Part 3 (1/2)

47. A few minutes before the perspiration breaks out, the patient becomes slightly irritated, which irritation is removed by the appearance of the sweat. I mention this circ.u.mstance, to prevent his being taken out just before the perspiration is started. When he becomes restless _during perspiration_, he is taken from his pack and placed in a bathing-tub partly filled with cool or tepid water, (usually of about 70,) which has been prepared in the meanwhile; there he is washed down from head to foot, water from the bath being constantly thrown over him until he becomes cool. Then he is wrapped in a dry sheet, gently rubbed dry, and either taken back to his bed, or dressed and allowed to walk about the room. When the fever and heat rise again, the same process is repeated.

48. ACTION OF THE PACK AND BATH.--RATIONALE.

The action of the wet-sheet pack is thus easily accounted for:

According to a well-known physical law, any cold body, whether dead or alive, placed in close contact with a warm body, will abstract from the latter as much heat as necessary to equalize the temperature of both.

The transfer of caloric will begin at the place at which the two bodies are nearest to each other. The wet sheet, which touches the patient's body all over the surface, abstracts heat from the latter, till the temperature of the sheet becomes equal to that of the body. In proportion as the surface of the body yields heat to the sheet, the parts next to the surface impart heat to the latter, and so forth, till the whole body becomes cooler, whilst the sheet becomes warmer. As the heat imparted to the sheet cannot escape from it, the sheet being closely wrapt up in the blanket and bed, the current of caloric once established towards every part of the surface of the body will still continue; after the temperature of the sheet and the body has become equal, there will be an acc.u.mulation of heat around the body, frequently of a higher degree than the body itself. To explain this phenomenon, we ought to consider that we have not to do with _two dead_ bodies, but with _one dead_ and _one living_ body, which constantly creates heat, thus continuously supplying the heat escaping from it to the sheet, and keeping up the current of caloric _and electricity_ established towards the surface. There cannot be a doubt that the abstraction of electricity from the feverish organism contributes in a great measure to the relief of the excited nerves of the patient, as well as to the excess of temperature observed around the body in the wet-sheet pack (after the patient has been in it for some time); and that, in general, electricity deserves a closer investigation in the morbid phenomena of the human body than it has found to this day.

49. WHAT EFFECT COULD BE EXPECTED FROM A WARM WET-SHEET?

The first impression of the wet-sheet is, as I stated before, a _disagreeable_ one. If it were _agreeable_--as a warm sheet, for instance, would be, which has been occasionally tried, of course without doing any good--_it would not produce a reaction at all, and consequently there would be no relief for, and finally no cure of the patient effected by it_. But the impression of the cold sheet, being powerful, is transferred at once from the peripherical nerves, which receive the shock, to the nervous centres (the spine, the cerebellum and the brain), and, in fact, to the whole nervous system, and the reaction is almost immediate; the vascular system, partic.i.p.ating in it, sends the blood from the larger vessels and the vital parts, to the capillaries of the skin; and when, through repeated applications of the sheet, the system is relieved and harmony restored, in a sufficient degree, in and among the different parts of the organism, to enable them to resume their partly impeded functions, a profuse perspiration brings the struggle to a close, by removing the morbid matter which caused the fever, whereupon the skin is refreshed and strengthened, and the whole body cooled and protected by a cool bath from obnoxious atmospheric influences.

50. I am not aware that a better rationale can be given of the action of other remedies. Any physician can understand that its effect must be at once powerful and safe, and that there is no risk in the wet-sheet pack of the reaction not taking place, as it may be the case in severer applications of cold water, without the pack. One objection I have often heard, viz.: that the process is very troublesome. But what does trouble signify, when the life and health of a fellow-being is at stake?--It is true, the physician is frequently compelled to render the services of a bath-attendant, and stay with the patient much longer than in the usual practice; but he gets through sooner, and, if not the patient and his friends, his own conscience will pay him for his exertions and sacrifice of time.

There is little trouble with small children, who make a fuss only, and become refractory, when the parents, grandmammas and aunts set the example. When all remain quiet, and treat the whole proceeding as a matter of necessity, children usually submit to it very patiently, and soon become quiet, should they be excited at the beginning. The fewer words are said, and the quicker and firmer the physician performs the whole process, the less there is trouble. After having been taught how to do it, the parents or friends of the patient will be able to take the most troublesome part of the business off the physician's hands, who, of course, has more necessary things to do, during an epidemic, than to pack his patients and attend to them in all their baths himself.

Only with spoiled children I have had trouble, and more with them that spoiled them. The best course, then, is to retain only one person for a.s.sistance, and to send the rest away till all is over. There are people, who _will_ be unreasonable; of course, it is no use to attempt reasoning with them. I remember the grandmother of a little patient, with whom the pack acted like a miracle, removing a severe inflammatory fever in two hours and a half, telling me ”she would rather see the child die, than have her packed again,” although she acknowledged the pack to have been the means of her speedy recovery. It is true there was some trouble with the child, but only because the whole family were a.s.sembled in the sick-room to excite the child through their unseasonable lamentations and expressions of sympathy about the ”dreadful” treatment to which she was going to be submitted. Grandmother would not have objected to a pound of calomel!--But we shall speak about objections and difficulties in a more proper place.

51. NO CUTTING SHORT OF THE PROCESS OF SCARLATINA--THE MORBID POISON MUST BE DRAWN TO THE SKIN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Scarlet-fever is a disease, which cannot be cut short. Any attempt to stop the process of incubation, after the contagion has once been received within the body, or to prevent its being thrown out upon the surface, would destroy the patient's life: the morbid poison must be concocted, and it _must come away by being drawn to the skin as soon as possible_, to prevent its settling in the vital parts, and injuring them. The safest way of a.s.sisting nature in her efforts of eliminating the poison, is to open the way, which she points out herself. We know that the sooner and the more completely the eruption makes its appearance, the brighter and the more constant the rash, the less there is danger for the patient, and _vice versa_. Well, there is not a better remedy than the wet-sheet pack, to serve the purpose of nature, i. e., to remove the morbid poison from the inner organs, and draw it to the surface; whilst at the same time it allays the symptoms, improves the condition of the skin for the development of the rash, and relieves the patient, without depriving him of any part of that organic power so indispensable for a cure, and without which the best physician in the world becomes a mere blank. Under the process of wet-sheet packing, the heat invariably abates, the pulse becomes slower and softer, the violence of the symptoms is alleviated, the skin becomes moist, the restlessness and anxiety of the patient give way to a more quiet and comfortable condition; he perspires and falls in a refres.h.i.+ng sleep. Is there any other remedy, that has the same general and beneficial effect?

I know of none.

52. NECESSITY OF VENTILATION--MEANS OF HEATING THE SICK-ROOM--RELATIVE MERITS OF OPEN FIRES, STOVES AND FURNACES.

Next to its intrinsic value, our method gives the patient the great advantage of enjoying _pure fresh air_, either in or out of bed, as it keeps the skin and the whole system in such order as to resist the effects of atmospheric influences better than under a weakening process.

And every body knows, or, at least, every body ought to know, that free circulation of fresh air is one of the most important means, in contagious diseases, of preventing the malady from becoming malignant, and of lessening the intensity of the contagion. Although the times are pa.s.sed, when patients in the heat of fever were almost roasted in their beds, whilst a drink of cooling water was cruelly and stupidly denied them; the temperature of the sick-room is, in general, still kept too high, and not sufficient care is taken to renew the air as frequently, I ought to say as constantly, as necessary for the benefit of the patient.

Usually there is no ventilation; very seldom a window is opened, especially in the cold season, when epidemics of scarlatina are most common, and commonly the room is crowded with friends of the patient, who devour the good air, which belongs to him by right, and leave him their exhalations to breathe instead. There is nothing better able to destroy contagious poisons than oxygen and cold; and if we consider that every human being absorbs every minute a volume of air larger than the bulk of its own body, we must understand how necessary it is to keep people away from the sick-room, who are not indispensably necessary to the patient, and to provide for a constant supply of fresh air. But whatever may be the arrangement for that purpose, the patient should not be exposed to a draught. Stoves and fire-places are pretty good ventilators for drawing off the bad air from the room; if you take care not to have too much fire, and to allow a current of pure air to enter at a corresponding place, the top of a window, or a ventilator in the wall opposite the fire-place, there will always be pure air in your sick-room. The air coming from furnaces, which unfortunately have become so general, is good for nothing, especially when taken from the worst place in the house, the cellar or bas.e.m.e.nt. I consider the worst kind of stoves better than the best kind of furnaces; only take care not to heat the stove too much, or to exclude the outer air, which is indispensable to supply the air drawn off by the stove for feeding the fire. The difference between a furnace and a tight stove or fire-place is this: The furnace takes the bad air from the bas.e.m.e.nt or cellar, frequently made still poorer through its pa.s.sing over red hot iron, which absorbs part of its oxygen, and fills the room with it. The room being filled with poor air, none of the pure air outside will enter it, because there is no vacuum. Thus the bad air introduced into the room, and the bad air created by the persons in it, will be the only supply for the lungs of the patients. But should the furnace take its air from outside the house, as it is the case with some improved kinds, there would still be no ventilation in the sick-room, except there be a fire-place beside the register of the furnace. With the stove or fire-place it is different: The stove continually draws off the lower strata, i. e. the worst part, of the air to feed the fire, whilst pure air will rush in through every crevice of the doors and windows to supply every cubic-inch of air absorbed by the stove. Thus the air in the room is constantly renewed, the bad air being carried off and good air being introduced. However, the openings through which the pure air comes in, must be large enough in proportion to allow a sufficient quant.i.ty of air to enter the room to make fully up for the air absorbed by the stove; for, if not, the air in the room will become thin and poor, and the patient will suffer from want of oxygen. An open fire, from the necessity of its burning brighter and larger to supply sufficient heat, a comparatively large part of which goes off through the chimney, will require a greater supply of air, and consequently larger ventilators or openings for the entrance of the pure air from outside the room. In very cold weather, and in cold climates in general, stoves are preferable to fire-places, the latter producing a draught, and not being able to heat a room thoroughly and equally, causing one side of the persons sitting near them to be almost roasted by the radiant heat in front, whilst their backs are kept cold by the air drawing from the openings in the doors and windows towards the fire to supply the latter. In merely cool weather, and in moderately cold climates, especially in damp places, I would prefer an open fire to a stove. In cold climates stoves are decidedly preferable, especially earthen ones, as they are used in Germany and Russia. Iron stoves must never be heated too much, as the red hot iron will spoil the air of the room, by absorbing the oxygen, as you can easily see by noticing the sparks, which form themselves outside the stove in very hot places.

53. TEMPERATURE OF THE SICK-ROOM.

The _temperature of the sick-room_ should not be much above 65 Fahrenheit; in no case should it rise above 70, whilst I do not see the necessity of keeping it below 60, as some hydriatic physicians advise.[31] The patient, in the heat of fever, will think 60 high enough, and rather pleasant; and if others do not like a temperature as low as that, they may retire. The person necessary for nursing the patient may dress warmly and sit near the fire. Let the sick-room be as large as possible; or open the door and windows of a room connected with it. Towards the close of the disease, after desquamation has begun, the temperature of the room may be kept at 70, as then the fever and heat have subsided and the delicate skin of the patient requires a comfortable temperature.

54. WATER-DRINKING.

As the patient should have a constant supply of pure air for his lungs, so he should also have _plenty of pure cold water_ for his stomach, to allay his thirst and a.s.sist in diminis.h.i.+ng the heat of fever, and in eliminating the morbid poison from his blood. Though cold, the water for drinking should not be less than 48 or 50 Fahrenheit. Whenever there is ice used for cooling the water, the nurses should be very careful not to let it become colder, than the temperature just indicated, except in typhoid cases, when the stimulating effects of icy cold water and ice may prove beneficial.

55. DIET

I have little to say with regard to _diet_, at least to physicians.