The book of health; a compendium of domestic medicine / deduced from the experience of the most eminent modern practitioners. [Anon].

Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The book of health; a compendium of domestic medicine / deduced from the experience of the most eminent modern practitioners. [Anon]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    37/124 (page 33)
    ing cooling draught may be given every three hours;— Take of nitre, six grains ; tincture of foxglove, ten to forty drops 5 acetated liquor of ammonia, two drachms j distilled water, five drachms j syrup of saffron, one drachm. Mustard poultices applied to the feet will be found to be serviceable. The patient should be placed in an airy chamber, screened from strong day-light, with the head and shoulders slightly raised, and kept as quiet as possi- ble. The diet must chiefly consist of barley- water, toast and water, and thin gruel; and even on recovery, a return to the ordinary food must be made very cautiously, and be of a very nutritious nature. If the progress of the com- plaint be arrested, it will be highly proper, in order to effect a perfect cure, to make an issue or pass a seton. The following tonic draught must be given to enable the patient to re-esta- blish his health:— Take of solution of acetate of ammonia, two or three drachms; decoction of bark, an ounce and a half; tincture of bark, a drachm and a half; aromatic confection, half a drachm. Half of this may be given, in an equal quantity of water, twice a day.—Whatever treatment may be adopted, to give the least hope of suc- cess, it must be prompt and vigorous. It is necessary to observe, that water in the head is a highly-acute disease, consisting of distinct stages, and generally confines the patient to his chamber; therefore, if a child have a large head or belly, confined or irregular bowels, and often fall down almost senseless,and yet is able to walk about, it must not be ascribed to this dis- ease, but must be treated in the same manner as for the “Dropsy of the Head** WARTS. Young people are very liable to these excres- cences. They are an exuberant growth of the skin, and may be easily removed by some strong stimulant to their surface. They will soon disappear if they be touched with the juice of cellandine, or houseleek, concentrated acetic acid, or Goulard’s extract, undiluted. Blueish warts that occur in the face, lips, or eyelids, must not be interfered with. WORMS.* Children are more infested with worms than adults, which appears to be chiefly because they are allowed to indulge in sweet things, to the almost total neglect of salt. These little ani- mals generally occasion a variable appetite, pains in the stomach, offensive breath, itching of the nose and fundament, dry cough, fulness of the belly, disturbed sleep, slimy stools, convulsive * Mr. Abernethy says, ‘*You find worms in the ali- mentary canal. There are worms of different kinds to be met with there; one long worm, pointed at either end. Then, there is a tape-worm, of which there is generally but one to be met with; to be sure, it breaks, and a great deal may be brought away, but it grows again. No good is done, unless the head be loosened, and the whole of the worm brought away; then the fits, and slow fever. They are most frequent in those of a relaxed habit; and vegetable food or sweet substances will greatly increase their generation. Treatfnent.—Those medicines and plans of treatment are the most eligible which tend to invigorate the constitution, at the same time that the worms are expelled; for this purpose, salt, sulphur, camphor, and preparations of iron, with a suitable diet and regimen, will be found most serviceable. Although a quantity of salt may be eaten with fresh animal food, salted meat is highly objectionable. As vege- tables increase the vigour of the worms more than animal food, they must be discontinued; and the patient should have recourse to active excercise, early rising, the use of the cold or tepid bath, and regulate the bowels by taking one of the following pills, previously to retiring to rest:— Take of compound extract of colocynth, half a drachm; compound rhubarb pill, a scruple; Castile soap, ten grains; oil of juniper, five drops. Beat them together, and divide into twelve pills. Some persons may require two or three pills. As a general purgative for children, dissolve naif an ounce of salt in a quarter of a pint of water, which must be taken in the morning, fasting, and repeated every three or four days; this will be found to bring almost every kind of worm away. In severe cases, the quantity of salt may be increased to three or four ounces at each dose. Should the salt and water be disap- proved of, the following may be substituted :— Take of subcarbonate of iron, three drachms; ipecacuanha in powder, fifteen grains ; extract of gentian, half a drachm; socotorine aloes, in powder, six or eight grains; simple syrup, a sufficient quantity to form the whole into a con- sistence. Divide into thirty pills, and take two of them three times a day. For the cure of the tape-worm, as also for that which resembles the earth-worm, the bristly down of the pods of cowhage may be used. The following is the best method of prepara- tion; dip the pods in treacle or honey, and scrape off the hairs along with the syrup, and when they are sufficiently mixed, the remedy is fit for use. The dose is a tea-spoonful for three mornings, which must be followed by a brisk purgative. Or, instead of the cowhage, half an ounce of oil of turpentine may be given, which can be repeated once or twice in a fortnight.—“ Ching’s Worm Cakes ** may be capable of some effect, but the plan of treatment here laid down, will be found to be attended with more beneficial results. It is of the first importance that parents should know, that the real nature of the case can only be de- termined by an attentive consideration of all the symptoms, and the patient’s habits, more particularly with regard to food; for a simple disorder of the stomach and bowels will often produce the same symptoms as are attendant upon worms. e