cutting their teeth—and as it is a nasty-looking complaint, and
frequently gives a mother a great deal of trouble, of anxiety, and
annoyance, it will be well that you should know its symptoms, its
causes, and its probable duration.
_Symptoms._—When a child is about nine months or a year old, small
pimples are apt to break out around the ears, on the forehead, and on
the head. These pimples at length become vesicles (that is to say, they
contain water), which run into one large one, break, and form a nasty
dirty-looking yellowish, and sometimes greenish scab, which scab is
moist, indeed, sometimes quite wet, and gives out a disagreeable odor,
and which is sometimes so large on the head as actually to form a
scull-cap, and so extensive on the face as to form a mask! These, I am
happy to say, are rare cases. The child’s beauty is, of course, for a
time completely destroyed, and not only his beauty, but his good temper;
for as the eruption causes great irritation and itching, he is
constantly clawing himself, and crying with annoyance a great part of
the day, and sometimes also of the night, the eruption preventing him
from sleeping. It is not contagious, and soon after he has cut the whole
of his _first_ set of teeth, it will get well, provided it has not been
improperly interfered with.
_Causes._—Irritation from teething; stuffing him with overmuch meat,
thus producing a humor, which Nature tries to get rid of by throwing it
out on the surface of the body, the safest place she could fix on for
the purpose, hence the folly and danger of giving medicines and applying
_external_ applications to drive the eruption in. “Diseased nature
oftentimes breaks forth in strange eruptions,” and cures herself in this
way, if she be not too much interfered with, and if the eruption be not
driven in by injudicious treatment. I have known in such cases
disastrous consequences to follow over-officiousness and meddlesomeness.
Nature is trying all she can to drive the humor out, while some
wiseacres are doing all they can to drive the humor in.
_Duration._—As milk-crust is a tedious affair, and will require a
variety of treatment, it will be necessary to consult an experienced
medical man; and although he will be able to afford great relief, the
child will not, in all probability, be quite free from the eruption
until he has cut the whole of his first set of teeth—until he be upwards
of two years and a half old—when, with judicious and careful treatment,
it will gradually disappear, and eventually leave not a trace behind.
It will be far better to leave the case alone—to get well of itself
rather than to try to cure the complaint either by outward applications
or by strong internal medicines; “the remedy is often worse than the
disease,” of this I am quite convinced.
274. _Have you any advice to give me as to my conduct toward my medical
man?_
Give him your entire confidence. Be truthful and be candid with him.
Tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Have no
reservations; give him, as near as you can, a plain, unvarnished
statement of the symptoms of the disease. Do not magnify, and do not
make too light of any of them. Be prepared to state the exact time the
child first showed symptoms of illness. If he have had a shivering fit,
however slight, do not fail to tell your medical man of it. Note the
state of the skin; if there be a “breaking-out,” be it ever so trifling,
let it be pointed out to him. Make yourself acquainted with the quantity
and with the appearance of the urine, taking care to have a little of it
saved, in case the doctor may wish to see and examine it. Take notice of
the state of the motions—their number during the twenty-four hours,
their color, their smell, and their consistence, keeping one for his
inspection. Never leave any of these questions to be answered by a
servant; a mother is the proper person to give the necessary and
truthful answers, which answers frequently decide the fate of the
patient. Bear in mind, then, a mother’s untiring care and love,
attention and truthfulness, frequently decide whether, in a serious
illness, the little fellow shall live or die! Fearful responsibility!
A medical man has arduous duties to perform; smoothe, therefore, his
path as much as you can, and you will be amply repaid by the increased
good he will be able to do your child. Strictly obey a doctor’s
orders—in diet, in medicine, in everything. Never throw obstacles in his
way. Never omit any of his suggestions; for depend upon it, that if he
be a sensible man, directions, however slight, ought never to be
neglected; bear in mind, with a judicious medical man,—
“That nothing walks with aimless feet.”
If the case be severe, requiring a second opinion, never of your own
accord call in a physician without first consulting and advising with
your own medical man. It would be an act of great discourtesy to do so.
Inattention to the foregoing advice has frequently caused injury to the
patient, and heart-burnings and ill-will among doctors.
Speak, in the presence of your child, with respect and kindness of your
medical man, so that the former may look upon the latter as a friend—as
one who will strive, with God’s blessing, to relieve his pain and
suffering. Remember the increased power of doing good the doctor will
have if the child be induced to like, instead of dislike, him. Not only
be careful that you yourself speak before your child respectfully and
kindly of the medical man, but see that your domestics do so likewise;
and take care that they are never allowed to frighten your child, as
many silly servants do, by saying that they will send for the doctor,
who will either give him nasty medicine, or will perform some cruel
operation upon him. A nurse-maid should, then, never for one moment be
permitted to make a doctor an object of terror or of dislike to a child.
Send, whenever it be practicable, for your doctor _early_ in the
morning, as he will then make his arrangements accordingly, and can by
daylight better ascertain the nature of the complaint, more especially
if it be a skin disease. It is utterly impossible for him to form a
correct opinion of the nature of a “breaking-out” either by gas or by
candle-light. If the illness come on at night, particularly if it be
ushered in either with a severe shivering, or with any other urgent
symptom, no time should be lost, be it night or day, in sending for him.
WARM BATHS.
275. _Have the goodness to mention the complaints of a child for which
warm baths are useful?_
1. Convulsions; 2. Pains in the bowels, known by the child drawing up
his legs, screaming violently, etc.; 3. Restlessness from teething; 4.
Flatulence. The warm bath acts as a fomentation to the stomach and the
bowels, and gives ease where the usual remedies do not rapidly relieve.
276. _Will you mention the precautions and the rules to be observed in
putting a child into a warm bath?_
Carefully ascertain before he be immersed in the bath that the water be
neither too hot nor too cold. Carelessness, or over-anxiety to put him
in the water as quickly as possible, has frequently, from his being
immersed in the bath when the water was too hot, caused him great pain
and suffering. From 96 to 98 degrees of Fahrenheit is the proper
temperature of a warm bath. If it be necessary to add fresh warm water,
let him be either removed the while, or let it not be put in when very
hot; for if boiling water be added to increase the heat of the bath, it
naturally ascends, and may scald him. Again, let the fresh water be put
in at as great a distance from him as possible. The usual time for him
to remain in a bath is a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes. Let the
chest and the bowels be rubbed with the hand while he is in the bath.
Let him be immersed in the bath as high up as the neck, taking care that
he be the while supported under the armpits, and that his head be also
rested. As soon as he comes out of the bath he ought to be carefully but
quickly rubbed dry; and, if it be necessary to keep up the action on the
skin, he should be put to bed, between the blankets; or, if the desired
relief has been obtained, between the sheets, which ought to have been
previously warmed, where, most likely, he will fall into a sweet
refreshing sleep.
WARM EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS.
277. _In case of a child suffering pain either in his stomach or in his
bowels, or in case he has a feverish cold, can you tell me of the best
way of applying heat to them?_
In pain, either of the stomach or of the bowels, there is nothing
usually affords greater or speedier relief than the _external_
application of heat. The following are four different methods of
applying heat: 1. A bag of hot salt—that is to say, powdered table
salt—put either into the oven or into a frying-pan, and thus made hot,
and placed in a flannel bag, and then applied, as the case may be,
either to the stomach or to the bowels. Hot salt is an excellent remedy
for these pains. 2. An india-rubber hot water bottle, half filled with
hot water—it need not be boiling—applied to the stomach or to the bowels
will afford great comfort. Every house where there are children ought to
have one of these india-rubber hot water bottles. It may be procured at
any respectable vulcanized india-rubber warehouse. 3. Another, and an
excellent remedy for these cases, is a hot bran poultice. The way to
make it is as follows: Stir bran into a vessel containing either a pint
or a quart (according to size of poultice required) of boiling water,
until it be of the consistence of a nice soft poultice, then put it into
a flannel bag and apply it to the part affected. When cool, dip it from
time to time in _hot_ water. 4. In case a child has a feverish cold,
especially if it be attended, as it sometimes is, with pains in the
bowels, the following is a good external application: Take a yard of
flannel, fold it three widths, then dip it in very hot water, wring it
out tolerably dry, and apply it evenly and neatly round and round the
bowels; over this, and to keep it in its place and to keep in the
moisture, put on a _dry_ flannel bandage, four yards long and four
inches wide. If it be put on at bedtime, it ought to remain on all
night. Where there are children, it is desirable to have the yard of
flannel and the flannel bandage in readiness, and then a mother will be
prepared for emergencies. Either the one or the other, then, of the
above applications will usually, in pains of the stomach and bowels,
afford great relief. There is one great advantage of the _external_
application of heat—it can never do harm; if here be inflammation, it
will do good; if there be either cramps or spasms of the stomach, it
will be serviceable; if there be colic, it will be one of the best
remedies that can be used; if it be a feverish cold, by throwing the
child into a perspiration, it will be useful.
It is well for a mother to know how to make a white-bread poultice; and
as the celebrated Abernethy was noted for his poultices, I will give you
his directions, and in his very words: “Scald out a basin, for you can
never make a good poultice unless you have perfectly boiling water,
then, having put in some hot water, throw in coarsely crumbled bread,
and cover it with a plate. When the bread has soaked up as much water as
it will imbibe, drain off the remaining water, and there will be left a
light pulp. Spread it a third of an inch thick on folded linen, and
apply it when of the temperature of a warm bath. It may be said that
this poultice will be very inconvenient if there be no lard in it, for
it will soon get dry but this is the very thing you want, and it can
easily be moistened by dropping warm water on it, while a greasy
poultice will be moist, but not wet.”
ACCIDENTS.
278. _Supposing a child to cut his finger, what is the best
application?_
There is nothing better than tying it up with rag in its blood, as
nothing is more healing than blood. Do not wash the blood away, but
apply the rag at once, taking care that no foreign substance be left in
the wound. If there be either glass or dirt in it, it will, of course,
be necessary to bathe the cut in warm water, to get rid of it before the
rag be applied. Some mothers use either salt, or Fryar’s Balsam, or
turpentine to a fresh wound; these plans are cruel and unnecessary, and
frequently make the cut difficult to heal. If it bleed immoderately,
sponge the wound freely with cold water. If it be a severe cut, surgical
aid, of course, will be required.
279. _If a child receive a blow, causing a bruise, what had better be
done?_
Immediately smear a small lump of _fresh_ butter on the part affected,
and renew it every few minutes for two or three hours; this is an
old-fashioned, but a very good remedy. Olive oil may—if _fresh_ butter
be not at hand—be used, or soak a piece of brown paper in one-third of
French brandy, and two-thirds of water, and immediately apply it to the
part; when dry renew it. Either of these simple plans—the butter plan is
the best—will generally prevent both swelling and disfiguration.
_A “Black Eye.”_—If a child, or indeed any one else, receive a blow over
the eye, which is likely to cause a “black eye,” there is no remedy
superior to, nor more likely to prevent one, than well buttering the
parts for two or three inches around the eye with fresh butter, renewing
it every few minutes for the space of an hour or two; if such be well
and perseveringly done, the disagreeable appearance of a “black eye”
will in all probability be prevented. A capital remedy for a “black eye”
is the arnica lotion:
Take of—Tincture of Arnica, one ounce;
Water, seven ounces:
To make a Lotion. The eye to be bathed, by means of a soft piece of
linen rag, with this lotion frequently; and, between times, let a
piece of linen rag, wetted in the lotion, be applied to the eye, and
be fastened in its place by means of a bandage.
The white lily leaf, soaked in brandy, is another excellent remedy for
the bruises of a child. Gather the white lily blossoms when in full
bloom, and put them in a wide-mouthed bottle of brandy, cork the bottle,
and it will then always be ready for use. Apply a leaf to the part
affected, and bind it on either with a bandage or with a handkerchief.
The white lily root sliced is another valuable external application for
bruises.
280. _If a child fall upon his head and be stunned, what ought to be
done?_
If he fall upon his head and be stunned, he will look deadly pale, very
much as if he had fainted. He will in a few minutes, in all probability,
regain his consciousness. Sickness frequently supervenes, which makes
the case more serious, it being a proof that injury, more or less
severe, has been done to the brain; send, therefore, instantly for a
medical man.
In the mean time, loosen both his collar and neckerchief, lay him flat
on his back, sprinkle cold water upon his face, open the windows so as
to admit plenty of fresh air, and do not let people crowd around him,
nor shout at him, as some do, to make him speak.
While he is in an unconscious state, do not on any account whatever
allow a drop of blood to be taken from him, either by leeches or by
bleeding; if you do, he will probably never rally, but will most likely
sleep “the sleep that knows no waking.”
281. _A nurse sometimes drops an infant and injures his back; what ought
to be done?_
Instantly send for a surgeon; omitting to have proper advice in such a
case has frequently made a child a cripple for life. A nurse frequently,
when she has dropped her little charge, is afraid to tell her mistress;
the consequences might then be deplorable. If ever a child scream
violently without any assignable cause, and the mother is not able for
some time to pacify him, the safer plan is that she send for a doctor,
in order that he might strip and carefully examine him; much
after-misery might often be averted if this plan were more frequently
followed.
282. _Have you any remarks to make and directions to give on accidental
poisoning by lotions, by liniments, etc.?_
It is a culpable practice of either a mother or nurse to leave
_external_ applications within the reach of a child. It is also highly
improper to put a mixture and an _external_ application (such as a
lotion or a liniment) on the same tray or on the same mantel-piece. Many
liniments contain large quantities of opium, a teaspoonful of which
would be likely to cause the death of a child. “Hartshorn and oil,” too,
has frequently been swallowed by children, and in several instances has
caused death. Many lotions contain sugar of lead, which is also
poisonous. There is not, fortunately, generally sufficient lead in the
lotion to cause death; but if there be not enough to cause death, there
may be more than enough to make the child very poorly. All these
accidents occur from disgraceful carelessness.
A mother or a nurse ought _always_, before administering a dose of
medicine to a child, to read the label on the bottle; by adopting this
simple plan many serious accidents and much after-misery might be
averted. Again, I say let every lotion, every liniment, and indeed
everything for _external_ use, be either locked up or be put out of the
way, and far away from all medicine that is given by the mouth. _This
advice admits of no exception._
If your child has swallowed a portion of a liniment containing opium,
instantly send for a medical man. In the mean time, force a strong
mustard emetic (composed of two teaspoonfuls of flour of mustard, mixed
in half a teacupful of warm water) down his throat. Encourage the
vomiting by afterward forcing him to swallow warm water. Tickle the
throat either with your finger or with a feather. Souse him alternately
in a hot and then in a cold bath. Dash cold water on his head and face.
Throw open the windows. Walk him about in the open air. Rouse him by
slapping him, by pinching him, and by shouting to him; rouse him,
indeed, by every means in your power, for if you allow him to go to
sleep, it will, in all probability, be the sleep that knows no waking!
If a child has swallowed “hartshorn and oil,” force him to drink vinegar
and water, lemon-juice and water, barley-water, and thin gruel.
If he have swallowed a lead lotion, give him a mustard emetic, and then
vinegar and water, sweetened either with honey or with sugar, to drink.
283. _Are not Lucifer Matches poisonous?_
Certainly, they are very poisonous; it is therefore desirable that they
should be put out of the reach of children. A mother ought to be very
strict with servants on this head. Moreover, lucifer matches are not
only poisonous but dangerous, as a child might set himself on fire with
them. A case bearing on the subject has just come under my own
observation. A little boy, three years old, was left alone for two or
three minutes, during which time he obtained possession of a lucifer
match, and struck a light by striking the match against the wall.
Instantly there was a blaze. Fortunately for him, in his fright, he
threw the match on the floor. His mother, at this moment, entered the
room. If his clothes had taken fire, which they might have done, had he
not thrown the match away, or if his mother had not been so near at
hand, he would, in all probability, have either been severely burned, or
have been burned to death.
284. _If a child’s clothes take fire, what ought to be done to
extinguish them?_
Lay him on the floor, then roll him either in the rug or in the carpet,
or in the door-mat, or in any thick article of dress you may either have
on, or have at hand—if it be woolen, so much the better; or throw him
down, and roll him over and over on the floor, as by excluding the
atmospheric air, the flame will go out; hence, the importance of a
mother cultivating presence of mind. If parents were better prepared for
such emergencies, such horrid disfigurations and frightful deaths would
be less frequent.
You ought to have a proper fire-guard before the nursery grate, and
should be strict in not allowing your child to play with fire. If he
still persevere in playing with it when he has been repeatedly cautioned
not to do so, he should be punished for his temerity. If anything would
justify corporal chastisement, it would surely be such an act of
disobedience. There are only two acts of disobedience that I would flog
a child for—namely, the playing with fire and the telling of a lie! If
after various warnings and wholesome corrections he still persists, it
would be well to let him slightly taste the pain of his doing so, either
by holding his hand for a moment very near the fire, or by allowing him
to slightly touch either the hot bar of the grate or the flame of the
candle. Take my word for it, the above plan will effectually cure him—he
will never do it again! It would be well for the children of the poor to
have pinafores made either of woolen or of stuff materials. The dreadful
deaths from burning, which so often occur in winter, too frequently
arise from _cotton_ pinafores first taking fire. “It has been computed
that upwards of 1000 children are annually burned to death by accident
in England.”
If all dresses, after being washed, and just before being dried, were,
for a short time, soaked in a solution of tungstate of soda, such
clothes, when dried, would be perfectly fire-proof.
Tungstate of soda may be used either with or without starch; but full
directions for the using of it will, at the time of purchase, be given
by the chemist.
285. _Is a burn more dangerous than a scald?_
A burn is generally more serious than a scald. Burns and scalds are more
dangerous on the body, especially on the chest, than either on the face
or on the extremities. The younger the child, of course, the greater is
the danger.
Scalds, both of the mouth and of the throat, from a child drinking
boiling water from the spout of a tea-kettle, are most dangerous. A poor
person’s child is, from the unavoidable absence of the mother, sometimes
shut up in the kitchen by himself, and being very thirsty, and no other
water being at hand, he is tempted in his ignorance to drink from the
tea-kettle: if the water be unfortunately boiling, it will most likely
prove to him to be a fatal draught!
286. _What are the best immediate applications to a scald or to a burn?_
There is nothing more efficacious than flour. It ought to be thickly
applied over the part affected, and should be kept in its place either
with a rag and a bandage, or with strips of old linen. If this be done,
almost instantaneous relief will be experienced, and the burn or the
scald, if superficial, will soon be well. The advantage of flour as a
remedy is this, that it is always at hand. I have seen some extensive
burns and scalds cured by the above simple plan. Another excellent
remedy is cotton-wool. The burn or the scald ought to be enveloped in
it; layer after layer should be applied until it be several inches
thick. The cotton-wool must not be removed for several days. The
cotton-wool here recommended is that purposely made for surgeons, and is
of a superior quality to that in general use. These two remedies, flour
and cotton-wool, may be used in conjunction; that is to say, the flour
may be thickly applied to the scald or to the burn, and the cotton-wool
over all.