Part 11 (1/2)
If the tongue is not coated white, I mix 20 drops of tincture of phytolacca in four ounces of cold water and give a teaspoonful every 1 to 3 hours, as needed, when awake. (The phytolacca is the common poke-root of the South, and as it loses its strength by drying and age, the tincture should be from the fresh root, or it is worthless.)
It is well to apply a little sweet-oil or cosmoline to the outside of the throat to protect from the action of the air, as the patient must be protected from all danger of getting chilled.
In the beginning of the disease, in mild cases, the above solution of permanganate of pota.s.sium is all I use, and all that is needed, as the disease is local at first, but rapidly affects the whole system when seated. In the stinking form of diphtheria this solution soon destroys all smell, and in every case destroys the diphtheria membrane without leaving any bad effect.
M. Roulin, of France, has successfully treated 22 cases of diphtheria with carbolic acid as an antiseptic. Nasal douches, consisting of three teaspoonfuls of the crude acid in a quart of water, were employed every hour by means of the ordinary irrigator. Tonics were given internally.
Dr. Deriker, of St. Petersburg, who is the head physician of the Children's Hospital, and has treated no less than 2,000 cases of diphtheria, and tried all remedies, both internal and external, has found the following a certain cure for the disease: As soon as the white spots appear on the tonsils he gives a laxative, usually senna tea. When the purgative effect has ceased, he gives cold drinks acidulated with lemons, limes, or hydrochloric acid, and every two hours a gargle composed of lime-water and milk. Hot milk was also given as a drink, and the throat well rubbed with spirits of turpentine. The Academy of Medicine in France offered a large sum of money for a successful cure for diphtheria, and this is said to have been it. Equal parts of liquid tar and turpentine are put in an iron pan and burned in the patient's room. The dense resinous smoke gives immediate relief. The fibrinous matter soon becomes detached and is coughed up.
=Clothing.=--There are some very important principles in regard to dress:--
1. If you desire health, do not wear a belt.
2. Avoid tight lacing. Some of the most beautiful women, including actresses, are giving up this injurious practice.
3. Do not wear, especially in summer, the constant black, even if in mourning. If you do someone may be mourning you too.
4. Use woolens almost entirely for clothing--always for under-clothing.
5. Have shoes that fit and give the feet an abundance of room, and not high heeled, but thick soled.
6. Wear sufficiently heavy woolen under-garments so that you will not be obliged to resort continually to overcoats.
7. In summer, use light outer garments--white flannels and cheviots are excellent.
The Most Important Function of Under-garments.--It is a great mistake to suppose that the material of which a garment is made is the most important consideration in selecting warm under-clothing. The way in which the fabric is prepared and manufactured is of more vital importance as regards heat or coldness of the body than the actual material. A light garment with large meshes is more effective against cold than a close, heavy one. Whatever an under-vest may be made of, its real value as a protector from cold depends upon its ability to inclose within its meshes a certain quant.i.ty of air. This is indeed the most important function of under-garments, viz., to encircle the whole body with an envelope of warm air, and a vestment that does not keep a continual layer of warm air next to the skin is of very little use.
We advise the discarding of cotton s.h.i.+rts altogether and wearing only those of flannel. The best material for an under-vest, where the s.h.i.+rt worn is flannel, is silk, but by reason of high cost it is within the reach of a comparatively few only.
Hence woolen under-vests must be selected. They should be large and never tight-fitting, for there must be room for the air to circulate freely beneath them. Good taste suggests that the outside s.h.i.+rt be of white flannel, and that also must be large. Nearly all those which are on sale in stores have collars, but for a small sum added to the price the dealer will make the necessary changes so that a linen collar may be worn.
With such under-clothing a man is very well protected against sudden changes of weather, and is much less liable to take cold than he would be with a cotton s.h.i.+rt on. Now, as to chest protectors. If a man is subject to colds during the winter he should wear a chest-protector. In order for him to get the full benefit of it it should fit him quite snugly at the neck and extend front and back to the belt. Dressed in flannels, as we have recommended, with his chest well covered by a protector, he will be as well fortified against cold as under-clothing of a healthful sort can make him.
=Dropsy.=--It is not generally known that the silk on an ear of green corn is a powerful and efficient remedy for dropsy, for bladder troubles and diseases of the kidneys. In the Louisville _Medical News_ we find an account of the medical properties of corn-silk and the cures that have been effected by its use. The way to use it is to take two double-handfuls of fresh corn-silk and boil in two gallons of water until but a gallon remains. Add sugar to make a syrup. Drink a tumblerful of this thrice daily, and it will relieve dropsy by increasing the flow of urine. Other diseases of the bladder and kidneys are benefited by the remedy, which is prompt, efficient, and grateful to the stomach. The treatment can be continued for months without danger or inconvenience. Bethesda water is just as good, but both together are better.
=Dyspepsia.=--This trouble is often the result of decomposition of the food before it is digested. Unless this is remedied death will ultimately follow. A good remedy is this: Thoroughly brown some whole grain wheat, grind it in an ordinary clean coffee-mill; eat of nothing else for the two last meals of the day; carefully masticate it and eat sparingly for a few days, after that _ad libitum_; in ten days you will be well, if all other suggestions regarding cleanliness are followed.
=Ears=.--Sapolini of Milan has described a method of his which he states has been successfully employed in 62 cases of deafness of old age. It consists in mopping the membrana tympani with a weak oleaginous solution of phosphorus. He claims that the treatment diminishes the opacity of the membrane, increases the circulation, and improves the hearing.
A writer in a medical journal says: ”Beware of too much quinine. It will produce a congestion of the ear and irritation of the auditory nerve.
The common habit of taking quinine for neuralgia and other ailments without consulting a doctor is altogether reprehensible, and may lead to very serious results. Many cases of deafness are produced by overdoses and long-continued use of this drug.”
Aprys.e.xie is the name Dr. Guye, of Amsterdam, chooses for inattentiveness, and he quite singularly finds that the nose is a cause of it. A dull boy became quick to learn after certain tumors had been taken from the nose, and a man who had been troubled with vertigo and buzzing in the ears for twelve years found mental labor easy after a like operation. In a third case a medical student was similarly relieved. Dr. Guye supposes that these nasal troubles affect the brain by preventing the cerebral lymph from circulating freely.
=Elixir Brown-Sequard.=--The way Brown-Sequard uses this medicine is entirely successful. Do not think because others have failed that the principle is wrong. Most experimenters, first, are not careful in getting perfectly healthy specimens of animals from whose vitals the elixir is made, while, secondly, they expose the liquid and allow it to become filled or impregnated with microbes and various foreign elements.
The process of administration is thus described:--
The syringe punctures the cuticle, or scarf-skin, and the cutis, or true skin, and then enters the subcutaneous or cellular tissue which covers the muscles, or flesh. Through all the tissues of the body run the lymphatics, which convey the injected matter to the lymph channels, these in turn to the veins, and thence throughout the system. A half ounce of the fluid will be distributed in from one to three hours.
Sometimes the subject might feel the stimulus very quickly, and in some cases hours might elapse before any effect was felt. The human system is able to absorb almost an unlimited amount of this liquid, if administered properly and if pure.