such a position that the air from an open window or door will have
full play upon the face. Do not allow parties to crowd closely around,
but give the sufferer plenty of room. Recovery will take place in a
few minutes. The clothes also may be opened, and cold water sprinkled
upon the face, hands and chest; and some pungent substance, as
smelling salts, camphor, aromatic vinegar, etc., may be applied to
the nostrils; and as soon as able to swallow, a little fresh water, or
spirits and water, may be given. Persons who faint easily should avoid
crowded rooms and places where the air is close.
FITS.--See Convulsions.
CLOTHING ON FIRE.--If a woman's clothes catch on fire, let her
instantly roll herself over and over on the ground. In case any one be
present, let them throw her down and do the like, and then wrap her up
in a table-cloth, rug, coat, or the first woolen article that can be
found.
FRACTURES.--As we can only give general rules for treating the various
fractures, we would advise any one suffering from such to immediately
apply to the nearest surgeon, and not rely upon an inexperienced
party.
FROST-BITE.--Place the party suffering in a room without fire, and
rub the frozen or frosted parts with snow, or pour ice-water over them
until sensation begins to return. As soon as a stinging pain is felt,
and a change of color appears, then cease the rubbing, and apply
clothes wet with ice-water, and subsequently, if active inflammation
follow and suppuration results, a solution of carbolic acid in water,
one part to thirty, should be applied. If mortification set in,
amputation is generally necessary. Where persons suffer from the
constitutional effects of cold, hot stimulants should be given
internally, and the body rubbed briskly with the hands and warm
flannel.
POISONS, THEIR SYMPTOMS AND ANTIDOTES.--When a person has taken poison,
the first thing to do is to compel the patient to vomit, and for that
purpose give any emetic that can be most readily and quickly obtained,
and which is prompt and energetic, but safe in its action. For this
purpose there is, perhaps, nothing better than a large teaspoonful of
ground mustard in a tumblerful of warm water, and it has the advantage
of being almost always at hand. If the dry mustard is not to be had, use
mixed mustard from the mustard pot. Its operation may generally be
facilitated by the addition of a like quantity of common table salt. If
the mustard is not at hand, give two or three teaspoonfuls of powdered
alum in syrup or molasses, and give freely of warm water to drink; or
give ten to twenty grains of sulphate of zinc (white vitriol), or twenty
to thirty grains of ipecac, with one or two grains of tartar emetic, in
a large cup of warm water, and repeat every ten minutes until three or
four doses are given, unless free vomiting is sooner produced. After
vomiting has taken place, large draughts of warm water should be given
the patient, so that the vomiting will continue until the poisonous
substances have been thoroughly evacuated, and then suitable antidotes
should be given. If vomiting cannot be produced, the stomach-pump should
be used. When it is known what particular kind of poison has been
swallowed, then the proper antidote for that poison should be given, but
when this cannot be ascertained, as is often the case, give freely of
equal parts of calcined magnesia, pulverized charcoal, and sesquioxide
of iron, in sufficient quantity of water. This is a very harmless
mixture, and is likely to be of great benefit, as the ingredients,
though very simple, are antidotes for the most common and active
poisons. In case this mixture cannot be obtained, the stomach should be
soothed and protected by the free administration of demulcent,
mucilaginous or oleaginous drinks, such as the whites of eggs, milk,
mucilage of gum arabic, or slippery elm bark, flaxseed tea, starch,
wheat, flour, or arrow-root mixed in water, linseed or olive oil, or
melted butter or lard. Subsequently the bowels should be moved by some
gentle laxative, as a tablespoonful or two of castor oil, or a
teaspoonful of calcined magnesia; and pain or other evidence of
inflammation must be relieved by the administration of a few drops of
laudanum, and the repeated application of hot poultices, fomentations
and mustard plasters. The following are the names of the articles that
may give rise to poisoning, most commonly used, and their antidote:
MINERAL ACIDS--SULPHURIC ACID (OIL OF VITRIOL), NITRIC ACID (AQUA
FORTIS), MURIATIC ACID (SPIRITS OF SALTS).--Symptoms: Acid, burning
taste in the mouth, acute pain in the throat, stomach and bowels;
frequent vomiting, generally bloody, mouth and lips excoriated,
shriveled, white or yellow; hiccough, copious stools, more or less
bloody, with great tenderness in the abdomen; difficult breathing,
irregular pulse, excessive thirst, while drink increases the pain and
rarely remains in the stomach; frequent but vain efforts to urinate;
cold sweats, altered countenance; convulsions generally preceding
death; nitric acid causes yellow stains; sulphuric acid, black ones.
Treatment: Mix calcined magnesia in milk or water to the consistence
of cream, and give freely to drink a glassful every couple of minutes,
if it can be swallowed. Common soap (hard or soft), chalk, whiting, or
even mortar from the wall mixed in water, may be given, until
magnesia can be obtained. Promote vomiting by tickling the throat,
if necessary, and when the poison is got rid of, flaxseed or elm tea,
gruel, or other mild drinks. The inflammation which always follows
wants good treatment to save the patient's life.
VEGETABLE ACIDS--ACETIC, CITRIC, OXALIC, TARTARIC.--Symptoms: Intense
burning pain of mouth, throat and stomach; vomiting blood which is
highly acid, violent purging, collapse, stupor, death.
OXALIC ACID is frequently taken in mistake for Epsom salts, to which
in shops it often bears a strong resemblance. Treatment: Give chalk
or magnesia in a large quantity of water, or large draughts of lime
water. If these are not at hand, scrape the wall or ceiling, and give
the scrapings, mixed with water.
PRUSSIC OR HYDROCYANIC ACID--LAUREL WATER, CYANIDE OF POTASSIUM,
BITTER ALMOND OIL, ETC.--Symptoms: In large doses almost invariably
instantaneously fatal, when not immediately fatal, sudden loss of
sense and control of the voluntary muscles; the odor of the poison
generally susceptible on the breath. Treatment: Chlorine, in the
form of chlorine water, in doses of from one to four fluid drachms,
diluted. Weak solution of chloride lime of soda; water of ammonia
(spirits of hartshorn) largely diluted may be given, and the vapor
of it cautiously inhaled. Cold affusion, and chloroform in half
to teaspoonful doses in glycerine or mucilage, repeated every few
minutes, until the symptoms are ameliorated. Artificial respiration.
ACONITE--MONKSHOOD, WOLFSBANE.--Symptoms: Numbness and tingling in the
mouth and throat, and afterwards in other portions of the body, with
sore throat, pain over the stomach, and vomiting; dimness of vision,
dizziness, great prostration, loss of sensibility and delirium.
Treatment: An emetic and then brandy in tablespoonful doses, in
ice-water, every half hour; spirits of ammonia in half teaspoonful
doses in like manner; the cold douche over the head and chest, warmth
to the extremities, etc.
ALKALIES AND THEIR SALTS--CONCENTRATED LYE, WOODASH LYE, CAUSTIC
POTASH, AMMONIA, HARTSHORN.--Symptoms: Caustic, acrid taste, excessive
heat in the throat, stomach and [Transcriber's Note: The original text
reads 'intenstines'] intestines; vomiting of bloody matter, cold sweats,
hiccough, purging of bloody stools.--Treatment: The common vegetable acids.
Common vinegar being always at hand, is most frequently used. The fixed
oils, as castor, flaxseed, almond and olive oils form soaps with the
alkalies and thus also destroy their caustic effect. They should be given
in large quantity.
ALCOHOL, BRANDY, AND OTHER SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS.--Symptoms: Confusion of
thought, inability to walk or stand, dizziness, stupor, highly flushed
or pale face, noisy breathing.--Treatment: After emptying the stomach,
pour cold water on the head and back of the neck, rub or slap the
wrists and palms, and the ankles and soles of the feet, and give
strong, hot coffee, or aromatic spirits of hartshorn, in teaspoonful
doses in water. The warmth of the body must be sustained.
ANTIMONY, AND ITS PREPARATIONS. TARTAR EMETIC, ANTIMONIAL WINE,
KERME'S MINERAL.--Symptoms: Faintness and nausea, soon followed by
painful and continued vomiting, severe diarrhoea, constriction and
burning sensation in the throat, cramps, or spasmodic twitchings, with
symptoms of nervous derangement, and great prostration of strength,
often terminating in death.--Treatment: If vomiting has not
been produced, it should be effected by tickling the fauces, and
administering copious draughts of warm water. Astringment infusions,
such as of gall, oak bark, Peruvian bark, act as antidotes, and should
be given promptly. Powdered yellow bark may be used until the infusion
is prepared, or very strong green tea should be given. To stop the
vomiting, should it continue, blister over the stomach by applying a
cloth wet with strong spirits of hartshorn, and then sprinkle on the
one-eighth to one-fourth of a grain of morphia.
ARSENIC AND ITS PREPARATIONS--RATSBANE, FOWLER'S SOLUTION,
ETC.--Symptoms: Generally within an hour pain and heat are felt in the
stomach, soon followed by vomiting, with a burning dryness of the throat
and great thirst; the matters vomited are generally colored, either
green yellow, or brownish, and sometimes bloody. Diarrhoea or
dysentery ensues, while the pulse becomes small and rapid, yet
irregular. Breathing much oppressed; difficulty in vomiting may occur,
while cramps, convulsions, or even paralysis often precede death,
which sometimes takes place within five or six hours after arsenic
has been taken.--Treatment: Give a prompt emetic, and then hydrate of
peroxide of iron (recently prepared) in tablespoonful doses every
ten or fifteen minutes until the urgent symptoms are relieved. In the
absence of this, or while it is being prepared, give large draughts of
new milk and raw eggs, limewater and oil, melted butter, magnesia in a
large quantity of water, or even if nothing else is at hand, flour and
water, always, however, giving an emetic the first thing, or causing
vomiting by tickling the throat with a feather, etc. The inflammation
of the stomach which follows must be treated by blisters, hot
fomentations, mucilaginous drinks, etc., etc.
BELLADONNA OR DEADLY NIGHT SHADE.--Symptoms: Dryness of the mouth
and throat, great thirst, difficulty of swallowing, nausea, dimness,
confusion or loss of vision, great enlargement of the pupils,
dizziness, delirium and coma.--Treatment: There is no known antidote.
Give a prompt emetic and then reliance must be placed on continual
stimulation with brandy, whisky, etc., and to necessary artificial
respiration. Opium and its preparations, as morphia, laudanum, etc.,
are thought by some to counteract the effect of belladonna, and may
be given in small and repeated doses, as also strong black coffee and
green tea.
BLUE VITRIOL, OR BLUE STONE.--See Copperas.
CANTHARIDES (SPANISH OR BLISTERING FLY) AND MODERN POTATO
BUG.--Symptoms: Sickening odor of the breath, sour taste, with burning
heat in the throat, stomach, and bowels; frequent vomiting, often
bloody; copious bloody stools, great pain in the stomach, with burning
sensation in the bladder and difficulty to urinate, followed with
terrible convulsions, delirium and death.--Treatment excite vomiting
by drinking plentifully of sweet oil or other wholesome oils, sugar
and water, milk. Or slippery elm tea; give injections of castor oil
and starch, or warm milk. The inflammatory symptoms which generally
follow must, be treated by a medical man. Camphorated oil or
camphorated spirits should be rubbed over the bowels, stomach and
thighs.
CAUSTIC POTASH.--See Alkalies.
COBALT, OR FLY-POWDER.--Symptoms: Heat and pain in the. Throat and
stomach, violent retching and vomiting, cold and clammy skin,
small and feeble pulse, hurried and difficult breathing, diarrhoea,
etc.--Treatment: An emetic, followed by the free administration of
milk, eggs, wheat flour and water, and mucilaginous drinks.
COPPER--BLUE VITRIOL, VERDIGRIS OR PICKLES OR FOOD COOKED IN SOUL
COPPER VESSELS.--Symptoms: General inflammation of the alimentary
canal, suppression of urine; hiccough, a disagreeable metallic taste,
vomiting, violent colic, excessive thirst, sense of tightness of the
throat, anxiety; faintness, giddiness, and cramps and convulsions
generally precede death.--Treatment: Large doses of simple syrup as
warm as can be swallowed, until the stomach rejects the amount it
contains. The whites of eggs and large quantities of milk. Hydrated
peroxide of iron.
COPPERAS.--See Iron.
CREOSOTE.--CARBOLIC ACID.--Symptoms: Burning pain. Acrid, pungent
taste, thirst, vomiting, purging, etc.--Treatment: An emetic, and
the free administration of albumen, as the whites of eggs, or in the
absence of these, milk, or flour and water.
CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE.--See Mercury.
DEADLY NIGHT-SHADE.--See Belladonna.
FOX-GLOVE, OR DIGITALIS.--Symptoms: Loss of strength, feeble,
fluttering pulse, faintness, nausea, and vomiting and stupor; cold
perspiration, dilated pupils, sighing, irregular breathing, and
sometimes convulsions.--Treatment: After vomiting, give brandy and
ammonia in frequently repeated doses, apply warmth to the extremities,
and if necessary resort to artificial respiration.
GASES--CARBONIC ACID, CHLORINE, CYANOGEN, HYDROSULPHURIC ACID,
ETC.--Symptoms: Great drowsiness, difficult respiration, features
swollen, face blue as in strangulation.--Treatment: Artificial
respirations, cold douche, frictions with stimulating substances to
the surface of the body. Inhalation of steam containing preparations
of ammonia. Cupping from nape of neck. Internal use of chloroform.
GREEN VITRIOL.--See Iron.
HELLEBORE, OR INDIAN POKE.--Symptoms: Violent vomiting and purging,
bloody stools, great anxiety, tremors, vertigo, fainting, sinking
of the pulse, cold sweets and convulsions.--Treatment: Excite speedy
vomiting by large draughts of warm water, molasses and water, tickling
the throat with the finger or a feather, and emetics; give oily and
mucilaginous drinks, oily purgatives, and clysters, acids, strong
coffee, camphor and opium.
HEMLOCK (CONIUM).--Symptoms: Dryness of the throat, tremors,
dizziness, difficulty of swallowing, prostration and faintness,
limbs powerless or paralyzed, pupils dilated, pulse rapid and feeble;
insensibility and convulsions sometimes precede death.--Treatment:
Empty the stomach and give brandy in tablespoonful doses, with half
teaspoonful of spirits of Ammonia, frequently repeated, and if much
pain and vomiting, give bromide of ammonium in five-grain doses every
half hour. Artificial respiration may be required.
HENBANE OR HYOSCYAMUS.--Symptoms: Muscular twitching, inability to
articulate plainly, dimness of vision and stupor; later, vomiting
and purging, small, intermittent pulse, convulsive movement of the
extremities and coma. Treatment: Similar to Opium Poisoning, which
see.
IODINE.--Symptoms: Burning pain in throat, lacerating pain in the
stomach, fruitless effort to vomit, excessive tenderness of the
epigastrium. Treatment: Free emesis, prompt administration of starch,
wheat flour, or arrowroot, beat up in water.
LEAD.--ACETATE OF LEAD, SUGAR OF LEAD, DRY WHITE LEAD, RED LEAD,
LITHARGE, OR PICKLES, WINE, OR VINEGAR, SWEETENED BY LEAD.--Symptoms:
When taken in large doses, a sweet but astringent metallic taste exists,
with constriction in the throat, pain in the region of the stomach,
painful, obstinate, and frequently bloody vomitings, hiccough,
convulsions or spasms, and death. When taken in small but long-continued
doses, it produces colic, called painter's colic; great pain, obstinate
constipation, and in extreme cases paralytic, symptoms, especially
wrist-drop, with a blue line along the edge of the gums. Treatment: To
counteract the poison, give alum in water, one and a half ounce to a
quart; or, better still, Epsom salts or Glauber salts, an ounce of
either in a quart of water; or dilute sulphuric acid, a teaspoonful in a
quart of water. If a large quantity of sugar of lead has been recently
taken, empty the stomach by an emetic of sulphate of zinc (one drachm in
a quart of water), giving one-fourth to commence, and repeating smaller
doses until free vomiting is produced; castor oil should be given to
clear the bowels, and injections of oil and starch freely administered.
If the body is cold, use the warm bath.
MEADOW SAFFRON.--See Belladonna.
LAUDANUM.--See Opium.
LUNAR CAUSTIC.--See Silver.
LOBELIA.--Indian Poke.--Symptoms: Excessive vomiting and purging,
pains in the bowels, contraction of the pupils, delirium, coma, and
convulsions. Treatment: Mustard over the stomach, and brandy and
ammonia.
MERCURY.--CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE (bug poisons frequently contain this
poison), RED PRECIPITATE, CHINESE OR ENGLISH VERMILLION.--Symptoms:
Acrid, metallic taste in the mouth, immediate constriction and burning
in the throat, with anxiety and tearing pains in both stomach
and bowels, sickness, and vomiting of various colored fluids, and
sometimes bloody and profuse diarrhoea, with difficulty and pain
in urinating; pulse quick, small and hard; faint sensations, great
debility, difficult breathing, cramps, cold sweats, syncope and
convulsions. Treatment: If vomiting does not already exist, emetics
must be given immediately--albumen of eggs in continuous large doses,
and infusion of catechu afterwards, sweet milk, mixtures of flour and
water in successive cupfuls, and to check excessive salivation put a
half ounce of chlorate of potash in a tumbler of water, and use freely
as a gargle, and swallow a tablespoonful every hour or two.
MONKSHOOD.--See Arnica.
MORPHINE.--See Opium.
NITRATE OF SILVER (LUNAR CAUSTIC.)--Symptoms: Intense pain and
vomiting and purging of blood; mucus and shreds of mucus membranes;
and if these stand they become dark. Treatment: Give freely of a
solution of common salt in water, which decomposes the poison, and
afterwards flax-seed or elm bark tea, and after a while a dose of
castor oil.
NUX VOMICA.--See Strychnine.
OPIUM AND ALL ITS PREPARATIONS--MORPHINE, LAUDANUM, PAREGORIC,
ETC.--Symptoms: Giddiness, drowsiness, increasing to stupor, and
insensibility; pulse usually, at first, quirk and irregular,
and breathing hurried, and afterwards pulse slow and feeble, and
respiration slow and noisy; the pupils are contracted and the eyes and
face congested, and later, as death approaches, the extremities become
cold, the surface is covered with cold, clammy perspiration, and
the sphincters relax. The effects of opium and its preparations,
in poisonous doses, appear in from a half to two hours from its
administration. Treatment: Empty the stomach immediately with an
emetic or with the stomach pump. Then give very strong coffee without
milk; put mustard plasters on the wrist and ankles; use the cold
douche to the head and chest, and if the patient is cold and sinking
give brandy, or whisky and ammonia. Belladonna is thought by many to
counteract the poisonous effects of opium, and may be given in
doses of half to a teaspoonful of the tincture, or two grains of
the extract, every twenty minutes, until some effect is observed in
causing the pupils to expand. Use warmth and friction, and if possible
prevent sleep for some hours, for which purpose the patient should be
walked about between two persons, and if necessary a bunch of
switches may be freely used. Finally, as a last resort, use artificial
respiration, and a persistance in it will sometimes be rewarded with
success in apparently hopeless cases. Galvanism should also be tried.
OXALIC ACID.--See Acids.
PHOSPHORUS--FOUND IN LUCIFER MATCHES AND SOME RAT POISONS.--Symptoms:
Symptoms of irritant poisoning; pain in the stomach and bowels;
vomiting; diarrhoea; tenderness and tension of the abdomen. Treatment:
An emetic is to be promptly given; copious draughts containing
magnesia in suspension: mucilaginous drinks. General treatment for
inflammatory symptoms.
POISONOUS FISH.--Symptoms: In an hour or two--often in much shorter
time--after the fish has been eaten, a weight at the stomach comes
on, with slight vertigo and headache; sense of heat about the head
and eyes; considerable thirst, and often an eruption of the skin.
Treatment: After full vomiting, an active purgative should be given
to remove any of the noxious matter from the intestines. Vinegar and
water may be drunk after the above remedies have operated, and the
body may be sponged with the same. Water made very sweet with sugar,
with aromatic spirits of ammonia added, may be drunk freely as a
corrective. A solution of cholorate of potash, or of alkali, the
latter weak, may be given to obviate the effect of the poison. If
spasms ensue after evacuation, laudanum in considerable doses it
necessary. If inflammation should occur, combat in the usual way.
POISONOUS MUSHROOMS.--- Symptoms: Nausea, heat and pains in the
stomach and bowels; vomiting and purging, thirst, convulsions and
faintings, pulse small and frequent, dilated pupil and stupor, cold
sweats and death.
Treatment: The stomach and bowels are to be cleared by an emetic of
ground mustard or sulphate of zinc, followed by frequent doses of
Glauber of Epsom salts, and large stimulating clysters. After the
poison is evacuated, either may be given with small quantities of
brandy and water. But if inflammatory symptoms manifest themselves,
such stimuli should be avoided, and these symptoms appropriately
treated.
POTASH.--See Alkali.
PRUSSIC ACID, HYDROCYANIC.--See Acids.
POISON IVY.--Symptoms. Contact with, and with many persons the
near approach to the vine, gives rise to violent erysipelatous
inflammation, especially of the face and hands, attended with itching,
redness, burning and swelling, with watery blisters.
Treatment: Give saline laxatives, and apply weak lead and laudanum,
or limewater and sweet oil, or bathe the parts freely with spirits of
nitre. Anointing with oil will prevent poisoning from it.
SALTPETRE, NITRATE OF POTASH.--Symptoms. Only poisonous in large
quantities, and then causes nausea, painful vomiting, purging,
convulsions, faintness, feeble pulse, cold feet and hands, with
tearing pains in stomach and bowels.
Treatment: Treat just as is directed for arsenic, for there is no
antidote known, and emptying the stomach and bowels with mild drinks
must be relied on.
SAVINE.--Symptoms: Sharp pains in the bowels, hot skin, rapid pulse,
violent vomiting and sometimes purging, with great prostration.
Treatment: Mustard and hot fomentations over the stomach and bowels,
and ice only allowed in the stomach until the inflammation ceases. If
prostration comes on, food and stimulants must be given by injection.
STRAMONIUM, THORN-APPLE OR JAMESTOWN WEED.--Symptoms: Vertigo,
headache, perversion of vision, slight delirium, sense of suffocation,
disposition to sleep, bowels relaxed and all secretions augmented.
Treatment: Same as Belladonna.
STRYCHNINE AND NUX VOMICA.--Symptoms: Muscular twitching, constriction
of the throat, difficult breathing and oppression of the chest; violent
muscular spasms then occur, continuous in character like lock-jaw, with
the body bent backwards, sometimes like a bow. Treatment: Give, if
obtainable, one ounce or more of bone charcoal mixed with water, and
follow with an active emetic; then give chloroform in teaspoonful doses,
in flour and water or glycerine, every few minutes while the spasms
last, and afterwards brandy and stimulants, and warmth of the
extremities if necessary. Recoveries have followed the free and prompt
administration of oils or melted butter or lard. In all cases empty the
stomach if possible.
SULPHATE OF ZINC, WHITE VITRIOL.--See Zinc.
TIN--CHLORIDE OF TIN, SOLUTION OF TIN (USED BY DYERS), OXIDE OF TIN
OR PUTTY POWDER.--Symptoms: Vomiting, pains in the stomach, anxiety,
restlessness, frequent pulse, delirium, etc. Treatment: Empty the
stomach, and give whites of eggs in water, milk in large quantities,
or flour beaten, up in water, with magnesia or chalk.
TARTAR EMETIC.--See Antimony.
TOBACCO.--Symptoms: Vertigo, stupor, fainting, nausea, vomiting,
sudden nervous debility, cold sweat, tremors, and at times fatal
prostration. Treatment: After the stomach is empty apply mustard
to the abdomen and to the extremities, and give strong coffee, with
brandy and other stimulants, with warmth to the extremities.
ZINC--OXIDE OF ZINC, SULPHATE OF ZINC, WHITE VITRIOL, ACETATE OF
ZINC.--Symptoms: Violent vomiting, astringent taste, burning pain in
the stomach, pale countenance, cold extremities, dull eyes, fluttering
pulse. Death seldom ensues, in consequence of the emetic effect.
Treatment: The vomiting may be relieved by copious draughts of warm
water. Carbonate of soda, administered in solution, will decompose the
sulphate of zinc. Milk and albumen will also act as antidotes. General
principles to be observed in the subsequent treatment.
WOORARA.--Symptoms: When taken into the stomach it is inert; when
absorbed through a wound it causes sudden stupor and insensibility,
frothing at the mouth and speedy death. Treatment: Suck the wound
immediately, or cut it out and tie a cord around the limb between the
wound and the heart. Apply iodine, or iodide of potassium, and give it
internally, and try artificial respiration.
SCALDS.--See Burns and Scalds.
SPRAINS.--The portions most frequently implicated are the wrist and
ankle; no matter which portion it may be, however, rest and quietness
is a very important part of the treatment, and, when possible, in an
elevated position. If the wrist is sprained it should be carried in a
sling; if the ankle, it should be supported on a couch or stool. Cold
lotions (see Bruises) should be freely applied, and irrigation by
pouring water from a pitcher or tea-kettle resorted to several times a
day to prevent inflammation. Later, frictions with opodeldoc, or with
some stimulating liniment, and supporting the parts by pressure made
with a flannel roller, or laced stocking when the ankle is involved,
will be useful to restore tone; or strips of adhesive plaster properly
applied will be useful for the same purpose. Recovery from severe
sprains is always tedious. It is an old saying "that a bad sprain is
worse than a broken bone."
STINGS OF BEES AND WASPS.--See Bites and Stings.
SUFFOCATION FROM NOXIOUS GASES, FOUL AIR, FIRE DAMP, ETC.--Remove to
fresh air and dash cold water over the head, neck and chest; carefully
apply hartshorn, or smelling salts to the nostrils, and when the
breathing is feeble or has ceased, resort immediately to artificial
respiration (see Asphyxia and Drowning). Keep up the warmth of the
body, and as soon as the patient can swallow give stimulants in small
quantities.
SUNSTROKE.--This is caused by long exposure in great heat, especially
when accompanied with great fatigue and exhaustion. Though generally
happening from exposure to the sun's rays, yet precisely similar
effects may be and are produced from any undue exposure to great and
exhaustive heat, such as workmen are exposed to in foundries, gas
factories, bakeries, and other similar employments. Its first symptom
is pain in the head and dizziness, quickly followed by loss of
consciousness, and resulting in complete prostration: sometimes,
however, the attack is sudden, as in apoplexy. The head is generally
burning hot, the face, dark and swollen, the breathing labored and
snoring, and the feet and hands cold. Remove the patient at once to a
cool and shady place, and lay him down with his head a little raised;
apply ice or iced water to the head and face; loosen all cloths around
the neck or waist; bathe the chest with cold water, apply mustard
plasters, or cloths wetted with turpentine, to the calves and soles of
the feet, and as soon as the patient can swallow, give weak brandy or
whisky and water.
There is no easy road to success--I Thank God for it . . . .
A trained man will make his life tall. Without training, you
are left on a sea of luck, where thousands go down, while one
meets with success.
JAMES A. GARFIELD.
* * * * *
[Illustration: THE FAMILY PHYSICIAN]