General Remarks.--Travellers are apt to expect too much from their
medicines, and to think that savages will hail them as demigods wherever
they go. But their patients are generally cripples who want to be made
whole in a moment, and other suchlike impracticable cases. Powerful
emetics, purgatives, and eyewashes are the most popular physickings.
The traveller who is sick away from help, may console himself with the
proverb, that "though there is a great difference between a good
physician and a bad one, there is very little between a good one and none
at all."
Drugs and Instruments.--Outfit of Medicines,--A traveller, unless he be a
professed physician, has no object in taking a large assortment of drugs.
He wants a few powders, ready prepared; which a physician, who knows the
diseases of the country in which he is about to travel, will prescribe
for him. Those in general use are as follows:--
1. Emetic, mild; 2. ditto, very powerful, for poison (sulphate of zinc,
also used as an eye-wash in Ophthalmia). e. Aperient, mild; 4. ditto,
powerful. 5. Cordial for diarrhoea. 6. Quinine for ague. 7. Sudorific
(Dover's powder). 8. Chlorodyne. 9. Camphor. 10. Carbolic acid.
In addition to these powders, the traveller will want Warburg's
fever-drops; glycerine or cold cream; mustard-paper for blistering;
heartburn lozenges; lint; a small roll of diachylon; lunar-caustic, in a
proper holder, to touch old sores with, and for snake-bites; a scalpel
and a blunt-pointed bistoury, with which to open abcesses (the blades of
these should be waxed, to keep them from rust); a good pair of forceps,
to pull out thorns; a couple of needles, to sew up gashes; waxed thread,
or better, silver wire. A mild effervescing aperient, like Moxon's is
very convenient. Seidlitz-powders are perhaps a little too strong for
frequent use in a tropical climate.
How to carry Medicines.--The medicines should be kept in zinc pill-boxes
with a few letters punched both on their tops and bottoms, to indicate
what they contain, as Emet., Astr. etc. It is more important that the
bottoms of the boxes should be labelled than their tops; because when two
of them have been opened at the same time, it often happens that the tops
run a risk of being changed.
It will save continual trouble with weights and scales, if the powders be
so diluted with flour, that one Measureful of each shall be a full
average dose for an adult; and if the measure to which they are adopted
be cylindrical, and of such a size as just to admit a common lead-pencil,
and of a determined length, it can at any time be replaced by twisting up
a paper cartridge. I would further suggest that the powders be
differently coloured, one colour being used for emetics and another for
aperients.
Lint, to make.--Scrape a piece of linen with a knife.
Ointment.--Simple cerate, which is spread on lint as a soothing plaister
for sores, consists of equal parts of oil and wax; but lard may be used
as a substitute for the wax.
Seidlitz-powders are not often to be procured in the form we are
accustomed to take them in, in England; so a recipe for making 12 sets of
them, is annexed:--1 1/2 oz. of Carbonate of Soda and 3 oz. of Tartarised
Soda, for the blue papers; 7 drachms of Tartaric Acid, for the white
papers.
Bush Remedies.--Emetics.--For want of proper physic, drink a charge of
gunpowder in a tumblerful of warm water of soap-suds, and tickle the
throat.
Vapour-baths are used in many countries, and the following plan, used in
Russia, is often the most convenient. Heat stones in the fire, and put
them on the ground in the middle of the cabin or tent; on these pour a
little water, and clouds of vapour are given off. In other parts of the
world branches are spread on hot wood-embers, and the patient is placed
upon these, wrapped in a large cloth; water is then sprinkled on the
embers, and the patient is soon covered with a cloud of vapour. The
traveller who is chilled or over-worked, and has a day of rest before
him, would do well to practise this simple and pleasant remedy.
Bleeding and Cupping'.--Physicians say, now-a-days that bleeding is
rarely, if ever, required; and that frequently it does much harm; but
they used to bleed for everything. Many savages know how to cup: they
commonly use a piece ofa horn as the cup, and they either suck at a hole
in the top of the horn, to produce the necessary vacuum, or they make a
blaze as we do, but with a wisp of grass.
Illnesses.--Fevers of all kinds, diarrhoea, and rheumatism, are the
plagues that most afflict travellers; ophthalmia often threatens them.
Change of air, from the flat country up into the hills, as soon as the
first violence of the illness is past, works wonders in hastening and
perfecting a cure.
Fever.--The number of travellers that have fallen victims to fever in
certain lands is terrible: it is a matter of serious consideration
whether any motives, short of imperious duty, justify a person in braving
a fever-stricken country. In the ill-fated Niger expedition, three
vessels were employed, of which the 'Albert' stayed the longest time in
the river, namely two months and two days. Her English crew consisted of
62 men; of these, 55 caught fever in the river, and 23 died. Of the
remaining seven, only two ultimately escaped scot-free; the others
suffering, more or less severely, on their return to England. In Dr.
McWilliams's Medical History of this expedition, it is laid down that the
Niger fever, which may be considered as a type of pestilential fever
generally, usually sets in sixteen days after exposure to the malaria;
and that one attack, instead of acclimatising the patient, seems to
render him all the more liable to a second. Every conceivable precaution
known in those days, had been taken to ensure the health of the crew of
the 'Albert.' A great discovery of modern days is the power of quinine to
keep off many types of fever. A person would, now, have little to fear in
taking a passage in a Niger steamer; supposing that vessels ran regularly
up that river. The quinine he would take, beginning at the coast, would
render him proof against fever, until he had passed the delta; but
nothing would remove the risk of a long sojourn in the delta itself.
However, I should add that Dr. Livingstone's experience on the zambesi
throws doubt on the power of quinine to keep off the type of fever that
prevails upon that river.
Precautions in unhealthy Places.--There are certain precautions which
should be borne in mind in unhealthy places, besides that which I have
just mentioned of regularly taking small doses of quinine, such as never
to encamp to the leeward of a marsh; to sleep close in between large
fires, with a handkerchief gathered round your face (natural instinct
will teach this); to avoid starting too early in the morning; and to
beware of unnecessary hunger, hardship, and exposure. It is a
widely-corroborated fact that the banks of a river and adjacent plains
are often less affected by malaria than the low hills that overlook them.
Diarrhoea.--With a bad diarrhoea, take nothing but broth, rice water, and
it may be rice, in very small quantities at a meal, until you are quite
restored. The least piece of bread or meat causes an immediate relapse.
Ophthalmia'.--Sulphate of zinc is invaluable as an eyewash: for
ophthalmia is a scourge in parts of North and South Africa, in Australia,
and in many other countries. The taste of the solution which should be
strongly astringent, is the best guide to its strength.
Tooth-ache.--Tough diet tries the teeth so severely, that a man about to
undergo it, should pay a visit to a dentist before he leaves England. An
unskilled traveller is very likely to make a bad job of a first attempt
at tooth-drawing. By constantly pushing and pulling an aching tooth, it
will in time loosen, and perhaps, after some weeks, come out.
Thirst.--Pour water over the clothes of the patient, and keep them
constantly wet; restrain his drinking, after the first few minutes, as
strictly as you can summon heart to do it. (See "Thirst" in the chapter
on "Water.") In less severe cases, drink water with a tea-spoon; it will
satisfy a parched palate as much as if you gulped it down in tumblerfuls,
and will disorder the digestion very considerably less.
Hunger.--Give two or three mouthfuls, every quarter of an hour, to a man
reduced to the last extremity by hunger; strong broth is the best food
for him.
Poisoning.--The first thing is to give a powerful emetic, that whatever
poison still remains unabsorbed in the stomach, may be thrown up. Use
soap-suds or gunpowder (see Emetics) if proper emetics are not at hand.
If there be violent pains and gripings, or retchings, give plenty of
water to make the vomitings more easy. Next, do your best to combat the
symptoms that are caused by the poison which was absorbed before the
emetic acted. Thus, if the man's feet are cold and numbed, put hot stones
against them, and wrap them up warmly. If he be drowsy, heavy, and
stupid, give brandy and strong coffee, and try to rouse him. There is
nothing more to be done, save to avoid doing mischief.
Fleas.--"Italian flea-powder," sold in the East, is really efficacious.
It is the powdered "Pire oti" (or flea-bane), mentioned in Curzon's
'Armenia' as growing in that country; it has since become an important
article of export. A correspondent writes to me, "I have often found a
light cotton or linen bag a great safeguard against the attacks of fleas.
I used to creep into it, draw the loop tight round my neck, and was thus
able to set legions of them at defiance."
Vermin on the Person.--I quote the following extract from Huc's 'Travels
in Tartary':--"We had now been travelling for nearly six weeks, and still
wore the same clothing we had assumed on our departure. The incessant
pricklings with which we were harassed, sufficiently indicated that our
attire was peopled with the filthy vermin to which the Chinese and
Tartars are familiarly accustomed; but which, with Europeans, are objects
of horror and disgust. Before quitting Tchagan-Kouren, we had bought in a
chemist's shop a few sapeks'-worth of mercury. We now made with it a
prompt and specific remedy against the lice. We had formerly got the
receipt from some Chinese; and, as it may be useful to others, we think
it right to describe it here. You take half an ounce of mercury, which
you mix with old tea-leaves previously reduced to paste by mastication.
to render this softer, you generally add saliva; water could not have the
same effect. You must afterwards bruise and stir it a while, so that the
mercury may be divided into little balls as fine as dust. (I presume the
blue pill is a pretty exact equivalent to this preparation.) You infuse
this composition into a string of cotton, loosely twisted, which you hang
round the neck; the lice are sure to bite at the bait, and they thereupon
as surely swell, become red, and die forthwith. In China and in Tartary
you have to renew this salutary necklace once a month."
Blistered Feet.--To prevent the feet from blistering, it is a good plan
to soap the inside of the stocking before setting out, making a thick
lather all over it. A raw egg broken into a boot, before putting it on,
greatly softens the leather: of course the boots should be well greased
when hard walking is anticipated. After some hours on the road, when the
feet are beginning to be chafed, take off the shoes, and change the
stockings; Putting what was the right stocking on the left foot, and the
left stocking on the right foot. Or, if one foot only hurts, take off the
boot and turn the stocking inside out. These were the plans adopted by
Captain Barclay. when a blister is formed, "rub the feet, on going to
bed, with spirits mixed with tallow dropped from a candle into the palm
of the hand; on the following morning no blister will exist. The spirits
seem to possess the healing power, the tallow serving only to keep the
skin soft and pliant. This is Captain Cochrane's advice, and the remedy
was used by him in his pedestrian tour." (Murray's Handbook of
Switzerland.') The recipe is an excellent one; pedestrians and teachers
of gymnastics all endorse it.
Rarefied Air, effects of.--On high plateaux or mountains new-comers must
expect to suffer. The symptoms are described by many South American
travellers; the attack of them is there, among other names, called the
puna. The disorder is sometimes fatal to stout plethoric people; oddly
enough, cats are unable to endure it: at villages 13,000 feet above the
sea, Dr. Tschudi says that they cannot live. Numerous trials have been
made with these unhappy feline barometers, and the creatures have been
found to die in frightful convulsions. The symptoms of the puna are
giddiness, dimness of sight and hearing, headache, fainting-fits, blood
from mouth, eyes, nose, lips, and a feeling like sea-sickness. Nothing
but time cures it. It begins to be felt severely at from 12,000 to 13,000
feet above the sea. M. Hermann Schlagintweit, who has had a great deal of
mountain experience in the Alps and in the Himalayas, up to the height of
20,000 feet or more, tells me that he found the headache, etc., come on
when there was a breeze, far more than at any other time. His whole party
would awake at the same moment, and begin to complain of the symptoms,
immediately on the commencement of a breeze. The symptoms of overwork are
not wholly unlike those of the puna, and many young travellers who have
felt the first, have ascribed them to the second.
Scurvy has attacked travellers even in Australia; and I have myself felt
symptoms of it in Africa, when living wholly on meat. Any vegetable diet
cures it: lime-juice, treacle, raw potatoes, and acid fruits are
especially efficacious. Dr. Kane insists on the value of entirely raw
meat as a certain anti-scorbutic: this is generally used by the
Esquimaux.
Haemorrhage from a Wound.--When the blood does not pour or trickle in a
steady stream from a deep wound, but jets forth in pulses, and is of a
bright red colour, all the bandages in the world will not stop it. It is
an artery that is wounded; and, unless there be some one accessible, who
knows how to take it up and tie it, I suppose that the method of our
fore-fathers is the only one that can be used as you would for a
snake-bite (see next paragraph); or else to pour boiling grease into the
wound. This is, of course, a barbarous treatment, and its success is
uncertain, as the cauterised artery may break out afresh; still, life is
in question, and it is the only hope of saving it. After the cautery, the
wounded limb should be kept perfectly still, well raised, and cool, until
the wound is nearly healed. A tourniquet, which will stop the blood for a
time, is made by tying a strong thong, string, or handkerchief firmly
above the part, putting a stick through, and screwing it tight. If you
know whereabouts the artery lies, which is the object to compress, put a
stone over the place under the handkerchief. The main arteries follow
pretty much the direction of the inner seams of the sleeves and trousers.
Snake-bites.--Tie a string tight above the part, suck the wound, and
caustic it as soon as you can. Or, for want of caustic, explode gunpowder
in the wound; of else do what Mr. Mansfield Parkyns well suggests, i.e.,
cut away with a knife, and afterwards burn out with the end of your iron
ramrod, heated as near a white heat as you can readily get it. The
arteries lie deep, and as much flesh may, without much danger, be cut or
burnt into, as the fingers can pinch up. The next step is to use the
utmost energy, and even cruelty, to prevent the patient's giving way to
that lethargy and drowsiness which is the usual effect of snake-poison,
and too often ends in death.
Wasp and Scorpion-stings.--the Oil scraped out of a tobacco-pipe is a
good application; should the scorpion be large, his sting must be treated
like a snake-bite.
Broken Bones.--It is extremely improbable that a man should die, in
consequence of a broken leg or arm, if the skin be uninjured' but, if the
broken end forces its way through the flesh, the injury is a very serious
one. Abscesses form, the parts mortify, and the severest consequences
often follow. Hence, when a man breaks a bone, do not convert a simple
injury into a severe one, by carrying him carelessly. If possible, move
the encampment to the injured man, and not vice versa. Mr. Druitt
says:--"When a man has broken his leg, lay him on the other side, put the
broken limb exactly on the sound one, with a little straw between, and
tie the two legs together with handkerchiefs. Thus the two legs will move
as one, and the broken bone will not hurt the flesh so much, nor yet come
through the skin."
Drowning.--A half-drowned man must be put to bed in dry, heated clothes,
hot stones, etc., placed against his feet, and his head must be raised
moderately. Human warmth is excellent, such as that of two big men made
to lie close up against him, one on each side. All rough treatment is not
only ridiculous but full of harm; such as the fashion--which still exists
in some places--of hanging up the body by the feet, that the swallowed
water may drain out of the mouth.