Abscess.--Let us suppose a swelling appears on some part of the body or
limbs, but that there is no discoloration or symptom of the gathering
of the dead material beneath it. If it be cut open, a wound is made
which is often very difficult to heal. Avoid then, _cutting_ in such
cases. If the swelling develops under FOMENTATION (_see_), the uncut
flesh through which it will then break will be in a better state
eventually for healing than if cut. Where corrupt matter is clearly
present, and in seeking an outlet is endangering the surrounding
healthy tissue, the cutting open of the swelling will, on the other
hand, greatly relieve, and conduce to a more speedy cure. This is best
performed by a thoroughly good surgeon. Thorough syringing of the
cavity from which the matter comes out (_see_ Wounds, Syringing) is the
best means of cure, aided by thorough heating of the swelling and
surrounding parts with moist heat for an hour or more twice a day. This
heating must embrace a large part of the limb or body, as the case may
be. If the trouble be on the hip or groin, the armchair FOMENTATION
(_see_) should be employed. Other parts should be treated on the same
liberal principle of heating (_see_ Fomentation).
Rich diet is extremely hurtful. Egg switched in cream, rum, brandy, and
such things are to be carefully avoided. Alcoholic liquors are
especially fatal. _See_ Alcohol; Assimilation; Diet; Drinks: Foods,
etc.
Oatmeal jelly (_see_ Food in Illness), wheaten meal porridge, Saltcoats
biscuits (_see_ Biscuits and Water), form the best nutrients in such
cases. These are really much stronger diet than the egg, brandy, etc.
If the abscess be in the foot or leg, with indications of diseased
bone, the leg should be bathed in hot water up to the knee. Dissolve a
piece of M'Clinton's soap in the water used, and let it be as hot as
can be borne. After drying, rub the limb gently yet firmly with olive
oil for five minutes. Dress with oil, lint, and a proper bandage.
We have seen a limb which threatened the very life of the patient
treated as above. The general symptoms abated almost immediately;
growth, as well as healing, set in, and the limb was quite restored to
its normal condition. But patient persistence in treatment is needed
for a bad case.
If under bathing or fomentation the abscess seems to swell, such is
only the natural progress of cure, and should not be regarded as
increase of the trouble. Where the swelling shews undoubted signs of
diseased matter below the surface, it may be opened as above directed.
We know of limbs that have been long distorted, and under rubbing and
fomenting they are becoming gradually all they ought to be. No one need
fear that by such treatment they will grow worse. _See_ Armpit
Swelling; Bone, Diseased; Knee; Limbs, Inflamed, etc.
Acetic Acid.--For use in our treatment we recommend Coutts' Acetic
Acid. It is of uniform strength and purity, and can be had from most
druggists. Weak acid may be understood as one part of this to twelve
parts of water. In many cases, however, much greater weakness than this
is necessary, owing to the tenderness of the parts treated. As a
general rule, the dilute acid should only cause a _gentle_ nipping
sensation and heat in the sore. If it is painful, no good is done.
Frequent gentle applications are always much better than a few severe
ones.
Tasting the acid is a good test. If it can be swallowed without
inconvenience, it may then be tried on a tender part, and if necessary
even further reduced in strength. Where more convenient to get it,
white wine vinegar may be used instead of this weak acid; it will do
equally well.
Acidity of the Stomach.--Often caused by unwholesome food, bad or
deficient teeth, or by too rapid eating. Where these causes exist, they
should be first removed. Eat slowly, and not too much at a time, and
see that only _well-cooked_, easily digested food be taken. Pastry,
sweets and carbonaceous foods in general should not be taken alone at
the same meal, they should always accompany some form of proteid food.
If, however, pain in stomach is found after meal it will be found that
milk can be substituted with comfort. (_See_ Diet). (_See_ Food in
Health). If this does not cure, do not take soda as a remedy. Although
soda neutralises the sourness, it produces other effects, and tends to
cause disease of the stomach. A wineglassful of hot water, with a
teaspoonful of white vinegar in it, is the best cure. Although this is
itself acid, it acts so as to remove the _cause_ of the sourness in the
stomach, and is most beneficial otherwise. It is still better to take a
tablespoonful of this hot water and vinegar every five minutes for an
hour daily before dinner. Instead of the vinegar, a slice of lemon may
be put in the hot water. This will act more efficiently in some cases.
In other cases a teaspoonful of Glauber's Salts, taken in a _large_
tumblerful of hot water, half-an-hour before breakfast, for a few
weeks, will relieve almost entirely.
Readers must note not to use _both_ the salts and vinegar drink at
once. They are intended to cure different sorts of stomach acidity,
caused differently.
Look also well to the warming of COLD FEET (_see_), and see that the
whole skin be cleansed daily with soap lather (_see_ Lather and Soap)
and stimulated with olive-oil rubbing.
Aconite.--Often in cases where our treatment fails to cure, the failure
is due to the patient taking aconite as an allopathic remedy. Used
homoeopathically, it may be harmless, but if taken in considerable
doses, even once a month, it prevents all cure. It gives relief in
heart palpitation, and in case of extreme sensibility, but its other
poisonous effects far outweigh the temporary benefits. A gentle, kindly
soaping with soap lather (_see_ Lather and Soap) over all the body will
relieve extreme sensibility far better than aconite, and can be
frequently repeated without injury. Aconite must be avoided if our
treatment is to be effective.
Action, Balance of.--An excellent guide to the proper treatment of any
case is to be found in the distribution of heat in the patient's body.
Hot parts are to be cooled, and cold parts warmed, often both at the
same time, so as to restore the proper balance of vital action. _Gentle
progressive_ measures are always best in this, especially with
children. Cold feet are warmed by BATHING (_see_) and FOMENTATION
(_see_). A heated head may be cooled with COLD TOWELS (_see_) or with
soap LATHER (_see_). This principle of seeking a proper balance should
be borne in mind throughout all our treatment. Its importance can
hardly be exaggerated, as the restoration of this balance alone will
frequently effect an almost magical cure where drugs have been wholly
ineffective.
After Pains.--_See_ Child-bearing.
Air.--The Black Hole of Calcutta is an object lesson of how necessary
to life is the renewal of the air supply. Few people, however, reflect
that a deficient supply of fresh air may affect the health, though far
short of what will cause death. Many hospitable people will invite so
many friends to their houses that the amount of air each can get is
less than 1-20th of what the law insists shall be provided for the
prisoners in our gaols. Superabundant provision is made for the wants
of the stomachs of these guests, but none at all for the more important
organ--the lungs. The headaches and lack of appetite next morning are
attributed to the supper instead of the repeatedly breathed air, for
each guest gives off almost 20 cubic feet of used-up air per hour. No
one would ask their guests to wash with water others had used; how many
offer them air which has been made foul by previous use? Everyone knows
that in our lungs oxygen is removed from the air inhaled, and its place
taken by carbonic acid gas. Besides this deoxydizing, the air becomes
loaded with organic matter which is easily detected by the olfactory
organs of those who have just come in, and so are in a position to
promptly compare the air inside with what they have been breathing. The
exhilaration produced by deep breathing of pure air is well known.
What, therefore, prevents everyone enjoying it at all times? Simply the
fear of "cold"--an unfortunate name for that low form of fever properly
called catarrh, and a name which is largely responsible for this
mistaken idea. "Colds" are now known to be infectious, being often
caught in close ill-ventilated places of public assembly. Most people
suppose that it is the change from the heat to the cold outside that
gives them "cold," whereas the "cold" has been contracted inside. There
is no lack of evidence that wide open windows day and night, summer and
winter, so strengthen and invigorate that colds are rarely taken, and
when taken, generally in a mild form. This also applies to influenza.
If delicate consumptives can stand, without any gradual breaking-in to
it, unlimited fresh air, and can lie by day and night in open sheds, no
one need dread at once to adopt the open-window system. Although few
will believe it, until they try it, a wide open window does not produce
a draught as does one slightly opened, and it is safer and pleasanter
to go in for abundant fresh air than to try what might be called a
moderate course. Many think that with an open window the heat of the
fire is practically wasted. They do not know that the _radiant_ heat of
the fire will warm the person it falls on even though the temperature
of the room is very low. The Canadian hunter before his fire is
comfortably warm, though the air around him may be a long way below
zero. Extra clothing may be worn if any chilliness is felt. While the
body is warm cold air has an invigorating effect on the lungs. Indeed,
the body soon gets accustomed to the colder air, and those who practise
keeping open windows winter and summer find that they do not require
heavier clothing than those who sit with windows shut. A slight or even
considerable feeling of coldness, when due to cold air and not to
ill-health, will not harm.
This is no new idea. Dr. Henry McCormac, of Belfast, father of the
eminent surgeon, Sir William McCormac, wrote forty years ago:--"The
mainly unreasoning dread of night air, so termed, is a great impediment
to free ventilation by night. And yet day and night air is the same
virtually, does not differ appreciably. The air by night, whether damp
or dry, is equally pure, equally salubrious with the air by day, and
calls not less solicitously for ceaseless admission into our dwellings.
Air, ere it reaches the lungs, is always damp. Quite dry air is
irrespirable. It needs no peculiar or unusual habitude in order to
respire what is termed night air. Exposure to contact with the day air
equally prepares us for exposure to the contact with the night air. We
can multiply our coverings by night with even greater ease than we can
by day, and with the most perfect certainty of producing and obtaining
warmth. Good heavens! How is it that people are so wildly mistaken as
if the great wise Deity, as he does by every exquisite and perfect
adaption, did not intend that we should make use of the purest,
sweetest air day and night always? The prospective results of breathing
purest air by night are so infinitely desirable, the immediate
enjoyment is so great that it only needs a trial to be approved of and
adopted for ever.... Reasonable precautions--that is to say, adequate
night coverings--being resorted to, no colour of risk to the lungs,
even of the most delicate, can possibly ensue. For, it is stagnant air,
air pre-breathed only, and not pure unprerespired air that makes lungs
delicate. Although air, warmth, food, and cleanliness be cardinal
conditions and essential to life, still the most important of all
health factors is air--air pure and undefiled alike by day and by
night.... The constant uneasy dread of taking cold, which haunts the
minds of patients and their friends, is doubtless the one great reason
why fresh air is thrust aside. And yet cold will not be caught, were it
in Nova Zembla itself, by night, if only the sleeper's body be
adequately covered.... The pulses or puffs of air that comes in
ceaselessly, winter and summer, through open windows by night inspire
just as if one slept in the open air, a sort of ecstasy. Gush follows
gush, full of delightfulness, replacing the used-up air and purifying
the blood. It has oftimes been said to me, 'I open the windows the
moment I get out of bed;' to this I have uniformly replied, 'the moment
to open the window is before you get into bed, not when you get out of
it.' You cannot otherwise with entire certainty secure the benefit of
an ever ceaselessly renewed night air so all essential to the blood's
renewal and the maintenance of health.... With abundant night coverings
there is no shadow of risk. There is none of rheumatism, none of
bronchitis, in short no risk whatever. The only, the real risk, which
we incur, is that of closing our sleeping chamber windows, of debarring
ourselves of pure air during our repose."
Appetite.--Should be an indication that food in general or some certain
kind of food is needed by the body. Thus the appetite is the natural
test of the amount and kind of food required. Over-eating and
indulgence in stimulating foods and drinks, insufficient mastication
and bolting of the food (_see_ Over-eating, etc.) give us a false
appetite, thus causing over-eating once more. A return to a simple and
moderate diet will restore the natural appetite.
Air Bath.--This may with advantage to the health of the skin and body
in general, be indulged in every morning during some of the toilet
operations, such as shaving, or preferably, dumbell exercise or Swedish
gymnastics. If exercises are done in a nude condition the utmost
freedom for the muscles is obtained. In a short time a notable change
will be observed in the skin, which will lose its pasty appearance, and
become soft flesh and of a healthy colour. If possible have the bedroom
with windows facing the morning sun, so that the sunlight can also
shine in. There are many sanitaria on the Continent and in America
where this form of "bathing" is practised. Indeed, one of the great
benefits of sea-bathing (overlooked in this country) is the exposure of
the skin to air and light. Consequently if the weather and social
custom permits, as much time as possible should be spent after
immersion, lounging on the sand. A child's natural instinct leads it to
play about after its bath in the sea instead of coming at once to be
dressed.
A young infant will enjoy lying on a rug on the floor without any
clothing and with the window open. Older children will benefit by
running about the garden in summer time in bare feet, and with only one
garment, say a cotton frock.
It is a great mistake to clothe children too warmly, indeed, the same
may be said of adults. Garments should always be loose and porous, so
as to allow of the beneficial action of the air on the skin. One of the
objections to corsets is that they do not fulfil these conditions
(_see_ Tight Lacing, Skin, Care of.)
Air-tight Covering.--The covering of oiled silk, or guttapercha, so
frequently placed over wet bandages when these are applied to any part
of the body, is not only useless, but often positively hurtful. It is
true that the waterproof covering retains the moisture in the bandage,
but it is also true that great heat is developed, and the waste
products in the perspiration are retained on the surface of the skin.
The effect of this is injurious in a very high degree. A little soft
old linen for the wet bandage, with a piece of double new flannel over
it, will leave all the pores of the skin open, and allow all waste
products to pass away freely, while the heat and moisture are retained
as much as necessary.
In other cases two folds of moist flannel next to skin, and two folds
of the same, dry, above the moist ones, will make an excellent bandage.
This applied all over the abdomen, in case of abdominal dropsy, will
have a most beneficial result.
The reason why we often say new flannel is simply that few know how to
wash it so as to retain its soft and porous nature as it is when good
and new. That softness and porousness may be retained in a very easy
way. When you have put your soiled flannel through two good washings
with soap in the usual way, dip it in clean boiling water, and finish
cleaning it with that dipping. You will have it white and fine as when
new.
M'Clinton's soap, being made from plant ashes and not from soda, is
much less liable to shrink and harden flannel; in fact, it is best for
all fine washing.
Alcohol.--This, in various forms, as brandy, whiskey, rum, wine,
cordials, beer and stout, is a frequent prescription in many troubles.
In no cases have we known good effects from its use, which is most
strongly to be condemned. Various reasons for this statement will be
found under the heading of troubles for which alcohol is prescribed.
Here we simply give the fundamental truths as to its action on the
system.
In our system of treatment we ever seek to nurse and stimulate those
nerve-masses which constitute the sources of vital action. Every drop
of alcohol does so much to weaken and destroy these. A certain
quantity, if taken by the strongest man, will kill that man as surely
as a bullet in the brain. Half the quantity will only render him
insensible. Half that, again, only renders him incapable of controlling
his bodily movements. Half that, again, only slightly disturbs the
system; but it affects him in the very same manner in which the fatal
dose affects him, though not in the same degree. It is a narcotic, and
like all such, it always _reduces_ vital action, while nothing is more
important in all healing than to _increase_ it. Hence alcohol is the
deadly foe of healing, and one chief preparer of the system to fall
before disease. The so-called stimulating action of alcohol has been
thoroughly explained by the author of these papers in other writings,
and shewn to be simply an indirect and temporary effect, obtained at
the price of a considerable reduction of the general vitality of the
nervous system.
Young ladies, as a class, are subject to a terrible danger. Great
numbers of mothers actually make their daughters drunkards by ever and
again dosing them with brandy. This is done in secret, and imagined to
be a most excellent thing. For instance, if the bowels get lax, as is
the case in certain stages of disease, brandy is given as a remedy. How
little do those who give it know that it is lessening vital energy and
making cure impossible! But it is doing nothing else. We have many
times over seen the dying sufferer restless and ill with nothing but
the effects of constant small doses of brandy, or alcohol in some other
form.
In looseness of the bowels we give a teaspoonful of lemon juice in a
little hot water and sugar. That has as much effect as is desirable,
and it has no bad effect whatever. Or enema injections may be employed.
(_See_ Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Enema). Even infants are treated with
"brandy," till we cannot help believing they die of the drink, and
would survive if it were put away. Gradually the cruel folly of all
this will, we doubt not, dawn upon the general mind.
Amputations.--These are often performed in cases in which proper
treatment on the lines of these papers, would save both life and limb.
By all means, before consenting to such an irrevocable act as
amputating a limb, let the treatment with fomentations, hot water, and
acetic acid be well and thoroughly tried. Many limbs which were
medically condemned have been thus saved within our personal knowledge.
In some cases the disease may be obstinate; but at least let a fair
trial be given to our treatment before giving up a limb. The treatment
will be found under the headings of the various troubles and parts
affected (_see_ Armpit Swelling; Bone, Diseased; Knee-swelling; Pains,
etc.)
Angina Pectoris.--In a variety of cases, more or less severe spasmodic
pains are felt in the chest. Angina Pectoris (literally, _agony of the
chest_) is one of the worst of these. All these pains, as a rule, may
be removed completely by treatment such as the following:--
Prepare a bed (long enough for the patient to lie at full length upon
his back), with a large thick sheet folded on the lower part of it.
Spread over this sheet a blanket wrung out of hot water, so as to be
both moist (but not wet) and warm (_see_ Fomentation). See that the
blanket is not so hot as to burn the patient and add to his pain. It
must be tested with the back of the hand, and be just as warm as this
can well bear. On this let the patient lie down, and wrap him up
tightly in it from the feet up to above the haunches. Have two or three
towels folded so as to be about six inches broad, and the length of
that part of the patient's spine above the hot blanket. Wring these out
of cold water. Place one over the spine, so as to lie close along it;
on this, place a dry towel to keep the damp from the bed, and let the
patient lie down on his back, so as to bring the cold towel in close
contact with the spine. When this towel becomes warm, another cold one
must be put in its place. After about half an hour's pack and eight
changes of the cold towel, the pain in the chest should be subdued for
the time. If the cold towel does not heat in five minutes, the
patient's vitality is low, and a _hot_ cloth should be placed along the
spine, and renewed several times, and then another cold one; but as a
rule this will not be required. When taken out of the pack, let the
skin be washed with SOAP (_see_) and warm water; then a slight sponge
of nearly cold water, and a gentle rubbing with olive or almond oil.
Rub the back first, and gently "shampoo" all the muscles; that is,
knead and move the muscles under the skin so as to make them rub over
one another.
If the pain in the chest be of an inflammatory nature, the cold towels
must be applied over the place where it is felt, instead of on the
spine (_see_ Inflammation.)
Ankle Swelling.--When long continued in connection with disease or
accident, this sometimes leads to a partial withering of the limb up to
its very root. In such a case it is best to deal first with the roots
of those nerves which supply the limb, which are, in the case of the
legs, in the lower part of the back. It is important to apply light
pressure to these roots by gently squeezing the muscles of the lower
back. This raises a feeling of gentle heat, which slowly passes down
the limbs even to the toes. Then the gentle pressure and squeezing must
be carried all down the limb, avoiding any degree of pain, until all
its muscles have had their share. While progressing _down_ the limb
with his rubbing, let the rubber be careful that the individual strokes
of his hands be _upwards_, towards the hip. The blood will thus be
propelled towards the _heart_, while the _stimulus_ of rubbing is
conveyed along the nerve trunks towards the foot. The squeezing should
be done with a grasping movement of the hands, the limb being held
encircled in both hands, thumbs upwards. Warm olive oil is used in this
squeezing, and also, if the skin be hard and dry, soap lather (_see_
Lather).
Even slight displacements of bones will disappear under such treatment,
if patiently continued day after day, as the patient can bear it
without fatigue. In such gentle remedies, perseverance plays a large
part. (_See_ Abscess; Diet; Exercise).
Ankle, Twisted or Crushed.--Place the foot as soon as possible in warm
water, as hot as can comfortably be borne; keep it there until free
from pain, or for an hour, or even more if necessary. If the flesh be
torn, dress with cloths wrung out of vinegar or weak acetic acid before
placing in the water.
When the bath has done its work, and the limb comes out of the water
alarmingly swollen, good and skilful bandaging will do excellent work.
If you have at hand an old shirt, or some such thing, tear it into
strips about three inches wide, till you have as much material as will
swathe the whole limb from behind the toes up to the top of the thigh.
This need not be all in one piece, but only so that you may apply it in
such a way as to bring a very gentle pressure on the whole surface of
the injured limb. It is important that the bandaging should be
comfortable. The way in which bandaging is sometimes done is cruel in
the extreme. Cases that are a disgrace to humanity are constantly
coming under our notice, in which limbs are lost for life by the
treatment they receive in this respect. Skilful surgeons do it in the
most gentle manner; they even swathe the limbs in soft loose cotton
before they apply the bandages, so that a perfectly equal and
comforting pressure may be secured. Lay the limb to rest, well and
softly supported in a horizontal position. When the swelling falls,
gently tighten the bandage from time to time as required. Each time the
bandages are removed for this purpose, sponge the limb with warm
vinegar or weak ACETIC ACID (_see_). When the swelling subsides, the
ankle may be put again in the hot bath for half-an-hour, and then, if
any bones be broken, is the time for setting them right. The ankle will
probably turn black. If so, do not apply leeches, but allow the black
blood to be absorbed by natural process.
A twisted or bruised wrist or hand is to be treated in the same way.
The swelling may also be removed by gentle rubbing _upwards_ along the
limb, so as to help the blood in its course.
Armpit Swelling.--Often this comes as the result of a chill, or of
enfeeblement of the system from various causes. In the early stage,
such a swelling should not be treated so as to develop a sore.
Treatment with iodine is to be avoided.
The first thing, in this early stage, is to increase vital action in
the part, and also in the whole system (_see_ Abscess). Moist heat is
to be applied. Make a BRAN POULTICE (_see_), which should come right
round from over the spine, over the swelling, and over the whole
shoulder. Let this be kept hot for an hour at least. If it can be thus
applied twice a day without too much fatigue, do so. If the swelling
softens and becomes less under this treatment, a few cold cloths may be
applied to brace the part and aid its vitality. Do not, on any account,
make the patient shiver. If the swelling increases and becomes
discoloured, keep to the hot treatment until it bursts and discharges.
For treatment then, _see_ Abscess; Wounds.
During all this treatment the whole back should be gently rubbed daily
with warm olive oil for half an hour, if as much can be borne.
Assimilation.--Is the process whereby the digested food is carried into
the blood stream, and thus conveyed to the different parts of the body
where the hungry cells are in need of it.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.--A bit of the inner coat of the small
intestine.]
Fine threads of blood vessels (capillaries) take it up from the stomach
and intestines. Also along the intestines there are little projections
(villi), through which the food passes into a blood stream leading to
the liver, where the blood is then purified. These projections also
contain lacteals or little vessels containing blood without its red
corpuscles. A duct carries this colourless blood mixed with absorbed
food to the left side of the neck, where it empties into the blood
stream. These lacteals have a special affinity for the fat of the food.
Most of the rest of the food, including the proteid and the
carbohydrate or starchy portion now in the form of sugar, passes into
the capillaries, and then is led to the liver.
The liver will not let through more sugar than is required, storing it
up for future use. It also acts as a careful guardian, by arresting
many poisons which would otherwise pass into the general circulation.
The liver requires for the proper performance of its functions plenty
of pure blood, hence the necessity for fresh air and exercise, that the
lungs may work well. The liver is easily influenced by alcoholic
beverages, and by getting too hard work to do through eating rich
foods. A consideration of this delicate and intricate process, whereby
the digested food is absorbed, will show that badly-digested food can
not hope to be well assimilated, consequently attention should be paid
to the quantity and quality of the food we eat (_see_ Digestion; Diet).
[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Two villi containing lacteals. The white canals
are lacteals, the darker lines indicate blood vessels (capillaries).
Magnified 100 diameters. (_From "Quain's Anatomy_.")]
Whatever thus makes living substance is nourishment; whatever fails to
do so is not. If food be taken, and even digested, without being thus
assimilated, it becomes an injury to a patient instead of a help. In
cases of fever, inflammatory disease, or wasting sores, much rich food
feeds the fire. It is like laying rafters on the roof of a burning
house for purposes of repair. In such a case small quantities of milk,
or milk and hot water (_see_ Digestion), represent the total food which
can be effectively used in the body. We write on this subject that in
treatment our friends may watch not to injure by making the blood too
rich in elements which the system cannot usefully assimilate. Such
foods as oatmeal jelly and wheaten porridge will often furnish more
real nourishment than pounds of bread, beef, and potatoes. A little
careful thought will guide to correct treatment in this matter. An
easily assimilated diet is found in Saltcoats biscuits and hot water;
many inveterate stomach troubles have yielded to this, when taken as
sole diet for some weeks (_see_ Biscuits and Water).
Treatment may also be given for lack of assimilative power. The back,
especially on either side of the spine, is rubbed with gentle pressure
and hot olive oil. This pressure is so applied that a genial heat
arises along the whole spinal column. This done twice a day, for
half-an-hour at a time, and continued for several weeks, will markedly
restore assimilative power. Cases which have been perfectly helpless
for eight and even ten years are cured by this simple method,
sufficiently and carefully followed.
We had a patient who was stout, but weak and weary, with the muscles
slack and showing loss of power. The effect of back-rubbing,
accompanied by easily assimilated food in small quantities and often,
was to lessen his weight by a considerable amount. But the muscular
power at once began to increase, and the man was soon like one made
anew. Digestion had not been impaired in this case, but the blood
formed by it was not converted into good living substance. Sight and
hearing have even been restored by these means when the failure in eye
or ear has been due to waste material accumulating, as frequently is
the case.
In connection with many troubles, what may be called _local
assimilation_ has to be considered. A foot, say, with a bad abscess or
diseased bone (_see_ Pain, Severe) is cured by hot bathing and
pressure. From a shrunken and feeble limb, the leg grows to a healthy
and strong one. This occurs because the heat and pressure have so
stimulated its vitality that the material supplied by the blood can be
utilised in the leg for purposes of healthy growth. So with any other
part of the body. Such diet as we have indicated supplies easily
assimilated substance. The local heating, pressure, and bathing enable
this substance to be utilised where it is needed. A little careful
thought on this line will guide to proper treatment of almost any case
where assimilation has failed, either locally or generally, and will
lead the way to a method of cure.
Asthma exists in various forms, having equally various causes. One of
these causes, giving rise to a comparatively simple form of the
disease, is cramp of the ring-muscle of the windpipe, so contracting
the windpipe that breathing is rendered difficult. A "wheeze" is heard
in breathing, though there is no bronchitis or lung trouble present.
The cause of this cramp is an irritation of the ring-muscle's nerve. It
can be relieved by pressing cold cloths gently along the spine, from
the back of the head to between the shoulders, taking care that the
patient remains _generally warm_ during the treatment, and attending to
the feet and skin as directed below in this article. Sometimes the
cause seems to lie in the air of the place where the sufferer resides.
A change either to high ground or the seaside will often entirely
remove asthma, especially in the young. In any such case a trial should
be made of several places, if that be at all possible, and that place
fixed upon where the asthma is least felt. At SEAMILL SANATORIUM
(_see_) many asthmatic persons have found complete freedom from their
trouble from the day of their arrival, and the treatment given has made
this cure permanent.
Another cause of asthma is lack of power in the breathing muscles. In
such a case the patient clings to a particular _attitude_, in which
alone he can breathe. This is in most cases due to a lack of vitality
in the root nerve which supply the breathing muscles.
An attack of this may often be relieved by rubbing, with the points of
the fingers chiefly, gently yet firmly up and down each side of the
spine, close to the bone. Even rubbing above the clothing will
frequently relieve. The roots of the nerves supplying power to the
breathing muscles lie just on each side of the spine, and this kind of
rubbing stimulates these roots. It is not rubbing of the skin or
backbone which is wanted, but such gentle treatment of the nerve roots
on either side of the bone as makes them glow with genial warmth. This
rubbing is of course better done on the surface of the skin. See that
the patient is warm, then dip the fingers in cold water, and rub as
directed. When the water makes the patient feel chilly or he tires of
it, use fresh olive oil, warmed if necessary. Avoid all alcoholic
drinks, which simply rob the nerves of the very power needed for cure.
Temporary relief may be given by such drinks, but it is at the expense
of lowered life and reduced chances of recovery.
A tablespoonful of _hot_ water every five minutes is the best curative
drink. It may be given for several hours if required. To give this
rubbing treatment and drinking hot water fair play, however, attention
must be paid most carefully to the _feet_ and _skin_ of the patient.
The feet frequently are cold, and in bad cases swell, the skin at and
above the swelling being pale and soft. In minor cases this state of
the feet may be treated by rubbing with hot olive oil. In serious cases
rubbing is to be alternated with bathing the feet in hot water, until
the feet and limbs glow with heat. This may be done two or three times
a day, for half an hour, or even an hour. It increases very greatly the
vital power for breathing.
Again, the skin in bad cases of asthma becomes dry, hard, and a light
brown substance forms on its surface. If the skin thus fails, severe
work is thrown on the already overloaded lungs, and the breathing is
much worse. Give the patient a night's pack in the SOAPY BLANKET
(_see_). If there is not strength to stand the entire treatment, keep
in the blanket pack for a shorter time--one, two, or three hours. Not
more than two nights of this treatment should be needed at a time. The
soapy blanket greatly stimulates the skin, and opens all the closed
pores, immensely relieving the lungs. If feet, skin, and back be
treated as we have advised, even a very obstinate case of asthma should
be cured. _See_ Appendix; Bathing the Feet; Rubbing; Soap; Soapy
Blanket.
Back Failures.--Often a severe pain in the toe, foot, ankle, or lower
leg has its cause, not in anything wrong with the part which is
painful, but in some failure of nerve in the patient's _back_.
Blistering or other treatment of the painful part will often injure,
and cannot do much, in any case, to cure. Pains even in the knee and
groin sometimes have the same cause--in back failure. In other cases
the symptoms are, weariness, stiffness, inability to stoop, or stand
long without support, and pains in the stomach and thighs.
A little thought will enable any one to distinguish between pains due
to back failure and those due to local causes. If there is no
appearance of anything wrong at the part pained, then the evil is
probably in the back. It is even a good rule to consider the pain at
first as due to back failure rather than local causes, for by treatment
of the back the local trouble, when that is present, is much helped and
relieved.
In the case of pains in the arms or hands, the _upper_ part of the back
is indicated; in leg and foot troubles, the _lower_ part. Neuralgic
pains are almost always of this class.
In any case of this kind, heat may be applied to the spine, and rubbing
with hot oil given to it, at its upper or lower part as required. If
the heat and rubbing increase the pain, then cold applications may be
used. Sometimes heat and cold may be needed alternately; but common
sense must guide, and all irritation or chilling of the patient must be
carefully avoided.
The best manner of applying cold to the spine is described in article
on Angina Pectoris. Towels are folded as there directed. The moist one
(well wrung out) is placed next the spine, either over the part desired
or the whole spine. The dry one is placed over this, and the patient
lies down on his back on the top of them; or, if he cannot lie, as
sometimes happens, the towels are gently pressed with the hand against
the spine until sufficient cooling has resulted. The patient should
never be made to shiver. If he feels chilly, hot fomentations to the
feet and legs, as described in article on Angina Pectoris, may be
applied.
Balance, Loss of.--Cases where loss of balance in walking and standing
are due to St. Vitus' Dance will be treated under that head. Other
cases, where loss of power in the motor nerves causes this
unsteadiness, are treated of here. As these cases differ totally from
St. Vitus' Dance in cause and treatment, it is well carefully to
distinguish between them. In St. Vitus' Dance, then, notice that the
patient cannot lie still. In case of simple loss of power, he staggers
or falls only when moving, or trying to move. Probably also in the last
case there are cold feet and clammy skin. For this, bathe the feet at
bedtime in hot water, dry, and rub them with hot oil. Then apply to the
back on going to bed a warm cloth, covered with soap lather (_see_
Lather), with dry towel above it. Do this each night for a week. When
taking off the cloth, sponge the back with warm vinegar or weak acid
(_see_ Acetic Acid), and rub with warm olive oil.
After a week of this treatment, apply each night for two or three days,
a large BRAN POULTICE (_see_) across the loins for an hour at bedtime,
with olive oil before and after. Above all, conscientiously let the
patient _rest_. A good deal of lying in bed and on a sofa must be
taken, and good nourishment given (_see_ Assimilation, etc.). Some
weeks of alternate treatment like this should effect a great
improvement, if not a radical cure.
Balance of Action--_See_ Action, Balance of.
Band, Flannel.--A piece of fine new flannel made to cover the whole
back, and sewed under the usual underclothing, has a truly wonderful
effect when worn in certain cases of illness. The same effect is not
produced by doubling the flannels that are worn. What we have specially
to call attention to is the fact that the piece is extra to all that
which covers the rest of the body. The heat of the back, which is so
very important from the nerve structure of the spinal system, is made
to gather under a single ply of flannel, but much more quickly under
two folds of the same material. When, therefore, there is anything like
natural heat in the back, this piece of new flannel makes it gather
quickly, and keeps it stimulating the parts to which it is confined.
Then, if the front of the body is more thinly clad, it is very much the
same as when a hot bag or a bran poultice is applied to the back, and a
cold cloth in front. The effect is not so immediate, but in the course
of time it gets to be even greater. We have never been able to see much
come of "magnetic" or "electric" belts other than would result from
wearing the woollen material they are covered with; but we have seen
constantly all the good effects ascribed to the most costly appliances
produced by a bit of new flannel. If there can be a good rubbing given
with olive oil, and then the extra flannel put on, the effect is
delightful. Again, when the skin has been cleansed effectually with the
mixture for NIGHT SWEATS (_see_), put the flannel on. It causes a
gathering of heat, which stimulates the spinal nerves, and produces
good effects all over the body and limbs.
A broad band of extra new flannel round the lower half of the body is
somewhat equivalent to fomentation got in the armchair, or in the hot
pack of the lower body. Those who are exposed, as coachmen are, and
subject to lumbago and other troubles, will find a flannel band work
wonders. This flannel band on the lower back is valuable in cases of
rheumatism, sciatica, and various kidney troubles. On the upper back it
is good for bronchitis and some forms of asthma.
It may be used in connection with the other forms of treatment given
for these in separate articles. When linen underwear is worn, this band
should be worn under that, next the skin.
Bandage, Four-ply Flannel.--The four-ply flannel bandage is simply what
its name implies--a bandage of the shape and size to cover the parts
treated, and at least four-ply thick. It is wrung out of cold water,
and covered with a thick dry bandage while applied.
Bandaging.--_See_ Veins, Swollen, etc.
Barley.--If this grain is well grown and thoroughly well cooked, it
will be found to be one of the best foods for restoring an exhausted
digestive system.
Take two or three handfuls of "pot" barley; boil this in water for two
hours at least, thoroughly to burst the grain; then water and grain
together are turned into a suitable dish, and placed, covered over, in
the oven, where it may simmer for another two hours. When turned out,
it may be salted to taste. After the four hours' cooking, the grain and
water are a kind of barley pudding. A dessertspoonful of this every
half-hour, from eight in the morning till eight at night, will help
wonderfully a weak stomach, if taken as the _only diet_. This is what
is meant when "barley pudding" is prescribed in these articles.
Bathing.--Cold baths, while greatly to be recommended to those who are
strong, should not be taken by any one who does not feel invigorated by
them. As every one should, if possible, bathe daily, the following
method is worth knowing, as it combines all the advantages of hot and
cold bathing. The principle is the same as explained in Cooling in
Heating. Sponge all over with hot water and wash with M'Clinton's soap;
then sponge all over with cold water. No chilliness will then be felt.
Very weak persons may use tepid instead of cold water. These baths
taken every morning will greatly tend to prevent the person catching
cold.
Cold bathing in water which is _hard_ is a mistake, especially in
bathing of infants. The skin under its influence becomes hard and dry.
Warm bathing and M'Clinton's soap will remedy this.
Bathing the Feet.--This apparently simple treatment, if the best
results are desired, must be gone about most carefully. A foot-bath for
ten or twenty minutes, though a considerable help in many cases, is not
at all sufficient. It must be given, in most cases, for forty minutes
to give sensible relief. Some patients faint long before this time if
the feet are placed in very hot water from the beginning. To avoid this
faintness, proceed as follows: Get a vessel that will hold the feet
easily, and be deep enough to reach nearly up to the knees. Put water
in this one inch deep, and at blood heat--that is, just to feel warm to
an ordinary hand. Set the feet to be bathed in this, and have plenty of
hot water at hand. Let the patient be comfortably covered and seated,
and wait two minutes or so. Add then a little hotter water, and every
two minutes add a little more water, hotter every time, gradually
increasing the quantity and temperature of the water. In half an hour a
good strong heat and large deep bath will be reached, and in only a
very few cases will there be any faintness. If the heat is raised too
fast, give a little cold water to drink, and proceed more slowly. This
is in cases where simple stimulus to vital action is required.
If the bathing be for sores, or disease of joints, the sores should be
dressed first with cold cream or vaseline, or covered with a cloth
dipped in olive oil. If the skin becomes irritated from prolonged
bathing, cover before bathing with a cloth dipped in weak vinegar or
very weak ACETIC ACID (_see_). If the patient is too weak for bathing,
a fomentation may be applied as described in article on Angina
Pectoris, only extending, however, over the knees. Such fomentation may
also be used whenever cold cloths applied to a diseased or inflamed
part tend to cause a chill. It will quite prevent this.
Baths for Head.--In many cases of indigestion and brain exhaustion
head-baths are of great value. School teachers, business men, and many
others suffering from these, will find a daily head-bath half an hour
before dinner of the greatest value. This treatment should be given,
however, only to those who are vigorous enough to bear it. Some are too
exhausted, and for these other methods must be employed. The head-bath
is given by rubbing the whole head well with soap lather (_see_ Lather;
Soap); then wash off and treat with cold water poured over the head for
a short time--a few seconds only; then rub vigorously with a dry, warm
towel till the head glows with friction. In the case of ladies, the
hair may be thrown over the front of the head while the back of the
head is treated thus, and then thrown back while the front of the head
is treated also, the bulk of the hair being thus kept dry.
Bedsores.--There are cases in which the outer skin has been taken off
by long lying, or wearing wet compresses for a long time. A large part
of the body is reduced, as some would say, to "red flesh"--in reality
it is reduced to inner skin deprived of its outer layer. We have taken
a few handfuls of finely wrought soap lather (_see_ Lather; Soap), and
spread them as lightly as possible over this fiery surface. There was
an instant change from severe distress to perfect comfort, and healing
began at once. This treatment may be applied to any simple abrasions of
the skin. Bedsores are not likely to occur if the skin is sponged daily
with water and this mild soap, and rubbed with Rectified Spirit of
Wine, to which a small piece of camphor has been added.
Beef Tea.--It is well to bear in mind that there is scarcely any
nourishment even in home-made beef juice (the best form of any extract
of meat).
Home-made beef juice is prepared by scraping the meat into shreds,
placing in a jar, and leaving the water to soak into the meat for about
half-an-hour. Then place in a saucepan on the fire for an hour, during
which time it must not boil. After being then brought to the boil, it
should be removed immediately, and the lump of meat removed.
Some idea may be obtained of the relatively small amount of nourishment
even in this form of extract when it is remembered that the thin flaky
matter which sinks to the bottom in the bowl is practically the only
nutritive portion in the dish.
All extracts and such-like preparations are inferior to home-made beef
tea in value. We do not deny, then, the value of beef extracts as
stimulants in certain diseased conditions, but we do not recognise them
as a useful food. Further, the stimulating effect upon the heart is
largely due to the hot water they are made with (_see_ Bone Diseased).
Bile, Black.--For this take two tablespoonfuls of hot water every five
minutes for six hours per day. A good many cases, some even given up by
the doctors, have been cured by this simple, yet efficient means.
Bile on the Stomach.--Take half a teacupful of hot water every ten
minutes for ten hours. Next day take the same every twenty minutes for
a like period. The third day the same every hour. For ten days after
take the same before each meal. We have seen a case of liver complaint
of more than twenty years' standing cured thus. See also that the feet
and legs are rendered healthful, and kept so. If cold and clammy, they
should be bathed in hot water for five minutes or so, dried, and rubbed
with warm olive oil.
Care must be taken also to give a simple diet. Oatmeal jelly, wheaten
meal porridge, barley pudding (_see_ Barley), and such foods, should
form the staple nourishment. Avoid eggs, butter, cream, and beef. _See
also_ Sea-Sickness.
Biscuits and Water.--The biscuits referred to are manufactured in
Saltcoats.[A] They are made from the purest whole wheaten flour. The
late Mr. Bryden, of the Saltcoats Home, used them along with hot water
as sole diet in many serious digestive troubles, with marvellous
success. Where no food will lie on the stomach, one small, or half a
large, biscuit is to be taken three times a day, as a meal, and at
meal-times. This will prove amply sufficient to maintain the system in
such a case, until the stomach gains power for more. In the case of
SORES and ABSCESSES (_see_), such a diet of biscuits and water provides
pure blood, and makes healing by other treatment very much easier. We
have known limbs saved from amputation largely by such diet. It will
suit equally well the delicate young lady and the strong labourer. Too
much of ordinary food goes to increase ulceration and nourish disease.
The Saltcoats biscuit provides nothing for these ends, and is of
immense value as an aid to cure. One great advantage of this diet is
that it is a _dry_ one, and the biscuits _must_ be thoroughly chewed to
enable them to be swallowed at all. The saliva is thereby thoroughly
mixed with the food, which is all-important to make it digestible.
These biscuits are also so plain as not to tempt the patient to eat
more than he can digest, which is the great danger in sickness. The
slops of gruel and cornflour so often given are never chewed at all,
and often do nothing but harm. Such starchy foods really require to be
more thoroughly mixed with saliva than any other food, as unless, by
action of the saliva, the starch is converted into sugar it cannot be
assimilated in the stomach.
[Footnote A: By Mr. R. Black, baker.]
Bleeding.--In any case of this pack the feet and legs as directed in
Lungs, Bleeding from, and press cold cloths to the place the blood
comes from, stomach, womb (_see_ Miscarriage), or lungs. If it comes
from the nose, apply the cold cloths to the head and back of the neck.
Blisters.--The destruction of the skin over any painful part, by means
of blisters, is to be always avoided if possible (_see_ Burns, Knee,
Pleurisy, etc.)
Blood.--A most common trouble is anæmia, a lack of good red blood,
showing itself in a waxy paleness and whiteness of lips, often
accompanied by exhaustion and great fatigue. To remedy this, first
secure a supply of pure water, of which 80 per cent. of the blood is
made up. Give this warm in dessertspoonfuls every five minutes. Give
two tablespoonfuls, or perhaps only one, of very light food, or milk
and boiling water half and half, every half-hour. This may be done in
smaller portions every fifteen minutes, or in larger quantities every
hour or two hours, according to the state of the digestion. Fruit is a
valuable means of quenching the anæmia thirst, besides being very
beneficial for the blood. Green vegetables and salads are also most
valuable (_see_ Vegetables; Assimilation; Diet; Digestion). As much
fresh air as possible is also to be breathed by the patient. Either
much time must be spent in the open air, or, if strength forbid this,
the room must be thoroughly ventilated. Close air is the enemy of good
blood. We know of many cases cured by this simple regimen. Care must
also be taken to increase the patient's vitality by various means. If
_thoroughly good_ medical advice can be obtained, it should be taken
(_see_ Air and Appetite; Balance, Loss of, etc.)
Blood Poisoning.--(_See_ Blood, Purifying; Sores).
Blood, Purifying.--Fever arising from bad state of the blood may be
treated by careful cooling of the spine and head, with towels _well
wrung_ out of cold water, frequently changed (_see_ Fever). The pulse
in one case so treated was reduced from 130 to 96 by a few
applications. If a sore exists, treat it as in article Sores. If an
eruption in the skin breaks out, cover the surface at night with soap
lather (_see_ Lather; Soap). Wipe that off with weak acetic acid
(_see_) in the morning, and the skin will come right. Let the diet be
simple and cooling (_see_ Abscess; Assimilation; Skin; Sores; Appendix,
etc.).
Blood, Supply of.--To supply good blood in cases where it is lacking,
either from indigestion or low vitality, nothing is better than milk,
diluted with an equal quantity of _boiling water_. It may be less or
more diluted, as the patient's power of digestion is greater or less,
but in all cases half and half can be tried first. This forms a natural
blood supply. Claret, switched egg and brandy, are to be carefully
avoided. _Boiling_ water amalgamates with the milk, and care therefore
must be taken to see that it is really boiling. Give a teacupful of
this every two hours. If the patient is very weak, this may be the only
diet. But often he will be going about work or business, and yet
needing fresh, good blood supply. Then the cupful may be taken every
two hours, in addition to the usual meals. Experience will soon show
how this may be done. But two hours after a meal, the milk and water
may be given.
Boils.--The following treatment will be found effective to heal less
severe forms of boils, by soothing the whole fevered system of nerves,
and stimulating the skin in its getting rid of waste material.
Begin, then, by thoroughly soaping the head (_see_ Head, Soaping). Go
to the back next, and soap similarly. The same process may, if desired,
be carried over the whole body to the very tips of the fingers and
toes. In a delicate case, do this in portions so as not to run any risk
of exposing the patient too much.
Lay on the boil, after the soaping, and while the patient is under its
soothing influence, a large piece of thickly folded flannel, or a small
sponge, squeezed out of water as hot as the patient can bear. Continue
this, with frequent re-heating of the application for a
quarter-of-an-hour, then allow the patient to rest.
When you have soaped a patient as we have described, say twice, it is
necessary to wash off the particles that may remain on the skin with
white vinegar or weak acetic acid. Then, if you have overcooled with
the soap and acid, it will be well to rub over with warm oil. By these
simple methods of treatment you will banish all tendency to boils. You
will change great suffering into comparative comfort, not only without
expenditure of strength, but in a way in which you add vigour to the
whole frame. One very great advantage of this treatment is that you do
not need to move the patient in any distressing way. If you have only
tact and gentleness of touch, you can do all that we have described
without causing one moment's distress. The severe form of boil known as
_Carbuncle_ is very dangerous, and in such cases good surgical aid is
necessary, in addition to above treatment (_see_ Diet).
Bone, Diseased.--Diseased bone is not incurable. Bone is indeed
constantly being replaced as it disappears in the ordinary waste of the
body. Defective vitality in any part may cause an accumulation of bad
material, which forms the basis of bone disease.
To cut off a diseased foot or ankle is easy, and soon done. To cure it,
may take a long time and much patience, but is worth a great deal. We
know large numbers of limbs that are sound and good now, that were
doomed once to be amputated, but which we were able to rescue in time.
Moreover, a very short time of well-regulated fomentation improves the
general health, and prevents the diseased material spreading from the
foot or ankle through the body.
Take, then, a case in which the ankle bone has first become painful,
perhaps without any perceptible cause, or it may be as the result of an
injury to the part. It then swells and becomes inflamed. At this stage
two or three fomentations (_see_) well applied may very likely cure it
entirely. But if neglected, or leeched, blistered, and the skin spoiled
with iodine, what is called disease of the bone may set in, accompanied
with discharge of matter at one or more places on the ankle. This
discharge, where it is evidently lodging in the limb, may be assisted
to escape by careful lancing by a good surgeon. For such a case,
fomentation of as much of the limb as possible is the treatment. Let a
bath be procured, in which the limb may be immersed in hot water as
deeply as possible, even up to the very thigh. Let the water at first
be comfortably warm. Increase its temperature gradually until as hot as
can be borne without pain. Keep the limb in this bath for an hour, or
for such shorter period as the patient may be able to bear it. Gently
dry, and rub all over with warm olive oil. Wipe this gently off, and
cover the limb with clothing. Then syringe any sores with weak acid
(_see_ Acetic Acid; Wounds), and dress with bandage (_see_ Ankle,
Twisted). Do this twice each day, and persevere.
If it cannot well be bathed, let it be fomented by a large piece of
flannel soaked with boiling water, and placed round the diseased part.
We have seen a wasting bone healed entirely in a few weeks by this
means. We have seen a man with the bones of both his legs splintering
off and coming through the skin perfectly healed in a few months. It
stands to reason that it should be so. The bathing in his case, like
the fomenting in others, were so effectually done that the bones
themselves were heated, and strong healing action set in at once. We
saw lately a piece of dead bone above four inches long come out of a
young man's arm as the result of nothing else but fomentation. The arm
was soon as whole and as useful as could be desired, though it had been
to all appearance only fit to be taken off at the elbow. The steady
supply of moist heat does wonders in this way.
We have seen some most remarkable specimens of what was erroneously
thought sufficient fomentation. One was a case of diseased thigh-bone.
A bit of old flannel, about a quarter of a yard square, had been wrung
out of water slightly tepid and laid on the skin, covered by a little
cloth scarcely equal in size. The application would not have conveyed
activity to the skin on which it was laid, though it required to convey
it to the heart of a large mass of bone. The helpless complaint of the
operator was that it did no good. How in the world could it do good?
Not less than six or seven or even eight yards of a blanket are
required. That is to be folded and rolled up so that a good quantity of
boiling water may be poured first into one end of it and then into the
other. It has to be squeezed and kneaded till the heated water and
steam are fairly soaking the inside of the blanket. When this is opened
up, it is far too hot to put to the skin, but a double flannel or
strong towel may be put on first, so that the heat shall go gradually
through to the body, and by-and-by into the bone. This may be done at
least once a day--if agreeable, it may be done twice. But it must be so
well done that the heat shall effect the bone, or you cannot look for
any result of importance.
If under the bathing the skin becomes irritated, as it will often do,
cover it with cloths soaked in _weak_ vinegar till the bathing is over.
If the skin suffers from the fomentation, do the same thing, and if
this does not cure, dress it, before putting on the fomentation
flannels, with SOAP (_see_) lather as if for shaving, spread like
butter on a cloth, and made to shelter the skin from irritation till
the fomenting is done. This is of great importance in many cases; the
skin is often so sensitive that it cannot well be bathed without being
protected.
[Illustration: Preparing Blanket for Fomentation.]
In the case of hip-joint disease, the ARMCHAIR FOMENTATION (_see_) is
the best form of fomenting. For other parts, common sense will guide
how to produce an extensive and thorough heating of the diseased part
and its neighbourhood by some similar means (_see_ Bathing the Feet;
Pains, etc.). It is only heating the failed tissues, only keeping on
such heating, and all the elements of perfect cure are supplied. Even
limbs which have shrunk and become shorter, grow out to their natural
size under this patient heating.
Get "steel drops" and all such-like sent down the sewer. The rats may
have them if they are disposed. Give wheaten or oatmeal porridge, bread
or Saltcoats biscuits, with good buttermilk, and the poor creature,
half dead with poisonous "drops," begins ere long to have red on his
lips and on his cheeks, some fresh vigour in his muscles, and healthy
bone in the course of formation, where bone was only wasting before.
How is this explained? On the simple principle that the bodily system
can turn wheaten meal into all the elements wanted for good bodily
health. Beef tea, soups, "fine things" of all descriptions, never on
earth gave human beings solid strength, but in myriads of cases they
have been successfully employed to take it away. Above all, they fail
to give healthy bone.
Get the patient to take wheaten or oaten meal porridge twice a day at
least. We are not so stern as some in forbidding all else, though in
this we may fall short; but by all means let eating and drinking be
considered in the light of what we have been writing (_see_ Food in
Health).
Good air is important in this, as in all cases of ill-health.
Much depends, in this treatment, on cheerfulness of mind. Let the
patient feel that he is going to be cured. Avoid opium, tobacco,
alcoholic drinks, and all worry. This will actually increase the vital
exchange in the body and very much help the cure.
Bone, Soft.--Often, in the young, the bones are so soft that they bend
more or less, and the beginning of a distressing deformity appears.
In such a case plaster jackets and steel bands are of little use, and
often very painful. It is better to use bandages, applied so as to
support where that is necessary. Also avoid all long sitting, such as
is found at school. It is best sometimes not to permit the child to
walk at all. Better far to lose two years of schooling than to be
deformed for life. Parents should see to it, with all weakly children,
that school does not become a means of trouble. Continuous education is
not nearly so important as is sometimes supposed.
For positive treatment, let the parts be well and carefully rubbed
(_see_ Massage) every day with olive oil, in such a way as to direct a
flow of blood to the feeble bone. It must largely be left to the
healer's common sense how this is to be done, but a little thought will
show how. At many Hydropathic Establishments it may be learned.
This careful rubbing, with good diet and proper bandaging, will
gradually effect a cure in most cases. But here, as elsewhere, patience
must rule. Plenty of good porridge and milk, with abundance of fresh
air, work wonders in this disease.
Bowels, Glands of.--Symptoms of glandular trouble in the bowels
are--weariness and pallor, lack of appetite, softness and shrinking of
limbs, with swelling of the belly. In its earlier stages, before
consumption sets in, this trouble may be perfectly cured. We have seen
even apparently hopeless cases recover under proper treatment. In its
essence the trouble is a failure of power in the nervous centres upon
which health of the bowels depends. To supply this needed power, take a
small bag of cotton cloth, like a little pillow-slip, of just the size
to cover the patient's whole back. Fill this with bran, prepared as for
poultice (_see_ Bran Poultice). Oil the back before applying this, and
place, if needed, four ply or so of cloth on the back to moderate the
heat to the skin. After half-an-hour, if the patient feels desirous,
renew for another hour; do this each day at bedtime for a week at
least. Rub the body all over with warm olive oil when this is taken
off; then place a bandage with only a gentle tightness in such a way as
just to help the relaxed bowels, but only just so much--not by any
means to try and force them into what might be thought proper
dimensions. Give a teaspoonful of liquorice mixture (_see_
Constipation) thrice a day before meals in a little hot water. Feed on
wheaten porridge and generally light diet, being careful to regulate it
so as to make the bowels work easily and naturally. If not too bad a
case, this treatment will soon tell favourably. Enemas (_see_) of
either cold or warm water, as required, will also greatly help.
Bowels, Inflammation of.--This (called medically Peritonitis) is an
inflammation of the membrane covering the bowels. It results from chill
or strain, and sometimes, in the case of child-birth, from dirt
introduced into the parts by handling with unwashed hands. In such
cases, the utmost care must be taken to ensure cleanliness, which will
secure against one fertile cause of the disease. The hands should be
always fresh and clean, and all cloths, etc., should be either most
carefully washed or burnt. Where the trouble arises from strain, or
chill, these lower the vitality, and the membrane becomes gorged with
blood at fever heat. To regulate this heat, then, and free the membrane
from the blood which over-fills it, is to lead to a cure. Rub the back
with warm olive oil, place on it a large BRAN POULTICE (_see_), or an
india-rubber bag of hot water covered with _moist_ flannel; this must
in either case be large enough to cover the entire lower back. Anything
may be used, if these cannot be had, which will powerfully stimulate
the back with moist heat. Wring a small thin towel out of cold water,
and place it over the bowels. At first this must be _very gently_ laid
on. After a little, and when several times freshly applied, this cold
cloth may be very gently pressed all over the bowels. Relief will
almost certainly come ere this has been done for an hour. Then a rest
may be given for two hours, and after that a large fomentation applied
to feet and legs (_see_ Fomentation). While this is on, the cold cloths
may be changed over the bowels again, and over the chest as well. After
an hour of this, great relief should be felt. If there is great thirst
a small bit of ice may be sucked, or a few drops of vinegar in water
may be taken; but the outside cooling will probably render this
unnecessary. Avoid all alcoholic drinks.
Shivering and a feeling of cold is often the earliest symptom, and as
it is of immense importance that warming measures should be promptly
applied. Hot bricks, or bottles, placed merely to the soles of the
feet, are but poor helps: it would be vastly better to pack the feet
and legs in a hot blanket fomentation at once, and, if pain at all
shows itself, to apply a large fomentation to the lower part of the
back. The sooner this is done the better; besides, there is the
consolation that the treatment can never do any harm even if applied in
a case in which there has occurred a harmless chill. The dread which
some medical men have of cold applications is wonderful, but we know
that the front-rank men have no such fear. When care is taken to have
the hot application on first, there is, and can be, no possible danger
in any case in cooling down the burning circulation. One or two
applications have sufficed in many cases we have seen.
Bowels, Lax.--A teaspoonful of lemon juice (freshly expressed), along
with hot water and sugar, will often relieve where the bowels are
acting excessively. For infants in diarrhoea a mixture of honey and
lemon juice is an excellent cure, and has been most successful in our
experience. Avoid brandy and alcohol generally.
Bowels, Locking of.--Sometimes when one part of the bowels is much more
active than another, it passes into that other, and they become
_locked_, like a stocking half turned inside out. This causes dreadful
pain, and if not soon relieved is fatal. Purgatives are of no use, and
usually make matters worse. A surgical operation in very skilful hands
will relieve, and must be quickly performed when necessary.
In cases in which the one part of the bowels has not yet gone far into
the other, nothing more is required than a cold cloth gently pressed
over the parts. We have seen relief set in on the fifth or sixth change
of such a cloth, when nothing else was used whatever. When a hot bag,
or bran poultice, has been put on the back, and cold cloths
persistently changed over the bowels, the whole matter has been put to
rights, and natural motion of the bowels has been had within an hour
after the applications have been begun.
[Illustration: Interior of small intestine.]
There is, however, a stronger measure than merely heating the back and
cooling the front in this way. The patient may be put at once into a
sitting bath or small tub, and a panful of cold water poured or dashed
on to the bowels; they then contract so powerfully, and shorten
themselves so much, that all invagination, as it is called, is made to
cease instantly. We should be disposed to try the mildest method in the
first instance, unless the case is one in which the lock in the bowels
had just taken place. Then it might be well to dash the pailful of
water on so as to put all right at once, and afterwards simply to apply
such remedies as would tend to prevent a recurrence of the evil.
It is, however, usually the case that the distress has lasted some time
before an opportunity of doing anything occurs, inflammation, more or
less, has set in, weeks may have passed, and blundering treatment may
have done great mischief. Then it is safe to use the heat at the back,
and frequently changed cold cloths in front, so as to reduce the
inflammation, and contract the bowels more slowly, so as to remove the
obstruction. When these have been used for some time, if the
obstruction is not removed it will be well to resort to the stronger
measures. Nothing is more beautifully simple than the ordinary action
of the bowels. The healthful movement is like that by which an
earth-worm moves along the ground: so long as the tube is thus moving
its contents onward, by contraction and expansion, no part can pass
inside or outside that which is before it; but when one part loses
nervous tension, and expands without contracting quickly enough, the
part behind it tends to worm itself into it, and a "knot," as it is
sometimes called, is formed. No possible instrument can reach it except
by cutting the body outright, but the action of cold is so powerful in
contracting the tube that the "loop," as it is also called, is drawn
out, and the right state of things is produced. It is important to
remark that there are glands near the lower bowel that swell and form
tumours. The cold applications reduce these very speedily to their
usual size, and if their swelling is an obstruction, it is soon
removed. But it is the lock in the tube itself that is the real malady
of which so many die, and with which so many more narrowly escape.
The trouble is best avoided by attention to the regular action of the
bowels. It arises from great irregularity in that action.
Bowels, Reversed.--_See_ Bowels, Locking of, above.
Brain Exercise.--Proper exercise for the brain is most important. But
this is not to be found in that kind of severe mental labour which is
sometimes mistaken for it. Children at play have genuine brain
exercise. So has a man at what is called a "hobby," such as
photography, golf, or cycling. The child at school, the man in his
office, are not at exercise, but at wearing work. This distinction is
most important. Exercise, again, is not found in careless dreaming, but
in some form of "play" which calls for steady, but almost unconscious,
and altogether enjoyable thinking. Books sometimes furnish this, when
they lift the mind as far as possible out of its usual track, and
produce only pleasant thoughts. Tragedies, novels which end miserably,
or which are pessimistic, should all be avoided. Perhaps some easy
science or art is the best exercise of all, when the brain is suffering
from overstrain. But taste will guide in this. The great matter is to
have pleasurable, easy, and natural employment for the brain. This and
not work is strengthening "exercise," whether in child or man. So far
as we can we should see that the weary get it. For he who procures this
for his fellow works immense good.
We have seen, for instance, a student attacked with dysentery while in
the hardest part of the session at the university. His whole system
became prostrate, and muscular activity to a very small degree would
have killed him; so would the continued mental toil necessary to go on
with his studies. Yet his brain was in need of exercise almost from the
first appearance of his disease. He must have this or be miserable, and
not likely soon to recover. An intensely interesting book fell into his
hands, altogether away from his track of toil. He read day after day at
this book. This was his "exercise"--that is, it was the activity of
that one only part of his physical system which needed such exercise
for the time. That exercise allowed all the other organs to recuperate.
Brain, Inflammation of.--This arises often from over-schooling of young
boys and girls. Care should ever be taken to avoid this. Obstinate
constipation in the bowels, chills and exposure, are also fruitful
sources. Much worry and anxiety also bring on this serious illness. All
sometimes combine to produce a bad case. Pain in the head sets in,
followed by convulsive attacks; yet the trouble may be cured in many
cases with comparative ease. Leeches, opium, and blistering are to be
avoided as most injurious. For treatment it is well to begin at the
feet; if these are clammy and cold, wrap in hot fomentation up over the
knees (_see_ Fomentation). Proceed to give a pretty warm injection of
water into the lower bowel (_see_ Enemas). This should be repeated
several times, allowing it to pass off each time. If this increases the
pain, try an injection of cold water. This treatment of feet and bowels
is most important, and should never be neglected; it renders the
treatment of the head tenfold more effective. Cold cloths may now be
gently pressed for some time over the head. If the pulse is violent and
feverish, let several towels be well wrung out of cold or even iced
water, fold one so as to cover the entire head and back of the neck,
and have the others ready, similarly folded. Press the first on gently,
especially at the back of the head, so that the cooling cloth covers
the head all over and soothes the violently heated brain. As soon as
one towel grows warm, take a fresh cold one. Relief should come in an
hour at least, but longer may be required. During the cooling see that
the heat of the fomentation on the legs is well kept up; change if
necessary. When the more painful symptoms abate, oil the lower part of
the back, and place on it a bran poultice (as recommended in Bowels,
Inflammation of). This will go far to prevent any relapse. If the
symptoms recur, use the treatment again. _See_ Brow, Weary; Eyes,
Failing Sight. _See also_, for other brain troubles: Restlessness;
Sleeplessness.
Brain Rest.--The need for this is often indicated by irritability of
temper. This coming on is generally a warning that a period of rest
must be taken. An overheated brow is also another indication. If this
shows itself in a child during or after school, together with
listlessness and excitability, all idea of lessons should at once be
laid aside for a time. It is nothing less than cruelty to work an
overheated brain in such a case. Let the child go free from school till
all the head trouble is removed. Also let the head be soaped (_see_
Head, Soaping).
Sometimes pain in the head sets in from overwork. Even in the young,
fainting may show itself. Rest is essential, and will prove a perfect
cure, together with a little brain exercise of the kind described in
article Brain Exercise, always avoiding fatigue. Let all readers
remember that it is better to lose six months in rest than become
permanently incapable, therefore let old and young take rest in time.
Bran Poultice.--Get a sufficient quantity of good bran in an ordinary
washhand basin. _Heat_ the basin before beginning operations. Have also
a boiling kettle at hand. Pour the boiling water by little and little
into the bran, and mix and stir it up until it is all a moist mass, but
not _wet_. The thing is to avoid putting in more water than the bran
can easily absorb and hold. Then have ready a flannel bag of the size
and shape required for the poultice. Fill this with the bran, and it is
ready. The skin to which it is applied should first be oiled with olive
oil. The poultice may be fastened on with flannel bands. In any case it
must lie tightly on the skin. The patient must lie on it, if it be
applied to the back. One or two tablespoonfuls of mustard may be added
if great power is required, not otherwise.
Instead of this poultice, an india-rubber bag full of hot water may be
used, with two or three ply of moist flannel between it and the skin.
Our only reason for recommending bran is that many could not afford the
india-rubber bag.
Bread, Wheaten.--In some cases the bran in whole wheaten bread and
Saltcoats biscuits is found to irritate the stomach and bowels. As diet
for those able to digest the bran, nothing is better. Where it cannot
be digested, ordinary bakers' bread boiled in water to soft pap is
found to make a good substitute. This must not be boiled with milk
unless where there is diarrhoea to be cured, as milk tends to produce
bile and costiveness. Oatmeal jelly (_see_ Food in Illness) is also a
good substitute for biscuits and wheaten bread.
Often the water with which bread is baked causes it to be difficult of
digestion. Hard water is bad for this. For an invalid, bread baked with
distilled water, or pure rain water, is often a means of great comfort
and help. A slight admixture of pure CANE SYRUP (_see_) or liquorice
juice in the water will tend to prevent bile and costiveness. A
sufficient action of the bowels is of great importance for where good
nutrition is desired.
Bread, especially when fresh, is made much more digestible by slowly
toasting it in the oven till it is a golden brown throughout. It is
then known as "zweibach" (twice baked). When eaten dry, it requires
considerable mastication, and for that reason is much better than soft
bread. It can be also broken up and eaten with hot milk and sugar.
Breast with Corded Muscles.--Often a slight hardness shows itself in a
woman's breast, when the muscular tissue becomes what is called
"corded." It is well, first of all, in all cases of breast trouble to
avoid alarming the patient. Great anxiety is often endured through fear
of cancer when there is no need. A "corded" breast may usually quite
easily be cured, and the patient should be made perfectly easy in mind
about it.
Take a good lather of soap (_see_ Lather; Soap). Apply this night and
morning, gently lathering the breast for some time. After this, each
time, rub the back well with hot olive oil, so as to produce a thorough
glow of heat all over it. Sometimes the swelling will disperse under
this treatment. It may, however, grow larger and show a tendency to
break. In this case treat as in next article.
We shall also probably find, on examining, that the skin was failing to
do its part well. If rubbed with Cayenne lotion the clean, healthy skin
will send off much more waste than was allowed to pass through it
before.
Breast, Swelling in.--A blow on the breast, or the drain of nursing a
child, along with a chill, often produces swelling, sometimes hard and
painful. This, if left uncured, may even develop into an ABSCESS
(_see_). As it sometimes arises from dirt being left on the nipples,
all nursing mothers should be particular about cleanliness, which
itself prevents many ills.
For cure, bathe the feet in hot water (_see_ Bathing Feet), rub them
over with warm olive oil, and wear good cotton stockings if in bed. If
going about, put a pair of woollen stockings over the cotton ones. Rub
the back as recommended above, using first a little hot vinegar, then
the oil. The feet bathing may be every three days, and rubbing the
same. If the swelling does not yield to this, place the patient
comfortably in bed. Put a good-sized basin of hot water, which has been
boiled and allowed to cool so far, tightly under the breast, so that it
may be bathed with a sponge. Do not use too hot water, but just
comfortably hot. Keep up fresh supplies, and bathe for an hour if
patient can bear it. If she becomes fatigued, lay her down to rest for
fifteen minutes or so, and then continue treatment. No poulticing is
needed when this is well done. A thorough heating of the whole breast
is what is wanted; rub gently with olive oil, and cover warmly after
bathing (_see_ Cancer).
Breast, Sore Nipples on.--Take a little warm vinegar or weak acid
(_see_ Acetic Acid). Bathe the sore nipple with this, _avoiding pain_,
for about ten minutes. Every two minutes dry, and anoint gently with
warm olive oil. We have seen _one application_ cure a bad nipple; but
apply twice daily as long as needed.
Breath and Blood.--Often difficulty of breathing, especially in close
air, mistaken even for asthma, is due simply to the quality of blood
supplied to the lungs. Sometimes giving up the use of sugar effects a
cure, for sugar produces an excess of carbon in the blood, which
requires an excess of oxygen in the lungs to purify it. Thus breathing
is difficult, especially where oxygen is deficient in the air breathed.
Sometimes the lungs are not strong enough to stand the necessary fresh
air required in such cases, or other troubles may prevent a delicate
person from exposing themselves. Then it is of importance so to
regulate the diet that less oxygen will do all that is needed in the
lungs. "Rich" food, much fatty matter, sugar, and all sweets and
sweetened things, are to be avoided. If this be done, the need for much
oxygen disappears, and the patient will have no difficulty of breathing
in suitably ventilated places.
But the best treatment is hot oil rubbing along the spine, over the
stomach, and even down the limbs to the ankles. An hour of this every
day will work wonders. Or a large BRAN POULTICE (_see_) may be laid
across the back for an hour twice a day. Cultivate also all cheerful
thoughts, and banish sad ones as far as possible. Sad thoughts greatly
diminish nerve power.
Breath, and the Heart.--Stout people are usually more or less "scant of
breath." Accumulations of fatty material, or changing of muscle into
fat, cause this, especially if about the chest and heart. To reduce the
fat, and grow healthy muscle instead, will perfectly cure the
difficulty of breath. Moderate open-air exercise and simple food, such
as Saltcoats biscuits, oatmeal jelly, and barley puddings will largely
help this. Avoid also all alcoholic liquors, the use of which is often
_the sole cause_ of the trouble. Keep the skin active (_see_ Skin).
The hot FOMENTATION (_see_) to feet and legs is a truly powerful remedy
for all lack of force in the system, especially if followed by the
massage treatment described in MASSAGE (_see_).
Breath, Hot.--This may be felt either because the breath is actually
hot, or because the membranes of the tongue and mouth are unusually
tender, and _feel_ the breath hot in consequence when it is not really
so. This latter case is usually accompanied by a sore tongue. To heal
the tongue, it must be soaked freely with vinegar or weak ACETIC ACID
(_see_), so diluted as to give only a very slight feeling of smarting
after even prolonged application. Apply it with a good camel's hair
brush, and brush with a little fine almond or olive oil after the acid.
The mouth may be rinsed with the acid, but brushing is best.
But where real heat is found in the breath, it arises from an
overheated state of the body internally. This frequently arises from
failure in the stomach to digest properly. If the hot breath arises
from this, small drinks of hot water, frequently taken, will usually
cure it. A warm bran poultice, placed on the back at bedtime opposite
the stomach, will prove a more powerful remedy in addition to the hot
water. More powerful effect still will be found in such stimulus to the
skin as washing it all over twice a week with vinegar or weak acetic
acid. On other days let the patient be rubbed over with good olive oil,
mixed with enough CAYENNE "TEA" (_see_) to cause a slight burning
sensation. Let this also be done twice a week, and twice a week also
wash all over with M'Clinton's soap and hot water. A plain diet of
course, should be observed (_see_ Digestion; Dyspepsia; Food; Teeth,
etc.).
Breath, and Muscles.--Sometimes difficulty of breathing is due, not to
anything wrong with lungs or windpipe, but to failure in the diaphragm
(or large muscular "floor" of the chest), and the other chest muscles,
which work the lungs. A feeling of sinking and weakness round the waist
indicates in such a case diaphragm failure. Gentle heat at the small of
the back, and olive oil rubbing, form treatment for this. For other
chest muscles, give a warm washing each night with SOAP (_see_) over
the body, and rub, especially the back and chest, with hot olive oil.
You soon bring the muscles into good trim.
Breath, and Nerve.--Difficult breathing, especially in ascending a
hill, is often due simply to the lack of the nerve power by which the
breathing muscles work. A teacupful of hot water half-an-hour before
each meal, by helping digestion, will often remove the difficulty. Rub
each evening along the spinal cord with hot olive oil.
Breath, and the Skin.--The organs of breathing remove much waste from
the system, but the skin also removes a very large part. If either
fails, the other has more work thrown upon it, as we see in the severe
"night sweats" which accompany chest and lung failure. In such cases,
rub with CAYENNE LOTION (_see_ and Night Sweats). Avoid the use of hard
water in washing and bathing, especially with infants.
Cold baths for the weakly, chills, damp beds, and such things, cause
rheumatism and colds by stopping the proper discharge of waste by the
skin. After such chill, or cold in damp bed, a hot wash and good hot
oil rubbing will avert all evil. This may not always be available; but,
if it can be got at all, should be given as soon as possible. The use
of the soapy blanket is of the utmost value in severe cases (_see_
Soapy Blanket). Strict cleanliness of person and underwear should be
observed. The AIR BATH (_see_) will also give tone to the skin (_see_
Skin and Underwear).
Breathing, and Bronchia.--The _bronchia_ are the branching small tubes
which lead from the windpipe to all parts of the lungs. Two different
states of these often pass as bronchitis. In one of these the tubes are
swelled, congested, and full of fiery heat. The whole body is also
fevered, and breathing is difficult, with cough. This is true
BRONCHITIS (_see_). But often, with difficult breathing and irritating
cough, there is no heat and fever. In this case bronchitis treatment
gives no relief. This is, indeed, only an irritated state of the lining
of the tubes, and far from dangerous. A change of climate to a drier
atmosphere will often entirely cure it. Often also a time spent in a
room, where the air is kept dry but fresh, and at one steady
temperature of about 60 deg., will cure. Our chief purpose in
mentioning it, however, is that this comparatively slight trouble may
not be mistaken for true bronchitis.
[Illustration: The Lungs and other internal organs.]
Breathing, Correct Method of.--The capacity of an ordinary pair of
lungs is about 250 cubic inches. In ordinary breathing, however, we
only take in from 20 to 30 cubic inches. Hence the necessity for
practising correct deep breathing.
Correct breathing requires cultivation and effort at first, afterwards
it will become unconscious. The head should be thrown back, the
shoulders squared, and a slow deep breath gradually inspired through
the nose till the lungs are filled throughout with air. The expiration
should be just as gradual with relaxation of every muscle. It is most
important that the _lower_ part of the chest should first be filled by
depressing the diaphragm (the muscular floor of the lungs). Some
practise is needed before this habit is acquired, but it is well worth
cultivating. Place the hands on the sides of the abdomen while
inspiring, to feel that _this_ is expanding. Teachers of singing insist
on diaphragmatic breathing, which is also of great benefit to the
stomach, liver, and other organs. By the movement it gives to the
intestines their action is also assisted, and constipation is
prevented.
This deep breathing may be practised several times each day (say ten
breaths at a time) till the habit of correct breathing is acquired. It
will be found to have a wonderfully soothing and calming effect (_see_
Worry). Such exercise should always be taken in the open-air, or in a
room with a widely open window. A good plan is to take them in bed
before rising, with little or no clothes on, while lying flat on the
back.
Paleness, langour, irritability, and general ill-health result from
insufficient breathing. Furthermore, the system becomes unable to
resist disease. We know no aid to beauty more effective than the
practice of deep breathing.
Breathing, in Going Uphill.--_See_ Breath, and Nerve.
British Cholera is to a certain extent epidemic--that is, it affects a
large number of people in a particular place, being, it is believed,
conveyed mainly by the common house flies. War should be waged against
these, and great care taken to guard food, especially that of children,
against them, by using covers, etc. If this were done the appalling
death-rate in summer from this disease among the young would be largely
reduced. Typhoid fever and other diseases are probably also spread by
flies. Care should be taken to remove promptly all refuse from about
the house, and so prevent flies breeding on it.
In ordinary diarrhoea, injections of cold water by the enema will
usually cure, especially if a little vinegar or a few drops of acetic
acid be added to the water. But in British Cholera this proves
insufficient.
This is not an affection of merely one part of the system, but of the
whole. If, then, you brace with the cold enema one part, no doubt so
far you do good and not harm, but you cannot by this, cure an affection
of the whole system. British Cholera is a sweating from the surfaces of
the whole alimentary organs. This internal sweat flows into the stomach
and causes vomiting, and into the bowels causing purging that cannot be
stayed by any application to the lower part merely.
The problem to be solved is how to give more life force. Whenever the
injection of cold water fails, and especially when it rather increases
the complaint, and vomiting or sickness shows that the attack is of the
nature of British Cholera, you will do well to pack feet and legs in a
good blanket fomentation. Put a little olive oil on before and after
such a packing. One application may be sufficient; but it may be
necessary to repeat the packing. Give frequent sips of hot water. It
will be well also to use the cold injection, as it will be found to
take good effect whenever the vital force has been increased by the hot
packing. If cramp has shown itself, it will be needful to cool the
spinal nerves (_see_ Angina Pectoris), but this only when you are
effectually heating the limbs.
The first injection may be followed by even an excessive motion, but if
that is followed up with another injection still of cold water, there
will be nothing experienced after but perfect comfort, and no more
trouble with the bowels.
The violent irritation that follows after a very simple over-action of
the lower bowel is quite prevented when this remedy is effectually
used. In less severe cases, where fermentation of food is the cause of
the disease, frequently a dessertspoonful of castor oil, or other
simple purgative, will prove sufficient to cure.
Brandy often gets the credit of curing in such cases. It does so simply
because the cases in which it _kills_ are not taken into account. It
always _lessens_ vital energy, and in British Cholera increase of this
is urgently required.
Bronchitis.--This frequent and severe trouble results most usually from
chill to the skin throwing overwork on the lungs and bronchial tubes.
These last become inflamed and swollen. A fiery heat and pain in the
chest follows, the whole system becomes fevered, and breathing is
difficult, and accompanied by severe cough.
Kneipp linen underwear, which is porous, and has a stimulating effect
on the skin, assists it to perform its functions, and will therefore
prove useful to sufferers from Bronchitis.
Abundance of fresh air will often entirely prevent Bronchitis. We have
known people who suffered from it every winter for years who never had
it again after learning the value of the constantly open window.
At the earliest stage, when the chill is first felt, let the patient go
to bed. First sponge up and down the back quickly with hot soap and
water. Dry this off, and sponge or rub gently with hot vinegar. Dry
this off, and rub with warm olive oil. This will often ward off an
attack entirely.
When the trouble has fairly obtained hold, treatment must be applied to
the back and chest as follows. Place on the upper part of the back a
BRAN POULTICE (_see_), large enough to cover the entire shoulders and
upper back. Let the patient lie in bed comfortably on this. Then apply
towels wrung out of _cold_ water on the chest where pain and
breath-catching are felt. Let the towels be large, and at least four
ply. Change for a fresh one as soon as that on the chest becomes
heated. When this has been done as long as the poultice keeps hot, take
all off, rub back and chest with hot vinegar, dry off, rub with hot
oil, dry off, and cover all with warm new flannel. If needful, repeat
the application. We have seldom seen it required twice.
If the fever is very great, use no olive oil, and for a strong patient
the cold towels may be used without the poultice. But immediately these
reduce the fever, the poultice should be used as directed.
In many cases where medical men have given up hope, this treatment has
effected a cure.
Brow, The Weary.--Sometimes in the case of a child at school, the
result of overwork shows itself in a weariness and weight in the brow.
Often parents are glorying in the school successes of their children,
when these are having their brains destroyed. Careful watching should
ever be given to the young. The aim in education should be to draw out
the faculties, and teach the young to think for themselves, rather than
to cram in a mass of facts which will enable them to take prizes and
pass examinations with honours.
The results of continued overwork are fatal, but in its earlier stages
it is easily remedied. Hence the need for watching and treating such an
early symptom as head weariness. For treatment see that the feet are
warm, bathing them if necessary (_see_ Bathing Feet). Stop school at
once, and give as much exercise in the open air, at play, as possible.
Then rub gently with both hands up and over the brow and sides of the
head over the ears, then up the back and over top of the head. Rub all
over the head with the finger points (not nails), so as to raise a glow
in the skin of the scalp. This treatment is best done while the patient
sits, and the operator stands behind or beside him. Gentleness of touch
there must be, and no irritation of the patient. With abstention from
all lessons, it will soon cure.
Bruises.--For slight bruises, such as children frequently get by
falling, a little butter or vaseline, applied immediately, is an
excellent remedy. For more serious injuries, such as bruised nails of
the fingers or toes, or such as result from violent knocks on any part,
the best remedy is hot fomentation or hot bathing, whichever may be
most convenient in application. Persistent and repeated treatment in
this way, with oil dressing, will cure in almost any case not so severe
as to be beyond remedy. Even where it is thought wise to send for a
surgeon, this bathing is the proper first treatment, and will do much
to relieve the inevitable pain.
Burns.--For _slight_ burns, immerse the injured part in cold water, and
keep there till the pain abates. This is where only redness of skin is
produced. In case of a blister forming, do not break or cut it, but
perseveringly cool with cold water, and leave the blister till it comes
away of itself, when the sore will be found healed beneath it.
Where a large surface is injured, some other part of the body must be
_fomented_; best the legs and feet, or the back, while the injured part
is persistently cooled. Thus a dangerous chill is avoided. The ARMCHAIR
FOMENTATION may be used, or a large BRAN POULTICE (_see both these_),
and thus the heat of the body kept up while cold water is applied to
the burns. If these cannot be immersed, as in the case of the face,
cover them with an air-tight covering, and apply iced or cold cloths
above this. The linseed oil and lime-water known as "Carron Oil" forms
the best dressing to apply. If a burn has, however, gone so far as to
become, owing to neglect, a festering sore, then warm water treatment
is required, as recommended for ABSCESS (_see_). _See also_ Wounds.
Buttermilk.--Where we prescribe this, either for drinking or for
external use in poultices or bathing, it is very important it should be
pure and fresh. If kept too long, it causes often terrible pain when
applied to eruptive sores. There must be no "watering" or doctoring
with cream of tartar, if good results are desired. If the milk be too
long kept, and cannot be had fresh, it may be mixed with a little sweet
milk and all churned well together. Then it may be used. If still
painful, mix again with more sweet milk. To soak diseased skin in good
fresh buttermilk is so powerful a means of cure, that to procure it a
good deal of trouble is well spent. It is also invaluable as a daily
drink for regulating the bowels, and maintaining health. Sterilise all
sweet milk used.
If buttermilk cannot be had, acetic acid or vinegar, or the juice of
lemons, may be mixed with sweet milk or even water, until the mixture
attains about the usual sourness of buttermilk. This makes an efficient
substitute.
Buttermilk Poultice.--Boiled potatoes beaten up with fresh buttermilk
make an excellent poultice for all eruptive sores, scabbed heads, and
heated skin affections. After these always apply soap lather (_see_
Lather). If buttermilk cannot be had, use acetic acid or vinegar, as
above.
Cancer.--Swellings in the breast often arouse fear of cancer, but are
generally very simple affairs and easily yield to treatment as in
article Breast, Swelling in. If not, we should chill the diseased
growth so as to arrest it. Now this, as we have proved, may be
effectually done, and the sorely tried patient may be saved a world of
pain, and perhaps cured. We have seen more than one apparently
desperate case, even where the breast had been cut off and the evil was
again showing itself, in which effective cooling arrested the growth
and saved the sufferer. When a growth of this kind has gone a certain
length, there is severe pain. The cooling removes this, and secures the
patient unspeakably precious rest without narcotics. But this is not
all: it puts an effectual stop to the swelling. If the case has not
gone very far, the swelling falls, and may disappear; but even when it
has gone too far for this, the disease is stayed, and all symptoms of
it are lessened. All swelling but the actual separate growth is
removed. For instance, when the swelling has passed from the breast
into the armpit it has been dispelled, and entirely confined to the
actual substance of the tumour. This is managed simply by the
persistent and vigorous use of cold towels. They must be large enough
to allow of fourfold covering of the whole breast. They are wrung out
of cold water at first, and, if possible, cooled with ice instead of
being wrung out after. One at a time is kindly pressed all round and
over the swollen breast. It is heated in one or two minutes, and must
be changed. The second is pressed round and all over the breast in the
same way. It is soon heated too, but you may have three of them in a
circle, and if you have a bit of ice for those that are cooling, you
have cold enough. Some would put on an ice-bag, and let it lie, but we
have never been able to advise this, as it is very apt to destroy the
outer skin by too severe cold. This treatment requires work--no doubt
of that--but the effects are well worth it.
When the cooling treatment, given twice a day, or oftener if it can be
without discomfort, has reduced the swelling and put back the tumour,
till it may fairly be regarded as capable of absorption, it will be
well to try the effect of hot fomentation by bathing (_see_ Breast,
Swelling in). This will not do harm, but good, if it is only used so
far as to try whether the stage for hot treatment has been reached. If
the hot bathing is agreeable, and instead of causing pain, rather
soothes and comforts, it may be strongly tried. But this will be only
if the effectual cooling has put back the disease, or if it has been
really mastered. So long as it shows a tendency to increase, it will be
well to continue the cooling.
Even if it be not possible to remove the disease, its progress may be
arrested, and it may be rendered dormant for the rest of life. We know
persons sent off to die with growths who are now quite well and have
been so for many years, with these growths only rendered dormant. Even
if this is not possible, it may be that we render the growth so slow
that it shall come to nothing important in the remainder of even a long
life. We should never hesitate to do our utmost in any case.
Besides the local treatment given above, vital action in the whole
bodily system has to be increased on a definite line. This is the
ripening and removing used-up substance from the body. It is sluggish
ripening of substance to which we trace the morbid living growth; that
sluggishness must be overcome. The first and most important means for
this is fresher air for the lungs. The seaside home, if there are no
drugs or drinks prescribed in ignorance, nor any other drawback, will
be found of immense value here.
Next in importance to fresh air is pure distilled water. It should be
used both in preparing food and for drinking. This constant use of
distilled water is one of the most important remedies in cases of
cancer. Comfortable clothing (_see_ Underwear) should be worn by night
and day, and damp avoided. The food should be such as can be most
easily assimilated. Whole wheaten meal in various forms and pure water
work wonders on "hopeless cases."
But when all these conditions have been supplied, "pack" the whole body
at eight o'clock at night in cloths lightly wrung out of hot vinegar
and water, half and half, and covering these with dry sheets and
blankets, give the patient an hour in this "pack." On taking out of
this, rub gently all over with hot olive oil, dry that off and put to
bed. In the morning, at half-past seven or so, pack in a soapy blanket
for an hour, then sponge with vinegar and rub with oil. Take a stick of
good liquorice, with half an ounce of senna leaves, and put these in a
quart of water, boil the whole down to a pint, giving a teaspoonful of
this in a little hot water three times a day.
Cancer in Face.--Treat as far as possible as recommended for breast
cancer.
Cancer in Foot.--We have noted one case in which "Cancerous Gangrene"
in the foot, pronounced incurable by the medical attendant, was cured
by our instructions in the following simple manner. Buttermilk
poultices (_see_) were used over the whole foot to thoroughly cleanse
the sores. These were then carefully lathered with soap (_see_ Lather
and Soap). Vinegar or weak acid was applied with sponges and syringe
after this, and made thoroughly to penetrate all the sores to the
bottom. This was done twice a day, and in one week improvement set in.
In a comparatively short time the patient could walk miles without
fatigue. This treatment may be applied to all angry sores.
Cane Syrup.--In the original edition, good treacle was recommended as a
laxative. This treacle, which was prepared from cane sugar, we
understand is now not to be had--what is sold as treacle being largely
mixed with glucose. We therefore recommend instead the use of golden
syrup made from pure cane sugar. This can be had (in tins), guaranteed
by the makers to be genuine.
Carbuncle.--_See_ Boil.
Catarrh.--Is simply an inflammation due to impurity of the blood. These
impurities arise from bad air or wrong food, and remain in the body
till a chill of some kind or other forces the blood and the impurities
with the blood to some part, resulting in inflammation. Catarrh in the
mucous membrane, connected with respiration, is commonly called a
"cold," and is decidedly infectious (_see_ Air). A cold must be
regarded as an effort of Nature to get rid of these impurities.
Breathing of fresh, even cold air, will expedite, not hinder the cure.
Washing the hands and face in _cold_ water, and drying vigorously, will
often cure it when beginning as "cold in the head." Cold, applied in a
certain way, cures the after effects of chill, but it must be so
applied as only to affect the part to which it is applied, while the
general heat of the body is kept up. Catarrh may occur in any internal
membrane of the body. If these can be reached, as the nostrils, or even
the bowels, may be by syringing, then nothing is better to effect a
cure than cool water and vinegar, or weak acetic acid. Brush the
nostrils often with this, and cold in the head will soon be cured. It
can be applied still better by means of a nasal douche. Syringing the
bowels with this cool acid mixture in the more serious catarrh of these
will also cure. Patient perseverance is wanted, however, in the latter
case. Get also the external skin to act thoroughly. Where the cause of
internal catarrh is exhaustion, through overwork or worry, the cause
must be removed. Let the sufferer learn trust in a living Heavenly
Father, and cast all burdens upon Him, and the physical treatment will
have a fair chance to cure. _See_ Breath and Skin.
Cauliflower Growths.--These begin like warts, and in the earlier stages
poulticing and soaking with weak acid almost invariably cure. After
some months the growth looks like the head of a cauliflower, and
becomes dangerous if on a vital region. It is not really a parasite,
but rather a diseased state of the skin, which is perfectly curable.
First every part is carefully cleansed with a small camel's-hair brush
and weak acid (_see_ Acetic Acid). Then the buttermilk poultice is
applied all night, or even night and day (_see_ Buttermilk Poultice).
Cleanse again after poulticing. Careful and persevering continuance of
this treatment will effect a cure.
Cayenne and Mustard.--Mustard spread on a _cold_ towel and applied to
the spine or lumbar region of the back is often an effective aid to the
cold treatment. If such applications have to be made more than once,
cayenne pepper is preferable to the mustard, and equally powerful. When
cold cloths alone fail, this more powerful treatment may be tried. Pain
and burning after cayenne are relieved by applying olive oil.
Cayenne Lotion, or "Sweating Mixture."--This is made with one or two
tablespoonfuls of cayenne pepper (as desired weak or strong), half a
pint of white vinegar, and a pint of boiling water. These are mixed and
infused for half-an-hour. The mixture is then carefully strained so as
to remove the pepper grains. Dilute, if too strong, with water.