, we have often been struck with the small and confined bed-rooms furnished at our watering-places, often counteracting whatever of benefit may be derived from change of air, or the waves of the ocean. We place the subject of tight- lacing in this department, because, though it annually leads, in thousands of in- stances, to the most dangerous and even fatal diseases, it is not in itself a disease. It is the offspring of great folly and sin ; it produces no possible benefit ; destroys DISEASES OF WOMEN. 279 alike beauty and health ; opposes all the proportions of nature, lessens comfort, and carries those who practice it rapidly on to the grave. And yet, strange to say, it is a matter of doubt who is the most guilty of this impro- priety, — the mother or the daughter. We are afraid, too, that in defiance of all we can say, young men will continue to marry wives who will always wear corsets and injure their health throughout life; and young ladies will indulge in a practice which impairs the nervous system, obstructs the circulation, contributes to fill our madhouses, induces pulmonary diseases, and leads to a premature grave I Young ladies, there is no cure here but the total and entire abandonment of the corset. Leave it off an hour a day for a week, then two, then three ; rub the body well with a wet, coarse towel while the muscles regain their strength, taking care every day to make it slacker than ever before ; and in six months you may expect to be healthy, rosy, and showing forth the beauty of nature. MENSTRUATION. Phis is one of the earliest and most important matters specially claiming the attention of young girls, and on which they should ask the advice of their mothers or 280 DISEASES OF WOMEN. judicious female friends. Menstruation means the dis- charge of a bloody fluid, which takes place every month, from the womb of a healthy adult female. It com- mences at the average age of fifteen years, though it has appeared in a few cases as early as nine, and has been delayed as late as twenty, being earliest in the hottest climates; the flow continues from two to eight days, and the quantity discharged varies from four to ten ounces in different persons: women of delicate constitutions discharging more than those who are robust. In a perfectly healthy person this discharge is thrown off without suffering ; but in the present artificial state of living, this is seldom the case. Usually, for some days previous to its appearance, the girl has a pain in her head, and general languor and indisposition to exer- cise ; she complains also of pain in the back, loins, and thighs, and sometimes in the throat ; has a dark shade over the countenance, and especially under the eyes ; the breasts are somewhat enlarged; indigestion is im- paired, and the appetite is variable. For the first two or three times of its appearance, the discharge is apt to be somewhat irregular, both as to its quantity and the time of its return ; but after these, it becomes regular in about every twenty-eight days, and the same quantity should be lost at each visitation. It is important, how- ever, to observe that every discharge from the womb which is tinged with blood, is not menstrual. If it DISEASES OF WOirEN. 281 appear in clots, it is only hemorrhage, the menses being like perspiration, always in a fluid state, and have a very different smell from common blood. About the first appearance of this discharge, the girl's constitution undergoes a very considerable change, usually for the better, though sometimes for the worse. Extreme care at this season is necessary, or the health suffers, barrenness ensues, and perhaps death follows. Great caution should be used as to food, clothing, and exercise. Whatever tends to check this natural flow is suicidal. Colds caught at such times are exceedingly dangerous. We have already said enough to show the reader that any irregularity in this matter should be as soon as possible corrected. If, by any means, the regular flow of the menses have been checked, and if the patient would avoid an early death by consumption, let her use the tepid foot-bath, and at the same time sit over a vessel of warm water, in which bitter herbs have been boiled, till she is in a profuse perspiration ; then let her be warmly wrapped in bed, and take a tea-cupful of warm tea made of the root of vervine, every hour or two. If this does not succeed, administer a little pul- verized mandrake root with a little cream of tartar, on an empty stomach ; after which motherwort, penny- royal, and other herb teas may be freely drank. Should considerable pain be felt by the patient, let fomentations 24* 282 DISEASES OF WOMEN. of bitter herbs be applied to the region of the womb, or a covered heated brick may be placed on the bowels. Great care should be taken that the food be light and nutritious, and it should not be taken in large quan- tities. Not unfrequently do women suffer from the opposite of this — an excessive flow of the menses. This may arise from too much exercise or too little, strains, in- juries, violent passion, taking warm and enervating drinks, such as tea, coffee, etc. If the disease has in- duced much debility, it is sometimes accompanied, es- pecially toward evening, with dropsical swellings. In these cases, great care is demanded. The patient should assume a recumbent posture, with the hips considerably elevated ; she should be exposed to a cool air, and cold applications should be made to the lower parts of the abdomen, such as cloths wrung out of cold water, or cold vinegar, and a very abstemious cool diet will bo advisable. From thirty to forty drops of the elixir of vitriol may be taken in a glass of water two or three times a day with advantage ; or, from ten to fifteen drops of the tincture of steel may be administered with the same frequency. We need not say that in cases of this kind a physician should be consulted. Where this help cannot be had, an Indian remedy for the disease may bo tried. It consists of equal parts of red alder bark, yar- row, mullen, and crowfoot, and half the quantity of beth DISEASES OF WOMEN. 283 root ; these should be made into a tea, and when cold, a tea-cupful drank every three or four hours. If the patient feels faint, let her take a few drops of lavender or spirits of hartshorn, occasionally, in a little cold water. We must not omit in this place to say that in many instances there is much pain attendant on menstruation, and that such cases must not be neglected. Nervous females sometimes suffer so acutely from spasms in the womb and stomach, and from violent pains in the loins, that the brain and spinal marrow become greatly dis- ordered, so as to produce violent hysterical fits, and even convulsions. Perhaps this occurs most frequently in the early part of puberty, or when women marry late in life, or in persons of a scrofulous habit. Such women should be particular in keeping the feet warm, should v/ear flannel next the skin, and should avoid all green and raw vegetables, as well as stimulating food and drinks. When the pains are very violent, bleeding may sometimes be demanded, followed with a warm bath, and a pill of opium and camphor. By all means apply bottles of hot water to the whole surface of the abdomen, and hot bricks to the feet. Dr. Fothergill recommends that a grain of opium be taken in the form of a pill whenever the pain attending the discharge comes on. A warm bath of about ninety degrees about three times a week will be found of advantage, as will 284 DISEASES OF W^OMEN. also change of air and scene, a good share of exercise, and a light and nutritious diet. The final cessation of the menses at what is called the turn of life, or the approach of old age, is a season de- manding special attention. The discharge seldom ceases suddenly, but gradually becomes irregular, both as to the period and the quantity. The constitution again undergoes a great change, and not unfrequently obsti- nate and painful diseases then set in. Occur when it may, if the patient be of full habit, the diet should be more spare than usual, regular exercise should be taken, and the state of the bowels be carefully regarded. If blood flow to the head, or giddiness and pain be felt, bleeding may be advisable. If wounds or ulcers break out on any part of the body at this period, great care should be taken not to heal them too quickly, or the disease of some internal organ may be thus induced. THE WHITES. This disease is an increased secretion or discharge of matter from the womb and its passage. In different ■women it is white, or of a green or yellow hue, and is attended with a peculiar smell ; it frequently occasions itchinga or smarting pains, and is generally associated DISEASES OF WOMEN". 285 with an unhealthy countenance, a disordered stomach, a dry, hot skin, and general debility. It sometimes arises from exhaustion, intemperance, and profuse evacuations ; but more frequently from injuries inflicted on the parts themselves, from f r e- quent miscarriages, or from difficult labor. Late hours, hot rooms, or much lying in bed will bring it on; and women of all ages are liable to it. In the treatment of this disease, special at- tention must be had to whatever increases the general health. Care must be taken in the application of medicines, lest a too sudden stop- page of the discharge comfeet. should induce other dis- eases. We would strongly recommend that a handful of the roots of comfrey be boiled in milk, and the decoc- tion given in doses of a tea-cupful three or four times a day. Injections of alum water, or of a decoction of oak bark, have been very useful. A preparation of one 286 DISEASES OF WOMEN. ounce of the tincture of aloes, and two drachms of mu- riated tincture of iron, well mixed, and forty drops of it taken three times a day in a little water, will be found of great advantage. A tea of beth root is also very good. Let the patient be careful of her bowels, avoid strong tea and coffee, take the country air, and bathe in tbe sea ; or as a substitute use a warm bath. DISEASES OF MARRIED LIFE. It is a fact that all pleasures have their corresponding pains. The state of marriage, contributing as it does to the happiness of the parties interested in it, and to the welfare of society, adds greatly also to the sufferings of woman, and ought, therefore, to be entered upon with great thoughtfulness and caution. It is no part of our plan to discuss the age at which this union should be formed, as the development of strength and form depend on many things greatly differing in different persons, to say nothing of the strength of inclinations and the peculiar circumstances of station which claim to have an influence in the decision of such a matter. Suffice it here to say, that while too early marriages are not desirable, we are inclined to think that where a reason- DISEASES OF WOMEN. 287 able portion of health is enjojed, and other circumstances favor it, from nineteen to twenty-one is the most desirable age at which a woman should enter on this important relationship. There are certain diseases, or rather a predisposition to them, transmitted from parent to child, which do not always manifest themselves for many years after birth, or till they are called into action by some exciting cause, which should induce great caution in the view of marriage. Many, with hereditary tendencies to disease, enjoy comfortable health, not suspecting the disease lurking in their system, waiting for some exciting cause to hurry them rapidly to their graves, and which de- velops itself as the result of their ignorance which has lulled them into fancied security. Every young lady, therefore, of an enfeebled constitution, predisposed to scrofula, to consumption, to cancer, to insanity, to epi- lepsy, to convulsions, or to any similar affections, should consider it a conscientious duty to refrain from marriage, lest she should be the means of bringing into the world a progeny to linger out a few years in pain or misery. We must add here another paragraph ; not allowing undue delicacy to conceal what might possibly destroy the happiness of husband and wife, and add to the misery of the world. If a woman be conscious of a disease in or about the regions of the womb, she ought to consider such a fact an insuperable barrier to her 288 DISEASES OF WOMEN. marriage. A woman, too, who is deformed in body, may purchase the title of a wife at too high a price, by the cost of torture, and perhaps even of life, to say nothing of the effects which such deformity may have on the children to whom she might give birth. In a word, for a woman to have a fair prospect of happiness in the married life, her body should have attained its full development and vigor, should be without deformity, have a sound constitution, and be free from disease or known tendencies to it. Of course, pregnancy in itself is not a disease, though often, especially where there is neglect, leading to it, and it demands, therefore, great watchfulness and care, as well as the indulgence of hope and cheerfulness. It is no uncommon case that this period is the most healthy of a woman's life, few fatal diseases happen during its existence, and scarcely any, except abortion, can be considered dangerous. It is well that the wife should know that when she becomes pregnant, many new feelings and symptoms follow, which she never before experienced. There will be the suppression of the menses, sickness at the stom- ach, especially in the morning, headache, giddiness, heartburn, peculiar longings, and indigestion ; there will be an enlargment of the breasts, frequent shooting pains in them, and a circle round the nipples of a dark brown color ; the patient often feels feverish, debilitated, DISEASES OF WOMEN". 289 and irritable; vomiting will sometimes attend such a woman for days or weeks, or even during the greater part of the time of her pregnancy; and a considerable change will often take place in her countenance, every feature of it being very much sharpened. Not unfre- quently, too, there will be frequent inclination to void urine, even where it cannot be done; frequent itching will be felt about the external parts of generation ; cos- tiveness will exist, and piles will be painful. Two other remarks here are of importance. The first is, that the symptoms of pregnancy are often mistaken. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between this state and the obstruction of the menses by cold or other means ; and the other is, that were women to renounce the vagaries of fashion, and to have a proper regard to exercise and diet, they would suffer comparatively little from child-bearing. It is one of the evils attendant on what is called civilization, that the wealthy endure far more when in this condition, than poor women devoted to hard labor. "We should be ashamed to suppose that we have a reader so disposed to evil, as to attempt to prevent the proper operations of nature under the circumstances in which pregnancy places her; or who from indolence and the pursuits of fashion, would seek to procure abortion. For such persons we have no prescriptions ; they are murderers in the sight of God and man, and let them, 25 S 290 DISEASES OF WOMEN. with the thousands of their sisters in like circumstances, die the death to which their choice leads them. Such women are unfit for this life ; alas, that they are still less prepared for a better! For the sickness of the stomach which is so usual in pregnancy, we would recommend the common soda powders to be obtained at the druggists; or a tea may be made of the rose- willow bark, and taken at pleasure. For the heart-burn, the same remedies are often found to succeed ; but if they fail, take a tea-spoonful of car- bonate of magnesia night and morning, A preparation of a tea-spoonful of bicarbonate of potash, mixed in half a pint of peppermint or spearmint tea, and a table- spoonful taken occasionally, has also been found of great advantage. For the lethargy and headache attendant on pregnancy, a full dose of aperient medicine should be given to act on the bowels, a warm foot-bath should be used, mustard plasters may be applied to the feet, and the head bathed with salt and water. For costiveness, piles, hysterics, palpitation of the heart, and other ail- ments, the directions given in other parts of our volume should be followed. It is always desirable, where it can be done, to gratify the peculiar longings of pregnant women, as it sometimes prevents a miscarriage; but whether children in the womb have been marked as the result of disappointment in such cases, has been much DISEASES OF WOMEN. 29"! disputed, tiiougb we confess to believe that such is some- times the fact. There are other diseases attendant on pregnancy, such as hemorrhage, convulsions, and certain feelings at quickening, or feeling the first motions of the child, at the end of about sixteen or seventeen weeks ; but as these all vary, we prefer to refer the patient to a judi- cious mother or nurse, or a skillful physician. We have already remarked, that in many cases abor- tion, or the loss of the child during the months of preg- nancy, takes place; and though in thousands of cases this is the result of criminal conduct, in many others it arises from natural causes, and demands our greatest sympathy, while it calls for the utmost skill in saving the valuable life of the mother. Miscarriages are fre- quently the source of intense sorrow, as well as of dan- ger. They may happen at any period of pregnancy, but are most frequent from the second month to the fourth ; sometimes, indeed, they are much later. The most common causes are the death of the child, the great weakness of the mother, extreme evacuations, jumping or other violent exercise, raising great weights, excess of blood, violent passions, fevers, or high or very low living. The usual signs of an approaching abortion are great pain in the loins or lower part of the abdomen, a dull, heavy pain within the thighs, palpitation of the heart, 202 DISEASES OF WOMEN. coldness and shivering, and sickness at the stomach; the breasts generally become flat and soft ; the womb lowers its position, and discharges blood or watery humor. To escape these evils, women, especially of a weak habit, should take solid food, and driuk but little tea and other watery liquors ; they should go to bed and rise early, and take gentle exercise in the open air, being careful, however, to avoid fatigue. On the other hand, if the woman be of a full habit, let her diet be spare, let her avoid strong liquors; and a loss of a little blood may perhaps be desirable. In all cases, the ex- pectant mother should be kept cheerful in mind, and her tastes, as far as may be, gratified. On the first indications of abortion, let the patient be laid, with her head low, on a mattrass; let her spirits be kept, as far as possible, cheerful, and let hopefulness pre- vail ; nothing can so much tend to her recovery as this. The heat of the room should be moderated, and nothing hot in food or drink should be permitted. Broth, rice, milk, jellies, and oat-meal gruel, may be taken at the pleasure of the patient, but always cold. The loss of a few ounces of blood from the arm, under good medical direction, is often of advantage; let her drinks be barley water flavored with lemon juice, or water gruel, with a little powdered nitre in it. If the bowels be improperly open, the decoction of calcined harts- horn may be given ; opiates should only be given under DISEASES OF WOMEN. 293 medical direction. The patient should be especially careful not to take much exercise till her strength will well bear it. The falling of the womb is a frequent disease caused by long-continued diseases and profuse discharges, which have diminished the strength of the patient ; or, which is a more general cause, the long-continued, erect posture of the body at an early period after delivery, and in some cases after miscarriage. Women often complain that their physicians compel them to stay in their beds too long after childbirth ; but they are not aware of the danger in which they are probably placed at such a time. At the commencement of this complaint there is great pain in the back and groin, with the sensation of bear- ing down; a great sense of fullness, and a discharge of matter from the passage. This pain, however, is usually relieved by lying down. There is frequent pain- ful strainings to pass urine, and considerable uneasiness in the evacuation of the bowels ; the appetite is often ir- regular, and is frequently lost ; flatulency takes place, the spirits sink, employment is irksome, and life almost appears a burden. In some cases, the womb merely falls into tlie cavity of the passage, and in others pro- trudes beyond the external parts ; when, from exposure to the air and friction, it becomes sore and inflamed. Every one must see that the care of an experienced 25* 294 DISEASES OF WOMEN. practitioner is demanded in cases of this kind. The womb must be restored to its proper position, and care- fully kept there; the patient should remain in a lying posture, and be especially careful to walk very little for a considerable period. Sea-bathing, when it can be ob- tained, will be beneficial ; astringent injections, as a so- lution of alum or white vitriol, should be thrown up the passage with a proper syringe ; a bandage ought to be applied round the lower part of the abdomen, both to retain the womb in its proper position, and to strengthen the parts which have been made weak. In the event of pregnancy, this complaint disappears in the fourth month, at least till after delivery. The bowels should be kept carefully open by a dose or two of castor oil ; and if there be considerable griping, from five to ten drops of laudanum may be taken two or three times a day in a little sugar and water ; the pa- tient should renounce all soft beds, and sleep on a mat- tress or sofa, and the food should always be light and nutritious. There are several other diseases of the womb, which however, are too important to be discussed in a volume like the present, and demand the immediate and careful attention of the physician. DISEASES OF CIlILD-BIllTH. ^ one will expect us to treat of tliis sub- ject at length; for happily in this coun- f^f^ ^ try help is always at hand to meet all the demands of hu- manity. Too much care is the danger, rather than too little; hence poor women generally recover at such periods sooner than the rich. A very few hints only are needed to guide the inexperienced. The symptoms of approaching labor are usually de- cided. Restlessness, especially at niglit, usually pre- cedes the event for days or even weeks ; the womb and abdomen often subside; a mucus secretion, often streaked wdth blood, escapes from the vagina, and there is fre- quently irritability of the bladder. The pains of 'labor, whether distinguished as grinding, or as forcing, need not to be described, or the management of the after-burden or birth, as this becomes the duties of the attendants. During the labor, nothing heating, either in food or drink, should be given, all pretensions to their strength- ening the patient notwithstanding. All these things tend (295) 206 DISEASES OF WOMEN. to inflammation at the time, and produce fevers after- ward. It is of importance to say that above all things after delivery, the most needful is quietude. The patient her- self should aim to check any excitement of joyous feel- ings, and the curious women who always wish to crowd around the bed should be sent away into the next street. The food and drink must be regulated by the circum- stances of each case. Gruel, panada, and a little weak tea, are generally best ; but cases sometimes occur when a little chicken and a glass of wine are necessary to sus- tain life. Hemorrhage, or excessive flooding, will sometimes unex- pectedly take place after the medical attendant has retired. In such cases, let the patient be laid with her head low, and kept very cool ; apply linen cloths wrung out of equal parts of vinegar and water, or port wine, to the abdomen, the loins and the thighs, changing them as they become dry. A preparation may also be made of two ounces each of pennyroyal water, simple cinnamon water, and syrup of poppies ; mix them with a drachm of elixir of vitriol, and take two table-spoonsful every two hours, or oftener if necessary. If violent pains come on after delivery, take a little red pepper and spirits, simmer them together for a few minutes, and foment the abdomen; if this fail, apply a fomentation of bitter herbs, and give two tea- spoonsful DISEASES OF WOMEN. 297 of the tincture of hops in milk or tea. If costivenesa prevails, give an ounce of castor oil, or a little senna and manna; and if fever comes on, send at once for the physician, who is the most proper person to prescribe in the case. It is important that the mother, as soon as possible, should give her young child the food which the God of Nature has provided for it. This is necessary for her own sake, and still more for that of the infant. Its sto- mach and bowels are filled with a blackish matter, called the meconium. This is generally passed soon after the birth, by the mere effort of nature, especially when it is permitted to take the mother's milk as soon as it shows an inclination to do so. This milk at first is of a pur- gative character, and so accomplishes the desired object. But if on any account this natural demand of the child be withheld, and the offensive matter is not yet removed, a careful nurse will administer a little magnesia, or manna; or what may be quite as well, a spoonful of Common whey, sweetened with a little honey or sugar, will answer the purpose. Nor is it lesa important that the nurse does not neg- lect the galling and excoriation so frequently found about the groin and neck of young children. They are gener- ally the result of the want of cleanliness, and should be guarded against by washing the parts with slightly warm water, and keeping the child entirely clean by 298 DISEASES OF WOMEN. frequently changing its linen. When the disease has prevailed over all this, the excoriated parts should be sprinkled over with a powder of burnt chalk or crab's claws ; and if the parts affected become very sore, tend- ing to ulceration, it will be proper to add a little sugar of lead to the powder ; or we would prefer to anoint the parts with camphorated ointment, which may be easily made by taking half a pint of olive oil, an ounce and a half each of white wax and spermaceti, and one drachm of camphor previously rubbed with a little of the oil ; melt them with a gentle heat, and stir them con- stantly and briskly till quite cold, and the ointment is then fit for use. It is very useful in cases where there is great heat and tendency to inflammation. Another matter will demand the attention of the nurse. The nostrils of new-born infants are often filled with mucus, which prevents their breathing freely, and makes both sucking and swallowing difficult. The best thing usually is to rub the nose at bed-time with a little sweet oil or fresh butter, or evena common tallow can- dle. If the case be very obstinate, AYedellus says, that if two grains of white vitriol, and the same quantity of elaterium be dissolved in half an ounce of marjoram water, and applied to the nose with a linen rag, it will bring away the mucus without sneezing. It sometimes happens that the breasts of a new-bora infant are hard with the moisture in them. In such DISEASES OF WOMEN. 299 eases, a soft bread-poultice should be laid on them, and frequently renewed, till the hardness disappears. The effects we every day see which have followed the neglect of the past, should make mothers and nurses the more cautious to guard against the evils of the present. Let then the young mother take care that the nurse brings under the attention of the physician a proper attention as to the adhesion of the labium pudendi of the child. This misfortune, easily guarded against at the time, is more common than may be supposed ; and many a lovely girl, as she advanced to womanhood, has had to suffer the pain and mortification of a surgical operation, which might have been easily avoided by her mother or nurse in infancy. The discharge from the vagina of irfants is a subject which demands the attention of the mother from infancy and for some years onward. Neglect of this matter has deprived many a fair girl of her rosy cheeks, and in the end led her to the grave. A physician, or what is sometimes better, an intelligent and experienced nurse, should be consulted on this matter. Prevention here is far better than cure ; and medicine, if necessary, should be prescribed only by those who best understand the matter. A rupture, which is a protrusion of the bowels beneath the skin at the navel in the groins, or into the scrotum of males, forming an external tumor in these parts, sometimes 300 DISEASES OF WOMEN. exists at birth or occurs soon after. It should never be neglected, as in early life a careful physician can direct measures which may save from suffering and danger for many long years. It should not be forgotten by the nursing mother that the effects which the medicines taken by her will pro- duce in the infant she suckles, impart a credibility to the doctrines of Hahneman, and of those who believe in the efficacy of infinitesimal doses. A minute and scarcely nauseating quantity of tartar emetic taken by the mother, will produce frequent vomiting in the suck- ling; senna tea will gripe it; and the dose of iodine, which, from its slow and gentle action, the mother will declare to be inoperative upon herself, will, by trans- mission in her milk, excite in her infant the symptoms of severe influenza. Should there be inflammation in the breasts of the mother, attended with redness, hardness, and other symptoms of suppuration, apply a poultice of bread and milk, softened with sweet oil or butter, and renew it twice a day till the tumor be dispersed or brought to suppuration. Be sure, in this case, to avoid whatever may tend to check its progress, as all repellants are dan- gerous. If the nipples become sore, apply a little pow- dered gum arable to them, or anoint them with a mix- ture of sweet oil and beeswax. In this case, a little aperient medicine should be given. DISEASES OF WOMEN. 301 As soon as the strength of the mother is sufficiently recruited, and the state of the weather will allow, she should take frequent gentle exercise in the open air. Prudence in this case is unspeakably important: but too long confinement to her room is as injurious to the mo ther as too hastily leaving it. HINTS ON WEANING. A few hints on the subject of weaning a child may be of importance to not a few mothers who honor our volume with a perusal. The period of doing this is of great importance to the health of both mother and child, and whatever tends to its being well done, should there- fore be made known. The time of this separation of the child from its first natural food, should be properly chosen. The principal indications of its being right, are the failure of the mother's health, want of a proper quantity of milk, or a great decline as to its quality ; the fact of the mother being again pregnant, or the circumstance of the child having teeth by which to masticate food. More- over, a time should be selected for weaning when the child is in tolerable health ; and if possible, the process 26 802 DISEASES OF WOMEN. should commence in the more temperate months of the year, as April, May, October, or November. Of course the mother has, long before the time of weaning, gradually given the child the habit of taking more solid food, and has ascertained what is most ap- propriate to its health and tastes : and while weaning it, will firmly adhere to her purpose, having food prepared for it whenever it may need it. Let her then place on her nipples a solution of aloes, soot tea, or any other bitter substance ; this will excite disgust in the child, which may also be done by a piece of court plaster put upon it, or the bosom being filled with wool or cotton, or any thing else to which the child has a dislike. In this manner the food will soon be preferred to the breast. Of course, while this is going on, the mother will not neglect herself. If she has much milk, her breasts should be carefully drawn once or twice a day, for a few days; she should almost entirely live on dry food, and anoint her breasts with the spirits of camphor, or with a liniment composed of equal parts of the spirits of cam- phor, laudanum, and sweet oil. She should carefully keep her bowels moderately open by doses of castor oil, and avoid all fatigue. BAREENNESS. (T^i UCH anxiety and grief has been felt by thousands of husbands and wives on a topic upon which we must be allowed to say a few words before entirely leav- ing subjects connected with child-bearing — we mean sterility, or inability to have children. In all ages and countries this has been a source of unhappiness ; though we almost fear that modern fashions are aiming to frus- trate the very laws of nature ; as in thousands of cases we have heard of attempts to prevent conception, or to produce abortion ; and not a few instances have occurred where children have been led to death by neglect. Barrenness may be placed among diseases, as ^onj few women, married in the younger or the middle stages of life, who have not children, enjoy a good state of gen- eral health ; while statistical records, both in this country and in Europe, show that the married, who bear chil- dren, live longer than any other class of women. The causes of the complaint of which we are now writing are said to be various, such as obesity, high living, and indolence. These lead to obstruction or irregularity of (303) 30 i DISEASES OF WOMEN'. the menses. It is certain that barrenness exists among the affluent to a far greater extent than among the poor ; hence the inhabitants of every country are prolific in proportion to their poverty. We make no pretensions to the possession of any in- fallible elixir for this disease ; but we are assured that if the rich could be persuaded to adopt the plain food, the simple habits, and the regular exercise of the poor, very few of them would die childless. In the absence, however, of all quackery, and hoping the reader will turn a deaf ear to all private suggestions and all public advertisements on this head, we recommend those afflicted in this way to take plenty of exercise early in the morning in the open air, to live chiefly on a vege- table and milk diet, to total abstinence from intoxicating drinks, careful attention to the state of the bowels, a cautious use of astringents, such as alum, elixir of vit- riol, the preparation of steel, and Peruvian bark, and, above all, to the practice of sea or cold bathing. By a persevering use of these means, by freedom from strong excitements and anxiety, by the constant indulgence of cheerfulness, and by a short visit to a distant country, we have known many husbands and wives made happy with children who had long feared they should die with- out them. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. E are disposed, before putting a final pe- riod to our volume, to convey a few para- graphs to our fair read- ^^ ers, interesting we hope, and in some degree valu- able to them, but less sombre in their character than much we have already said. Life is made up, to a great degree, of smaller matters; and very many of the dis- eases which trouble us are of no very great importance, but still we wish to get rid of them if we can. One of these is sea-sickness. Every year increases the number of our ladies who visit Europe or elsewbere, by sea; and all who do so see multitudes of their fellow- voyagers, especially among the ladies, suffer a most un- pleasant degree of giddiness, arising from the motion of tlie vessel, to which they have not been accustomed. This suffering lasts for an uncertain duration ; it is at- tended with nausea, vomiting, and great depression of spirits. But let not the patient despair; no one ever died from this disease; keep up your spirits and be cheerful ; do not go to your berth, but romp about the deck of the vessel ; crack jokes and sing merry ditties; 26* T (305) 806 DISEASES OF WOMEN. take a little aperient medicine, and swallow a tea-spoon- ful of etlier in a glass of water. Take whatever food you can, tbe more highly seasoned the better, and drink lemonade, or, if you prefer it, a little weak brandy and water ; and above all, live on hope, and rely on it that you will soon be better. Not a few of our delicate young ladies, thoughtlessly walking out in hot weather, get sun-burnt For such a " misfortune," we give them a strongly-recommended remedy. Take two drachms of borax, one drachm of Roman alum, one drachm of camphor, half an ounce of sugar candy, and a pound of ox-gall. Mix and stir well for ten minutes or so, and repeat this, stirring three or four times a day for a fortnight, till it appears clear and transparent. Strain through blotting paper, and bottle it up for use. A good head of hair has its influence on health as well as on beauty ; but neglect will often bring disease in the roots of the hair, and cause it to fall oif. An infusion of tea, when not too strong, is very useful in preventing the hair falling off. The best plan is to pour boiling water on to the leaves after they have been used for a meal. In ten or twelve hours it may be drawn off, and placed in a bottle for use as required. A table-spoonful of any porfiimed spirits may be added to every half pint DISEASES OF WOMEN. 307 of the wash. It should be applied to the head with a piece of sponge or a very soft brush. A little glycerine mixed with it answers the purpose of oil ; its offensive smell is corrected by the perfumed spirits. We have before us a prescription of another wash for the hair, which has been strongly recommended, and it may be tried if the first fails. Take two ounces each of rosemary, maidenhair, southern-wood, myrtle berries, and hazel bark, and burn them to ashes on a clean hearth, or in an oven. With these ashes make a strong ley, with which wash the hair at the roots every day, and keep it cut short. This wash is said to destroy the worm at the roots ; while bear's grease or pomatum will rather feed than destroy that enemy of the hair. Not a few of the ladies we have known, have care- lessly fallen into the habit of swallowing pins. There is no wisdom in this, though we have seldom known any very serious results follow. When the accident happens, do not be terrified, nor swallow quantities of medicine to compel the substance to hasten through the bowels, but rather take a raw egg beat up in a little milk ; this will coagulate, and the point being thus sheathed, it will be deprived of its power to do injury. Such of our fair readers as wish for freedom from pimples or enqitions on theface^ will carefully guard them- selves from all advertised nostrums for that purpose. 308 DISEASES OF WOMEN. Neither prepared chalk, rouge, nor any other poison will attract her. A sensible woman knows that artificial beauty cannot be admired ; and that these much-praised cosmetics poison and discolor the skin. If, unfortu- nately, the habit of their use has been already formed, let our readers henceforth use only an infusion of horse- radish, or the juice of house-leek, in milk or cream. Cleanliness and good health furnish the greatest beauty. We have often been surprised that comparatively so few deaths occur from drinking an excessive quantity of cold water when overheated. We now and then hear of a case where, this being done, the result has been the loss of sight, sometimes falling while walking, difficulty of breathing, coldness in the extremities, rattling in the throat, the loss of pulse and — death. When these symp- toms begin to appear, let laudanum, in the proportion of from a tea-spoonful to a table-spoonful, be given with the utmost promptitude. Ice water is indeed a luxury, but, little as it costs, it is often an expensive one. Take only a quarter of a pint at a time — at intervals of five or ten minutes between each draugrht. THE END. THE FAMILY DOCTOR, AND WHAT IS SAID OF IT. This book is written in a plain, easy, and familiar style, adapted expressly to family and individual use. It advocates no particular theory of medicine, but draws alike from the flowers of the field, the plants of the garden, or the minerals of earth, for such remedies as have proved the most simple, safe, and effectual : be- lieving that wherever disease has found a foothold, there the Giver of all Good has, in some form, mercifully placed a specific. Neither does it profess to supersede the physician, but only to avoid the necessity and expense of calling him in except in dangerous cases. It is in fact a physician itself, always at hand and ready to serve you. Its simple receipts may save you many times its cost in a a few months ; while at some critical moment, when your regular practitioner is not at hand, it may preserve your own life or that of some member of your family, or others equally near and dear. The high degree of appreciation in which it is held may be gathered from the notices annexed. " It will be a treasure of wisdom, health, and economy to every family that shall purchase and use it." — Philad'a Family Magazine. " It contains much that is valuable and instructive for family pur- poses — is got up in good style and neatly printed, and might often prove available and serviceable." — Am. Illuminated Magazine. "Avery excellent specimen of a very excellent class of books, one of which at least ought to be in every family. It is free from 'medical terms,' gives much sound, sensible advice as to the preser- vation of health, and may be commended as a work which all fami- lies in general will find a use for, time and again, during the year." — Philad^a Evening Bulletin. " The reader will find many excellent prescriptions and sound admonitions in this volume." — Godey^s Lady's Book. (i) n THE FAMILY DOCTOR. "The general directions in the commencement of the volume re- specting the preservation of health, are very judicious and valua- ble. ' ' — Presbyterian Banner. "A very useful book, which can be studied with advantage."^ Philad^a Ledger. "The descriptions of disease are clear, and not rendered difficult by technical terms. It will be useful in every family, and well de- serves an extensive circulation." — Philad'a Dispatch. "The work is eminently practical and beneficial. It is designed to aid each mother in the prompt relief of pain. Its wholesome ad- vice, if followed, will prevent much disease and suffering." — Philad'a Herald. "We are much pleased with the book, and cheerfully recommend it to the public as a safe counselor for any family." — Independent, Rogersville, Tennessee. " It is almost indispensable in every family. It treats on all prevalent diseases connected with the human race, for which cures are given that are within the reach of every one." — Maryland, Car- roll County Herald. " This is a plain kind of doctor, and talks to us in plain language, easily understood by plain people. It contains many accurate des- criptions of diseases of children and adults, and many excellent prescriptions for their cure." — Sabbath Recorder. "An elegant and excellent work, designed for home and family use. Everybody should have it." — Albany, Missouri, Courier. "As its title indicates, it is a plain, easy, and familiar treatise on ' all the ills that flesh is heir to,' and worth many times its cost to every family." — Berkshire Rambler. "The instructions given are plain — in words not to be misunder- stood by people of limited education. It ought to be in every house. ' ' — Millhrook Messenger. " A brief but luminous view of the various diseases to which human flesh is subject." — Maumee Valley Standard. " The remedies are simple and easy of access." — Jeffersonian Dem, "Neat, cheap, and reliable." — Coal City Item. "We consider it a very useful book." — De Witt Clintonian. "It is very nicely printed, illustrated, and bound, and eminently worth the price." — Paw Paw, Michigan, Press, A COMPANION TO THE FAMILY BIBLE. THE LIFE OP Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, FROM His Incarnation to His Ascension into Heaven. By Rev. JOHN FLEETWOOD, D.D. TO WHICH ABE ADDED The Lives of the Holy Apostles and Evangelists, a History of the Jews, and an Essay on the Evidences of the Bible ; THE WHOLE CAREFULLY REVISED By Rev. JOSEPH BELCHER, D.D. " The life of Jesus Christ is the Philosophy of true religion. It exhibits the principles of Christiauity in their purity and beauty. It is perfect excellence personified, that the mind of man may grasp it aud be changed into the same image. It is unlike all others — so sublime as to excite the admiration of an angel's mind, and yet so simple Is to be intelligible to the feeblest intellect. While it is a perfect example to be imi- tated by all, it also affords to the sanctified scholar, a lesson of untiring and unending interest. Does he admire magnanimity ? Nowhere does he find such a specimen, as in tlie forgiving spirit of Jesus. Does he admire sublimity of thought, and grandeur of conception? He sees it in the description of Jesus coming to judgment — a God in glory and a world on fire ! The inspired writers have given us his life in detached descriptions. Dr. Fleetwood has arranged these into one harmonious whole, with such comments, explanations and incidental information, as to render it alilie accept- able to the scholar as to ' him who liuows no more, but Isnows his Bible true.' If the attentive reader finds any occasion for regret, it will only be when the last page meets his eye." An examination of the earlier English and Scotch editions of this valuable and popular worli led to a knowledge of the fact, that many errors had crept into the American Reprints. This edition has been thoroughly revised by the late Rev. Dr. Belcher, and the Publisher now has the pleasure of placing it before the Public in its Original Purity and Beauty. It is printed in a clear and open type, in one Royal Oc- tavo Volume, and is Illustrated with appropriate Engravings, printed in colors, or with fine Steel Plates, engraved expressly for the work, from designs by the old masters, and will be furnished in various styles of binding at prices ranging from $2.00 to $5.00. For single copies of the Book, or for terms to Agents, with other information, apply to or address, JOHN E. POTTER, Publisher, No. 617 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, Pa. A NEW AND VALUABLE BOOK FOR EVERYBODY'S USE. EVERYBODY'S LAWYER Counsellor in Business. By FRANK CROSBY, Esq., MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAR. IT TELLS TOU — How to draw np Paktneeship Papers, Bojtds and MoRTOAOKa, Affidavits, Powers of Attobnet, Notes and Bills of Exchange, aud yives general forms for Aorekments of all kinds. Bills of Sale, Leahes, Petitio.nij, Kb- ceipts and Releases. IT TELLS TOU— The Laws for the Collectioit of Debts, with the Statutes of Limi- tation, and amount and kind of property Exbmpt from Execution, in every State ; also how to make an Assignment properly, with forms for Composition with Cbedi- TORS, and the Insolvent Laws of every State. IT TELLS YOU — The legal relations existing between Guardian and Ward, Master and Apprentice, and Landlord and Tenant ; also what constitutes Libel and Slander, and the law as to Makeiaqe, Dower, the Wife's Bight in Pbopebtt, Divorce and Alimony. IT TELLS YOU — The Law for Mechanics' Liens in every State ; and the Natttkaliza- tion Laws of this country, and how to comply with the same ; also the Law con- cerning Pensions, and how to obtain one, and the Pre-emption Laws to Public Lands. IT TELLS YOU — The Law for Pate.vts with mode of procedure in obtaining one, with Interferences, Assignments, and Table of Fees ; also how to make yonr Will, aud how to Administer on an Estate, with the law, and requirements thereof, in every State. IT TELLS YOU — The meaning of Law Terms in general use, and explains to you the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Powers of both the General and State Governme.vts ; also HOW TO KEEP OUT OF LAW by showing how to do your business legally, thus saving a vast amount of property, and vexatious litigation, by its timely consultation. " This is one of the most valuable works that has ever yet been got out to sup- ply a really great want in every community. Every man is constantly in want of legal forms. He has a house to rent, an agreement to write, or he wants some knowl- edge about wills, road petitions, and a hundred other matters that come before him every week of his life. It is a form book, and the forms are not, as is too frequently the case, calculated to mislead, but to instruct. Everything is full and to the point. There are no blanks in forms. They are filled with names, dates, recitals, and are, indeed, actual instruments legally and actually drawn. Now a book of this kind is a household necessity. A few evenings since, a que.'^ticm in regard to the copyright of books came up in a knot, where we were present, and a reference to this work at once settled the point in dispute. The fact is, it is as nearly perfect as possible ; aud we ven- ture to say, that any one who purchases, would not part with it for five times the price, if it could not be replaced." — Westchester Democrat. It contains 3S4 pages, printed in a clear and open type, and will be sent by mail, neatly bound and postage paid, to Evert Farmer, Evert Mechanic, Every Man op Business, and Evertbodt in Every State, on receipt of $1.00 ; or in law style of binding, at $1.2.5. For single copies of the Book, or for terms to Agents, with other information, apply to or address, JOHN E. POTTER, Publisher, No. 617 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, Pa. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. KB 4- 1955 m 8 - "^' hp otc^ 8Vl0iO BIOMFD. MR FEE 1 1 mk FEB 1 1 REC'B '^•■■mSL lit:32j>CT