Institution for administering medical aid to the sick poor ... and for preventing the spreading of contagious diseases.

  • Institution for Relief of the Sick Poor (Dublin, Ireland)
Date:
1815
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Institution for administering medical aid to the sick poor ... and for preventing the spreading of contagious diseases. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    to worm fevers with mid-clay and evening exacer- bations, which correspond to what some physicians denominate the remittent fever of infants. These are, for the most part, advantageously treated by the administration, on alternate days, of a few grains of rhubarb or jalap with a little sub muriate of mercury. With respect to general cathartics for infants* the last-mentioned articles are often used: oleum ricini evacuates their bowels as satisfactorily as any matter that can be given to them, though its administration is by times attended with difficulty. Syrup of pale roses and syrup of violets are mild & *. t * ' _ ' * purgatives, particularly suitable to the early stage of infancy. Subcarbonate of magnesia is a cor- rector of their flataencies. Scrofula, which i$ far more common in children and young persons than in people of advanced years, and more frequent and obstinate among the poor than the rich, is not very high on our list: nor can I say that its annual number is proportiqnahly greater in Dublin than in most other cities. Many of the means that contribute to obviate, alleviate, or cure this ailment, viz. cleanliness, good air, nutritive diet, warm clothing, and sea-bathing, are in general not within the reach of the poor. Among the numerous tonic remedies recommended in scrofulous cases, cin- chona is that of the benefit of which I have the most experience° I often prescribe a little of it