Part 7 (2/2)

As soon as the pocks appear, rubbing must be avoided till the scabs are entirely gone. The patient should be packed two, three, and even four times a day, according to the condition of the skin and the height of the fever. There is nothing able to relieve the patient as much as the dampness of the wet pack. During the period of eruption and efflorescence, the patient should spend the greater part of his time in the wet-sheet, which not only relieves the general symptoms, but especially the inflammation of the skin, and makes the poison less virulent, by constantly absorbing part of it, and by communicating part of its moisture to the small ulcers.

To protect the face, a kind of mask may be made of several thicknesses of linen, covering the whole of it, leaving openings only for the mouth, nostrils and eyes. The latter may be covered separately. This compress should be covered with one or two thicknesses of flannel, to keep its temperature as even as possible, for which purpose it should be changed as often as it becomes uncomfortably warm.

To draw the poison away from the face and eyes, it will be a good plan to put a thick wet compress on the back of the neck and between the shoulders, and cover it thickly, so as to create a great deal of heat in that region. It will bring out the pocks densely. It should be changed only when it becomes dry.

The stomach should be covered also with a wet compress, as that organ is almost always in a bad state during the whole course of the disorder. If pus is received into the blood, the thick matter which is filtered through the kidneys frequently causes retention of urine. In that case the wet bandage should go around the body, and the patient should drink a good deal of water to attenuate the blood and the urine, and favor the discharge. In case of need, a sitz-bath of 75--or with weak patients of a higher temperature, 80 to 90--will remove the difficulty.

During convalescence, the baths should be made gradually colder, to invigorate the skin and the rest of the organism, and prepare the patient for going out, which may safely be permitted on the tenth or twelfth day. The packs ought to be continued for a week at least after the drying and falling off of the scabs.

By following this treatment, the patient will be safe from any bad consequences of the disease. I have never seen any of the usual sequelae after packs.

115. VARIOLOIDS AND CHICKEN-POCKS.

_Varioloids_ and _Chicken-pocks_, are treated in the same manner, but require less treatment. If well attended to, neither _small-pox_, nor _varioloids_ or _chicken-pocks_, will leave any marks.

116. MEASLES.

_Measles_, which may be easily distinguished from scarlatina, by the symptoms I have given under 29, are to be treated like the mildest forms of scarlet-fever, and, in most cases, require no treatment at all.

Nervous affections are treated like those of scarlet-fever (92, &c.).--As measles are more dangerous to adults than to children, whose skin is much more active, they had better take packs, without waiting for an increase of the symptoms.

117. URTICARIA, ZOSTER, RUBEOLA.

_Urticaria_, _Zoster_ and _Rubeola_, are treated in the same manner as measles: the main feature, however, is the pack.

118. ERYSIPELAS.

_Erysipelas_ being commonly the reflexion of an internal disease with a peculiar tendency towards the skin, should not be treated locally alone, but with due regard for the original disease. If possible, the patient should perspire freely in long packs, whilst a wet compress relieves the local inflammation. The compress, without the pack, would be apt to cause a metastasis to a vital organ. Sometimes a derivative compress, as mentioned under small-pox (114), will draw the inflammation away from a very painful and dangerous spot. It is advisable to try it, if the seat of the inflammation is the face or head. The water for the sheet, compress and bath should not be lower than 65. I know several cases of rapid cures of erysipelas, by throwing a profusion of cold water on the parts affected. But, although I do not remember any harm done by such a process, I can scarcely recommend it, as long as there are milder and safer remedies at our disposal.[37]

119. ERYTHEMA.

_Erythema_ may be considered an exceedingly mild form of erysipelas, and yields to gentle treatment, as it is given in measles.

120. ADDITIONAL RULES FOR THE TREATMENT OF ERUPTIVE DISEASES.

In all these eruptive diseases, especially small-pox, all I have said, in speaking of scarlatina, about ventilation, air, diet, &c., ought to be duly observed. In small-pox, a constant renovation of the air is indispensable, as the morbid exhalations from the body of the patient are most offensive, and the contagious poison most virulent.

121. The temperature of the room, however, should be a few degrees higher than in scarlatina, as none of these other eruptive diseases shows the same degree of fever and heat. This is particularly advisable in the treatment of measles, when exposure is very apt to cause the rash to disappear, an occurrence which is dangerous in any eruptive disease.

122. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS.--OBSTACLES.

Before concluding my article, I shall attempt to remove a few objections and obstacles, which are usually raised against the practice of the hydriatic system in families.

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